1 00:00:01,390 --> 00:00:13,578 Hello, my friends, and welcome to this first episode of my new podcast, 3DS Cast, focusing primarily on the Nintendo 3DS family of handhelds. 2 00:00:13,578 --> 00:00:18,361 We'll probably talk about the DS as well, even though I I've never owned a DS, but we'll talk about that. 3 00:00:18,361 --> 00:00:19,902 My name is Brian Rubin. 4 00:00:19,902 --> 00:00:21,803 This is my third podcast. 5 00:00:22,024 --> 00:00:25,730 I have a podcast uh called Space Game Junkie. 6 00:00:25,730 --> 00:00:28,692 In which uh we talk about space games and other things. 7 00:00:28,692 --> 00:00:33,534 And I have a podcast called Retro Dog Fight, in which we talk about old flight simulator games. 8 00:00:33,995 --> 00:00:37,137 But I love the 3DS. 9 00:00:37,137 --> 00:00:37,647 I love it. 10 00:00:37,647 --> 00:00:38,818 I've fallen back in love with it. 11 00:00:38,818 --> 00:00:39,858 I got one a while ago. 12 00:00:39,858 --> 00:00:44,961 We'll talk about my history with it in minute, but I got one a while ago and I fallen back in love with it recently. 13 00:00:45,582 --> 00:00:53,716 And so I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos about it, but I love podcasts because I guess, like the 3DS, podcasts are portable. 14 00:00:54,126 --> 00:00:55,687 Uh you could take them anywhere. 15 00:00:55,687 --> 00:01:00,359 And yeah, I guess you could watch a YouTube video on your phone, but it's a little more cumbersome. 16 00:01:00,359 --> 00:01:05,171 Uh you can't sleep your screen unless you pay for their premium thing or whatever. 17 00:01:05,171 --> 00:01:12,133 But a podcast, all you need is a podcatcher, which I think both iPhones and Androids come with by default. 18 00:01:12,133 --> 00:01:18,316 So I prefer the podcast format because it's a lot more portable, flexible, and whatnot. 19 00:01:18,316 --> 00:01:24,118 So uh I looked around for other podcasts talking about the 3DS and could barely find anything. 20 00:01:24,118 --> 00:01:25,039 Anything. 21 00:01:25,039 --> 00:01:30,422 And the 3DS as I record this in July of 2026 is going through something of a resurgence. 22 00:01:30,803 --> 00:01:37,788 Not only that, but since I have fallen back in love with it in the past few months, I wanted to talk more about it. 23 00:01:37,788 --> 00:01:43,098 I'm already on a lot of Discords, I'm already in Facebook groups, I'm already on subreddits, but I love podcasts. 24 00:01:43,098 --> 00:01:44,432 I love podcasts. 25 00:01:44,432 --> 00:01:47,014 And so I decided to make my own. 26 00:01:47,394 --> 00:01:48,595 So here we are. 27 00:01:49,816 --> 00:01:52,878 I've been gaming myself to talk a little bit about myself. 28 00:01:53,400 --> 00:02:00,274 For 50 years, I got my first video game ever in 1976. 29 00:02:00,274 --> 00:02:01,694 It was Pong. 30 00:02:01,875 --> 00:02:07,157 The original TV home version of Pong that I believe you can only buy in Sears Robux stores. 31 00:02:07,218 --> 00:02:09,779 And were they Sears Robux at the time? 32 00:02:09,779 --> 00:02:10,439 I don't know. 33 00:02:10,439 --> 00:02:11,280 Maybe just Sears. 34 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,302 Um I got my first Pong when I was three. 35 00:02:16,162 --> 00:02:20,885 And uh I was hooked to video games ever since then. 36 00:02:20,885 --> 00:02:23,296 I started on the handheld thing early. 37 00:02:23,646 --> 00:02:26,368 with the Vectrex, if you don't know what that is, you can look it up. 38 00:02:26,368 --> 00:02:28,990 It is it was the first portable gaming machine. 39 00:02:28,990 --> 00:02:37,487 It was a giant thing with a built-in like seven, eight-inch TV basically, and a built-in joystick and had a cartridge slot. 40 00:02:37,487 --> 00:02:38,258 It was amazing. 41 00:02:38,258 --> 00:02:49,452 Um, I still regret selling mine years ago, but I've been into handhelds ever since they're portables and handhelds ever since they existed. 42 00:02:49,452 --> 00:02:54,505 While I primarily moved to PC gaming in the mid 80s, I've never lost my love of handhelds. 43 00:02:54,505 --> 00:02:58,587 I got I've had every version of the Game Boy except the micro. 