Nintendo Confirm The 3DS Has Been Discontinued

Nintendo has discontinued the 3DS, some nine and a half years after its launch. What this means is that for the first time in over thirty years (way back in 1989) the Japanese tech company is now solely producing one device, the Nintendo Switch.

The news is made even sadder by the update on Nintendo’s website, confirming via the 3DS information page that “the manufacturing of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems has ended.”

The Nintendo 3DS was first launched on February 26, 2011, shifting around 75.9 million units across the world (as of June 30, 2020). In terms of total software sales, the 3DS has sold more than 384 million units, a truly impressive number.

It was the successor to the popular (and my personal favorite console) Nintendo DS, which sold a record number to date of over 150 million units, beating the 3DS and all models within the Game Boy family.

The Nintendo 3DS was an innovative device, with its unique selling point being the 3D feature, without the need for glasses. But then there were the games, many iconic, with its biggest seller, Mario Kart 7, shifting more than 18.68 million copies, followed by Pokémon X and Y, (16.44 million), and Pokémon Sun and Moon at 16.18 million in second and third places respectively.

Courtesy of GamesIndustry.Biz, a spokesperson for Nintendo said: “We can confirm that the manufacturing of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems has ended,”

While Nintendo and third-party games within the 3DS family will be available via the Nintendo eShop, the official site and in retail stores, the spokesperson confirmed that Nintendo “have no plans to end any existing online services for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.”

On the brighter side, the 3DS library “of more than 1,000 Nintendo 3DS games contains many critically acclaimed titles and can provide years of content to explore and enjoy.”

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