March 27th is an important day for Nintendo fans, as it marks the anniversary of the North American release of the Nintendo 3DS. In 2021, this day is even more consequential, as it represents the ten year anniversary of the handheld console in that region. This handheld device was integral in Nintendo finding its place in the growing video game market, and could very well be the reason why the popular Nintendo Switch ever made it past the drawing board. Today is a perfect day to look back at this unique system and appreciate all the value it brought to both Nintendo and fans.
The Nintendo 3DS was initially released on February 11th in Japan, and was followed up by a European release over a month later on March 25th. Two days after that, North American markets got the chance to try the handheld console for themselves on March 27th, and the final release was in March 31st for Australia.
If one were to simply look back at the numbers, the Nintendo 3DS may actually seem like a lackluster handheld. It is surprisingly the lowest selling handheld that Nintendo has ever made, but this statistic is somewhat misleading. Despite its apparent failure, it actually did wonders to help keep Nintendo aggressive and competitive despite the relatively poor reception of the Wii U. Looking at the Nintendo Switch that would follow after the 3DS and the Wii U, its hybrid handheld/console design seems like the next logical step moving forward.
Although the 3DS family was discontinued on September 16th of 2020, the Nintendo eShop is still up and running. This means that players can still use it to buy games and interact with other online feature. That is certainly a huge relief, as the 3DS was responsible for the creation of many new, popular franchises, as well as the revival of some forgotten ones. Examples of this include Bravely Default, a Square Enix game that has since spawned two more entries in its franchise, and Fire Emblem: Awakening, whose success allowed the series to continue with new games like Fire Emblem: Fates and more recently, Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Since the Nintendo 3DS didn’t launch until March 31st in Australia, it still has one more tenth birthday to celebrate. After that, it will officially be ten years old in all regions, meaning its next major milestone won’t be until 2026. It will be interesting to see if the eShop remains up and running for that long or if players will eventually have to say goodbye to their trusty Nintendo 3DS.
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