Nintendo has announced that the production of the 3DS portable console. The handheld console has mostly been usurped by the Switch at this point, but has been a major success for Nintendo. The Nintendo 3DS has been around for 9 years, and through multiple iterations, has shipped more than 75 million units. The Nintendo 3DS family of consoles includes Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo 2DS, New Nintendo 3DS, and New Nintendo 3DS XL.
The announcement first came from the Japanese Nintendo website, then spread across the United Kingdom. The official Nintendo site will now list the 3DS as out of production on any pages for the console and the games for it. That way, anyone looking to get into the portable console will be aware that new consoles will no longer be made before purchasing.
“Please note: The manufacturing of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems has ended,” says the note.
The homepage for the Nintendo 3DS has been removed on the US site, and now lists the default homepage instead.
The platform itself was released on February 26, 2011, in Japan, in March of the same year in Europe and the United States. The console didn’t find the same initial success as the DS. The 3DS faced early opposition in part due to gamers not liking the 3D systems, and viewing them as a gimmick. It was also a common gripe that gamers were being charged too much. Nintendo revised the pricing structure and found better reception over time. The console went on to sell more than 75 million hardware units.
Being the continuation of the handheld legacy set up by the Game Boy, the 3DS managed to help give Ninty a leg up in the space. Only Sony really attempted to compete directly, but that Vita effort didn’t go so well. The Switch being released has helped make Nintendo a more formal console experience offering. The Nintendo Switch has now bridged that gap between handheld and TV console for modern gamers.
The Switch Lite has also recovered some of that market, although the Switch remains dominant, having moved more than 60 million units in just three years since launch.
