Nintendo 3DS or DSi?

[FreddoBaggyMac]

DS is six next month and for his birthday he would like a DS like his sister's but not pink! (She has a pink DSi which is a few years old).

I'm wondering whether to buy him a 3DS or a DSi. There is not much difference in price (I had thought the 3DS would be much more expensive but it's only about £20 more) and it seems like places like Amazon are no longer promoting games for the DSi so I'm wondering if they're going to be discontinued?

However, I know that there has been some talk about the 3DS being bad for eyesight. DS has problems with his eyesight - he wears glasses and sometimes wears a patch for lazy eye (which I think may mean he may not see the 3D anyway!) We've been told that wearing his patch while using a standard DSi would be good for his vision...

Also if we get a DSi he'll be able to share games with his sister, which I don't think will be possible if we get a 3DS (?)

I've heard that you can turn the 3D off the 3DS so is it worth buying one and doing this, or should we just get a DSi (not pink!)???

Any advice most welcome (oh, and would love to hear what the best DS games are for a 6 year old boy - he loves playing on his sister's moshi monster game). Thank you x

dsi is on its way out and any in store will be old stock. Very few newish games that aren't 3ds now. You can play ds games on a 3ds but not other way round. You can turn 3d effect off though.

That's really useful, thanks LIZS. Looks like I'll be going with the 3ds then, do you know if it works as well with the 3D switched off, ie. is the 3D not necessary as part of the games?

It only affects the visual display on the top screen, looks more like HD with it turned down.

Thanks.

Iirc the 3D part is only supposed to be for 7+ as well.

Have you considered the 3DS XL? DP says it's much better for playing the games than just the 3DS. Bit more expensive though. Still has the 2D switch on it.

My son has a dsi and I'm really struggling to get games for it. He's 3 so I flatly refuse to buy a 3ds because of the 3d bit. I know you can turn it off but it's bound to end up on.
I'm really flipping annoyed with Nintendo for stopping the dsi games when a 3d one isn't suitable. Especially when you can get them in other countries

Sorry my rant there!
In short get a 3ds so you can actually get the games advertised!

Thanks everyone. The 3DS XL looks good, it's worth paying an extra £30 if it really is so much better. Can you use 3DS games for the 3DS XL? Any more advice and opinions?? Very grateful for any info.

Yes to the 3DS games on the XL.

From what DP says the XL does a lot more. Or can do a lot more. I think. I try to listen when he talks geek but it goes in one ear....

I do remember him saying its a much better gaming experience and that is actually a lot different to the 3DS. It's not just a case of being a bigger version.

3DS XL it is then (at the moment anyway!)

We've just bought a 3DS XL from Game. It had some fantastic offers on bundles. Deffo recogmend going buying from there. Brend x