44 00:02:59,487 --> 00:03:01,808 I had the Atari Lynx. 45 00:03:02,149 --> 00:03:04,762 I had I still have my Sega Game Gear. 46 00:03:04,762 --> 00:03:07,351 So I had a lot of handhelds. 47 00:03:07,952 --> 00:03:10,073 I never got the DS though. 48 00:03:10,233 --> 00:03:13,515 And uh there's a few reasons for that. 49 00:03:13,515 --> 00:03:17,917 One, when the DS first came out, and I believe it was 2004. 50 00:03:20,310 --> 00:03:25,963 I was going through a lot of hardships financially, emotionally, mentally. 51 00:03:25,963 --> 00:03:27,913 I was going through a lot of hardships. 52 00:03:28,454 --> 00:03:35,593 And so I didn't have the mental or emotional energy for a new gaming system. 53 00:03:35,593 --> 00:03:38,458 And I didn't have the money, to be honest. 54 00:03:38,878 --> 00:03:44,931 And then a couple of years later, I gave up gaming for a couple of years because I needed to focus on my mental health. 55 00:03:44,931 --> 00:03:47,842 So I gave up gaming entirely for two years. 56 00:03:48,462 --> 00:03:49,863 Because I'd been using it as a crutch. 57 00:03:49,863 --> 00:03:53,084 I've been using it as an escape from my problems. 58 00:03:53,226 --> 00:03:54,667 And so I gave it up. 59 00:03:54,948 --> 00:03:56,669 I dove into therapy. 60 00:03:57,050 --> 00:04:05,727 And once I made some breakthroughs, I dove back into gaming and even more joyful than before, really. 61 00:04:05,727 --> 00:04:09,810 Even more loving gaming, even loving gaming more than ever before. 62 00:04:09,810 --> 00:04:16,616 So now that I'm not using escape as an escape, but for the joy of it, I love gaming that much more. 63 00:04:17,102 --> 00:04:28,092 So um eventually in 2015, I was at a local gaming store and saw the DSI for the first time. 64 00:04:28,092 --> 00:04:34,639 I'd never seen, I had never I had stopped going to video game stores, you know, because PC mostly PC gaming was digital by then. 65 00:04:34,639 --> 00:04:37,220 So I didn't really go into video game stores very often. 66 00:04:37,261 --> 00:04:40,044 I started collecting consoles again in 2012. 67 00:04:40,044 --> 00:04:42,964 I got a PS2, I eventually got a 68 00:04:43,032 --> 00:04:45,724 I got a Dreamcast, I got an Xbox 360. 69 00:04:45,724 --> 00:04:47,305 So I eventually got back into console. 70 00:04:47,305 --> 00:04:51,518 So I started going to more local gaming stores and I saw a DSI for the first time. 71 00:04:51,518 --> 00:04:53,299 And I just love the dual screen. 72 00:04:53,299 --> 00:04:59,813 I loved that the top, I think it was a Zelda game, I don't remember, but the top had the game and the bottom had a map. 73 00:04:59,813 --> 00:05:01,562 And I love in-game maps. 74 00:05:01,562 --> 00:05:03,636 So I'm like, I need one of these. 75 00:05:04,136 --> 00:05:12,822 And I started talking about it with friends and my wife and a coworker, I believe Emily, I believe her name was. 76 00:05:13,070 --> 00:05:15,191 She was like, no, no, no, no, you want a 3DS. 77 00:05:15,271 --> 00:05:17,832 The DSI is nice, but you want a 3DS. 78 00:05:18,153 --> 00:05:19,974 And so I went back to the store with her. 79 00:05:19,974 --> 00:05:24,496 I tried out the 3DS XL and I got the original 3DS XL at that point. 80 00:05:24,496 --> 00:05:30,524 Even though the new one was mere months away, the new 3ds XL. 81 00:05:30,524 --> 00:05:32,040 It's confusing. 82 00:05:32,741 --> 00:05:38,284 I got the original because I wasn't, I don't think I was aware of the new one coming out. 83 00:05:38,284 --> 00:05:40,735 So I got the original and I played it for quite a while. 84 00:05:40,735 --> 00:05:42,990 Uh eventually got it modded. 85 00:05:42,990 --> 00:05:47,473 Uh, I paid someone to do it that first time because I was too nervous to do it myself. 86 00:05:47,493 --> 00:05:59,461 But I, you know, before Prozac especially, which I'd started taking recently, I was I c I was a I was a gay I had ADHD gaming, basically. 