The Nintendo 3DS will go down as one of the all-time great consoles. The handheld console was the successor to the Nintendo DS and launched just shy of 10 years ago. The console played host to some of the greatest games of all times with hits that included Fire Emblem: Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Super Mario 3D Land. As with all good things however, they have to come to an end, and that’s no different with the 3DS.

Initially discovered on Nintendo’s official Japanese site, the 3DS series of systems appeared to have been discontinued. This was then confirmed by Gamesindustry.biz, who reached out to Nintendo and was told: “We can confirm that the manufacturing of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems has ended.”

Fortunately for those who still play their 3DS’, Nintendo added: “Nintendo and third-party games for the Nintendo 3DS family of system will continue to be available in Nintendo eShop, on Nintendo.com and at retail.”



The 3DS was so successful in part due to the quality of games and in part due to its versatility. The series had a huge variety of models, coming in a range of different sizes and prices, making them available to all. The series launched initially with the 3DS, before adding the 2DS, 3DS XL and then the “New” range of consoles.

The series of handhelds sold over 75 million units over its life cycle, making it the fifth best selling portable console of all time, behind the DS, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance and PSP. Those sales numbers left the 3DS just outside the top 10 best selling consoles (both home and portable), sitting in 11th.

This looks to be a big moment in Nintendo’s history as, Switch Lite aside, this could spell the end for the company releasing dedicated handheld consoles. Nintendo has been selling handhelds since 1989, but with the success of the hybrid Nintendo Switch, there is far less of a need.

Posted: Sep 18, 2020 9:55 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/the-nintendo-3ds-range-has-officially-been-discontinued/