The battery still seems OK in mine, how hard was it to swap?
Oh, not at all. It's just a fairly standard rechargeable mobile battery, sits under one of the faceplates. I was surprised how easy it was, to the point where I was almost more surprised I'd never knocked it out before by mistake whilst changing the 'plates. Of which I have several, naturally. because I'm an idiot.
(It may be more difficult on other models of DS/3DS, but I have no experience with that, and I suppose it's not relevant to you anyway.)
I have a black 3DS, and at the moment have the Xenoblade faceplate on there, which feels slightly fraudulent, as I've still never got around to playing it (or indeed them, though I hope to rectify that soon, most likely on the Switch 2), but it is gorgeous.
You have the Xenoblade cover plates?!? You know you could sell those and retire to Epstein Island.
Still the natural home for stuff like The World Ends With You, Ghost Trick, the Ace Attorney series, the Zero Escape games, and so many others, too.
I have a new3DS too, and adore the thing, even if I do frequently go ages without getting it out lately. I'm on about the fourth case of the Phoenix Wright, and should really make sure I play all the SMTs before it has a chance to die properly - I already replaced the battery - and I have to either lose it all or bankrupt myself trying to get a decently-priced replacement.
The battery still seems OK in mine, how hard was it to swap?
I assume this is the official 3DS thread. I picked up a new3DS (smaller one) as I gave my original to the kids long ago and it has vanished. I've ordered a grip and also some swanky faceplates (which must be knock offs, as they were so cheap on eBay). It's also modded, and stuffed full of "stuff". I'd feel dirty about it, but I bought enough Nintendo games in my time and have enough of their consoles.
So far, apart from the fact holding it until the grip arrives is giving me RSI, as Gar said a while back it's a great console. I'd been working through a list of the top 200 3DS games, and a surprising number of them still really hold up, in part due to the 3D screen, but also because of clever use of the two screens (or just gameplay first, rather than graphics). While it's archaic tech by today's standards, I have been surprised at the framerate and quality of some of the games. Like, this sounds ridiculous, but the EA F1 game from 2011, although quite hard to play because of how grainy it is, still actually looks startlingly good. Super Streetfighter 6 is also something of a technical triumph. Mario Kart 7 is great too - I forgot it had the gliders and turbo mechanics (I thought that was introduced in 8), still a hoot to play on the higher cc classes. I think I might give Persona Q a playthrough as I had been half enjoying Etrian Odyssey on the DSi, and I think that with a Persona skin could be quite entertaining.
And yes, I also modded my DSi, which gives me a flavour of whether I want a new 3DS XL, and I'm not sure. It's certainly more legible to my aging eyes, but you do sacrifice a lot of pocket portability.
Absolute elephant in the room energy.
I played a Hitman game! Absolution I think it was. Everything looked very 2012 (bloom lighting ahoy) but it was fun. For a bit. Then I got bored and started shooting everyone like Gears of War. It is actually quite a good cover shooter.
Not for me, but then I play Dishonored like an absolute psychopath and don't really like stealth titles as a rule.
cavalcade