87 00:05:59,461 --> 00:06:01,526 I would not stick for one thing very long. 88 00:06:01,526 --> 00:06:05,085 It was very rare that I stuck for one thing very long. 89 00:06:05,365 --> 00:06:11,329 Because I would just jump from one thing to another, chasing that dragon, chasing that shiny, you know, one thing to the next. 90 00:06:11,730 --> 00:06:12,770 And um 91 00:06:12,770 --> 00:06:19,555 Because of some other challenges, uh, a few months ago I switched, I got on Prozac for the first time. 92 00:06:19,555 --> 00:06:22,277 First time I was on an antidepressant in 20 years. 93 00:06:22,797 --> 00:06:25,479 And it changed how I game. 94 00:06:25,479 --> 00:06:28,541 It changed how I look at games for the better. 95 00:06:28,862 --> 00:06:37,888 That coincided with me falling back in love with my 3DS thanks to a podcast called Expedition Handheld, which you haven't, if you haven't listened to Expedition Handheld, 96 00:06:37,888 --> 00:06:38,959 it's an excellent podcast. 97 00:06:38,959 --> 00:06:40,510 They talk about all kinds of 98 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,751 Android portables, 3DS, all kinds of portables. 99 00:06:43,751 --> 00:06:45,081 So that's a wonderful podcast. 100 00:06:45,081 --> 00:06:50,373 But they reminded me how great the 3DS is, especially modded one. 101 00:06:50,373 --> 00:06:53,073 So I fell back in love with my 3DS XL. 102 00:06:53,494 --> 00:06:59,876 Shortly after that, I found out about the original XL's uh notorious hinge problem. 103 00:06:59,876 --> 00:07:01,616 I did not know about that. 104 00:07:01,736 --> 00:07:06,737 And I felt lucky that it hadn't started on my original 3ds XL. 105 00:07:06,737 --> 00:07:09,078 So I decided to retire that one. 106 00:07:09,670 --> 00:07:21,659 And a couple months ago as I record this, I got through a friend a great price on a new 3DS XL Galaxy Edition with dual IPS screens. 107 00:07:21,659 --> 00:07:22,979 it's one of my prized possessions. 108 00:07:22,979 --> 00:07:24,721 I take it everywhere with me now. 109 00:07:24,721 --> 00:07:26,462 I play it almost every day. 110 00:07:27,143 --> 00:07:32,246 And then about a month ago, as I record this, I got a original, I got an original two DS. 111 00:07:32,246 --> 00:07:38,270 Um, I got it at a gaming uh show, actually, a retro a retro gaming show. 112 00:07:38,580 --> 00:07:41,441 And I hadn't hold I hadn't held one before until a month ago. 113 00:07:41,441 --> 00:07:44,111 And as soon as I held it, I'm like, I need this. 114 00:07:44,252 --> 00:07:46,922 So I asked the wife, like, is it okay if I get this? 115 00:07:46,922 --> 00:07:48,193 And she's like, is it in your budget? 116 00:07:48,193 --> 00:07:48,913 I'm like, yes, it is. 117 00:07:48,913 --> 00:07:50,233 And she's like, go for it. 118 00:07:50,233 --> 00:07:51,334 I love my wife. 119 00:07:51,334 --> 00:07:56,875 She's very understanding about my needs and things. 120 00:07:56,895 --> 00:07:58,035 And excuse me. 121 00:07:58,035 --> 00:08:05,517 And um, so I got the two DS and um now I've got a three DS, new three DS Excel, and a two DS. 122 00:08:05,938 --> 00:08:07,818 And I play different games on both of them. 123 00:08:08,662 --> 00:08:09,763 And I love them. 124 00:08:09,763 --> 00:08:21,341 I love them so much because with PC gaming, it is not always the case that you will find a game that respects your time. 125 00:08:21,341 --> 00:08:23,872 My gaming time is random. 126 00:08:24,112 --> 00:08:24,963 It is finite. 127 00:08:24,963 --> 00:08:27,285 It is never consistent. 128 00:08:27,285 --> 00:08:30,877 I never have the same time of day to play games because I have a full-time job. 129 00:08:31,037 --> 00:08:33,178 I never have the same amount of time. 130 00:08:33,339 --> 00:08:38,670 So on the PC, finding a game that respects your time can be hit or miss. 131 00:08:38,670 --> 00:08:44,314 There's some games that only let you record at checkpoints or whatever or things like that. 132 00:08:44,514 --> 00:08:52,539 The DS, the 3DS, is a system is a system that inherently I design respects your time thanks to its sleep mode. 133 00:08:52,900 --> 00:08:56,462 And just about every game I've played lets you save anywhere. 