I am trying to choose between buying a Nintendo Switch or a Nintendo DS.
This may not be the perfect community to ask - but I can’t think of any better place.
The reason for my question: I don’t want to own obsolete hardware in 10 years. Lately most games seem to depend on a “phone home” feature, which is not really an issue for my pc because it is always connected, but a console is something I want to play always and everywhere.
I already did some searching and found that games can be played offline fine (most of them, some exceptions are there like Multiplayer and Mortal Kombat), but:
- There is something like the paid Nintendo Online Account. I am not planning on having a paid account. How much of the system depends on the account?
- Can I have progression in a game (let’s say: one of the Zelda franchise) and will my Wife and Kids all have their own progression, without having to pay for X accounts?
- People who own a Switch, let’s take this to extremes, do you feel like in 20 years from now you can still do the same things on your hardware as you can do now? (No multiplayer is fine)
Also, feel free to rant about “paying is not owning”, the state of the gaming industry is horrible.
I am trying to choose between buying a Nintendo Switch or a Nintendo DS.
Last time I checked a Nintendo DS is nowhere near as expensive as a Nintendo Switch, you could probably get both unless you only have $300 in your bank account.
A 3DS with a flashcart goes very far.
Can’t OP just use an SD card with their 3DS to play DS games?
You’re probably right. I mainly got into on the original DS.
I’ve owned my switch since 2017 and Ive never used Nintendo’s online services, I think they’re actually DNS blocked or if I forgot to DNS block them then my console might be banned but it makes no difference to me, I get an error it can’t connect to Nintendo when I start some games but other than having to click past that it’s smooth sailing.
You can still have multiple users/profiles/saves without needing to link Nintendo accounts at all.
I think most of what I do with it now I could still do in 20 years although if I’m being totally honest one thing I use a lot is moonlight to remote stream games off my desktop and Im sure you could use it with current Gen PCs to stream but I’m guessing the between wifi and video codec standerds changing over time i dont think moonligbt will still work in 2044…but thats probably a bit outside the scope of your question.
An easier way to put it, the switch is currently probably the best modern console for piracy and that should tell you a lot about how little it depends on any kind of (not already cracked) authentication
Get a Switch, get it right now, also get this tool. The answer currently is yes, as long as the hardware still works & the battery doesn’t explode, and a switch combined with the MIG tool will give you a robust local library of games. Get your rig + MIG & never connect that switch to the internet ever again.
Nintendo is notoriously litigious & overly protective of all things Nintendo. The MIG Switch cartridge looks AMAZING but obviously Nintendo fucking hates it & they will probably try to issue a patch that nerfs it and/or kills your Switch in the future.
I think people are forgetting the DS part of the question
DS are very cheap second hand and all the game cartridges work in offline mode natively. If you haven’t ever owned a DS before you need to pickup a few 3DS XL models ASAP and catch up on that whole generation of gaming!
As for switch people are right below, if you want longterm playability you might need to emulate on a different device like a steam deck. Some switch games need that online ‘phone home’ to download the game
3ds with hshop and ghost eShop is just awesome 🥰
That is an odd take, I mean, if there are still new games release on Switch in 20 years, then sure? Switch definitely has better chance on having newer games than DS in those time frame.
The reason for my question: I don’t want to own obsolete hardware in 10 years.
In that case, why not wait for the next gen? I have my Switch since 2018, I think, it’s still the first gen one, that can be modded without hardware. I’ll continue play it as long as there’s a game for it. The only way to have the most time of a hardware is to get it when it’s new, right?
Very difficult to predict the future, but my bet would be on no (to the in 20years question).
I doubt the hardware would last 20 years and eventually it’ll become hard to source parts as the popularity falls off, even if you could repair it yourself. I’m sure anything with an online dependency will not work either, but offline games have a chance.
But the real question is would you want to use the switch in 20 years (or honestly, even today)? There is already a better alternative (steam deck) with a much more open platform with way more capabilities and I believe it can already emulate Nintendo games (although no first hand experience with that)
I have a switch myself and would never recommend it to anyone personally.
My dude, the DS Lite is 20 years old already. There’s plenty of video game hardware still kicking 20 years out. The only hardware in the switch that shows any signs of wearing out over time is the analog sticks in the joycons and the rechargable batteries. Both already have replacements available and will likely continue to.
You can also play it docked, with a wired controller, if you somehow can’t get generic rechargable battery replacements for it.
Hardware does not break down that fast.
If it’s like my other consoles from 20 years ago, It’ll be sealed in a box in the attic while you emulate it without a thought.
You can already emulate it with ease, lol. There are multiple Switch emulators, even
I own a DS Lite (20 years), New 3DS (11 years), and Switch Lite (4 years). I know you didn’t mention it in the OP, but today I far prefer the 3DS over the other two, game catalogues aside.
