What is going on with 3DS hardware right now?

[koifish | 556]

I have been looking at offloading some 3DS systems and I am shocked at the prices that are being fetched. The Black Friday New 3DS models are moving at 300+ USD easily? Certain LEs are fetching 500-800 USD? Even common variants of New series systems are moving at high prices, considering it's now "last year's model". Even original 3DS models are selling at high prices, on par with what I see for used switch lites. What's causing this? I don't understand why the prices are so high. I get why software is low, since it's still easy to find and easier to pirate, but the hardware seems all out of wack.

[Brickman | 3,987]

The 3DS has always sort of held its value or only dipped if a new model came out. The limited editions have always fetched a high price too. I missed the SNES version and it never came down in price.

It was also released in 2011 and had an amazing library so I can see people now wanting to revisit it and they may have sold their 3DS.

[RH | 4,906]

Well, Nintendo cut off the their online services on Monday, I think, for the 3DS and the Wii U.  There might have been a rush of people dragging their heals, wanting a units, so they could buy one and download some DLC.

[koifish | 556]

21 hours ago, RH said:

Well, Nintendo cut off the their online services on Monday, I think, for the 3DS and the Wii U.  There might have been a rush of people dragging their heals, wanting a units, so they could buy one and download some DLC.

I'm pretty sure the ability to make eShop purchases ended last May, so it wouldn't be that.

21 hours ago, Brickman said:

The 3DS has always sort of held its value or only dipped if a new model came out. The limited editions have always fetched a high price too. I missed the SNES version and it never came down in price.

It was also released in 2011 and had an amazing library so I can see people now wanting to revisit it and they may have sold their 3DS.

Maybe it's having a boost because it's the "last" true portable, but to see even 2011 models approaching used switch prices in some instances is still pretty wild to me.

[RH | 4,906]

12 minutes ago, koifish said:

I'm pretty sure the ability to make eShop purchases ended last May, so it wouldn't be that.

Hmm, you might be right.  I know that on the 8th, the shutdown online communication services, but maybe that's not the eStore but just game/server connectivity.  MVG was my source:

 

[drxandy | 3,227]

The hardware is super easy to hack so maybe that has something to do with it?

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

It has to be it. The 3DS has completely perplexed me as a collector. It's the most expensive loose AND CIB Nintendo console you can buy. Seriously, could you buy a launch NES for the same price as the Pokemon *new 3DS CIB right now? The kicker for me is that the later released consoles were sticker sealed. That's when I stopped collecting the CE releases. 

So it's the easiest console to hack AND it plays all Nintendo handheld games natively. But is that enough? The screens are ok, nothing spectacular by modern standards. People go nuts for an IPS screen when you can throw one in a DMG these days for $20 so I can't buy that hype. Maybe bc the DS is so desirable and the best way to play DS games is on a 3DS?

Redditors tried to convince me it's bc it's not made anymore and it's rare but it sold over 40 million consoles which is an absolute ton. The library is good, I mean I like it but I think from an objective standpoint it's more OK-ish. It's not that large, especially by modern standards. There's a decent distribution of games. 

Anyway I look at it, i can't figure it out. I'm not mad about it, I have the SNES & Pokemon CE  -bought them both new - so I have a lot of the hardware that is desirable to me. I would love for someone who is paying these prices to convince me the console is worth the cost of admission.

[Renmauzo | 1,201]

I noticed console pricing while at MGC, not because I was/am in the market, but because I got what I wanted when the DS and 3DS were current and that was the end of thinking about prices for me where those systems were concerned. I bought a Pikachu 'new 3DS' (the one that looks like a sketch of Pikachu) for my wife that she never opened which has been sitting here at the house, and to see the prices on some of this LE hardware was surprising to say the least.

I use my Fire Emblem Fates 3DS on the regular and tend to get comments when I'm out and about somewhere playing 3DS while waiting for an appointment or the like. Perhaps people just feel like the hardware and games are more accessible, so if enough people think it all at once, the prices jump? I have also heard a lot of chatter, like 'get in now before pricing goes crazy', so again, if enough people do that - and have been feeling priced out of other libraries they enjoy - perhaps that's the reason o_0?

