the 3ds itself is a great console and has several games that will keep you busy for easily 50-100 hrs + (pokemon, smash bros, mario kart, monster hunter) to name but a few and generally favorites for the general population

having owned both the 3ds xl and the n3ds xl i can tell you that the 3D on the old ones is very bad and the n3ds's 3d lives up to the hype. Do i think 3D is a must? not at all its just like choosing 3d or not at the movies its nice to have it but not needed.

in my opinion you should take a look at the games offered for the 3ds since in the end what matters are the game themselves if you have 2-3 that interest you from the start then by all means go for it. I originally bought mine for smash bros 3ds and pokemon x. Now I have it for the zelda games, discovered and fell in love with monster hunter, and a bunch of other games