134 00:08:56,462 --> 00:08:58,094 But even not, you have a sleep mode. 135 00:08:58,094 --> 00:09:06,820 So if I'm playing something and my wife asks me for help with something because I'm tall and she's not, uh, I can easily close the 3DS and help her and then open it right back up 136 00:09:06,820 --> 00:09:07,860 and continue. 137 00:09:08,344 --> 00:09:09,014 where I left off. 138 00:09:09,014 --> 00:09:13,756 And that's not always the case with some games, especially like if I'm playing an MMO, you can't pause those, you know. 139 00:09:13,756 --> 00:09:25,961 So that's one of the things I love about the 3DS and that family is that it's inherently a console that respects you and your time. 140 00:09:25,961 --> 00:09:27,352 And it is only about gaming. 141 00:09:27,352 --> 00:09:36,896 I've actually uh found myself on my phone less because of the 3DS on Doom scrolling less and enjoying 142 00:09:36,896 --> 00:09:40,208 life a little more because of the 3DS. 143 00:09:40,488 --> 00:09:44,070 Uh I know that might be a weird thing to say, but it's accurate. 144 00:09:44,490 --> 00:09:49,933 Because it's a focused device that only does basically the one thing. 145 00:09:51,054 --> 00:09:52,615 And it does it very well. 146 00:09:52,615 --> 00:10:01,340 So what this podcast hopes to be, what I hope to accomplish with this podcast is celebrate the 3DS. 147 00:10:02,301 --> 00:10:04,982 It's hardware, it's software. 148 00:10:05,112 --> 00:10:09,144 The homebrew community that keeps it going, uh, that sort of thing. 149 00:10:09,144 --> 00:10:15,728 Because a modded 3DS, and I'm gonna make a a whole um whole episode about this at some point. 150 00:10:15,728 --> 00:10:20,611 The modded 3DS is a beast of a gaming machine. 151 00:10:20,832 --> 00:10:27,295 Because you can dump your cartridges on there and have them all in one place. 152 00:10:27,435 --> 00:10:31,978 There are other ways to get games, we're not gonna talk about that, but you can dump your cartridges legally. 153 00:10:31,978 --> 00:10:35,760 Onto the 3DS and have digital copies of your games in one place. 154 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:37,391 You can make backups of your saves. 155 00:10:37,391 --> 00:10:41,093 There are just a million reasons to mod your console. 156 00:10:41,093 --> 00:10:41,914 And it's so easy. 157 00:10:41,914 --> 00:10:46,387 Like when I got the 3ds XL, the new one, I modded it myself. 158 00:10:46,387 --> 00:10:48,067 I was so nervous. 159 00:10:48,288 --> 00:10:50,889 I was so, so nervous. 160 00:10:50,969 --> 00:10:58,298 It took about an hour because I went, there's a guide, 3ds.hacks.guide, I believe. 161 00:10:58,298 --> 00:10:59,158 And 162 00:10:59,276 --> 00:11:01,547 I was so nervous, I went through it very slowly. 163 00:11:01,547 --> 00:11:03,268 It took me about an hour. 164 00:11:03,408 --> 00:11:05,049 And it couldn't have been easier. 165 00:11:05,049 --> 00:11:07,970 It's such a well written guide guide. 166 00:11:07,970 --> 00:11:14,093 And when I modded the 2DS, a month or so later, it took 15, 20 minutes because I knew what I was doing. 167 00:11:14,093 --> 00:11:16,894 It's so straightforward and easy. 168 00:11:17,514 --> 00:11:24,758 And a modded 3DS will let you play games from multiple generations of consoles and arcade machines because you could put retro arc on there. 169 00:11:24,758 --> 00:11:26,018 Um 170 00:11:26,606 --> 00:11:29,748 Plus, like people are making their own ports of things. 171 00:11:29,909 --> 00:11:33,672 Like you could play Diablo on the darn thing, for example. 172 00:11:34,113 --> 00:11:36,125 I hope you all didn't hear that loud car outside. 173 00:11:36,125 --> 00:11:37,195 Pardon. 174 00:11:37,476 --> 00:11:45,302 So this podcast is basically going to be a celebration and a love letter to the 3DS. 175 00:11:45,784 --> 00:11:50,667 It's amazing library of games, the homebrew community that keeps it going. 176 00:11:51,168 --> 00:11:53,420 And um other people. 177 00:11:54,169 --> 00:11:58,821 in in the community who all love the three DS nearly as much as I do. 178 00:11:58,821 --> 00:12:04,103 So this podcast is going to be a mix of monologues like this one. 179 00:12:04,584 --> 00:12:10,919 And please forgive me, this is the first time I've done a podcast by myself and not had a separ uh 180 00:12:12,526 --> 00:12:15,108 Co-host, a what's the word I'm looking for? 181 00:12:15,208 --> 00:12:21,093 A focused, not focused, an actual like chosen co-host. 182 00:12:21,454 --> 00:12:24,436 Uh there are going to be episodes that are just me talking. 