Ok, so I already have a great New 3DS XL, and have had it for years, it's hacked out and has all my favorite games (that it can play) on the device. So there is no good reason why I should want a New 2DS XL, especially since it's a bit of a downgrade by lacking the 3D effect. Yet, for what I want, the 3D effect would be fairly limited in it's viability as it is. I think that part of what makes me want these devices are Nintendo's official Game and Watch Mario and Zelda releases. These devices are very cool, albeit very niche, but I love how they're themed and focused on one thing and they do it well. With that in mind, I started to wonder if I could make my own kind of themed device, so I looked to find the best looking themed 3DS devices, and noted that the devices really started to get the best most elaborate themed versions at the end of the life of the 3DS, when the Switch was already here, I'm talking 3DS variants that were more than just a picture painted on the device, I mean the ones that had depth and texture, there weren't many, and as far as I can tell it was only the New 2DS XL that received these variants:
There was the Dragon Quest version, a Minecraft version, a rather boring looking Animal Crossing version, a Zelda version, and 2 Pokemon versions in this style: a Pikachu one, and a Pokeball one as seen below. These all look pretty great in their own right, but the two best looking ones in my opinion were the Zelda Hylian Shield version:
And the Pokeball version:
In my opinion these are among the (physically) best looking devices Nintendo has ever released. The others in these styles are fine, but not as nice as these, plus for what I want to do here, there wouldn't be much content to put in a Dragon Quest, Animal Crossing, or Minecraft themed device.
Now, the plan would be, take either the Zelda or Pokemon device, mod them out, give the Zelda 2DS a a Zelda themed boot animation, 10 of the best Zelda home menu themes to cycle through, and fill it up with all playable Zelda games on the device, plus a bunch of Zelda themed badges to make the menu look all the more satisfying. Likewise, the Pokeball 2DS would be given a Pokemon themed boot animation, 10 of the best Pokemon home menu themes to cycle through, and fill it up with all playable Pokemon games on the device (there are a lot!!), and then a bunch of Pokemon badges to make the menu look all the more satisfying. There would be nothing but Zelda and Pokemon content on each device respectively, with the exception of maybe including Sm4sh on each one as well considering how it has it's fair share of Zelda and Pokemon content.
This would really put those little Game & Watch devices to shame (not that Nintendo is making those things to be loaded with so much content, but still, these could be really cool collectibles in the right hands). I suppose it would be important as well to have a DS flash card in each device so that you could make forwarder channels for the Zelda and Pokemon DS games so they can all be on the menu and accessible without having to change any cartridges or anything like that. But yeah, let's look at all the content you could fill on each device:
For the Zelda Device:
Zelda
Zelda II
A Link to the Past
Link's Awakening DX
Oracle of Ages
Oracle of Seasons
Minish Cap
4 Swords Anniversary Edition
Phantom Hourglass
Spirit Tracks
Ocarina of Time 3D
Majora's Mask 3D (silly to have 3D as part of their title on a 2DS, but alas)
A Link Between Worlds
Triforce Heroes
Hyrule Warriors Legends
and again, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
16 titles would make up this New 2DS's library. (Actually could make it 18 by adding both Tingle games too.) Place it on a custom stand like this and you've got yourself a really cool Zelda collectible in my opinion:
Problem is, the Hylian Shield New 2DS had quite the limited run, and finding a decent US version cost more than a Switch OLED model at least, with $400 seeming to be the minimum I find them going for.
Looking at playable Pokemon games on a New 2DS is a huge list. Take a look at what could populate this kind of device:
Red/Blue/Yellow
Gold/Silver/Crystal
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Pearl/Diamond/Platinum
Black/White
Black 2/White 2
X/Y
Sun/Moon
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
Fire Red/Leaf Green
Heart Gold/Soul Silver
Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby
Pinball
Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
Trading Card Game
Trading Card Game 2: The Invastion of Team GR! (full english fan translation)
Puzzle Challenge
Picross (Unreleased full english fan translated GBC game)
Dash
Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team/Blue Rescue Team
Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky
Mystery Dungeon Gates to Infinity
Super Mystery Dungeon
Ranger
Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Ranger: Guardian Signs
Conquest
Detective Pikachu
Rumble Blast
Rumble World
Trozei
Battle Trozei
Shuffle
Picross (3DS version)
Art Academy
Typing Adventure (if played through a flashcard, i believe you'd be limited to playing on the touchscreen controls only since the bluetooth to connect to a keyboard is built into the game's cart)
Dream Radar
Pokedex 3D Pro
Transporter
Bank
and again, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
By my count, that's exactly 60 individual English Pokemon games and apps that could be played on any 3DS. In Japan there would be a few more games like the DS How to Play the Card Game game, The Thieves and the 1000 Pokemon, and Pokemon Tretta Lab (though I'm unsure if that accessory for Tretta would fit a New 2DS XL, but I digress), but since I don't speak Japanese, these games would not make the cut for my device.
