PSP Vita or Nintendo 3dsXL?

[saint]

My daughter likes Skyrim, Batman Arkham City/Asylum, and Dance Central. With those kinds of gaming tastes, will she be happier with a Vita or a 3DSxl? Any thoughts?

[ark_ader]

Neither, gaming for kids should be social and kept to one or two hours a day. Handhelds have a short attention capacity.

Fine if you are an adult with time and money to waste, handhelds are great ( I have several), but with current portable game pricing matching their console counterparts, it seems more sensible to purchase a PSP slim and capitalize on the second hand game market.  Your dollar will go further.

The hardware is fantastic,( I'm looking at getting a Vita for my PS3) it is the software that is disappointing.

[edekoning]

You buy the 3DS for Nintendo games (read Mario/Zelda), all the other games are generally really bad. The XL upgrade is totally worth it!

The Vita is a great piece of hardware and would be better suited to you're daughter tastes. However the current software lineup is still pretty disappointing. you should at least check if there are 2/3 games that she will want to play/own. Also note that the Vita is more expensive as you have to buy these ridiculous overprices memory cards.

Check on www.metacritic.com/game or www.gamerankings.com/ to get an overview of the top games for each platform.

p.s.: My son has a 3DS XL (with the 3D turned off), because he is a huge Mario fan. I would like to buy a Vita, but I'm still not exited about the software.

[GibsonRiddler]

Go with Nintendo. The Vita is a nice piece of hardware, but still not alot of software support.

The 3ds also has a ton of RPG's which should make your daughter happy if she is a Skyrim fan. You
should be able to pick up several games cheap with the used market.

3ds also uses SD cards for saves and downloads. Sony uses its own card which is about another 100
if you want anything with space on it.

[mathdufort]

Hi Saint,

I have both and the WOW factor is bigger with the 3DS, the 3D is really great, if you don't move your head too much or the 3DS while playing.  The Vita has a gorgeous screen and great controls, top notch quality.

As for the games, I would say it's the usual, 3DS is more kid-focused, with games like Mario, Zelda, etc.  And what I find funny is the fact that everybody was saying a year ago that Nintendo 3DS didn't had worthwhile games.  Then Mario came out and BAM everyone said that 3DS had TONS of great games...  but in fact there's just a couple of really great games and a bunch of 3D remakes of old games.

PSVita on the other hand has also just a couple of great games but with the tastes of your daugther in games I would say this is the one to get.  Assassin's Creed III Liberation, Killzone, Persona 4, Uncharted... plus all the PS1 classic you can buy (they are not all available for the Vita though...).

Don't start any flame war here cause I really like both handhelds but I think Vita would better suit your daughter.

[wp34]

My daughter is saving her money to buy a 3DSxl just so she can play the new Animal Crossing.

My daughter likes Skyrim, Batman Arkham City/Asylum, and Dance Central. With those kinds of gaming tastes, will she be happier with a Vita or a 3DSxl? Any thoughts?

[SithMaster]

Saint a psp vita is only 180 right now at amazon for the assassin's creed liberation bundle if that helps makes things harder to decide.

[matt4949]

Both of my younger children have the Nintendos. Girl 10 and boy 8. One of the best investments I've ever made. Lots of games and easy setup. She loves the Hatena app and he even dropped his in the toilet. After removing the battery and placing in a bag of rice for a few days it has worked great for months now. Also locally on Craigslist someone sells a 300 in one game card for $50. He actually sells 5 or 6 different ones. I bought 2 in september and neither child has asked for a new game since.

[Dervacumen]

... after placing in a bag of rice for a few days it has worked great for months now.

Nice tip there.