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So..........now that I am working FI-FO (fly-in, fly-out) job, I am spending a lot of time cramped in a plane, like 12-15 hrs single flight long............

Looking for something to past the time.  I am a ChronoTrigger & Final Fantasy fan.  I see I can buy Chrono for the DS online still as well as FF4.  I also would like to get FF1 in the final fantasy origins pack for GBA.

Questions, from what I read, GBA games can plug into a GBA.  I was thinking of getting a DS2 since it can play DS games, but is it possible to play GBA games on it??  If not maybe just get an old DS?  Or maybe a PSP might be a better way to go??

Never owned or used any of these, so just looking for some general feedback.

Thanks

Seems like there's some model confusion here.

The "DS" family is split into the original DS (without any suffix), DS Lite, and the DSi + its XL variant.

The "3DS" family has the original 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS, and then New 3DS and New 3DS XL.

The original DS and DS Lite can play GBA games in addition to DS games, but cannot make use of DSi-enhanced software's enhancements (the only thing this really matters is for Pokémon Black/White 1 and 2)

The DSi models drops the GBA slot. None of the 3DS family systems (including 2DS) has a GBA slot.

The 3DS family can play games designed for 3DS. They have a different box art spine. The 2DS can play 3DS games.

The 3DS family cannot play GBA games outside of a select few offered via the Ambassador program which has been a long time since; it was offered as compensation for the 3DS's abrupt price slashing. You can't get it on a current system outside of a system transfer from a system that had them.

The New 3DS is a more powerful 3DS. Like the PS4 Pro to the PS4, or Scorpio to the Xbox One. The CPU is significantly faster (I believe over 6x total processing power taking into account clock speeds and core count), and a massive RAM and sizable VRAM increase to make games load a lot better (more recent games run right up to RAM limits of the original 3DS that the system has to reboot into a low-memory mode; this limits OS functionality) (RAM increase also makes the web browser a lot more usable), and also improving texture resolution and the like where it makes sense. 3D display is also a lot more usable, and there's potential of getting a unit with an IPS screen (screen lottery). Still plays original DS games. SNES Virtual Console, Xenoblade Chronicles, and the Binding of Issac needs a new 3DS.

I'm assuming by DS2 you meant "2DS", and a 2DS can't play GBA games.

You should be able to safely ignore all DSi systems at this point; you're basically choosing between a DS (Lite) and any of 3DS-based systems. Decide for you which is more important, GBA slot or 3DS compatibility. Note that the 3DS screen resolution is different from a DS and it will either upscale or postage-stamp older DS games if you run DS games on a 3DS.

Why is PSP in consideration, by the way? Different library.

Battery life... you might have to contend with the last leg of your plane trip without any game, even if you run the brightness all the way down and turn on power-saving modes. Battery life ain't what it used to be, and a DS or DS Lite you might be able to get is going to be on shelves for quite a while by now, so expect non-peak condition batteries even on these systems that have long-ish battery life. If the airline consistently offers power outlets or USB charging ports, consider bringing along your system charger, or a USB-to-DSi/3DS cable. Note that the DSi and 3DS systems use a Nintendo-specific connector, while the DS (shares with GBA SP) and DS Lite (standalone) have their own separate connectors - substitute as appropriate.

Wow perfect, just the run down I was looking for thanks.

I think my bro has a ds lite, so that could be a freebie, just have to look around and scrounge up some ds and gba games and all set.  So far all the jets I have been on for the pacific flight have plugs and usb chargers also.  The PSP was mentioned basically because it had offered some of the final fantasy games I was interested in.

Thanks

The daughter's old GBA SP goes with me on every flight I take.

Maybe try building one of these?

I have a PS Vita. There are a ton of PS1 games (including every Final Fantasy from I -VII) and Chrono Trigger available as PSOne Classics. It's a nice system, maybe a little more expensive than you'd want to spend, but I like it. The PSP also plays PS One games, but it has a smaller screen and nobody makes games for it anymore.

Do not play Chrono Trigger or FF4-6 on a Sony system, the load times before each encounter are unbearable. Really affected my initial impression of FF6 too, which i played on Vita

THat said I would say the GBA version of FFV and 6 are worth grabbing, both are pretty definitive translations and of course are classic games. 

... of course FF1-7 and 9 are also available on IOS and Android 

Wikipad, Ipega controller for the Nvidia Shield, or Razer gaming tablet.

Emulate your handheld console of choice.

Chrispy_ wrote:

Wikipad, Ipega controller for the Nvidia Shield, or Razer gaming tablet.

Emulate your handheld console of choice.

A lot larger than the actual hardware, though. I'd probably prefer to keep size in check when it comes to hand-held gaming...

Then again, pretty much everything in the original DS family is really old by now, and the 3DSes don't have the best battery life or screen quality (barring getting lucky on a New 3DS, which is rather expensive just to play DS games).

Anyway, when it comes to battery life and display quality, among Nintendo systems IIRC:
Battery life: DS Lite > New 3DS XL > New 3DS ~= 3DS XL ~= DS original > 2DS > 3DS
Display quality: New 3DS XL/New 3DS (IPS) >New 3DS XL/New 3DS (non-IPS)/3DS XL > 2DS ~= 3DS > DS original (really, different screen tech there by the time you hit 2004 hardware, you'll never get good contrast) (I forgot how the DS Lite screen looks like, but it's strictly backlight-only unlike the DS original)

The tablets, no comment. Check if a tablet might be a better option, but they're bigger.

I worked FIFO for 3.5 yrs just recently. 3DS was what I played. There's a good library if you're into JRPGs at all. Between the DS Chrono Trigger masterpiece to the newer Castlevania stuff, as well as the odd Pokemon game and some of the story games like Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, as well as some great turn based RPG stuff like Fire Emblem and of course the beauty of the Zelda series.

DS Lite is the best portable nintendo system for compatibility, battery life, and screen quality. It plays all of the old nintendo games, including the old gameboy games. There are also mods for rumble, ram expansion, and emulation. Cart mods like the Supercard can emulate nes, snes, and genesis.

Jeebus wept, I feel old.

"Old School Hand Held Gaming Devices" used to mean one of these.

Darkmage wrote:

Jeebus wept, I feel old.

"Old School Hand Held Gaming Devices" used to mean one of these.

Hey, at least you didn't grow up when "hand held gaming devices" meant these.