Poll: The 3DS or the Vita

[tippy2k2]

They are both equally great.

3DS has a ton of games that you can play now and a ton of ones that will release shortly. The games are all fun and different.

Vita has very little games. So far 90% of my library has been from Japan via Imports. The Vita needs some games, badly in the States. However, other than that I do love the lack of a region-lock and the games that I have played for it were a lot of fun.

That seems to be the general theme I've seen here in the thread:

The 3DS right now has a ton of games and the Vita has a ton of potential (or a ton of games if you speak Japanese...which I don't). At the rate it's going, it's likely I will go with the 3DS and keep an eye on the Vita (especially for this rumored price cut coming this year).

However, that PS+ service though (especially in combo with my PS3) sounds like a Vita's dream. It's the wild card forcing me to keep my bets in check and not just declaring the 3DS the winner. Also, getting PS1 and PS2 games onto the Vita with the download service alone kind of makes up for the lack of Vita specific hardware. There are an awful lot of games for the older generation I never got to play (Persona 3 to be specific but I'm sure there are plenty of others).

*Sigh...why can't I just have the money to buy both! That's make this way easier to decide

 

[Atmos Duality]

Battery Life
3DS: 3-4 hours, but depends on how high the 3D is on, it lasts longer if you use little to no 3D.

Turn off the Wireless when you don't need it, and don't run the 3D unless you really enjoy it.
With Battery-Saving Mode coloration on, it increases the battery life by ~30 minutes to an hour (depending on the wear and tear of the battery).

ON TOPIC: Definitely research the library of games available before committing to either, and be wary of chopped down versions of existing games and remakes (especially on the 3DS, whose control scheme is NOT AT ALL suited to traditional 3D environments. It's definitely a learning experience).

3DS:
I own a 3DS, and for the most part it doesn't offer many good new titles. Or at least, titles that interested me (I'm not thrilled with Mario and Zelda, and even less thrilled with remakes. But if it floats your boat, I won't judge).
To better explain my bias, I have an Ambassador system, and that was the only thing that kept me from selling mine a year ago.

Vita:
I got to play around with my friend's a bit last year, and I think it's a great piece of gaming hardware.
But boy, do you pay for the privilege; between the high cost of the unit, near-total emphasis on PS+ and the requisite memory cards (which are RIDICULOUSLY overpriced, like a markup of 200%).

A year ago, the Vita was an embarrassment for Sony; a total waste of money on account of selection alone. But its selection is growing better with time. Still, it's an investment: between that and my distrust of Sony I just do not recommend it unless you are in love with the retro titles (Tomba! Fucking Tomba! You have any idea how hard that game is to find legitimately?)

 

[tippy2k2]

Post edited by Tippy2k2 to just have the stuff I'm responding to

3DS:
I own a 3DS, and for the most part it doesn't offer many good new titles.
Vita:
Still, it's an investment: between that and my distrust of Sony I just do not recommend it unless you are in love with the retro titles (Tomba! Fucking Tomba! You have any idea how hard that game is to find legitimately?)

Well damn, with that description, it sounds like they both just have remakes on them

I certainly do have a bit of research to do (thanks to everyone who gave me some title names; that alone is going to save me some time).

 

[emeraldrafael]

in recent times Nintendo has been the safer alternative on handhelds. and the 3DS is coming out with a solid line up this year.

However, as an atlus fan, its very hard to say no to the persona series. Id say the 3DS because I own one and know the line up better, plus I think its less expensive. but thats up to you if you want to do the 3D thing. I like it, but it made it hard to play for multiple simultaneous hours. But then again all 3D does that to me, im just one of those people.

 

[ChaoshadowZero]

Anything I could say would be severely biased towards the 3DS, I got one at launch and loved every second of it.
I'm also a huge Nintendo fan and I have been since the Game Boy Colour.

All I'm gonna say is don't let other people sway your decision too much; there's a lot of biased people out there, myself included

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I have both and I prefer the Vita over the 3DS.

There are features that I like way more on the Vita than I do with the 3DS. The touch screen is rather nice and the rear screen is a neat little feature, the analog sticks feel nice, and it fits nicely in my hands. You can play PS1 games and there are some really neat games for it if you go looking in the PSN store.