[RH | 4,906]

Well, I think these are good points but another facet is, in my opinion, emulating these stinks, especially the 3DS with the different aspect ratios.  If you want to play these games, you need to do it on an original device. 3DSes play DS titles so if you want to get into either library, getting a 3DS is a no brainer.

It doesn’t really surprise me that they are so expensive but the spike is a bit quicker than I would have thought.  There’s just no better way to play the library, which isn’t true for other systems, especially portable ones.

[Brickman | 3,987]

1 hour ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

I would love for someone who is paying these prices to convince me the console is worth the cost of admission.

I couldn’t tell you why someone is paying $300 for a console (they go for way cheaper here so must just be a US thing) but I can see why people are jumping into the console. It has a killer library.

Mario 3D land, Kirby games, remakes of Zelda games and a link between worlds, SMT games, a lot of great FE games, decent Pokemon games, professor Layton, remakes of Mario & Luigi games, MK7, Etrian Odyssey, yokai watch, Luigi’s Mansion 1 & 2, castlevania mirror of fate and I could keep going but that alone would keep someone very busy.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

25 minutes ago, Brickman said:

I couldn’t tell you why someone is paying $300 for a console (they go for way cheaper here so must just be a US thing) but I can see why people are jumping into the console. It has a killer library.

Mario 3D land, Kirby games, remakes of Zelda games and a link between worlds, SMT games, a lot of great FE games, decent Pokemon games, professor Layton, remakes of Mario & Luigi games, MK7, Etrian Odyssey, yokai watch, Luigi’s Mansion 1 & 2, castlevania mirror of fate and I could keep going but that alone would keep someone very busy.

I'm just going to play devil's advocate bc I am a big fan of the 3DS but still can justify the prices we see here in the states for a console.

Idk if youve played most most of these games, but it's gotta be bc of the RPG aspect. The I guess as far as Kirby games they're good. Zelda remakes could be emulated on anything else that isn't a 240p screen? Idk if there are any QOL aspects for the games but they didn't wow me. The Mario & Luigi remakes I actually forgot about but they didn't do particularly well upon release. The Pokemon games were poorly received. I liked XY but SM were not good. Maybe compared to how shit they got on the Switch? Do people actually play Yokai games? Honestly idk it to be a popular series here. I bought Castlevania at launch and it was a let down.

I bought around 50 games on in release or close to it so maybe compared to the current Gen they hold up since the current iterations of most of these series are so poorly done?

Biggest games for me are 3D land,  Mario kart 7 (better than 8), Pokemon XY, Dragonball Fusion, Kid Icarus, NES Remix, Mario Maker, Smash 4, Metroid Federation Force.

I'm not a big RPG guy so I honestly dk what they have to offer. I heard good things about the SMT games but vividly remember those sitting in clearance bins for $10-15 for ages. 

[Brickman | 3,987]

14 minutes ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

I'm just going to play devil's advocate bc I am a big fan of the 3DS but still can justify the prices we see here in the states for a console.

Idk if youve played most most of these games, but it's gotta be bc of the RPG aspect. The I guess as far as Kirby games they're good. Zelda remakes could be emulated on anything else that isn't a 240p screen? Idk if there are any QOL aspects for the games but they didn't wow me. The Mario & Luigi remakes I actually forgot about but they didn't do particularly well upon release. The Pokemon games were poorly received. I liked XY but SM were not good. Maybe compared to how shit they got on the Switch? Do people actually play Yokai games? Honestly idk it to be a popular series here. I bought Castlevania at launch and it was a let down.

I bought around 50 games on in release or close to it so maybe compared to the current Gen they hold up since the current iterations of most of these series are so poorly done?

Biggest games for me are 3D land,  Mario kart 7 (better than 8), Pokemon XY, Dragonball Fusion, Kid Icarus, NES Remix, Mario Maker, Smash 4, Metroid Federation Force.

