Nintendo 2DS - Crimson Red

I bought this for my 9 year old's birthday. He has autism and sensory issues and cannot handle 3D (he gets motion sickness). I had been holding off on buying him a handheld Nintendo device because the 3D would be worthless for him and I didn't want to spend the money for it. The 2DS has been perfect. He can play all the 3DS games without having a 3DS system. It comes preloaded with a few fun games that he thinks are great. Love the Nintendo store where we can spend small amounts on indy type games instead of the full $40 for an actual 3DS game. I also like that this is NOT a hinged device. One less thing to break! Though the device seems very tough, I do hope Nintendo will come out some sort of rubberized case for this just in case. Overall very happy with this purchase.

We bought this for my daughter's 6th birthday and as her first DS. I like it because it doesn't have to be opened and closed, thus less wear and tear on the device itself. I like that it can play any game, including 3DS games, but I wish it came in more colors besides jut red and blue - perhaps girl colors: purple, pink, etc . . .

This is a tougher version of the 3DS without the gimmicky "3d". Just what we wanted. I bought it for my 3yo son for Christmas. (as well as old dad here) and we both really enjoy it. He loves playing his Lego Marvel superheroes game on it and I enjoy Paper Mario and am looking at others. I do however see a point in which the next gen of handhelds for Nintendo are going to have to up the ante. With phones becoming game machines more and more, and the PS Vita being a powerhouse, the 3/2DS doesnt have much to offer beyond the great exclusive titles for it. Next gen they will have to ramp it up. Touch screen isnt a novelty anymore, but the fun library that the 3/2DS has is more than enough reason to own one. Add to that the fact it was only $120 new, and im sold! As a 'serious' gamer for the last 27 years (im 32) I highly recommend it!

It is a fun and educational handheld video game system. Besides playing games, you can take pictures, doodle and write in a journal. Purchased for my daughter's 11th birthday and she loves it! She has recommended it to a few of her close friends!

I wanted the 2DS because it is cheaper than the 3D plus I heard from college friends that the 3D gives you a headache. My friends often turn the 3D off (those who have the 3D version) to avoid headaches. I also like that the 2DS does not fold shut.

The best thing is that you can play any nintendo ds/3ds games without the need of the 3d, which I dont like. It has all the options/ features from the 3ds

Perfect for my four year old. It doesn't have a hinge and it is sturdy. He can play all ds and 3ds games but doesn't have the 3d capability since his eyes are still developing, I am in heaven!

2ds has been working great! system came with 6.0.0-12U firmware (So you'll definitely need to update), works well with my 3ds carts, only downside is that the shipping was a day late, but still FedEX was quite fast here, so I'm not complaining. +4 stars - As advertised -1 star - 1 day late in shipping

I had recently bought a dsi xl for my 5 year old son within 4 months it was broken at the hinges. I had purchased the warranty through walmart and they replaced it within 24 hours from the time of me sending it out through fed ex. So I got him the ds 2d and it is so much stronger and better for little kids. I would recommend this ds for younger children. He loves it!

There are 3 particular aspects of the 2DS that make it best suited for kids: 1:) No Hinge 2:) 2D display (no 3D capabilities) 3:) $130 price. The lack of a hinge means that there's one less moving part that can wear down over time. Kids can use this device until they flat out break it, but there's no way they can loosen and wear down a hinge that doesn't exist. The 2D-only display is perfect for parents who are concerned that staring for prolonged periods at a 3D display will cause adverse effects on a child's vision. Note that I'm not saying whether there is a link, but if there is such a link, a display that can't do 3D would obviously be the safest approach. This machine is $130 rather than $170, so if little Jimmy accidentally steps on it, you're only out $130 instead of $40 more. The construction of the unit is sound. Your hands feel like they're in a good spot on the side of the unit when you're holding the device. There is a slider on the lower right of the unit to put it into Sleep mode, since there isn't a hinge with a sensor like there is with a 3DS unit. The Start and Select buttons are placed to the right of the bottom screen rather than beneath it. They are actual buttons with microswitches like you'd find on a 3DS XL (and NOT on a 3DS proper). There is only one speaker, to the left of the top screen, so the unit emits MONO audio by itself, but headphone/jack usage will still get you STEREO. The camera takes 3D pictures, which seems odd because the unit can't display 3D. But there you have it. The Home button is rather large, larger than the XYAB buttons in fact, and it's rubber. It's right at the bottom of the unit. It's concave (kind of like the Home button on an iPhone) so it's rather easy to press. There is NO Wireless button. You can only turn Wireless on or off in the system menu. This is a disadvantage. The SDHC slot is "protected" by a plastic hatch that pivots in and out of place (think of the center console on a lot of cars, there tend to be those hatches that swivel in and out to reveal what's underneath, that's what this is like). It's a simpler mechanism than that rubbery plastic "slider" that you'd find on a 3DS (I don't own a 3DS XL so I can't speak regarding that), and it's a definite improvement. The directional button has more travel than on a 3DS, meaning it feels spongier. The contacts are also less rigid, so the 3DS d-pad sounds "clickier" and feels so as well. Some may like the softer 2DS d-pad, some might not. The XYAB buttons are also spongier/softer and less "clicky" than on a 3DS. I think this was geared for kids, who might not have as much fine motor control, so a button or d-pad that has more travel will be more forgiving of a kid whose fingers might be more twitchy. The battery life of this machine is longer than a 3DS but shorter than the 3DS XL. This seems odd, because you'd think that not having to display 3D would put quite a spike into battery life as compared to 3DS/3DS XL units, but it doesn't. That seems strange. The screens are identical in size to the 3DS. This machine will play every 3DS game out there, and of course it can only display the game in 2D. There has been at least one 3DS game that was a puzzle game and at one point it required you to close the 3DS unit in order to solve the puzzle. This has been pointed out as a potential shortcoming of the 2DS, since it can't be closed. So, there are potential drawbacks to owning this system over a 3DS in terms of its compability, but I think the target audience is the key factor. It's probable that a kid who owns this machine wouldn't play that puzzle game since it'd be a bit over his or her head. What's the biggest disadvantage to this system, in my opinion? The look of it. It's ugly. It's a slab. It's a very comfortable slab to hold with very well-thought out ergonomics. But it's hideous. You get the choice between red or blue, but really this device is BLACK with RED or BLUE ACCENTS lol. Imagine a slice of bread. Imagine taking a marker and drawing a stripe across the middle of the slice, and then drawing over the crust. Those parts of the bread that you've drawn over are the parts of the 2DS that are red/blue, and the white part of the slice is what's black on the 2DS. Basically the "edges" of the 2DS and a single stripe across the backside of it are the only parts that are red or blue. All the rest is black. It would have been nice for the entire backside at least to be a color, but it seems like this is what Nintendo preferred for their cost-cutting. If I were getting a system for a 7-year-old kid, I'd get this one. For 10-year-old, I'd weigh in factors like how rough the kid is with toys, et cetera, before deciding between the 2DS and the 3DS. For a 12-year-old, I'd probably lean towards the 3DS, unless the kid is a maniac with toys and gadgets, heh.