Advice; Nintendo 3DS XL?

So, my girlfriend keeps telling me she wants to play some video games with me. She doesn't game much but wants to try, so i plan on trying to teach her some of my general games i like to play, with other people.

She ALSO keeps telling me, and has from the beginning of us dating when she realized i was a gamer, that she used to play Animal Crossing. Now, i've played games since Atari game out, i still have all my old consoles, NES, Super NES, Sega, Original xbox and playstations all the way from the 1... etc. BUT i've NEVER played Animal Crossing.

What was the original console that game came out on? Dreamcast? Gamecube? Those were two consoles i never got, played, but never owned so was never very interested in which games came out for them or really dabbled in them much.

So i did some research and was thinking about, as somewhat of a surprise, because she keeps talking about it, getting Nintendo 3DS XL with animal crossing and maybe a Pokemon game... The pokemon might be more so for me because i miss that dearly. >.<

Thoughts? Are there games worth getting the 3ds for? What are the differences between the 3DSi and what not... I haven't gotten a nintendo console type for a looonnngggggggggg time, but don't want to spend the $200 if it isn't worth it. Ive also heard all this mumbo jumbo on the wifi/online play being taken down... which i'm also wondering then if that would effect the quality of gaming that i would/she would do with animal crossing and/or pokemon.

Thoughts pleaseandthankyou.

1000 posts and you are this much of a newb?

wow...

hopefully someone here will answer you.

Sorry, i've fallen out of the gaming world due to the fact that i have a life. :)

Obviously you can't answer me, main question being, is it worth 200. or not. Simple. Very Easy to answer. I'm sorry you're incapable of something as simple as that.

It's 2014 and you're still using the word... 'newb'?

Wow...

Hopefully you haven't reproduced yet. Your lack of intelligence would knock us back to the stone age and I'd feel bad for your child/children

Well, there is no 3DSi, I think you mean 3DSXL. Which by the way I would recommend getting simply because it has the bigger screen. I have the original 3DS, but if I had to do it all over again I would get the XL because it's just better.

The history of Animal crossing goes like this: It was first released on the N64 in Japan and then it was ported over to the GameCube. Also the Animal crossing for the DS was the first game to be wifi capable. It's a bit ironic because you mentioned the fact that DS and Wii online games are gong online this May 20th. But....that won't affect the 3DS or WiiU games so you have nothing to worry about in that sense.

In general, the 3DS is a good investment and there are a lot of good games in the library, too many too go into here. Plus it can play regular DS games.

Let me know if you have any more questions so I can try to answer them the best way I can.

+ better battery life. I often become awfully envious whenever my 3DS dies, but my friends who own 3DSXLs still have a few hours more of gameplay on a larger screen. If I had the money, I would also upgrade to the XL immediately.

A 3DS a well worth those $200, especially since it currently has the strongest selection of games compared to the other current gen consoles and handhelds.

I've had the DS, DS Lite, 3DS and 3DS XL. I was impressed with the screen size and battery life of the XL, but I really enjoyed the portability of the original 3DS. I'd say the 3DS is well worth it especially with games still coming out for it, and probably no successor for at least another year or two (not sure.) As for paying $200, don't do that. There are plenty of deals on eBay; it's where I've bought all my DS's and I've never had an issue. If you and your GF aren't trying to go overkill on gaming and enjoy the portability factor of the older handhelds, the original 3DS is great in the fact that the price point is between $90-$130 on eBay depending on condition. The battery isn't the greatest but you can get a battery pack from Nyko for around $13 which really bumps up the battery life. If you want a bigger version, look into the 3DS XL, on eBay, usually around $140-$180 and sometimes bundled with a game or too, depending on condition again. The battery life is around 6-8 hours, maybe more if you don't utilize the 3D feature (which really is just a gimmick.) The best thing about it is the screen size though, but I found it to be too big to lug around in my pocket all the time. I don't have experience with the 2DS, but it doesn't seem appealing because it doesn't close and I'm sure would be get scratched really easy, along with the screen size and battery life being as good as the original 3DS.

Thus, I'm looking into getting another one, most likely the 3DS, Cosmo Black with the Nyko battery pack in the near future, again, because I like the portability factor and the great new games coming out for it, Mario Golf: World Tour and the critically acclaimed LoZ: A Link Between Worlds. As far as Animal Crossing, my girlfriend became addicted fast, I don't know what it was about it, but I enjoyed it too. I think with the 3DS version, you can travel between towns all over the place via wi-fi so that would be cool (we played it on the Gamecube back in the day.)

I hope this helped, good luck with your decision!

@perphekt: Hah! Second post on the board and you've already thrown it back at KB, I like you.

For your situation, if she really wants a 3DS, I'd go with the original, smaller, cheaper 3ds model until you see how "into" gaming she gets, you don't want to sink 200 bucks and then it hardly get used. She'll like stuff like animal crossing and Pokemon, you'll probably get a lot out of stuf like fire emblem, bravery default, some of the eshop games, etc.

One alternative you may consider though is getting her a Wii. It's a great girlfriend console, can be purchased at less than fifty dollars almost anywhere, and most games are dirt cheap. It has animal crossing, guitar hero, dance games, stuf like wii sports and stuf that y'all can play together and deeper experiences she can grow into (and you will enjoy) like donkey kong country returns, Xenoblade, fire emblem, etc. definitely a cheaper route to go short term and has a lot of games girls enjoy playing.

Also, the wifi games being shut down are only for DS and Wii. 3DS games should be going online for years to come

Best of luck to you!

you still mad at me?

newbs of a feather i guess.

cancer oMg