DD2 wants a nintendo ds, which console to buy?

[amidaiwish]

she is 7 next week
lots of ds lite on ebay for £50 or so
HMV only seems to sell the 3d one
then there is the dsi
and didn't there used to be a ds xl with a larger screen?
do they all play the same games? (we have a fair few from dd1 who has an old one)
any reason not to buy the ds lite?

thank you!

most of the new games coming out can only be played on the 3DS so you may be best getting that console if you ever want to buy new games. There is a 3DS XL due out (or may already be out). Older games can also be played on the 3DS but 3DS games can't be played on the older consoles.

You can play DS games on a 3DS. My 6yo has a second hand DS lite as he tends to bash the screen a bit. Once he's got past being overly enthusiastic, we'll probably upgrade him to a 3DS.

AFAIK, the games for the 3DS aren't backwards compatible with the DS lite, but there are plenty of games around for the lite version.

The big screen is great on the XL, but its not really needed.

thanks so much, looking at it again the cheap ones on ebay are shipping from China so seems like 3D isn't that much more than the others UK based.

Dd1 is looking to upgrade her DSlite because there are no new games coming out for it and she desperately wants the new Mario game.

I have been reluctant to buy her one because of all the bad reviews it gets. I don't mind spending money on her, just on crap that doesn't work as it should.

After much cajoling from her and Googling by both of us, I have decided she is allowed the 3DS XL, it seems many of the problems reported about the regular sized 3DS have been solved by the larger screen in the XL version.

ah thanks, £158 on amazon seems to be the best buy i can find. let me know if you know better!

if you only want a 3ds and no game this may be an option
www.game.co.uk/en/nintendo-3ds-cosmos-black-102281?categoryIdentifier=103610

Actually I'd recommend getting an ipod touch instead.

They are more expensive to buy to start with but you can do much more with them and crucially games are more wallet friendly. Instead of £30 a game ipod games range from like 69p to a fiver for a top title. What you spend on the console you will soon save on games.

My stepson is 5 and even he ignores his DS in favour of the ipad or ipod touch if my son ever lets him near it.

If he ignores the ds in favour of an iPod then the games you have bought for the thing must be complete rubbish.

Nice guy - iPod touch is not a games console and any gamer kid would be disappointed.

I'd get a normal Nintendo 3DS. Not a normal DS as the games coming out now are only for 3DS. but all the DS games will play on 3DS :)

I've got one, love it.

Goldship I agree a young child will probably appreciate the DS mario games rather than a iPod.

However for older DCs, especially girls it's no contest an iPod touch with music, books and 79p games that can be bought with pocket money wins hands down.

An older boy probably would like a PSP.

DSs are low resolution, dated and the games are, except for Mario, expensive junk. The DDs finish most of them in a day or two.

Actually can anyone name a single DS lite game worth the money other than Mario and Mario karts and a single Wii game for that matter?

My dd loves her 3ds, it has functions other than games that she uses a lot.
My ds prefers the psp

An older one would prefer a touch, because it has apps that aren't game specific.

And the majority of the games are frustrating for children as you have to buy extra stuff in most of them. You pay the 69p and then its 2.90 for extra 'diamonds' or coins etc. there are many that don't do this but the majority do.

The 3DS games are fab and last ages. I'm a bit of a geek.

Zelda is amazing.

The 3DS has got built in games too that are fun, and a camera that takes photos and videos. There's also a little shop on it so you can buy (or sometimes they're free) games. And also free demos of upcoming games.

Sorry I sound like a rep!! But it's a lot of money so you need to know

My DS (14) has had 3 Dss (confusing abbreviations here!).

He bought himself a regular DS in 2005 -used it a lot. Eventually the hinge broke which made it difficult to use, but the screens still worked.
He then bought theDSi - 2008? That got a lot of use too, as he had ht extra internet feature on it.

Last Christmas he got a 3DS from me for his joint Christmas and birthday gift. He is able to use al the games he has aquired since 2005 - and does play most of them.

There are loads of games - so I think your DD will get most use out of the 3DS - but they are still more pricey of course.

DS games do not cost £30 any more (I wish they did, I work for a games publisher).

You can get some great games for 7 year olds for £10-£15.

They do. The games I've bought recently have been 30+.

Kingdom Hearts was 38!

Have got a few 3ds games for the £15 mark, pay a bit extra sometimes if there is a new one she's really keen on but mostly she is quite happy with bargain buys.

I've never spent a fortune on games, most come from eBay or amazon

Ok, some of the 3D ones are, although none of ours. But you probably wouldn't buy KH for a 7 year old. You can get Nintendogs or Harvest Moon or Lego Star Wars for £10-£15.

Dd1 had a dslite a few years ago and last week for her 8th birthday she got the 3ds.
Yes primarily for the mario game.
I didn't see the need, but then I'm not 8 obviously.

But it's bloody fab. So glad we got it for her.

New games are expensive. Those are older so will be £10-15. Good thing about them though is you can pick up second hand ones at stores like Game for cheap and they're just like new.

I am a female and I resent the comment that girls would prefer snake iPod and boys a psp,. I own over 600 games on at least 17 different systems, don't own a single android game as they are all shit, tho at least they are free, apple users have to pay for trash like angry birds.

the DS is s excellent system it was far better then the psp and the same applies for 3ds vs vita. The power of the machine is irrelevant, it's the games that count, if you cent see past Mario tests your own fault, I don't like Mario hardly own any Mario games.

Currently playing solatorobo on ten ds which I have been playing for 27 hours.

Good wii games, a shadows tale, little kings story, no more heroes, sky crawlers, Zelda twilight princess and skyward sword, the last story, xenogears chronicles, red steel 2, sin and punishment to name but a few.

3ds tales of the abyss, resident evil revolutions, kid iccarus uprising, Zelda occarina of time, ridge racer etc.

Ds, the world ends with you, solatorobo, golden sun, dragons quest sentient of the starry sky, final fantasy 3, bleach ds 2nd, ninjas gaiden, osu tatakea ouendan etc.

I don't know the tablet put the word snake there I think it's possessed.

I've got the resident evil demo but my god it shits me up there's no point in me buying it. I'll stick to all the nicey nicey games like zelda and kingdom hearts ha.

Kingdom hearts is awful get tales of the abyss.