Nintendo 3DS

First, we must time travel back...back...all the way to 2005, when young Harmony first got a Nintendo DS. That's right, I started out with the original. Silver, chunky, made out of Nintendium: the brick. And it was revolutionary. A touch screen! A backlight! When I first got my DS, I don't think I even had any games, and I was still mindblown! (Sidebar: I used Pictochat to emotionally deal with not owning Nintendogs by drawing dogs and then drawing and erasing bubbles on them to simulate the bathing minigame. Anyway, eventually I came to own a copy of Nintendogs, but that memory still sticks out in my mind) I remember playing hours upon hours of Nintendogs and Animal Crossing: Wild World.

I fell out of playing with the DS for a while when I discovered Kingdom Hearts on the PS2, but found myself coming back around to it in 2014, when Pokemon XY was released. I received a pink and white 3DS XL for Christmas and immediately fell into the world of handheld gaming again. I picked up Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate around this time and have been a die-hard MH fan ever since. MH4U changed my brain chemistry. I had never so fiercely loved and grinded for a game before.

Eventually, because of just how much MH4U I played, I opted to trade in my pink and white 3DS XL to upgrade to a galaxy-themed New 3DS XL at my local used video game store. In a stroke of bad luck, I moved in 2018 and a devastating hurricane flooded the room in my new apartment that contained all my physical 3DS games. Heartbroken by the loss of countless save files, I set down my 3DS and didn't pick it up again for years...

...until now. 9 years later, in a world full of mindbendingly complex PCs and Playstation 5s, I found myself bumping into 3DS content online. Since the DS e-shop shut down, people were jailbreaking their DSes, customizing them, downloading any games they wanted, creating new games altogether. Was it too good to be true? I still had my 3DS and I wanted to know. After watching enough videos on 3DS modding to convince myself I wouldn't brick my console, I tried my hand at it. And you know what? Hacking was just as easy as everyone said it was.

When it comes to modding, the most difficult part was simply unscrewing the back panel to get to the microSD card--and you don't even have to do that unless you have a New 3DS XL. The guide for hacking your 3DS is basically idiot-proof; they've accounted for any errors you could possibly come across and the site covers jailbreaking instructions for all generations of the console. All you need to do is find your software version (which the site will teach you how to do), plug it in, and follow whatever instructions come up for your console. You will need an SD or micro SD card reader, and maybe a small screwdriver.

This site is your bible. If you're a visual person, many gamers on YouTube have documented their hacking process on video and can give you a general talk-through of the process. Why should you hack your 3DS and go back to playing an old console, you may ask? What's wrong with it now? Honestly, nothing is wrong with it now. But it could be much better, and it is a rival for other more modern consoles in terms of fun (imho).

Firstly, the game library. Since the e-shop shut down, all 3DS software is considered abandonware, which means fair game for gamers! Using a special shop or 3DS app, you can download just about any 3DS, DS, GB, or GBA game from anywhere, in any language, to your DS for free. Don't worry about that pesky region lock, either; jailbreaking removes it entirely!

Secondly, the customization. There are thousands, I mean thousands, of user-made themes and badges you can use to totally customize the virtual look of your 3DS. Not to mention you can get lots of various pre-decorated cases, interchangeable 3DS shells (if you have the generation that allows this), and you can even get your own clear case and decorate it however you want. And don't forget charms! It's YOUR console and YOU get to decide what it looks like inside and out.

Finally, the 3DS is a refreshing break from modern gaming computers and consoles. If you're a PC gamer, you may know the discomfort that comes from long gaming sessions spent in your desk chair. If you're a console gamer, maybe you want a way to game without hauling your expensive console around. Maybe you're just tired of staring at 4k screens and you miss the charm, style, and personality that older games had! Good news--the 3DS has that for you in spades.

So now that you've hacked and customized your 3DS, what kind of games do you want to play on it? Here are some of my favorite games I play on my own!

• Picross - Similar to sudoku, Picross is a nonogram game where you solve puzzles to create pixel art. There are many Picross games, each with their own slight rule changes. I personally recommend the incredibly cute and highly customizable Sanrio Picross. An easy game to learn and get into, even for non-gamers. Note: Picross is highly addictive. You've been warned... :]
• Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Best in the series. All the charm of the old AC games with prettier art and quality of life improvements, but not so many QoL improvements that the game becomes frustratingly easy. If you love New Horizons but find yourself bored with it, or you're curious about all the hype surrounding ACNL, give it a shot! This is my second most played game on the 3DS.
• Pokemon - Okay, this one's a no-brainer. There are so many games in the series, and you can play quite a few of them on your console considering it can handle GBA and DS games! This past summer, I got back into Pokemon with Ultra Moon, which was just the right amount of fun versus challenging (tutorial aside, iykyk) and a very colorful, beautiful Pokemon game.
• Monster Hunter - You can play 3 Ultimate, 4 Ultimate, and Generations Ultimate all on 3DS. I started with 4U, widely regarded as the best in the series. A very grindy game series, but extremely fun with friends and these games have challenging but rewarding solo campaigns. I LOVE these games. MH4U is my number one played game on 3DS by a long shot. I only recommend it after the others because this kind of game isn't for everyone, whereas the first few examples are more general intro games.
• Tomodachi Life - A hilariously random slice-of-life game where your miis all live on the same island and go through the epic highs and lows of virtual life together. After a while, you can't grind the game so much as do dailies, but the game is a comedic masterpiece and holds a place in many fans' hearts for its wild, silly nature. I was one of many excited to hear a sequel is coming (with gay marriage!!! 🌈)
• Virtual Pets - I would be remiss not to recommend the original champ: Nintendogs. But there's more than just Nintendogs; there's a massive catalogue of virtual pet games for the 3DS. Some games have other animals, like Hamsterz Life!
• Competitive games - Games you can play with your friends, like Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, and Street Fighter! Download Play allows you to share games with other 3DS users.
• Miscellaneous - Some other games I've been playing on here that I enjoy are Puzzles & Dragon, Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn, Style Savvy, and there are some others I downloaded that I'm told are really good that I haven't opened yet... (looking at you Project Mirai DX)