Technically there are the GBA video carts of Pokemon episodes too, but I'm not sure if those work injected into GBA VC titles or not, and regardless they are low quality. You'd be better off using the video player homebrew app, and taking all your favorite Pokemon anime, movies, etc and putting them in there, if you want such kinds of video content in there. It would be pretty cool to get the best of the movies, as well as Pokemon Origins, Generations, Twilight Wings, Evolutions, and some of the best episodes of the standard Anime as well in there just to really round out the theme of the device.
I'm not seeing quite as cool stands for the Pokeball 2DS, but this one isn't half bad at all, load up this thing with all those Pokemon games, and then put it on a stand like this, and *chef's kiss* you have yourself a brilliant Pokemon Collectible:
Again though, these systems have gone up in price. I can find Japanese versions of the systems for pretty affordable prices, like I've found the Pokeball New 2DS LL for $150 buy now with no shipping cost on ebay, that's really not bad, but as soon as you look for an NA version, the price goes up a bit, typically selling for no less than $300. Now I know you can region change a 3DS/2DS after modding, but from what I've read, it can be a bit of a headache, so I'm not sure I want to buy a Japanese version and then make it NA, but I certainly don't want to pay much more than $150 for something like this especially when I already own a N3DXL and don't actually need either of these in any way.
Of course, that's just official titles, you could load up either device with the best rom hacks for their respective series. Like I'd definitely consider putting Pokemon Prism, Ash Grey, and Crystal Clear, as well as the helpful homebrew app PKSM on the Pokemon 2DS, but I think I'd want to limit hacks and homebrew to only the best of the best. Too much of that stuff would take away from the integrity of the system.
I suppose for now, these will just be something I'll keep an eye out for good prices for, I probably wont find any, but you never know. And it's fun to have kinda a quest in life, however manufactured the stakes might be lol.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I totally forgot, I could add the Pokemon Mini emulator for 3DS to the system as well. Man, the more I think about this, the more I'm wanting to make the Pokemon one a reality, which is kinda funny, cuz I started only wanting to do the Zelda one, but this Pokemon one has really got me excited.
There was the Dragon Quest version, a Minecraft version, a rather boring looking Animal Crossing version, a Zelda version, and 2 Pokemon versions in this style: a Pikachu one, and a Pokeball one as seen below. These all look pretty great in their own right, but the two best looking ones in my opinion were the Zelda Hylian Shield version:
And the Pokeball version:
In my opinion these are among the (physically) best looking devices Nintendo has ever released. The others in these styles are fine, but not as nice as these, plus for what I want to do here, there wouldn't be much content to put in a Dragon Quest, Animal Crossing, or Minecraft themed device.
Now, the plan would be, take either the Zelda or Pokemon device, mod them out, give the Zelda 2DS a a Zelda themed boot animation, 10 of the best Zelda home menu themes to cycle through, and fill it up with all playable Zelda games on the device, plus a bunch of Zelda themed badges to make the menu look all the more satisfying. Likewise, the Pokeball 2DS would be given a Pokemon themed boot animation, 10 of the best Pokemon home menu themes to cycle through, and fill it up with all playable Pokemon games on the device (there are a lot!!), and then a bunch of Pokemon badges to make the menu look all the more satisfying. There would be nothing but Zelda and Pokemon content on each device respectively, with the exception of maybe including Sm4sh on each one as well considering how it has it's fair share of Zelda and Pokemon content.