I'm not a big RPG guy so I honestly dk what they have to offer. I heard good things about the SMT games but vividly remember those sitting in clearance bins for $10-15 for ages. 

Definitely the opposite for me. Love all those games I listed and thought Sun & Moon had a great story and tried something a little different. It’s my favourite modern Pokemon game. Not sure about Yokai Watch popularity but I enjoyed it a lot. 

The Zelda games have 3D which can’t be replicated and they’re portable. 

The RPGs are great on the system but if you don’t like RPGs then that is quite a lot of games you wouldn’t be playing and that is a big draw to the library. 

[greenthunder | 115]

Yo-kai Watch did alright in the US; it did a lot better in Europe for reasons I'm curious about. It's kinda reflected in their respective region's prices, where Blasters and 3 easily sit amongst the most expensive games for NA due to short runs, but Blasters falls more in line with other 3DS games and 3 has gotten expensive but not to same extent as NA in Europe. I also suspect the main reason why Blasters and 3 went up in Europe is because of the aftereffects of people proclaiming them as the most expensive 3DS games [in the US].

I personally doubt its hackability is the main driver of the price increases, but I don't have a better explanation why. Considering its age (I absolutely hate the fact the Year of Luigi was now 11 years ago), I think it's possible people are reaching the age where they're nostalgic for it and want to grab a console and some games. Ebay also shows regular new 2/3DS XLs bounce between $100-300, so it's possible it's mostly high end collectors or the desperate are going for the Black Friday new 3DSes and collector's editions. I kinda want to pick up a regular n3DS, but if I did it'd have to be a non-American one.

[Strange | 1,700]

I couldn’t tell you, but when I saw the price of the SNES limited edition 3DS I sold mine and bought some really nice CIBs with the return. I don’t regret it at all. Some prices you can’t back away from, this was one of those times for me. Maybe it’ll be worth even more in the future but oh well.  

On 4/13/2024 at 2:34 PM, RegularGuyGamer said:

Redditors tried to convince me it's bc it's not made anymore and it's rare but it sold over 40 million consoles which is an absolute ton. The library is good, I mean I like it but I think from an objective standpoint it's more OK-ish. It's not that large, especially by modern standards. There's a decent distribution of games.

I like the 3DS system and library so I’m not being a downer on it but I feel like the broader game collecting community, particularly Reddit, is looking for that next underdog or unicorn console. The next Sega Saturn (among other examples) - where the console didn’t do well but the library is pretty alright and so the games skyrocket and stay there. They want to get in on whatever that next system is that fulfills that prophecy so they can feel good and be like “Yeah, I did it!”

But like you said, the 3DS did perfectly fine and I don’t think it or any modern library will ever be “the next Sega Saturn.”

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

On 4/15/2024 at 6:43 PM, Strange said:

The next Sega Saturn (among other examples) - where the console didn’t do well but the library is pretty alright and so the games skyrocket and stay there

I can get behind this thought just bc I read so many comments about how the console and games are rare while dismissing 76 million consoles is a small amount.

I feel many gamers skipped the 3DS and we're all in on PS3. Once they circled back, they realized what was available and immediately concluded that every must have missed it. When the reality is, it did considerably well and got stronger every year well into it's life cycle. It laid the ground work for a handheld to be the main attraction as Nintendo transitioned to the Switch. 

[fox | 1,667]

That Avatar 2 bump

3d is back baby!

[TDIRunner | 2,741]

Because of the nature of the 3DS hardware (and its age), I think it will be a long time before we ever see a good way to play original carts on anything other than the original hardware.  I just don't see any type of clone console or something with the quality of an Analogue system coming anytime soon.  I think for now we are stuck just using the actual 3DS hardware.  Since the 3DS is also backwards compatible with the DS library, those consoles are obviously the most desirable and will fetch the best prices.    

[OptOut | 8,886]

I agree with a lot of the points here, the fact is the 3DS has a banging library (especially with the DS backwards compatibility), doesn't emulate well, and it has arguably the most attractive form-factor of any handheld. It's way more compact than modern handhelds like the Switch, and with the clamshell design you don't even need a case for them, just shove it in your pocket!