The 3DS is nice as well, but it's nothing more than a DS with 3D capability, and yeah it does have a lot of RPGs and some first party games. The one thing I don't like about the handheld itself is their analog stick, it just feels weird and a little out of place for me.

The battery life is about the same for both, but you will have to get a SD card that's PS certified (for now anyways) for the Vita and it ain't cheap.

Personally, I'd go with the Vita, but what I would do is just find someone or a store that has both and just play with them and see what you like better.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Judging by the poll, the large majority of people pick 3DS. And with good reason. I have both, and even I say that the 3DS is worth it over the Vita. Simply because it has more games.

If you're looking to get a Vita just to play Persona 4: Golden, then that's probably a bad idea. (Even though that's exactly what I did. >->)

Just think about what console has that larger amount of games you would like to play. That's an easy deciding factor.

EDIT: Derp. Totally forgot to answer your questions.

1.) Vita: Persona 4: Golden (Teh best geam evar. EVAR. I'm serious.), Disgaea 3 (A very hardcore strategy RPG.)
3DS: Fire Emblem, Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, Pokemon X/Y (Not out yet, but it'll be awesome, I know it.)

2.) I've been using PS+ for over a year now. And I say that it's worth every penny. Seriously, for only $50 a year, you get new shit every month. FOR FREE. Now, I don't have PS+ for Vita; Just for my PS3. But I do know that it works exactly the same on Vita as it does on the PS3 version.

3.) Proprietary Memory Cards; The bane of the Vita's existence. These things can range from $18 to $100. That's kinda bullshit. And to think that they used to cost more before Sony took the budget knife and slashed all of the prices by about a quarter. And if you're planning on using PS+, you HAVE to get a larger card to download all of those games.

And as far as I know, the 3DS doesn't have any of that bullshit. It's a console you can take right out of the box and start playing immediately.

 

[Something Amyss]

1) Gravity Rush is a pseudo-action-RPG.

Got it for free with Plus, and thought it was awful Yikes. Love the aesthetic. A shame they put gameplay in, because it kills the game.

Plus, however, is pretty damn good. The downside is that a reasonable sized memory card is too expensive. I've got an 8 Gig, so I've got to constantly juggle things. On the other hand, I just bumped my phone up to a 32 GB MSD card and it cost me ten dollars less.

Honestly, it's like Sony said "we have this great system...How can we screw it up?"

Selection of games
Vita: Aside from PSP and PS1 titles, the PSV has very little in terms of slection, but the games are great, such as Gravity Rush and Persona 4 Golden, if you have PS+, you get several games for free (but only if you have the space for it and only as long as you have PS+) and the games have a great chance to improve.
3DS: A huge selection, many flagship Nintendo games, as well as strong 3rd party support, titles like Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Code of Princess and other fantastic titles.

This is a good time to remind the TC to ignore people talking about games for the most part. Look at what is released for each system, see what you will enjoy. Fanboys tend to be incredibly slanted in their assessments.

Then again, PS1 games on a portable system IS a draw to me, so I'm not really bothered.

Battery Life
Vita: 3-4 hours I believe, I mostly have it plugged in.
3DS: 3-4 hours, but depends on how high the 3D is on, it lasts longer if you use little to no 3D.

[/quote]

I get well more than 4 hours on a Vita with the wireless on and brightness maxed. Even more if I turn off the wireless I rarely use, but turning off wireless increases both systems. PSVita seems comparable to the 3Ds if 3D is turned off. I say "seems," because I've never timed either handheld precisely.

 

[Zeh Don]

Do you like to play games? As in, more than one or two? Do you want a console, with a library of games, rather than a device that enables you to play one or two select titles that will most likely be ported to larger consoles in the near future?

If "Yes" then don't buy the Vita. It's on life support, and failed to reach critical mass. It'll sell nicely once it's not aimed at the "Dumb Rich American Stereotype" demographic that seems to Sony's only target market these days.

If "No", then by all means, grab a Vita.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Go for the 3DS. It's got a much larger selection of games at the moment and even more awesome looking titles are coming out soon. Also it gives you access to the entire DS game catalog and there is a shitload of good games there.

 

[Otaku World Order]

Well, I guess I can give some thoughts since I actually own both.

