Poll: Should I get a Vita, 3DS or not get a portable console?

[Ronald Nand]

This week my university semester began, and I have to do a fair bit of travelling on public transport. Recently I've been getting bored with my Ipod Touch Apps, so I was thinking of saving up some money for one of the portable consoles. However I also have my Ipod Touch and a small laptop too, so my questions is:

Should I get one of the portable consoles on the market or just stick with the Ipod and Laptop?

 

[TehCookie]

Two questions, what kind of games do you want and how powerful is your laptop?

I have a crappy netbook but it could still play old PC games and emulate PS1 and older consoles, so there are tons of games if you stick with that but it takes longer to boot them up if you want to play 15 mins between classes.

If you don't have a DS or a PSP, both systems are backwards compatible so you can look through the past games to see which ones you like and still play new games. Get the one that has more games you want.

 

[J Tyran]

It entirely depends on what type of games you play really, the Vita has a huge library of classic PS1 and PS2 games with a steadily growing indie library. It also has a modest amount of console style AAA games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss that look almost as good as a console, if you want more than games the Vita is a superb media player and a good alternative to a high end smartphone and movies look great on it.

The 3DS has its own games, if Pokemon, Mario and Zelda are more to your tastes the 3DS is the only choice. Its nowhere near as good as the Vita as a media player and I personally find it to be the more expensive of the machines to own, this sounds odd and needs a bit of explanation.

The 3DS is cheaper to buy and you don't need to buy expensive memory cards either, however the games hold their price and the big releases stay near the launch price. The Vita is a larger initial outlay but if you spend a bit more and get PS+ you get to play dozens of games per year for free, it also bags you discounts on every item in the PSN store. For the cost of three big Nintendo first party 3DS games you can get a memory card and a years PS+ sub and get to play loads more games, you can also get discounts on all the cool indie games that are on the Vita.

 

[Ronald Nand]

My laptop can't really run games, Flash games are fine but I'm not really sure about pc games. It can run Plants vs Zombies but it can't run Walking Dead if that helps. The specs are:
Processor- Intel (R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 1.60GHz
Video Card- Mobile Inter(R) 945 Express Chipset Family
Ram- 2gb
OS-Windows 7 32-bit

 

[TehCookie]

My laptop can't really run games, Flash games are fine but I'm not really sure about pc games. It can run Plants vs Zombies but it can't run Walking Dead if that helps. The specs are:
Processor- Intel (R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 1.60GHz
Video Card- Mobile Inter(R) 945 Express Chipset Family
Ram- 2gb
OS-Windows 7 32-bit

That's the same level my laptop is at, it can still play games like Fallout, Duke Nukem 3D and Worms Armageddon. So they're slightly old, but still fun. It's a great way to play classics you loved or missed, though I'm not sure how well they work on windows 7 since mine is XP.

 

[Rack]

Step 1 is surely get better ipod apps.

Board games available and suitable for the itouch. I'd recommend them pretty much in this order and they can kill time really effectively.

Ascension
Neuroshima Hex
Ticket to Ride
Caylus
Penny Arcade Gamers vs Evil
Catan
(Give Summoner Wars a go as well, there's a free demo and while it's finicky on the itouch it's an amazing game)

Cave Shooters.

I can't recommend these highly enough, awesome games.

Espgaluda 2
Dodonpachi
Bug Princess 2

Misc. Hunters 2 is a nice top down strategy game (admittedly not really in the same league as Fire Emblem or Disgaea)
Battleheart is a game where you play 4 MMO characters at once in a series of fights, you pick simple builds and buy their equipment. You'll probably have heard of Burnout Crash but it's a really nice fit for touch screen gaming. Quarrel is a fusion word game/strategy game. Killed many an hour for me. Zookeeper is a fun match 3 style game. Better than it sounds, honest! Trial of the Clone is one of those gamebooks written by the guy who does SMBC. It's very crude but also exceptionally clever in parts.

Hunters 2
Battleheart
Burnout Crash
Quarrel
Zookeeper
Trial of the Clone

Adventure games, you didn't mention having a DS so I really couldn't recommend getting Phoenix Wright and Ghost Trick strongly enough.

Broken Sword
Monkey Island
Hector Badge of Carnage
Phoenix Wright
Ghost Trick
Layton Brothers Mystery Room

I've left out some of the really obvious ones, hopefully there's a few in there you haven't heard of.

If you're still stuck for a system then really the PSVita and 3DS are both good choices. The 3DS offers more exclusives but the Vita is all round a nicer system. Both have a good selection of excellent games. For myself I tend to play the Vita more, I haven't had chance to finish Persona 4, Disgaea 3 or Rayman at home and the Vita is just a really nicely put together system. The 3DS might be the safer choice in case one day you discover you just have to play xxxx.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I would definitely recommend 3DS. Not only has the 3DS library grown to be larger and better just in the last year alone, but you have access to all the great DS games because of backwards compatibility.

 

[Mikeyfell]

The PS Vita has Persona 4 Golden.
The 3DS has one great big headache.

Choose wisely.

 

[Black Reaper]

I would say the Vita, but it seems most people aren't as satisfiedmo with its current library as i am
It is great for fighting games, if you are into that
I can't recommend the 3ds, since the only games i ever play on it are the Castlevania ds trilogy, and for that you can get a normal ds, i think the Vita is infinitely better than the 3ds, but most people prefer the 3ds library

 

[Foolery]

The 3DS has its own games, if Pokemon, Mario and Zelda are more to your tastes the 3DS is the only choice.

