Nintendo 3DS or Sony Vita? Is it worth selling my 3DS for the Vita?

Posted by nicomach on January 28, 2012 08:47 pm 14

I already have a 3DS and have enjoyed playing it but I'm not so impressed. I am considering selling it or trading it in so that I can buy the Sony Vita which is launching in the US in a few weeks. Someone suggested just having both, but that's not a good idea for me right now. If you could have only one, which one?

Some of my thoughts on the 3DS from my experience:

  • I do find the two screen setup useful. The bottom screen has been helpful in constantly showing useful information that would otherwise add too much clutter if shown on a single screen system. Or, if this information would not be shown on the single screen, the second screen allows access to this information without having to to toggle from gameplay to that information. The bottom screen's touch capability can be a space for extra buttons if there just aren't enough physical hardware buttons for a game. An example is in Super Street Fighter 4 where you can assign an all-3-punches-button to the touch screen.

While the Vita does not have 2 screens, it does have a very large screen, giving it more display real estate to display information if needed. As for additional/alternative game input options, its screen has touch, and there is also a large touch pad on the back of the unit. In an FPS, touching the top right of the rear touch pad can have you throw a grenade for example.

  • The graphics are much better than the prior DS model but not much, if at all, better than even Sony's older portable, the PSP, which makes them underwhelming. The 3D is interesting but limited - there is a very small field of view for the 3D to work and for the display to not go dark when the 3D is on.

While the Vita does not have 3D, the graphics are far better than the 3DS and I've heard they even rival the PS3's graphics.

  • The hardware design is not perfect ergonomically. The direction pad has sharp ledges/edges. After stints of playing Street Fighter, my thumb gets raw. With the unit open, the bottom edges of the top screen have sharp corners that can dig into the sides of your index fingers when pressing the shoulder buttons or even when just firmly holding the unit.

If the Vita's rounded ergonomics are as good as the PSP, then I don't expect any sharp edges to dig into your thumbs/hands, but it might be pretty hefty.


Other thoughts:
I do have other thoughts and things to consider, such as game lineup - I hear that both systems will have strong 3rd party game developer support. But this may be short-lived for the Vita. The poor sales in Japan were surprising. Some editors believe that the 3DS's affordability from a relatively recent price-drop and the release of a Monster Hunter 3DS game (a wildly popular game series in Japan) led Japanese gamers to see the pricey Vita to be just not worth it right now.
While this perfect storm against Vita sales in Japan seems like a country specific issue, some might see it as a sign that the Vita will falter in other regions as well. Low system sales internationally can have some developers later pull back from making games for the Vita. From what I know of the Vita's hardware, it sounds like it will be a great system, but it may not be worth investing in it. Its premium price and its requirement for me to buy a new pricey proprietary memory card makes me want to liquidate my 3DS and games to justify buying it. But in the end the 3DS may be the system on top. If not the Japanese, will the rest of the world buy the Vita? Or, is it just too expensive and/or too big and/or...
Thank you for your thoughts.