Nintendo has discontinued every model of the 3DS, according to its Japanese website. The page listings for the New 3DS LL, New 2DS LL, and 2DS are still live, but each product lists “out of production” under its name, and a message on the main page says that the entire series has ended production. It’s not clear when the change was made; several Japanese Twitter users noticed it this afternoon.
Nintendo’s US site, meanwhile, appears to have scrubbed all mention of the 3DS sometime in the past few hours. The homepage doesn’t feature the handheld console at all other than a support link all the way at the bottom — under a similar link for the definitely-dead Wii U.
The 3DS was announced in 2010 and released the following year. It suffered a rocky launch, with low sales and little software of note, but started to pick up momentum after a dramatic price cut just a few months after its release. By way of apology to early adopters, Nintendo made 20 NES and Game Boy Advance games available for free.
The 3DS received several revisions throughout its life: the larger 3DS XL, the improved New 3DS, the cut-price 2DS, and finally the sleek 2DS XL. In total, Nintendo shipped more than 75 million 3DS consoles worldwide — fewer than half as many of its predecessor, the phenomenally popular DS. But overall, the system can be seen as a success, and helped steer the company through the rocky Wii U years with more than 384 million games sold.
Nintendo’s focus is now fully on the Switch, of course, with the console’s hybrid nature removing the need for a dedicated handheld system. The company has shipped more than 61 million Switch consoles as of the end of June — a figure that is likely to overtake the 3DS this holiday season.
Author: Sam Byford
Source: Theverge