3DS: I gotta say this thing takes a very long time to charge. The game selection is generally pretty good, but most of it's best games are similar to stuff you'd already see on the DS. I don't use the 3D much, since it does give me eye-strain fairly quickly and it chews through battery life pretty fast. Also Capcom, I want a damn Ace Attorney game on this thing, post haste.

Vita: From a technical perspective, the Vita is a pretty sweet machine. I love that this has a nice large screen, especially compared to the PSP. That being said, the Vita's biggest weakness right now is that with the exception of Gravity Rush (which is truly awesome)and Ragnarok Oddessy most of it's good games are ports with the occasional gimmicky extra added in.

 

[Trek1701a]

I won't tell you which is a better system, because it is nearly impossible for anyone to give you an unbiased opinion. There are 2 main things that I think are crucial in making this type of decision, games and affordability, but games mostly, since one can wait and save a bit more, if needed.

As the Vita is the more expensive system, can you afford it. Japan just got a price drop, so maybe with the Feb 20th announcement NA will get one too, but who knows. 3DS is much cheaper. However, perhaps the Vita has the most games you want to play, but you don't have the money for it and the 3DS only has some games you want to play, do you save up for the Vita now or buy the 3DS now and then start saving for the Vita later. Obviously, if the 3DS has more of the games now, since it is the cheaper you'd buy it now. PS+ is a good optional service, however, I wouldn't base my system decision on it, it is $50/year to sign up, which if you do get the Vita it adds an additional cost to the purchase. But it is optional, so you don't have to sign up right away. The one thing you do need is a memory card, any of the sizes will do, but the smaller you go the more "management: you'll have to do.

Others have listed games that are announced and coming out for each system natively, so I won't repeat those. In addition, while you gave us a couple of titles for each system you are interested in, without knowing what titles you actually have played for the PS1, PSP, and DS/DSi, since the Vita and the 3DS are backwards compatible, having that back library is a big difference. For instance, you said you liked the strategy rpgs, the PS1 and PSP have/had a number of them, but if you already played them then having that ability to play those games and not wanting to play them again becomes useless. Same thing would go for any games that were for the DS/DSi. On the games front, it really comes down to which system has more of the games that you want to play.

I would suggest going to a shopping site (Amazon, GameStop, etc.,) and browse the selection of games that are compatible with each system and make a decision from there.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I would go Vita purely because of some games I.e Gravity Rush and a few fighting games while the 3DS has Namco x Capcom coming up and thats it that I am interested in atm.

I am not spending stupid money on a Vita though I generally dont handheld game unless I am away for long periods of time which happens once every few years or so. I have a PSP and DS and while I have more games on the DS I have enjoyed the time with a few small selection of games on the PSP more I think its the bigger screen.

I would get one or the other though if I was going on a trip for a few months or so because there is no way I would be gaming on my phone for long.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

If you go with the Vita, make sure to get Gravity Rush, Persona 4 Gold and Lumines. All fun games.

My vote goes for the Nintendo 3DS, however. I don't personally find the Vita worth it(I used to own one). It was big and clunky and while the two thumbsticks was awesome, the battery life was a total killer. It lasted for like, 3 hours before it was close to dead. 3DS has several good games you can get.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked
Tales of the Abyss
Theatrythm Final Fantasy
Star Fox 64 3D
Resident Evil: Revelations
Mario Kart 7
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Phoenix Wright 5(no release date yet)

There are more 3DS titles, but those are what I can recall off the top of my head. You can also get several awesome regular DS games for dirt cheap as well.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
Apollo Justice Ace Attorney
Miles Edgeworth Ace Attorney: Investigations
Megaman Zero Collection(contains Megaman Zero 1-4)
Megaman Battle Network 5: Double Team(combines MMBN5: Team Colonel/Protoman)

Battery life for 3DS is...decent. It lasts about 5-6 hours, give or take, when playing a 3DS title, about 7-8 or so when playing a normal DS title. It already comes with a 2GB SD card(which are not proprietary like the Vita, you can go buy another one or even buy an adapter for a Micro SD and slide that into your 3DS just as well). The 3D option is also entirely optional.

Also Capcom, I want a damn Ace Attorney game on this thing, post haste.

