RIP 3DS
[Update: Nintendo’s official response is as follows: “Nintendo has nothing to announce about the production status of Nintendo 3DS.”]
We have reason to believe Nintendo of America has completely ceased production of the original 3DS model, based on information from retailers and Nintendo itself.
Originally, Nintendo had begun to wind down the availability of new 3DS units, relegating the Coral Pink 3DS to a Toys”R”Us exclusive. Since then, the Coral Pink 3DS has been quietly removed from the Toys”R”Us website. The Coral Pink unit is still available on Nintendo’s refurbished storefront, but no such luck for any other 3DS model.
This persists through major North American retailers, such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. GameStop has listings for the original 3DS, but the site’s store locator failed to find anything within a 100-mile radius. Local GameStop employees indicated to Destructoid that Nintendo had outright discontinued the system, and they would no longer be receiving new stock.
The 3DS is similarly hard to find in the UK, with both GameStop’s UK website and GAME only showing ‘new’ results for the 3DS XL and the 2DS.
Nintendo’s official website also lacks an option for a brand new, regular 3DS, instead pushing the various 3DS XL and 2DS bundles available.
3DSCapture.com, a fan-run site that produces capture boards for the 3DS, also believes the console has been discontinued, citing “The original model 3DS is no longer in production and new systems are becoming difficult to find” as the reason behind canceling its 3DS with pre-installed capture board service.
This news comes on the heels of Nintendo of Japan putting the 3DS and 3DS XL models out to pasture in anticipation of the New 3DS’ release. At the moment, it is unclear if Nintendo is quietly doing the same in Western territories, or if there are other factors involved.
We’ve reached out to multiple Nintendo sources for comment, and will update this story as necessary.