The DS has aged very poorly, especially when it comes to things that may not be immediately obvious. For example WiFi connectivity (I believe it only supports WEP security? though the online services are all or mostly shut down anyway), the touch screens drift really bad over time (mine has drifted over 2 inches off target with no hope of successfully re-calibrating). Another downside is having to use proprietary, usually abandonware flash carts, at least with the original DS/Lite. With the DSi I think there is CFW you can install, but I don’t have a DSi so I can’t speak to its longevity/developer support. The one unique up side this one has is you can use physical GBA cartridges, which is nice.
3DS can be played without an account, sometimes even with multiplayer. It might be more difficult now to procure and install games than it once was (rip freeshop?), but not too bad really. Has a pretty active homebrew community, and it can run lots of games from previous generations as a bonus, too. I frequently go years without touching it, but I can always boot it up, update Luma if necessary and it’s good to go. No worries.
I haven’t bothered hacking my Switch yet, because its kind of a pain in the ass. Probably better off buying a separate one pre-hacked specifically for pirating, because you’ll likely end up console banned at some point if you screw up even once. It seems like with the hardware mod you could in theory have good longevity for the device, though I doubt as good as the 3DS.
would you remove the battery during those 20 years?
For future reference, consider !buyitforlife@slrpnk.net
My switch died after about 4 years. A capacitor burned, tried to replace it, but still nothing happens… dont know if Ill get it to work again
If you’re gonna buy a switch look for a used one old enough to be software hackable and pirate all your games
If you can get your hands on a NDS with an R4 for a decent price, I’d say that will give you way better access to a great library of games. The games are going to be simpler and a bit dated, but there are some gems in there. There’s no dependency on online and the games will work until the hardware fails
The 3DS is better, and you don’t need an R4 card to mod things anymore. You can also mod the switch, though you can’t reboot.
3ds won’t play GBA games right?
It sure does, you can inject gba files into gba Virtual Console Titles and create a new .cia file to be installed using FBI. Of course, there are many premade gba .cia files already out there (found the most important ones on reddit posts)
I now have all the pkemon (from red to ultraMoon) on my 3ds Homescreen. Additionally I have installed pksm, which gives me local pokemon bank functionality, backup of my save files, and many more features for all those pokemon versions.
I really can recommend 3ds ( 3ds.hacks.guide ). But a unpatched batch one switch, can all this and a lot more faster and for ever as well (there is a pksm for switch as well). With a newer switch, you have to solder some stuff IIRC.
Yes, newer switches need a modchip. They’re dirt cheap these days but require microsoldering- not for the faint of heart, ESPECIALLY for the Lite and OLED switches.
Yea, soldering that without a microscope (or similar) seems veeery infuriating, lol, according to the videos I watched.
A microscope is explicitly required IMO. I would definitely not attempt the mod without one.
Oh, nice! I wasn’t aware of that
open_agb_firm is another option for GBA games. Seems to offer better performance, particularly when it comes to audio. I played through Pokemon Emerald with that recently, and it was the only way I could avoid the distracting sound issues.
R4 is dead. Too many fakes, too many timebombs. Ace3DSx chips are where it’s at.
Easily fixable with other firmware such as YSMenu.
But the Ace3DSx doesn’t require CFW. Just load your games onto the card and you’re good.
Unless it has gotten better, the joy cons on these things always fail. That’s 1 reason I never got one
Even if the games run, the joy cons will likely not last long before drifting
I’ve got my Switch since 2018 and am still on my first (Splatoon-edition, bought shortly after the Switch) Joycons. No problems, no drifting. And the OEM Joycons are in a drawer somewhere as backup.
Do you play a lot of Zelda? Just asking because my suspicion is that the joycons go bad quicker depending on how they’re used which is dependent on the games you play.
I play a good amount of Zelda on mine and have had to replace the sticks multiple times.
I played the first Zelda for half a year and Ocarina of Time, but also lots of ego shooters like Doom, Doom Eternal, all the classic Dooms, Quake, Duke3D, etc. And Animal Crossing. And racers and space games.
Yeah I don’t play any FPS games, and way more Zelda than you have. So it could be certain movements on the sticks wear them out quicker.
Of course it could just be how we’re using the controllers is different. Maybe I’m just hard on equipment.
Or you just got better sticks.
I mean it is a problem on all controllers really, PS and XBox controllers can have drift problems too. But the Switch controllers are notorious for it, so I always wonder if it has something to do with the games that are exclusive to the Switch. But maybe Nintendo just has quality control problems with their controllers. Who knows?
tbf i think dualshock 4 controllers die about as fast as joycons. but also joycons cost 70$ while you can get a new dualshock 4 for 25
For me, the Joycons feel really cheap. I don’t have a switch though.
Also, was unimpressed by the way Nintendo treated Wii U and wii customers (I had both)
I’ve been using a pair of dual shock 4s for something like seven years now without any drift. I had to buy new stick tops because I wore them out.
OTOH, the dual sense I bought started drifting so badly, it was unusable after a year.
You can buy a flashcart for the DS and run pirated games on it. So as long as those ROM site stay alive you can play games on the DS. The 3DS can also run custom firmware to run roms so you might want to get a 3DS instead of a DS. Installing the custom firmware is really easy https://3ds.hacks.guide/
