After nine and a half years, Nintendo has officially discontinued the Nintendo 3DS. This isn’t too surprising by this point, as the 3DS has been kind of pushed to the sidelines since the Nintendo Switch launched, but it’s still kind of sad after having the 3D handheld around for nearly an entire decade.
Originally released in 2011, the Nintendo 3DS was the successor to Nintendo’s most popular system, the Nintendo DS. As such, the 3Ds included many of its predecessor’s features (two screens, the bottom screen having touch controls, etc), while also providing more powerful visuals and sound and, as the name implies, 3D effects for the top screen.
3D was all over the place in the early 2010s, most notably in movies, where 3D effects had seen a huge resurgence (often attributed to James Cameron’s Avatar, even though Pixar’s Up and several other movies beat it to the punch in early 2009. I guess people wanted to pretend Avatar had some kind of lasting impact to justify its box office numbers). While most 3D in movies at the time was a bit gimmicky, usually making for only one or two notable effects, the 3D visuals on the 3DS were actually pretty good. Sure, you had to hold the handheld a specific way to get the full effect, but you didn’t need any 3D glasses, and it actually looked pretty good. Some games – most notably Super Mario 3D Land, Pushmo, Kirby Triple Deluxe and Kirby: Planet Robobot – even took advantage of the effect for the sake of gameplay!
Still, as the 3D craze died down, so did Nintendo’s emphasis on the effect on the 3DS, with games featuring less and less actual 3D as time went on. Eventually, Nintendo even released the “Nintendo 2DS,” a variant of the handheld without the 3D visuals, which over time became the standard version of the system. As time went by, Nintendo and other developers began releasing more and more games that blatantly stated they didn’t use the 3D effects on the box!
While the namesake feature of the system may have run its course some time ago, the 3DS itself actually held strong for a good while. With a steady stream of great original titles like The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, as well as terrific remakes like those of the N64 Zelda titles, as well as the best entries in the Mario & Luigi series throughout its lifecycle (though the less said of the 3DS’s original Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario titles, the better).
The Nintendo 3DS was a perfect companion for the original Wii in its last years, as well as the Wii U during its entire run. When the Nintendo Switch was released in 2017 and combined Nintendo’s home console and handheld efforts, it became clear that the 3DS was no longer a priority, but it still had a few good years left.
In the end, the Nintendo 3DS joins the ranks of the great Nintendo consoles, like the Super NES, Gameboy Advance, the original DS, the Wii and even the system that supplanted it, the Switch. With nine and a half years under its belt, the 3DS certainly has a lot to reflect on. A history and library that few gaming systems can match. Not bad for something that was initially ridiculed for being a gimmick.
I salute you, 3DS! Thanks for the memories.
Wizard Dojo 
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