Help me decide if I should buy (another) OG 3DS or New 3DS

Here's the thing: I've been itching to replace my "flame red" OG 3DS for ages now.

The main reason, of course, is that I never really wanted a red 3DS. I wanted a pink one. I won't bore you with the long-winded story about how and why I ended up with a red rather than a pink 3DS, but the gist is that I've never quite been able to quash my longing for the latter.

Another reason I want to replace my not-pink 3DS: its bottom screen features so many scratches and scuff marks--thanks to games like Maestro! Jump in Music--it's starting to drive me batty.

And then there's the fact that Nintendo just tossed the ROM for its cult-favorite SNES RPG, EarthBound onto the North American eShop--and made it only playable on New 3DS systems.

That last comment might prompt some of you to wonder why I'm asking for your advice as to whether I should buy another (this time pink) OG 3DS or one of the smaller New 3DS units. After all, if I choose the first option, I won't be able to enjoy on-the-go EarthBound in a fully legal manner.

This is true, of course, but I can't say it's done much to sway me one way or the other. I guess that's due to the "power of pink"? OK, so it's also probably due to the fact that I've grown pretty fond of the OG 3DS' design in the last few years. (I used to despise it, especially in comparison to the wonderfully sleek cases that house Nintendo's DS Lite and DSi handhelds.)

Whatever the case my be, I'm all sorts of confused about which model of 3DS I should buy in the next few days, so I'm asking for some input.

Which device would you pick up if you were in my shoes: a "pearl pink" OG 3DS or a non-XL New 3DS?

A note for the handful of people who'll care: I'm putting my #ADecadeofDS posts on the back burner for a couple of weeks

Don't worry, this doesn't mean I'm leaving my #ADecadeofDS series in the dust. On the contrary, I'm only stepping away from it for a short while so that I can spend some more time with a few of the DS games that have really struck a chord with me over the last month or two.

Specifically, I'd like to experience a bit more of what Awatama, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, My World, My Way and Okamiden have to offer.

Once that's out of the way, though, I plan to jump back into the fray by playing Contact, Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits, Pac-Pix and a whole slew of other intriguing DS games.

In the meantime, you may want to read through the #ADecadeofDS posts I've already published--about games like Awatama, Catch! Touch! Yoshi!, Chocobo Tales, Maestro! Jump in Music, Okamiden, Pop Cutie! Street Fashion Simulation, Taiko no Tatsujin DS and Zombie Daisuki.

Just in case you haven't seen enough game and system photos as of late...

Please accept my apologies for the recent deluge of "photo posts." I'm a busy and stressed guy at the moment, and this is the easiest way for me to keep this blog up to date while also dealing with all of the stuff in my life that actually pays the bills.

Don't worry, though, I'll soon--as in, later this week--begin a month-long break from the certificate program that's been eating into my free time, and that will make playing and writing about games a lot easier (not to mention more enjoyable).

In the meantime, why not take a gander at the following photos, a few of which were published to my Flickr photostream in recent weeks, one of which was published to my Instagram account during the same timeframe and the rest of which have yet to be published anywhere.

The photo above was taken around the time I wrote my last "A Decade of DS" post, naturally. And, yes, I bought the European version of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales because I prefer its more minimalistic cover art to what the designers at Square Enix concocted for the North American release of the game. 

This photo, on the other hand, was taken shortly after I received my copy of Koei's Pop Cutie! Street Fashion Simulation and before I began playing it (for another of my recent "A Decade of DS" posts).

You may remember that I mentioned in my last post--about the beautiful light pink and white Vita that arrived on my doorstep just over a week ago--that I've already bought a retail Vita game, with the game in question being the original Danganronpa.

Why did I sit my copy of Danganronpa on top of my copy of Catch! Touch! Yoshi! for Nintendo DS? Because I wanted to show just how small the boxes of Vita games are--a fact that quite honestly shocked me during my first run-in with NIS America's highly acclaimed title.

In yet another recently published post, I blathered on about the Hobonichi Techo I picked up after landing my new-as-of-six-weeks-ago job. Although I included a whole bunch of photos in that post, I didn't include the one seen above, which showcases both the "Onett" (yes, of Mother 2 and EarthBound fame) cover and the Mr. Saturn pencil board I bought alongside this Japanese planner.

My "A Decade of DS" post about Maestro! Jump in Music may not have been as joyous as I expected it to be (before I actually played the game), but it still produced the snapshot shown above, which I originally shared with the world via Instagram.



Finally, this photo was nabbed shortly after my pal, Jess, bought and sent me the sparkly purple PSP-3000--more of that story can be read here--that seems to be itching to launch the wondrous Qix clone (kind of, but not really) that's known outside of Japan as Patchwork Heroes.

Did any of these photos stand out for you in particular? If so, why? Also, if you have a Flickr or Instagram or similar account that often highlights photos of games or systems, please let me know about it in the comments section below.

#ADecadeofDS: Maestro! Jump in Music

Amount of time devoted to this game in the last week--One hour, 38 minutes.

Most recent boss toppled, location reached or milestone achieved--I finished all 24 of the game's stages (each of which is backed by a different tune, from "ABC" to Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5") at least once, but only on the "easy" difficulty level.

Overall comments on the experience--If I were forced to sum up my impressions of this import-only music game in just one word, the word I'd choose would be "sigh."

