3DS vs DS Lite comparisons.

Being the lucky owner of a Cosmo black DS and a black DS lite, I've decided to piece together this article comparing some different aspects of the two handheld consoles, with a focus on how DS games play on both systems lower down!

Spec Comparisons chart -

Aethestics and Size

The first thing anyone is going to notice about a new handheld device is the aesthetics and ergonomics.
The 3DS and DS Lite are very similar in all dimensions and weight, so it's nice that Nintendo have managed to cram the beefed up specs, new control methods and the larger 3D Screen into something with the same design as the DS Lite.

Both Nintendo portables are very pleasing to the eye and a glossy fingerprint-magnet black surrounds both devices. Though the texture/colouring of the blacks does differ.

The DS lite just has the plain glossy black coating on the outside of screens/unit. While the 3DS has a metallic black finish to it with a gradient leaning into a darker grey. The bottom of the unit is a dark metallic grey/brown.

The inside of the DS lite is a non-shiny matte black; the inside of the 3DS is glossy black around the top screen and glossy metallic black around the bottom screen.

There is a small difference on the edge of the case design of the two products: The DS lite's top half is rounded at the edges on the outside. However the 3DS's edges slant down at an angle leaving a more protruding edge to 3DS.

Cosmo Black 3DS

Black DS Lite

                                                  Black DS Lite                Cosmo Black 3DS 

Ergonimics and differences in button locations

Both systems play and hold in the same fashion with similar but not identical controls and button placement. The dpad on the 3DS  lies a little more south than the DS Lite due to the extra analogue slider pad, this can mean using the Dpad takes a little getting used to if you still require the use of the L shoulder button as it's more of a stretch than you might be used to.
The shoulder buttons are a little shorter and thinner on the 3DS and have a metallic feel to them, the DS Lite's shoulder buttons are just matte black and plasticy. 

There other differences on the machine include button placement such as the start/select buttons moving from below the ABXY buttons to a row of buttons below the touchscreen on the 3DS. 

The volume slider is now on the left of the machine instead of the bottom.

The stylus is on the back of the unit instead of the side, like the original DS Phat's location.

The power button instead of being a slider on the side of the unit is now where the start/select buttons were.

Despite these minor changes the 3DS still feels and plays like a DS Lite, at a messily 12g heavier it's not even really noticeable as to which console weighs more.

Playing DS Games on 3DS

In a typical Nintendo Fashion the 3DS is backwards compatible and able to play DS Games, however the 3DS won't play a handful of DS games that required the GBA Slot for accessories such as the Guitar hero game and it's plug in Guitar fretboard.
Both consoles control the same although the 3DS has the advantage of the slider pad which works on all DS games. It's still just digital though as it's just replicating the Dpad directions so there isn't any difference in how fast you turn or run in games no matter how hard you push on the slider. It definately makes a difference in games like Super Mario 64 though. I found it much easier to play that game on the 3DS thanks to the slider pad!

The only significant difference between the two machines running DS titles that I've found is the start up times.

I've done a speed test of the same game to see the difference in boot times, from the console being off to the main menu.

Game: Mario Kart DS

DS lite: 12 seconds to main menu, 26 seconds to race countdown

3DS: 22 seconds to main menu, 36 seconds to race countdown

The 3DS took an extra couple of seconds to get to the home screen and then took an extra 8 seconds or so to load Mario kart to it's main menu. It would that the initial start up time is a bit longer but then the games run identically once actually running. From the main menu I rapidly pressed A on both units and both got to the race countdown at exactly the same time. If you can bear with the slower start up the games run exactly as fast as on the DS Lite.

DS Gameplay: Visuals & Sound

I've seen a few people accounting for DS games not looking so pretty on 3DS due to it scaling them to fit the higher resolution screens. I can't really see a big difference between MKDS on the two systems, I will try another couple of 2D and 3D Games to see if there's any significant difference and update with pictures at a later date.

There is a 1:1 Pixel mapping mode (hold start and select when booting a DS game from the menu) that outputs the DS games in their native resolution, the end result is the screen size ends up being less than that of the original DS and DS Lite however. Pretty tiny! It does have a Gameboy Micro effect in that games look sharper/clearer but text is harder to read. 

I'll be sticking with the standard mode as I have no problems with the way DS games look.

Sound: The Sound on the 3DS seems to be louder and richer at full compared to the DS Lite's sound. When both units were on at full volume the 3DS sound dwarfed the DS Lite's for clarity and loudness. I've yet to test the machines using headphones.

DS Lite                                         3DS  (1:1 mapping)                  

3DS

DS Lite                                               3DS

3DS

DS Lite

DS Lite                                               3DS

Battery Life -

The 3DS has recieved a lot of flak for having a poor battery life, but these tests usually revolve around using 3DS software with 3D on and wireless on.
I will conduct a test of the two machines running the same DS Game, both with wireless off and at full screen brightness and sound.

Times to come later.