Another thing that hasn't been mentioned yet, however, is the fact that they wear out over time. If you use your 3DS a lot, the circle pads get worn, the shoulder buttons go fucky, and many of the 3DS colors have paint which chips off over time. I'd imagine a lot of hardcore 3DS fans aware of these issues will have at least one or two spares ready for when they want to swap out their main unit, so there will basically always be demand for fresh systems even from people who already have one.

[Link | 2,713]

I can't find my Super Mario Maker edition 2DS been missing for a while.

Is 2DS fully as backwards compatible as a 3DS is? Should I get a NES or Zelda edition 3DS? Ack!

[OptOut | 8,886]

3 hours ago, Link said:

I can't find my Super Mario Maker edition 2DS been missing for a while.

Is 2DS fully as backwards compatible as a 3DS is? Should I get a NES or Zelda edition 3DS? Ack!

Yeah, the 2DS is compatible with all DS games. However, there is a distinction between the 2DS and the NEW 2DS. The former won't work with the limited handful of NEW 3DS exclusive games. 

And, dude, have some class. Zelda edition all the way! 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,539]

13 hours ago, OptOut said:

I agree with a lot of the points here, the fact is the 3DS has a banging library (especially with the DS backwards compatibility), doesn't emulate well, and it has arguably the most attractive form-factor of any handheld. It's way more compact than modern handhelds like the Switch, and with the clamshell design you don't even need a case for them, just shove it in your pocket!

Another thing that hasn't been mentioned yet, however, is the fact that they wear out over time. If you use your 3DS a lot, the circle pads get worn, the shoulder buttons go fucky, and many of the 3DS colors have paint which chips off over time. I'd imagine a lot of hardcore 3DS fans aware of these issues will have at least one or two spares ready for when they want to swap out their main unit, so there will basically always be demand for fresh systems even from people who already have one.

I've seen a lot of comments like this.  Anecdotally, I got my 3DS within a year of launch, and have never had a hardware issue of any sort.  And I've put thousands of hours into the thing.  Like, many, many games that are 50-90 hour completions.

But very few demanding action games.  I ain't white knuckling the thing.

[Link | 2,713]

14 hours ago, OptOut said:

And, dude, have some class. Zelda edition all the way! 

Well. Thank you for sharing LoZ appreciation with me. I didn't know you were much of a Zelda fan, besides OoT. 

The Mario Maker 2DS was a Black Friday price drop AND limited edition special at a moment I was ready to get a current (if aging) handheld - mainly for Mario Maker. I wanted in on the action, but didn't want to put money into a Wii U. And it has a pixel Mario graphic. 

The Zelda one has colors but no other branding on the machine. And I've had little interest in LoZ Game Boy games generally. 

(I was quite annoyed to discover that you could only download in the portable SMM, not upload courses - that's bullshit!)

[OptOut | 8,886]

10 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I've seen a lot of comments like this.  Anecdotally, I got my 3DS within a year of launch, and have never had a hardware issue of any sort.  And I've put thousands of hours into the thing.  Like, many, many games that are 50-90 hour completions.

But very few demanding action games.  I ain't white knuckling the thing.

As you know, I'm not into RPG's or anything slow paced, I almost exclusively play the twitchy stuff!

Also, my original launch style 3DS hasn't worn out, but each of my later 3DS XL and NEW 3DS XL have had certain issues or another crop up over time, so I have bought a second NEW 3DS XL already.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

If foldable phones become more popular, or when apple releases one, the 3DS will be more easily emulated by the masses. Emulating DS and 3DS on my Fold 5 is easy and looks better than the original hardware. Granted, you're paying more than $300 for it but it is a solution if you already have a foldable. 

[Brickman | 3,987]

5 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

If foldable phones become more popular, or when apple releases one, the 3DS will be more easily emulated by the masses. Emulating DS and 3DS on my Fold 5 is easy and looks better than the original hardware. Granted, you're paying more than $300 for it but it is a solution if you already have a foldable. 

Does it do the 3D effect as well? That would probably be the hardest part to emulate I think.