Gadgetory

what's up prize five fans I'm Brian Kong and welcome to the all new look and feel for Tech's biggest Throwdown showdown sonia nintendo won't be playing nice at any time soon so we're throwing them into the Octagon it's a battle of ground and pound between the sony PS Vita slim and the Nintendo 3ds XL our judges for this fight are senior editor Scott the bottom line Stein editor Jeff don't back down Bakalar and yours truly can't go wrong tom now we'll take all three judges blind stores and average them out to the nearest tenth each round the final prize by score will be an average of all rounds using the same decimal system it's six rounds to the finish round one the PS Vita slim gets even slimmer and 20% lighter than its predecessor with curved edges that make it the sexiest gaming handheld the biggest change is that it loses its 5 inch LED goodness and replaces it with an LCD screen that's capable but not as vibrant as the original fits nicely in your hands but I found the first Vita to feel more comfortable size-wise now the Nintendo 3ds XL keeps a similar form factor from its BS lineage with its clamshell design that protects its to screen it's thicker than the Vita and it might feel a little dated but there's still a retro charm to it it's four point eight eight inch glass with 3 HP might have the same resolution as yes but the bigger screen makes a big big difference and it's 4.18 inch pressure-sensitive screen on the bottom gives you 90 percent more screen from the 3d s total now sleek and sexy does it for us and the Vita slim gets a four and the 3ds XL depth of three next round of controls in using the Vita slim brings dual analog sticks PlayStation like buttons a capacitive touchscreen and a rear touch panel now some games use these features nicely and some of them are really forced the rear touch was a cool idea at first but it's more of a gimmick and no game has made me say I'm glad they did this now the analog sticks just aren't nearly as accurate for shooters and I don't expect them to be perfect but it's still hard to get that tight aiming you need this gyroscope can be used with some games and the front side touch screen complements the Vita's icon based UI that's easy to navigate and really made for touch now the 3ds XL brings an analog pad and a directional pad the lack of two analog sticks limits it from certain types of games but that has never dictated the quality of a game the bottom touch screen is a second screen for more interactive experiences and it's the key for navigating the 3dsxl the user interface is clean but it really feels extremely dated it doesn't come close to anything we've seen on a phone or tablet in it can hang at times the PS Vita takes another round with the four and the 3ds gets another three after two rounds the Vita leads by a full point round three is nintendo's flagship feature is it's flashes free 3d as long as you're looking at the perfect sweet spot it has moments that while you but that only lasts until you start getting dizzy or uncomfortable after playing fifteen or twenty minutes most people just end up turning it off now it takes some fun low res 3d pictures and videos but it's really more of a novelty there's a standard sized SD card slot in this is really important there's Wi-Fi Netflix and Hulu Plus but probably aren't going to watch too much video on a screen like this the PS Vita brings a feature packed handheld especially if you're a ps4 owner that allows you to play games on your console on your Vita when you're on the same Wi-Fi network game saves transfer over console versions on some games like Borderlands it's touch screen is great and it brings not only Netflix and Hulu but YouTube Twitter Facebook and more that really make this a versatile media consumption gadget now changing over to a micro USB cable is a huge plus but the biggest drawback is its proprietary SD cards that are so overpriced is laughable if you like 3d and Nintendo Go 3ds and if you're in the PlayStation ecosystem you got to go Vita we're calling this a tie at four points apiece next round is game library both of these handhelds have had enough time to really develop their game library the PS Vita brings amazing looking games like Uncharted golden Abyss platformers like gravity rush and unique experiences like tearaway and also some indie standouts like guacamelee now the 3ds has a staple of Nintendo classics from Super Mario 3d Zelda a link between worlds and Luigi's Mansion dark moon and really almost every one of their top tier franchises are represented on the 3ds this really isn't an exact science but our sister site GameSpot has handed out a review score of 8 or higher 228 3ds games compared to 24 the PS vita so far and we know exclusives ultimately dictate which way you go but in our eyes Nintendo's overall breath of triple-a titles indie and retro titles best what the Vita brings and I'm not forgetting you Animal Crossing fans the 3ds gets a perfect 5 and the Vita gets a 3.7 so after averaging four rounds Sony leaves by just one tenth of a point round 5 in performance there's no dispute that the Vita brings the best-looking graphics on any handheld including smartphones and tablets and it's lived up to its promise of ps3 level visuals now going to an LCD screen took away just a bit of its visual vibrancy but in return an improved battery life of roughly 4 to 6 hours depending on how you use it now the 3ds XL won't blow your way with this graphics but it makes up for a with charm it also boasts an improved three and a half hour to six and a half hour lifespan with its dual screen that edges the Vita we still can't ignore the Vita's graphical prowess and the Vita gets a 4.3 and the 3ds XL gets a for the final round that besides it all it's about both of these systems retail from $1.99 the PS Vita slim comes in a Borderlands 2 package at the moment that includes an 8 gig SD card as well the Nintendo 3ds XL comes with a 4 gig SD card but gets a seasonal game bundled in as well now it's a great value on both sides but what kills us is the price of Sony's proprietary SD cards now we know eight gigs fills up fast when games are around one to three gigs so consider this a 32 gig PS Vita SD card cost around 89 bucks where any standard 32 gig SD card costs around 18 bucks and as an owner even 16 gigs wasn't enough for me and it's a cost you won't think about until it hits you now expanding memory is just cheaper on the 3ds over the life of the systems so we're giving the 3ds XL of 5 and the PS Vita slim of 4 alright let's average out all six rounds and enterprise by that state incredibly close throughout Nintendo had to make a late charge and it was just enough to push us to a tie that's right we're tied even at four points apiece now it's the first time ever for a true tie here and really what makes this price buy unique is that design and features can't really decide this for you it always comes down to the games and the ecosystem that you want but guys and gals you know what I just want to flip a coin to see who wins this so we're going to call this heads for 3dsxl and Tails for the PSVs line i'm going to leave it a chance alright here we go and the winner tails the PS Vita slim alright guys I'm Brian Tom thanks for watching and we'll catch you guys next time for another prizefight