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.

  • brainw0rms [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    0·
    5 months ago

    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.