Gyakuten Saiban(Phoenix Wright) 5 is in the works. :[] There's no release date yet, though. :{

 

[Something Amyss]

The TC?

The topic creator or thread creator. It's pretty common shorthand. I was differentiating a response to your from a response regarding what specifically you said as it relates to the person who first posted here.

Now, apparently use of the word "fanboy" seems to have been the trigger here, and perhaps it comes off as harsh. I don't think it is, though, especially these days. People call themselves fanboys all the time. The point remains regardless of the term, so I'm sorry if offense was taken. However, it's very hard to check one's prejudice at the door and I was immediately tickled by how I could rephrase what you said to favour the PS Vita over the 3DS and make what would be at least superficially a valid point.

Now, I play both right now, too. But I ended up surprising myself in favouring the PS Vita as well. Now, it's great that you're glued to your Vita, but that sort belies your prior argument in terms of framing the games situation.

But more importantly, consider that a lot of people who claim moderation are heavily biased, whether intentionally or not. A good chunk of the Fox News team claim to be moderates in keeping with their "Fair and Balanced" slogan. Now, am I calling you a lying liar who lies about your lies? No, but if the response to bias is a claim of moderation, my response would be "yeah, you and 99% of the planet."

Few people actually own up to their own prejudices and biases, and NOBODY wants to label themselves a fanatic.

The end result is the same: The person who made this thread is better served by looking at the games themselves. It's almost like, they're a better judge of the merits of the games on said system than anything you or I could say.

Other factors, such as the cost of memory cards and the systems themselves ARE valid, objective, and completely useful.

 

[The White Hunter]

For Vita, yes, you do have to buy the memory cards. And yes they're expensive, and yes it sucks. On the other hand, PS+ is by all accounts pretty neat, though personally I don't agree with the idea of paying up front to get deals off later. I'd much rather companies just put stuff on sale. Steam doesn't charge you for their sales, and neither does the eShop. Just my opinion.

In terms of RPGs, the 3DS has been pretty anaemic so far, but that's looking to change a lot this year. You've got Fire Emblem Awakening out now (or April, if you're in Europe like me) which everyone is splurging hot love juice over, as well as Crimson Shroud, Code of Princess, Tales Of The Abyss, SMT: Devil Survivor Overclocked, Dragon Quest VII and The Denpa Men. And in terms of upcoming RPGs, you've got Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate, Monster Hunter 4, Etrian Odyssey IV, Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, and hopefully Bravely Default if Square Enix stop being absolute wankers.

Vita you've, obviously, got Persona 4 Golden, as well as Monster Hunter 3, and I believe Ragnarok Odyssey is in the works. Apart from that, I'm not too clued up on Vita RPGs. I love the look of Gravity Daze, but I think that's more of a puzzle-platformer than anything, isn't it?

Don't forget pokemon x & y in the autumn and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. 3DS is starting to pick up some tasty RPG's.

OT: 3D, as stated above, plus all the first party nintendo support, things like Luigi's Mansion are just on the horizon, if you're in Europe wait and snag the new colours or the fire emblem limited edition XL.

The vita at the moment is just expensive and sparse, which is unfortunate.

 

[pikmaniac]

If it were me, and I absolutely had to have one now, I would go with the 3DS. For Fire Emblem alone. Well, that and kid Icarus: Uprising, if you can get used to the semi-awkward control scheme. Not to mention Animal Crossing: New Leaf, coming on June 9th. <3

If you can wait until September, on the other hand, I'd say go for the Vita. Then you can get awesome games like Persona 4: Golden, which is out now, as well as Killzone: Mercenary and Muramassa HD, which will be out by September.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Well, I'd say the 3DS, in a few months.
Because the chances for the 3DS to get a Pokemon game are infinitely higher than for the Vita. (Yeah, that's pretty much what Nintendo handhelds are for. Playing Pokemon games. Also, the only reason I'm planning to get it.)

 

[The White Hunter]

Snip

Turn the brightness down to mid, turn on power save, don't run the 3D unless your eally like it and flick the wifi off on the 3DS when you aren't using it.

I get a good 8-10 hours out of my XL.


OH! Semi-hidden cost, if you buy a 3DS XL you need to buy a charger seperately outside of the US, if you're in the US don't worry, and if you're out of it dw either they only cost about £6.