Although Nintendo may have recently made the inexplicable decision to not bundle charging cables with its latest iteration of the 3DS, that shouldn’t be a problem for Apple users. Thanks to the ingenuity of Japanese firm GameTech, you can now convert your iPhone’s Lightning charge cable to one that plugs right into the 3DS.
The converter is a tiny little accessory that might seem a strange thing to spend around $8 on, but considering a charge cable from Nintendo is $10, it might not be a bad idea. It would certainly make your 3DS capable of charging from a lot of sources, since iPhone chargers are pretty ubiquitous; perhaps second only to micro-USB chargers.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that you are unlikely to ever forget your iPhone charger when traveling, so if you want to take your 3DS with you too, you will only need this little adapter to charge both devices, rather than carrying around separate chargers for both (thanks Gizmodo).
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The iPhone’s lightning cable is much thinner and less bulky too, which is another bonus.
But what about Android users? Well you’ve been covered for some time now so there’s no need to feel left out. Micro-USB to 3DS power adaptors have been around for some time and can be found on sites like Amazon for just a few dollars also.
Perhaps this is the real reason that Nintendo has stopped providing its own charge cable with new 3DS portable consoles: it knows that everyone has access to a range of universal charging solutions.
It would be nice if the firm would just release a console that used the same charging standards as everyone else, of course, as that would save us having to go down the adapter route at all. Still, it’s good that the option is there.
How do you charge your 3DS?