And Fire Emblem, Monster Hunter, Shin Megami Tensei, Resident Evil, etc.
Personally, I'd go with the 3DS. I think that 3DS has a stronger library overall. Plus you have the entire DS library to choose from.
Oh, and if you feel like spending a bit extra, go for the XL. Bigger screen, better battery life.

 

[Teoes]

The only fault with a 3DS is the lack of the old GBA port. (#Ambassadorswag, at least I've got some GBA games on mine)

So: get a 3DS (XL, natch) for the 3DS titles and DS back compatibility, then find an old GBA for the awesome GBA games. Screw saving money!

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

If you're insistent on buying a handheld...

The Vita has a good number of console games you can take on the go. There are some fine-tuned remakes like Persona 4 Golden which are only on the Vita. Regardless, I'd recommend the 3DS for its library and backwards compatibility. I'm right now sinking my teeth (and hours) on Fire Emblem and SMT. If you have a hefty collection of GBA games, look for a DS. Some of the better games have aged well.

 

[Lilani]

Should I get one of the portable consoles on the market or just stick with the Ipod and Laptop?

I think the 3DS is definitely worth your money, even if you already have an iPod Touch. I don't know if you owned a DS before, but if you didn't then you have a HUGE library of games to explore with the 3DS--and a good portion of them you can buy used. I've never played the Vita, but as long as there aren't any games on it or coming to it you REALLY want, the 3DS definitely has the larger library of games.

And, if you end up getting a 3DS, I recommend spending the little bit of money and getting the 3DS XL. I got it, and every person I've spoken to prefers the XL without question. Larger screen, longer battery life, and because of the larger screen the 3D works better (though since you'll be using it while traveling a lot, you probably won't be able to use the 3D much. It doesn't work very well if you're bumping around like you do on a bus or a tram). So trust me, the XL may be a bit more money, but I promise it'll be worth every penny.

 

[lightningsax]

Yeah, it really depends on what you're looking for:

Like adventure games and playing strategic board games with players across the globe? Further exploit your iPod Touch, so long as it's somewhat up to date. @Rack is absolutely spot-on with his recommendations.

Like gaming the way it used to be, colorful and ungodly difficult on single-player campaigns, without studios having to throw all their creative money into pushing more polygons? The 3DS, or as @Retrograde said, the DS Lite, as the GBA library is freaking amazing (WarioWare: Twisted, Advance Wars 2, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Metroid Fusion, etc). I couldn't say quite the same thing about the DS library, but there are some gems (Kirby: Canvas Curse, Rhythm Heaven, Pokemon *anything*).

Get a 3DS XL instead of a DS Lite if:
*you really like Atlus' hardcore series (Etrian Odyssey, Shin Megami Tensei)
*you're an Intelligent Systems fan (Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Pushmo/Crashmo)
*you're a Mario Kart fan (MK7!)
*you're fine with iterative refinement of current IP instead of new or more obscure franchises (Nintendo)

Vita, though, that's a tough sell until the PS4 is out. It looks like the remote play on that will be amazing, but the big featured games out there either are trying too hard to duplicate a home console experience (Uncharted, AC3) or are also available on PS3 (Sound Shapes). As a media player, yeah, it's great, but so is an iPod Touch, so I'm wondering if you need that.

 

[dvast]

The PS Vita has Persona 4 Golden.
The 3DS has one great big headache.

Choose wisely.

I know, playing all those games on the 3ds is pretty tiresome, there seems no end to it.
If you want to avoid that, choose the Vita with it's one PS2 port.

But in all seriousness, for now I would recommend the 3DS, it has a great library and lot's of games on the horizon.
The Vita might be worth picking up if you want a PS4 or when more games come out since it is a good piece of tech.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I'd really just look at the games coming out for each. As a device, I love the feel of my vita and I love the games on it. As for the 3DS, I'm considering buying one since Nintendo said they were porting Super Smash Bros to it but I can only think of 3 games I'm remotely interested in: Fire Emblem, SMT4, and maybe Animal Crossing

The Vita can also play some of the best psp games like Person 3 Portable and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker and a lot of great ps1 games. I've heard the classics section of the 3DS is lacking. Not to mention if you plan on getting a ps4, you'll be able to remote any game on the console (I've tried it with Shadow the Colossus on the ps3 and it works pretty well)

Or, you could get android device and put some emulators on it. I've been doing that to play Earthbound and other rgps on my phone when I get bored at work

 

[klaynexas3]

Get a 3DS if you actually do want a new system to play on. There's loads of things you can do with your Laptop and Ipod Touch, so don't think it's necessary to get an entirely new system, but if you're set on it, the 3DS has the better library on its own, plus the entire DS library, which was the PS2 of the portable consoles. Though finding the better DS games might be a little more costly than you'll be able or willing to put out for. All I'll really say is this: 3DS means Kingdom Hearts, Fire Emblem, Mario, Zelda, and plenty of Megaten games. If none of that interests you in the slightest, stick with your current situation. I'm sure the Vita has some cool stuff, but at the moment it doesn't warrant an upgrade from a PSP, at least in my opinion.

 

[SuperfastJellyfish]

3DS is more of an investment for now, because there's like 5 games it has worth playing. But it's getting better all the time, and the thing is really neat. I'm a sucker for the 3D stuff and the virtual reality bit.