New Nintendo 3DS Ends Production Worldwide

Nintendo has announced what could be bad news for the 3DS family of consoles — the New 3DS is being discontinued. At this point, New 3DS XL and 2DS consoles are safe.

The Big N’s Japanese website confirmed the end of the console’s production last week. More recently, Nintendo of Europe told Eurogamer that the New 3DS was being discontinued there as well. Both confirmations amount to a general discontinuation of the console worldwide, as the New 3DS was never produced for the North American region outside of limited edition versions and bundles.

The New 3DS is the basic, smaller-sized member of the 3DS family known for its changeable cover plates and colored ABXY buttons. Nintendo released numerous pricey face plates for the console over the years, featuring patterns and many iconic Nintendo characters.

The aesthetic of the face plates were nice, but the console never sold very well. Consumers mostly flocked to its big brother, the New 3DS XL, for its larger displays. The XL model is still in production. It has the same basic functions of the New 3DS but with bigger screens and without the changeable covers.

The 2DS is also still available to purchase. It’s basically the same handheld console but without the flip screens and 3D visual options. It’s preferable for children who don’t care about the 3D and have a higher chance of breaking the flip screens.

Oh who am I kidding, most adults don’t care about the 3D either. Luckily for us, this announcement comes just before the release of the New Nintendo 2DS XL, which launches on July 28th. This new console combines the flip screens of the 3DS with the 2D-only visuals of the 2DS, brought to you at the low price point of $149.99 MSRP. Also it has that C-stick for more dynamic gameplay. Or whatever.