Why I don't like the idea of modding a 3DS
I'm not talking about customizing the look, but the hardware. I get that some people want to run custom firmware or software on their 3DS, but modding a 3DS doesn't appeal to me.
First off, I see that many posts on here of "my 3DS isn't working" deals with mods like Luma or whatever. One time I did consider doing the funky mod that allows your notification LED to light up whatever color you want. But I noticed in the document that they cautioned that installing mods may cause it to not work. Especially if it's not installed in an exact order or whatever. I want my 3DS to last as long as possible.
Secondly, even though everyone who has one of these are long past the warranty coverage, it can mess with resale value. If I ever have to sell off my 3DS to make ends meet, I want to be able to sell it for the highest price I reasonably can. I keep the original box and packaging as well. While it may have been chewed on by my cats, it's a bonus to have the original box period, even if the box is in a somewhat bad condition. I still have the box, all the manuals, charger, and charging dock for my OG 3DS, even though I don't have the system.
Thirdly, I'm more interested in keeping it working as authentic as possible. Modding it changes how it works to begin with. What's worse is it can take away content loading from games. Anyone with computer experience will tell you bloatware hogs up the memory and CPU. I'm sure using modded firmware uses more resources than stock, so on some devices you may not be able to run a certain game or at least encounter hitches because the RAM and CPU are having to work overtime to run it. I know on my New 3DS XL, it barely has enough resources to run Minecraft. I believe it's entirely possible they disabled 3D for the game because it would've been too much. It's entirely possible if you installed a mod to the firmware and tried running the game, it will fail.
Posted Mar 14, 2026, 3:11 AM UTC