Why Did Nintendo Stop Making the 3DS? Saying Goodbye to an All-Time Great Handheld
When Nintendo recently ceased production on the venerable 3DS handheld system, it marked the end of an era. As a passionate gamer and Nintendo fan, I couldn’t help but feel a touch of sadness. However, the writing had been on the wall once the game-changing Nintendo Switch arrived on the scene. While it was a difficult decision after the 3DS family rebounded so successfully from early sales struggles, moving on from the 3DS makes good business sense to put all effort behind the Switch and its promising hybrid future.
Beloved Handheld Lineage – From Game Boy to Nintendo DS Dominance
Before analyzing the specific reasons why the 3DS met its demise, it’s worth reflecting on Nintendo’s vaunted history with handheld game systems. From the original brick-like Game Boy which sold over 118 million units over its lifetime to the 154 million-selling Nintendo DS family, Nintendo has dominated the dedicated mobile gaming space since 1989. The Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS in particular were juggernauts of their eras – comfortably outpacing competing platforms from Sega, Bandai, and Sony‘s PSP. Heading into the 3DS launch in 2011, expectations were understandably high for Nintendo’s next handheld.
A Rocky Start Dooms the 3DS Out of the Gate
Despite over 20 years of handheld success, Nintendo significantly fumbled the initial launch of the Nintendo 3DS. Over-confidence and significant miscalculations resulted in a launch price of $249 and a lackluster launch game library missing any top-tier Nintendo franchises. Sales sputtered out of the gate, with only 200,000 units sold in North America the first month. Compare that to the Nintendo DS which famously moved 1 million units globally in its first month in 2004.
| System | Launch Month Sales |
| Nintendo 3DS | 200,000 units |
| Nintendo DS | 1 million units |
Limp 3DS demand forced a dramatic $80 price cut just 4 months post-launch and raised serious doubts if Nintendo still properly understood the handheld market they created. Fortunately, a series of smart strategic moves and must-have game releases over the next several years helped turn the tide.
Stellar Game Library and Feature Refreshes Bring the 3DS Back to Life
Bolstered by hardware redesigns adding comfort and playability improvements, key game releases driving renewed buzz, and more competitive pricing, the 3DS slowly but surely got its groove back over the first few rocky years. The 3DS family would ultimately go on to sell over 75 million units globally – over 370 million games in total – making it the 8th highest selling piece of gaming hardware ever. Nintendo executed a series of smart refresh releases over the years, learning from earlier mistakes…
Nintendo 3DS – Original 2011 model weighed down by high price ($249) and lack of system-selling games. Sold only 13 million units.
Nintendo 3DS XL – First redesign in 2012 with 90% bigger screens and improved styling. Revived interest and sold over 12M units.
New Nintendo 3DS/3DS XL – Further refinements including upgraded CPU/RAM and additional controls added in 2015. Sold over 7 million units.
While these newer models provided iterative improvements, it was arguably the outstanding breadth and quality of the 3DS software library over its lifespan that returned the system back to relevance. Franchises like Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem and Pokémon led the way. Ambitious new IP like Kid Icarus Uprising also captured fan interest. The flood of diverse, high-quality releases proved that for developers, the yet again re-proven Nintendo handheld ecosystem remained very lucrative. Modern more powerful smartphone hardware arguably complicated moile game development economics and weakened competing dedicated handhelds like the PlayStation Vita. However, as of early 2020, the 3DS still offered the most financially sound outlet for portable game projects.
No Matter the Past Success, Switch Evolution Leads the Way Forward
Of course as all Nintendo fans now know, switching gears (pun intended) to the revolutionary Switch hybrid system made too much sense to pass up, despite over a decade of further handheld profits and success likely still on the table. The Nintendo Switch represented an attempt to reverse the splintering of development resources and gamer interest between home consoles and handhelds by essentially combining both concepts into a unified ecosystem. Nintendo also hoped the Switch would help capture serious gamers who had perhaps abandoned Nintendo during the more casual-friendly Wii and early Wii U eras.
On both fronts, the Switch has been a runaway success. Compared to previous Nintendo system launches, the Switch‘s sales trajectory has been unprecedented:
Nintendo Switch
- 17 million units first year
- Overtakes Nintendo 64 lifetime sales in under 2 years
- On pace to become Nintendo‘s best selling home console ever
Backed by modern specs and features lacking in previous Nintendo home systems, flagship IP that rivals Nintendo’s all-time best, and buzzy third party support, the Switch captured the gaming zeitgeist immediately. With the Switch fulfilling nearly all key handheld gameplay use cases and replacing the struggling Wii U, continuing to support the 3DS likely became an unwanted distraction for Nintendo.
Consolidating Development Teams to Focus on More Switch Masterpieces
From Mario Odyssey to Link’s Awakening, early Switch first party games showed incredible craftsmanship and creativity. But the pace fans expect from historically productive Nintendo development teams like EAD, Retro Studios, Intelligent Systems, and Monolith Soft requires completely unified focus moving forward. As much as I’ll miss my 3DS, consolidating resources sets up Nintendo to keep pumping out the masterpiece-caliber games Switch owners expect well into the 2020s and hopefully beyond.
Saying goodbye to my trusty 3DS definitely made me wistful and nostalgic. The 3DS era brought about so many wonderful memories and game experiences over the years. And despite its successor upending expectations of what a Nintendo system could achieve, there is still something special about dedicated handheld gaming devices – the intimacy, portability and personality is hard to completely replicate. While smartphones continue eating away at that declining market, I do wonder if we’ll ever see Nintendo return to the handheld format years down the road once the Switch runs its course. I certainly wouldn’t bet against them given their long history of pioneering genius portable hardware spanning over 30 years.
But for now and likely for the next decade at least, the Nintendo Switch represents the definitive future of on-the-go gameplay. Its total mastery of both the living room and mobile gaming realms in one impressive package is a feat only Nintendo could pull off. As bittersweet as it was to turn the page on my beloved 3DS, enabling Nintendo’s talented development teams to put all effort towards the so-far triumphant Switch-only future is great news for passionate gamers like myself. I can’t wait to see what magic Nintendo has in store for us next. If early indications are anything to go by, the Nintendo Switch ride is just getting started!
