The 3DS Is Dying—Here’s How I Saved Mine on the Steam Deck

The 3DS, one of my favorite handheld gaming systems. From the standard fare of Mario and Zelda titles to third party games and beyond.

But let’s be honest, this thing is aging. The hinge is weak and won’t stay open at a comfortable angle. The screen leaves much to be desired. And there’s always the chance of a capacitor going bad or a battery that won’t charge depriving us of access to our favorite games. So what’s the solution?

Emulation. Emulation is the only way we can guarantee that we’ll be able to play our favorite games going forward. Besides, I’m already carrying my Steam Deck with me everywhere I go. So why would I lug my aging 3DS everywhere, too?

And look, there are few devices out there that are more qualified to emulate the 3DS than the Deck. It’s got an amazing screen that can be configured to accommodate the two screens of the 3DS. Plus, it’s got ample input to get you playing your favorite games.

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00:00 3DS on the Steam Deck
00:58 ROM acquisition
01:58 EmuDECK
03:01 Non-EmuDECK Setup
04:16 Add Lime3DS to Steam Library
04:33 Launch Lime3DS from Steam Library
04:54 Configure Lime3DS
06:13 Configure Controls
07:23 Return to Game Mode
08:33 Conclusion

About Gardiner Bryant: A native Maine resident, Gardiner (yes, that's his first name) is an enthusiastic Linux evangelist, a believer in the efficacy and superiority of the Free and Open Source way, and President of Heavy Element. Heavy Element offers web design, media production, and YouTube consulting services to individuals and companies in Maine and beyond.

Emulate Nintendo 3DS games on your Steam Deck (2025)

Emulate your favorite 3DS games on your Steam Deck (2025)

#steamdeck #emulation #3ds

[gardiner_bryant]

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[netizenz]

Cracking your 3ds is morally ok to me ! You buy a piece of tech, you own it, you do whatever you want to do with it just like a pc or a phone.

[Salreth]

3DS emulation is an acceptable experience but I always felt like the games for the 3DS were driven much more by its unique hardware configuration when compared to other Nintendo consoles (except for maybe the Wii U). 3DS is and always will be the definitive place to play these games until such time someone comes along and makes a similar piece of hardware.

[amansetia]

bro is not scared of nintendo anymore, probably found some dirt on them

[TontonGahu]

Someone likes to live on the edge! Beware the Nintendo Ninjas they probably are already in your attic!

[Omnifarious]

I support this channel for many reasons. Videos like this are one of those reasons, and one of the more important of those reasons.

Thank you.

[GreenLeefMusic]

Im patiently waiting for the DNA Duo OLED attachable screen for the Steam Deck precisely for DS/3DS emulation, but am also waiting to make sure those pre-orders are sent out and for other Youtubers to get their hands on it before I bite.

[PlayingItWrong]

This might be beyond the scope of most peoples 3DS interest, but the hinged display the "DNA Duo" will let you have both screens on their own screen, and arranged the right way for the DS systems.

[MarcusFerrarez]

Thank you so much for this video. You saved me. I'll finally be able to play Monster Hunter 4U on SteamDeck.

[bonnie]

I already have lime set up on my steam deck but it stutters a lot, at 6:02 enabling async shader compilation helped clear up the immense stuttering I got on Kirby triple deluxe thanks for the tip!

[ZFCaio]

I wouldn't waste my time on this since I have a working 3DS and 30+ physical games

But I have some 3DS ports on my Deck, purchased on Steam, Batman Arkham Blackgate, Castlevania Mirror of Fate

[rundown]

Nintendo's lawyers coming for ya lmao

[fermp]

Batocera Steam is way better imho. Install on an SD card, pop roms in the correct folders and start up on the SD card. You can even navigate to your roms folder from your network. Scraping is easy as well and the themes are beautiful.

[EhurtAfy]

I have two modded 3DS's, but I like using Citra on PC simply to reduce wear & tear on my 3DS systems. The mouse works really good, some 3DS games almost feel like native PC games. Lime3DS, or whatever it's called, is excellent with stylus tablets too

[HollywoodGaming-fyvt]

Leaving a like and comment before the powers that be come for my boy.

[praetorxyn]

Emudeck worked fine for me when I did it, but it's been a while

[kevrosbane]

curious if u knew that if u hold the steam button and use right track pad becomes mouse and right trigger left mouse clic? i never see anyone mention it click when people are setting up emulators, though the function works on everything, i like to use it as it alows me to use mouse and still retail extra key bindings.

[MiraSmit]

So there's another 3ds emulator now that Citra is gone, yay.

[iamapie]

I love my steam deck and I've loaded it with emulators but seriously 3DS is the only console I don't play on the deck, I just keep my hacked 3DS, games are just not the same on the deck

[Darth_Bateman]

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI STRANGE JOURNEY, IMMA COMIN!!!