I haven't played any Nintendo games for like 15years. but i was always fascinated by games like mario and zelda (which i never played). And i could never get into JRPG turn based combat. Do you guyz think 3DS is a good system to start to catch up with Nintendo stuff? Cuz other systems are not available or too expensive in my region.

Yep! I think it is. Their are tons of older games on the shop (though most are NES or Gameboy/Gameboy color) as well as many newer fun games.

I think it is, but personally I'm going to wait and see if the NX will be more worth my money/see if the 3DS gets a price drop soon.

@belegorm: @naoiko: is majora's mask as awesome as it's artworks? :D

The 3DS is a great handheld with a lot of great games, including a solid virtual console selection that might interest you if you're looking to catch up with Nintendo's classics. I would recommend getting one.

That being said, it's still a little unclear how the NX is going to factor into Nintendo's future console and handheld strategy, so you should make this purchase with the knowledge that the future is a bit uncertain. I know Nintendo is saying NX will be a "third pillar" that won't replace the Wii U or 3DS, but that's exactly what they said about the Nintendo DS before it made the GBA a thing of the past.

That depends on who you ask, but I think it's one of the best Zelda games.

@chaser324: the thing is i live in Iran. nintendo stuff are sooo rare and expensive here and i dont think i can afford NX. But 3DS got to a point that it is kinda affordable, Specially the games.

@evilpotato: In your situation then I'd say sure. Majora's Mask is pretty divisive, I immediately hated it and have never been able to like it. Ocarina of Time is probably a safer bet. However probably both are worth giving a shot.

A Vita is a much better purchase.

The 3ds is probably one of my more favorite pieces of hardware, so I recommend it. There's a lot of fun games. The Nintendo titles on it are fairly solid, especially the zelda remakes and Mario 3d land. I'm really into the turn based rpgs and strategy rpgs as well, but it sounds like that's not something you're looking for that much.

Majora's mask is pretty awesome. My second favorite zelda personally. People usually love it or hate it though, so you'll have to see where you fall. Ocarina of Time is always a safe bet if nothing else.

I say go for it. The 3DS has a really solid library of games that sound like what you're looking for. I would recommend trying out Ocarina before Majora's Mask since it's more representative of what the Zelda series is. Have fun!

The best 3DS game, Rhythm Heaven Megamix, just came out, so I'd say heck yeah

It is a really good system. Tons and tons of games worth playing. Much better then a current gen console honestly. The DS library is also very good and compatible with the system if you've never had one of those.

DS backwards compatibility is a huge plus. There are so many gems, and hopefully you'd be able to find a lot of them on the cheap (since OP mentioned that cost is a factor).

I was faced with the dilemma of getting the New 3DS or waiting for the NX just a while ago. I decided to get a New 3DS, and I'm loving it. As a point of reference, I felt burned by the Gamecube and Wii, and had little interest in getting another Nintendo system any time soon. However, getting some hands on time with the N3DS in a store, and realizing that there were a pile of games available that interested me, I took the plunge.

So far Mario Land 3D and Xenoblade Chronicles have been awesome. I've got a couple Zelda games, Fire Emblem and Monster Hunter waiting for me next, and I can't wait to check them out.

Has Xenoblade been fairly easy to get into? I've got an N3DS and it seems like a shame to not get into one of the few exclusives for the system, but I've been scared off of the game's intimidating nature.

Yes it is. Despite smartphones having all these cool games, nothing beats playing the original Nintendo handhelds. I like the fact you can also play the old games via Virtual Console. If you grew up playing SNES like I did, I recommend getting the New 3DS XL so you can play games like Super Metroid and Super Mario World.

@evilpotato: It is a very good game, and it looks very nice remade for the 3DS. I will say I much prefered Ocarina of Time and A Link between worlds as the time mechanic in the game wasn't something I cared for. I mean I know this is a personal quirk so take that with a grain of salt. You might really love it =)

I haven't found it difficult getting into it, but I did have the same concern going in. It is a bit daunting at first, because it continues to introduce new mechanics hours into the game, but I found it compelling enough to keep my interest through the learning curve. To have such a large RPG, with fun characters, solid voice-acting, fun mechanics (in my opinion), and an interesting world to explore on a handheld is a tremendous novelty. I'm about 17 hours in, and I'm still enjoying it.

I've already put 60h into Monster Hunter Generations (new game), loving it. There is an awesome backlog, probably some really good deals on ebay. Do it!!

Considering the 3DS can play over 10 years worth of games yes. Though the 3DS library alone is well worth a buy.

There are MANY solid games

I guess it would depend on how willing you are to become a dirty pirate and steal all your games, because if you are able to buy a New 3DS running 10.7 or earlier, and aren't averse to pirating the entire back catalog of games, then there is literally no reason to not buy one. If you are interested in hunting down older games, or buy everything digitally, it's a soft yes. If you're interested in games that haven't been released, unless you absolutely need to play Pokemon Sun and Moon, the answer is no.

It's worth owning for the 3 Zelda games alone! Ocarina and A Link Between Worlds are my 2 favourite Zeldas.

I don't think so, the battery life on standby is crappy so that's why I rarely use mine, it's just not there to pick up and play unless you remember to turn it off or leave it on a charging dock.

I'm going to sell mine as soon as I hear that a real Animal Crossing is coming to mobile.

I might recommend getting a 2DS instead! You can play all the games, and it's quite a bit cheaper (about $90 on Amazon). Nick Robinson said that it's "a super chill GameBoy", which sounds pretty good to me.

A 2ds is like 60 dollars regularly on nintendo's store. The Vita library is horrendous outside of ports by comparison.

@taesoawful: Eh depends on what you're into. There's a massive library of niche Japanese games on the Vita that are what are mainstream for video games these days in Japan (read: very anime), but really never took off in the west.

3DS is totally worth buying, but I don't think now is the time.

Not if the Nintendo NX provides BC, which is what Nintendo aim for with consoles nowadays.

That's what I've been doing. It's fun.

Absolutely. The catalog is great and you can prob pick it up pretty cheap along with a lot of great games.

The 3DS lineup is awful because there are only a handful of great games and they make everything else a hassle to get. The easy access to the majority of the PSP library and so many great PS1 and PS2 games trumps the 5 great games the 3DS has. That's not even taking into account all the amazing ports that are available.

If it's cheaper where you live then absolutely. It has tons of great games and I would recommend Super Mario 3D land, it's a helluva game.

@hunkulese: i like the vita a lot (own both) but the 3ds definitely has more than 5 great games, and overall id say it has the best current library. they do need to work on the BC and have more reasonable pricing. also wasnt aware the vita can play ps2 games...

@ripelivejam: They're remasters.

Definitely. There's such a great library of games on the (non-XL) New 3DS is so nice! The collection of games isn't quite the huge library of great games that the original DS had, its still got a lot to offer plus there's quite a few gems on the eShop at the this point too.

@hunkulese: alright, thought you referring to the straight up ps2 ports on the ps3 playstation store which the vita definitely can't play.

Also, I have a list of the best and my favorite GBA, DS, and 3DS games if you want. There's a fair number especially for the original DS.