New Nintendo 3DS discontinued worldwide

Last week Nintendo confirmed that they would be ceasing production of the New 3DS in Japan. They now have further confirmed that the console will be discontinued not just in Japan, but worldwide.

Initial reports based on an article from Nintendo of Japan’s website, showed that production of the new 3DS would cease in Japan. The console is best known for its changeable face plates, meaning each owner’s 3DS can be unique, however there are a number of special editions. Now production of the Black and White editions, as well as all special editions, has ended.

Famitsu, a research firm, confirmed just 303 new 3DS sales last week, while the latest version of the console, the 3DS XL, is currently selling just under 10,000 units a week. Even the 2DS, a far more basic version of the handheld, is outperforming the new 3DS with around 2,000 sales a week. With this data in mind, it doesn’t seem like such a shock that Nintendo escalated the discontinuation of manufacture of the new 3DS from Japan to worldwide.

The representatives from Nintendo of America, and Nintendo of Europe now confirmed that the production of New 3DS consoles has ended. The pair were keen to stress that the announcement in no way affects production of the New 3DS XL which is very much still in circulation. Neither has the future of the New 2DS XL been affected, which is due to release on July 28th.

Earlier this year, with the launch and subsequent massive success of the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo told fans and the press that the future of the 3DS was bright. They confirmed that they had plans to support the handheld console past 2018 with a great lineup of games that would keep things fresh for players.

While the Nintendo Switch isn’t a console meant to replace the 3DS, it does encroach on the handheld’s territory with its portability. Nintendo may have no plans to discontinue the New 3DS XL right now, but with the growing number of Switch users it could be that players switch consoles for a more rounded on the go and home console experience.