HOLIDAY | Timothy R. Schulte

The Vita, PlayStation’s nextgeneration portable gaming device, took the top Hardware honors from the gaming press at E3 2011, but unfortunately, it won’t be available in North America till 2012.

However, on-the-go gamers need fear not. There’s the Nintendo 3DS ($249.99), the world’s first portable 3D gaming system.

The 3DS packs two screens – a 3.5-inch, 800x240-pixel upper LCD screen that delivers 3D picture without the need for glasses, and 3-inch, 320x240-pixel lower LCD touch screen that can be used to control gameplay, in addition to the D-pad and an analog “slide pad” that allows 360-degree motion. A 3D Depth Slider adjusts just how threedimensional objects appear and can even be completely turned off (boring!) if need be. Like it’s older brother, the Wii, the 3DS has Netflix-streaming capabilities too, via a downloadable app from the Nintendo eShop.

The new nostalgia

Twenty years ago, my brothers and I received the best Christmas present ever – the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Twenty years later, I still have it (thankfully, none of my bros object to the usurpation), and I’ve even purchased new S-video cables to help it behave in the best way possible with my HDTV.

Now, while I still possess all my favorite old games, there remain a few SNES titles – specifically, the SNES classics “Final Fantasy III” and “Chrono Trigger” – that I never played in my youth and, as I’ve grown older, I really wish I could play. The problem is the aftermarket (read: eBay) cost on some of these muchsought-after titles is, roughly, $100 or so each.

The good news? Both were released on Nintendo’s Virtual Console in 2011, meaning I can download them straight to my Wii and play them with classic SNES controls via the Wii Classic Controller or new Classic Controller Plus ($19.99).

So, what’s on my Christmas list?

Some Nintendo Points gift cards ($10 to $30). With a few clicks of a Wiimote, I’ll be enjoying some I Love the ’90s gaming – all without having to outbid anyone.