The Nintendo 3DS Is Still The Best Travelling Companion

While I was packing my things for a long haul flight last week, I was procrastinating. I’d folded up all my clothes, that was easy enough. I’d popped a coat in despite the forecast for perfect sunshine – fortuitous, as I was caught in a brief downpour. But what about entertainment?

I packed four books, my e-ink notepad, and my headphones, but what about games? I could pop my Steam Deck in, but it would barely last the train journey to the airport, let alone the 15-hour flight plus layover times. Switch, then? Its battery is slightly better, but now I’ve finished Paper Mario, what do I want to play on it?

After scrambling through a few boxes and blowing the dust off various hidden compartments, I found what I was looking for: my Nintendo 3DS. The trusty little console was perfect for a trip like this. I speculatively pressed the power button. The console I haven’t used in years turned on, with about half of its battery remaining. The Steam Deck could never.

I spent another hour searching for a charger, and eventually popped both into my rucksack. And boy am I glad I did. Seven years after the last major release, the Nintendo 3DS is still the perfect travel companion, despite the fact that Nintendo has abandoned it.

I’ve mentioned the battery once before, but I’ll do it again. This bad boy lasts for hours. And not just the single-figure amount that modern handhelds hold out for, dozens of them! I powered through most of Johto on a single charge, keeping myself sane while trapped between two strangers in the dreaded middle seating section of the aeroplane.

I did other things as well as play the 3DS – read my books, watched Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning on the person in front of me’s screen (they could have at least put subtitles on), wrote a blog about plane food – but my gaming time was spent drenched in nostalgia.

That’s another great thing about the 3DS: it was the console I grew up with. My first console was the Game Boy Advance, followed by a slew of handhelds that I each traded in for the next new thing. Nintendo DS, DSi, PSP, 3DS. Then I went back and got a GBA SP for some reason, at around the same time my family got a Wii. Later, I got an Xbox 360. I was a handheld kid until this point, and three generations of DSes sculpted my childhood.

There’s something so comforting about relaxing into an old favourite. If I’d taken my Steam Deck on this plane, I’d have analysis paralysis when faced with my entire Steam library. It’s a first-world problem, sure, but I spend as much time scrolling through menus as I do playing the games I eventually choose. And if I wanted to replay a game from 2009, I’d definitely feel bad about not tackling my backlog instead. Animal Well is right there, Ben. What about Mullet Mad Jack, Ben? You promised you’d finish 1000xResist, Ben. There aren’t any new games for the 3DS. It’s guilt-free gaming. And it’s glorious.

Nintendo also perfected its design philosophy with the 3DS. While it had some bangers before (GameCube, I will always love you), and the Switch’s core premise of docked-or-portable is incredibly clever, nothing beats the snap of the 3DS’ clamshell. A step-up in aesthetics from the original DS and without the weird chalky texture of the DSi (what was that about?), the 3DS represents portable perfection.

Whenever I watch The Departed, I want a flip phone again. I’m too attached to WhatsApp and Google Maps to make that happen, but the 3DS scratches the same nostalgic itch for old tech. When I’m finished gaming, I can gently close the lid to protect the screens, even suspending the software as I do so to conserve battery while the console remains turned on. On the other hand, when Whitney’s Miltank crits my Croconaw, I can slam the lid in frustration.

After that, it slips into your pocket with ease. It’s small enough to fit in a standard pair of jeans, but not so small that you worry about losing or breaking it (looking at you, Playdate). In fairness, the baggy jorts I tend to wear could probably fit a Steam Deck in their pocket, but for those of you with more conventional fashion tastes, the 3DS will do for you, too.

The 3DS has form and function. It’s got a fantastic roster of games and the battery life to play them all on a plane across the world. It’s the blast of nostalgia you need every so often to make you remember where you came from, and appreciate what we have now. This is a relic of a time before you could play Elden Ring in the car. I know you can emulate Pokemon SoulSilver on the Steam Deck, or even on your phone and have a similar experience. But it’s not the same. And I wouldn’t play retro games any other way.

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Modern Consoles Could Learn A Lot From The Nintendo DS

I’ve been playing my 3DS again, while my Steam Deck gathers dust