That's because Maestro! Jump in Music has so many things going for it--the most noteworthy being its Disney-esque art style, which loses nothing in its translation to the DS' low-res screens, and its admirably diverse soundtrack--yet a few flubs keep it from being the thoroughly enjoyable experience it really should be. Even worse, these missteps actually make the game kind of frustrating--to the point that I'm not sure I'll spend as much time playing this one as I imagined I would before I bought it.

The main misstep, in my opinion: the touch-screen-centric gameplay (the pink bird shown on the cover art above walks from left to right across the screen, which is made up of a series of strings, and you "pluck" them along with music to make him jump, nab items and the like) on offer here isn't always the most responsive.

Actually, it's responsive enough when there aren't a ton of strings to pluck, items to grab or baddies to tap, but when things speed up or the screen becomes too densely packed, things deteriorate pretty rapidly. (As in, it becomes seemingly impossible to do everything you need to do to perfect, and sometimes just to complete, a particular level.)

Another of Maestro's missteps: for me, it features a few too many gameplay elements. Plucking strings so your feathered friend can nab items or change paths is fun, as is tapping certain enemies along with the beat (Taiko no Tatsujin-style, basically), but some of the other elements are far less so.

Specifically, near the end of the game, there are stages (or portions of stages) during which you have to repeatedly strum (rub) a number of strings, while in other stages you have to make continuous circular motions with your stylus--and neither activity ends up being very enjoyable or effective.

That said, the Simon Says-ish boss battles that pop up every fourth stage are a real breath of fresh air and rarely frustrate or annoy, so you'll always have those to look forward to (even if some of the levels that precede them don't enamor you).

Will I continue to play this game in the coming days, weeks and maybe even months?--I'll likely come back to it every now and then so I can experience some of my favorite stages a second, third or even fourth time, but other stages I'll avoid like the plague from here on out--which means I'll probably never play through the entire game again. Which is too bad, as it's a top-notch product in almost every way and it really should have been a much more enticing experience than it has been so far.

Do I recommend it to others?--Considering complete-in-box copies are somewhat pricey, and not all that easy to find outside of Europe (the only region that earned a physical release of the game, I believe), and considering playing it is a hit-and-miss affair, I don't think I would, unfortunately. If you tend to go totally bonkers for music or rhythm games, though, it may still be worth your while.

Next up--Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales

See also: previous 'A Decade of DS' posts

One more game I'll be buying after I (finally) get a Vita: Pix the Cat

I've been aware of this digital PS4 and Vita title for a couple of weeks now, and every time I think of it, I want it--and a system that will allow me to play it--a little more than I wanted it the last time it popped into my head.

Why is that? For starters, Pix the Cat was made by the crew at Paris-based Pastagames, whose past products include one of my favorite XBLIG titles, Arkedo Series: 03 Pixel, as well as the superb (and sadly under-appreciated) DS gem, Maestro! Jump in Music.

Also, there's the following trailer:



NeoGAF user Sir TapTap recently described Pix the Cat as being akin to Pac-Man ChuChu Snake Rocket Championship Edition DX+--or a mash-up of the ancient Snake game, Pac-Man Championship Edition and Sega's ChuChu Rocket!--which of course makes me want it even more.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely I'll be able to buy this game--or, for that matter, a Vita--until the end of the year. In the meantime, I guess I'll have to continue lusting after the trailer above and poring over Tiny Cartridge's recent write-up of the title.

All I want after Christmas is ...

One of my blogging buds, Minee, recently published her holiday wish list on her site, Vast Sea of Games, and then asked her readers to share theirs in its comments section. I liked the idea and thought it might be nice to do something similar here--and then I realized I'm not really asking for anything gaming-related for Christmas.

I'm sure that sounds kind of strange given my usual proclivities, but there's a good reason for it: the only people in my life who give me Christmas presents at this point are my parents, and they tend to give me (along with my brother and our spouses) small gifts and a nice amount of cash rather than larger gifts such as game systems and the like.

Will I be buying any systems or games with this impending holiday haul? Of course! In fact, I've already got my eyes on a few potential purchases, including the following:

Zoo Keeper 3D--I have a feeling I'm a member of a very small (and, let's face it, very odd) club of gamers thanks to my interest in this Japan-only 3DS title. What can I say? I love the GameBoy Advance version of the game (called Zooo, strangely enough) and also quite like the DS iteration, so I'd like to try this one, too.

Possibly one or more import-only DS games--Which ones, you ask? 7th Dragon (above) is one. Nora to Koku no Koubou: Kiri no Mori no Majo (aka Noora and the Time Studio: The Witch of the Misty Forest) is another. Oh, and Maestro! Jump in Music, too--which is a Europe-only DS release, strangely enough.

Definitely an obscure GameBoy title or two--In fact, it's extremely possible I'll forego all of the above and blow my entire wad on obscure (and mostly Japanese) GameBoy titles, like the one pictured above. That is how obsessed I am with this 24-year-old handheld at the moment.

Although there's a chance I'll spend my Christmas cash on something else--don't be too shocked if a Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color or PSP game enter the fray, for example--the best bet is that you'll see a few posts focused on one or more of the above once the holidays are over.

Now that I've had my say, what gaming-related presents are all of you hoping to receive from your loved ones (or, like me, buy for yourself) this gift-giving season?