This would really put those little Game & Watch devices to shame (not that Nintendo is making those things to be loaded with so much content, but still, these could be really cool collectibles in the right hands). I suppose it would be important as well to have a DS flash card in each device so that you could make forwarder channels for the Zelda and Pokemon DS games so they can all be on the menu and accessible without having to change any cartridges or anything like that. But yeah, let's look at all the content you could fill on each device:
For the Zelda Device:
Zelda
Zelda II
A Link to the Past
Link's Awakening DX
Oracle of Ages
Oracle of Seasons
Minish Cap
4 Swords Anniversary Edition
Phantom Hourglass
Spirit Tracks
Ocarina of Time 3D
Majora's Mask 3D (silly to have 3D as part of their title on a 2DS, but alas)
A Link Between Worlds
Triforce Heroes
Hyrule Warriors Legends
and again, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
16 titles would make up this New 2DS's library. (Actually could make it 18 by adding both Tingle games too.) Place it on a custom stand like this and you've got yourself a really cool Zelda collectible in my opinion:
Problem is, the Hylian Shield New 2DS had quite the limited run, and finding a decent US version cost more than a Switch OLED model at least, with $400 seeming to be the minimum I find them going for.
Looking at playable Pokemon games on a New 2DS is a huge list. Take a look at what could populate this kind of device:
Red/Blue/Yellow
Gold/Silver/Crystal
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Pearl/Diamond/Platinum
Black/White
Black 2/White 2
X/Y
Sun/Moon
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
Fire Red/Leaf Green
Heart Gold/Soul Silver
Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby
Pinball
Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
Trading Card Game
Trading Card Game 2: The Invastion of Team GR! (full english fan translation)
Puzzle Challenge
Picross (Unreleased full english fan translated GBC game)
Dash
Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team/Blue Rescue Team
Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky
Mystery Dungeon Gates to Infinity
Super Mystery Dungeon
Ranger
Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Ranger: Guardian Signs
Conquest
Detective Pikachu
Rumble Blast
Rumble World
Trozei
Battle Trozei
Shuffle
Picross (3DS version)
Art Academy
Typing Adventure (if played through a flashcard, i believe you'd be limited to playing on the touchscreen controls only since the bluetooth to connect to a keyboard is built into the game's cart)
Dream Radar
Pokedex 3D Pro
Transporter
Bank
and again, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
By my count, that's exactly 60 individual English Pokemon games and apps that could be played on any 3DS. In Japan there would be a few more games like the DS How to Play the Card Game game, The Thieves and the 1000 Pokemon, and Pokemon Tretta Lab (though I'm unsure if that accessory for Tretta would fit a New 2DS XL, but I digress), but since I don't speak Japanese, these games would not make the cut for my device.
Technically there are the GBA video carts of Pokemon episodes too, but I'm not sure if those work injected into GBA VC titles or not, and regardless they are low quality. You'd be better off using the video player homebrew app, and taking all your favorite Pokemon anime, movies, etc and putting them in there, if you want such kinds of video content in there. It would be pretty cool to get the best of the movies, as well as Pokemon Origins, Generations, Twilight Wings, Evolutions, and some of the best episodes of the standard Anime as well in there just to really round out the theme of the device.
I'm not seeing quite as cool stands for the Pokeball 2DS, but this one isn't half bad at all, load up this thing with all those Pokemon games, and then put it on a stand like this, and *chef's kiss* you have yourself a brilliant Pokemon Collectible:
Again though, these systems have gone up in price. I can find Japanese versions of the systems for pretty affordable prices, like I've found the Pokeball New 2DS LL for $150 buy now with no shipping cost on ebay, that's really not bad, but as soon as you look for an NA version, the price goes up a bit, typically selling for no less than $300. Now I know you can region change a 3DS/2DS after modding, but from what I've read, it can be a bit of a headache, so I'm not sure I want to buy a Japanese version and then make it NA, but I certainly don't want to pay much more than $150 for something like this especially when I already own a N3DXL and don't actually need either of these in any way.
Of course, that's just official titles, you could load up either device with the best rom hacks for their respective series. Like I'd definitely consider putting Pokemon Prism, Ash Grey, and Crystal Clear, as well as the helpful homebrew app PKSM on the Pokemon 2DS, but I think I'd want to limit hacks and homebrew to only the best of the best. Too much of that stuff would take away from the integrity of the system.
I suppose for now, these will just be something I'll keep an eye out for good prices for, I probably wont find any, but you never know. And it's fun to have kinda a quest in life, however manufactured the stakes might be lol.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I totally forgot, I could add the Pokemon Mini emulator for 3DS to the system as well. Man, the more I think about this, the more I'm wanting to make the Pokemon one a reality, which is kinda funny, cuz I started only wanting to do the Zelda one, but this Pokemon one has really got me excited.
