Nintendo has announced that it’s finally ending support for the final iteration of a much beloved console, and fans are getting a little misty-eyed following the official statement.
It’s easy to forget these days, considering what a resounding success both the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2 have been, but the 2010s were a bit of an awkward decade for Nintendo.
Hot off the back of the success of the Nintendo Wii in 2006 and the Nintendo DS in 2004, Nintendo opted to release the Wii U in 2012… and it was a financial bomb.
As reported by Nintendo back in 2019, the Wii U’s lifetime sales totalled roughly 13 million– a paltry sum when compared to the Nintendo Wii’s 101 million in sales.
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Luckily for Nintendo, the failure of the Wii U was offset by the success of the other console they released in the 2010s: the Nintendo 3DS.
There were so many iterations of the 3DS that I’m not even sure I can name them all off the top of my head, but each different variant, including the often-maligned Nintendo 2DS line, was relatively successful.
If all of this has gotten you nostalgic for a trip down memory lane, then I hope whatever model of 3DS you have is in good shape… because Nintendo just revealed that they’ve discontinued support for all Nintendo 3DS and 2DS systems.
As detailed in an article by VGC's Chris Scullion, Nintendo announced on Twitter earlier this month that they’ve discontinued repair support for the New Nintendo 2DS “due to the depletion of parts inventory required for repairs”.
As this was the last variant of the Nintendo 3DS that could still be sent in for repair, and online services for the system have also been shut down, this means the system will no longer be officially supported by Nintendo in any shape or form.
Surprisingly, at least where the 2DS is concerned anyway, fans over on the r/Games subreddit are relatively saddened by the news, with one user stating “RIP to the last of a legendary console”.
Frankly I’m kind of surprised they were still offering repairs for any 3DS system in 2025, but it’s still sad to see the little guy go. Maybe it’s time for another Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver playthrough, to commemorate its digital passing.