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After over a year of virtually no major releases (beyond the upcoming Atooi Collection, which has already begun to land in the hands of fans all over the world), Nintendo has finally made the decision to end production of its line of 3DS handhelds. The news was confirmed by GamesIndustry.biz. According to a Nintendo spokesperson, the move happened earlier in 2020.
Nintendo 3DS discontinued
End of production confirmed to https://t.co/Mz1KhrAeuF, eShop will continue to operatehttps://t.co/vGQWJJGq1K
— GamesIndustry (@GIBiz) September 17, 2020
Speaking to GamesIndustry, here is what the Nintendo representative had to say about the situation:
“We can confirm that the manufacturing of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems has ended. Nintendo and third-party games for the Nintendo 3DS family of system [sic] will continue to be available in Nintendo eShop, on Nintendo.com and at retail.
The existing library of more than 1,000 Nintendo 3DS games contains many critically acclaimed titles and can provide years of content to explore and enjoy.”
It has been over 30 years since Nintendo only had a single video game console in production. The transition to a hybrid device that functions as both a handheld and home console signaled a major sea change to Nintendo’s development plans moving into the future. While Nintendo stated many times that it would simultaneously support both Switch and the 3DS family of consoles, the time has finally come when it was apparently no longer feasible to do so. Given the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing shutdowns and interruptions to manufacturing for many months, it makes more sense than ever to divert all available resources to producing Nintendo Switch.
Are you sad to see the 3DS era finally, truly come to an end? Tell us in the comments and on social media!
Source: GamesIndustry.Biz Twitter Page