183 00:12:24,777 --> 00:12:33,203 And I'm hoping to do some interviews with people in the homebrew community, uh, maybe some game developers, maybe people who worked on the hardware, that kind of thing. 184 00:12:34,185 --> 00:12:39,789 So it's going to be a mix of um monologues and interviews like this one. 185 00:12:39,810 --> 00:12:40,620 And 186 00:12:41,356 --> 00:12:43,946 I've never done, like I I've never done like the one like this before. 187 00:12:43,946 --> 00:12:47,601 I haven't written a script because that's a lot of work. 188 00:12:47,601 --> 00:12:51,134 And I worried I'd, you know, trip over my own words. 189 00:12:51,154 --> 00:12:53,376 I I'm mostly working from an outline. 190 00:12:53,376 --> 00:12:59,741 So if that's a if if I'm gonna do a couple episodes like this, I'm more than willing to hear constructive feedback. 191 00:12:59,741 --> 00:13:05,425 If you think this is too rambly or anything, uh just let me know in the comments. 192 00:13:06,357 --> 00:13:08,128 I'm happy to take constructive criticism. 193 00:13:08,128 --> 00:13:10,910 Constructive criticism, by the way. 194 00:13:11,448 --> 00:13:16,600 So yeah, um this is it's it's a little short, but that's because it's just me talking. 195 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:21,382 But we're gonna talk about the 3DS and I'm sure the DS will come in there somewhere. 196 00:13:21,382 --> 00:13:23,103 We'll probably talk about DS games. 197 00:13:23,103 --> 00:13:25,264 Like I said, I don't own a DS. 198 00:13:25,418 --> 00:13:31,042 And I think if my if I I think if I bought one, my wife would kill me because I already have two of these things. 199 00:13:31,042 --> 00:13:37,049 And if I spent money on a third, I think she would murder me and bury the par bury three DS with the parts. 200 00:13:37,049 --> 00:13:37,709 No, she wouldn't. 201 00:13:37,709 --> 00:13:38,730 Uh she loves me. 202 00:13:38,730 --> 00:13:39,520 But 203 00:13:39,724 --> 00:13:41,295 I can't justify buying a DS. 204 00:13:41,295 --> 00:13:47,581 So someone know if someone out there has one they want to send me so I could talk about it, that'd be great too. 205 00:13:47,581 --> 00:13:48,881 Just FYI. 206 00:13:50,243 --> 00:13:53,956 So I want to thank you for listening to this first episode. 207 00:13:53,956 --> 00:13:55,987 I know it's short, but it's an introduction. 208 00:13:55,987 --> 00:14:05,034 Um to me, to my love of the 3DS, to my history, not only just with gaming, but the 3DS itself. 209 00:14:05,115 --> 00:14:07,957 And what I want to accomplish with this podcast. 210 00:14:07,957 --> 00:14:09,228 I basically 211 00:14:10,294 --> 00:14:22,662 Want to create a long form letter of love to the 3DS and everything that has come before and will come with the homebrew community and whatnot. 212 00:14:22,662 --> 00:14:27,325 So I want to thank you all for listening to me ramble a little bit. 213 00:14:27,426 --> 00:14:28,807 I've tried to be focused. 214 00:14:28,807 --> 00:14:29,914 I've tried. 215 00:14:29,914 --> 00:14:35,231 Um, but again, if you have any criticism, constructive criticism, I will take it. 216 00:14:35,231 --> 00:14:40,207 But thank you so much for listening and stay tuned for more episodes that'll be a little more focused. 217 00:14:40,207 --> 00:14:42,688 Than this one on specific topics. 218 00:14:42,688 --> 00:14:45,668 And I already have some interview ideas. 219 00:14:45,668 --> 00:14:51,689 But if you have ideas for people I should talk to as well, or topic ideas, please throw them at me as well. 220 00:14:51,689 --> 00:14:58,507 um I'm always happy to take uh suggestions, requests, and criticism, constructive criticism. 221 00:14:58,507 --> 00:15:00,747 So thank you so much for listening. 222 00:15:00,747 --> 00:15:03,162 Uh, and I'll see you for the next episode. 223 00:15:03,162 --> 00:15:04,472 Take care, everybody.