Reports confirm that the Japanese gaming giant, Nintendo, has quietly pulled the plug on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.
Nintendo has officially decided to stop manufacturing its star handheld console before the birth of Switch. Nintendo Life reports that all six models of the 3DS family—the 3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL, 2DS, and New 2DS XL—will be retiring.
GeekWire highlights that the company made no official announcement via writing. Instead, it just adjusted its Japanese website, informing the public that the 3DS is no longer available. It took a few days for people to notice the note.
Nintendo ends production on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems https://t.co/m7bo7Kp3bi pic.twitter.com/QIm6gfcyYz
— Nintendo Everything (@NinEverything) September 17, 2020
“No growth as a business”
Nikkei quotes the Japanese giant earlier this September on its take to the future of 3DS. Nintendo believes that the 3DS is having “no growth as a business.”
Furthermore, the publication notes that the development team for the DS series was merged with that of the Switch team last year. Labor costs were cited due to consumers’ technology expectations constantly rising.
GamesIndustry.Biz reports that for the first since 1989, Nintendo is now a “one-device platform holder.” In a statement to the publication, a spokesperson confirms that the “manufacturing of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems has ended.”
Although, “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.”
With that said, the gaming company will not end or has no current plans to end the 3DS’ existing online services.
“Online play and Nintendo eShop will continue to be available and it will be possible to access and redownload all previously purchased content in the foreseeable future,” The spokesperson further explained.
The 3DS family has more than 1,000 “critically acclaimed titles,” and the company recognizes the games’ ability to “provide years of content to explore and enjoy.”
An end of an era
Although this came to no surprise to many of Nintendo’s avid followers but did mark an end of an era, the discontinuation of the 3DS family has been wildly hinted in Nintendo’s “earnings forecast for the year ending March 2021,” says Nikkei.
RIP
Nintendo 3DS
2011 – 2020 pic.twitter.com/3Rdti4a1JY— Henry The Gamin Stickmin – Follows back (@gaminstickmin) September 17, 2020
The company’s perspective of the classic handheld console—of it having “no growth as a business”—was interpreted by leaving out the console’s sales projection on the aforementioned earnings forecast.
As many may have remembered, the 3DS family was launched globally in 2011. It was never considered a big hit, but it was said to have helped Nintendo’s earnings during the “dark days” of Wii U.
Featured image courtesy of Ascannio/Shutterstock