The Nintendo 3DS: officially the best handheld of all time, right? Well, maybe, maybe not - but that's where we ranked the console last year, in a top 10 of the very best systems of its portable kind. Launched in 2011, and having just celebrated its 10th anniversary on February 26th, the 3DS had a wealth of amazing original names, awesome backwards compatibility with the DS library, and a fantastic virtual console offering NES, SNES, Game Boy games, and more. It is, was, a winner.
But if you've loved your 3DS since you got it, here's a word of advice: be careful with that thing, please. Because should anything go wrong with it, it's going to get harder, and harder, to fix it. This is because Nintendo has basically run out of spare parts for its outgoing handheld, as VGC reports.
Nintendo's own repair service for the 3DS and 3DS XL consoles in Japan was scheduled to stop at the end of March 2021 - the 3DS having been formally discontinued in the region in September 2020. But the games giant has had to cancel the service a little early, as no more parts are available.
A statement issued by Nintendo reads: "Due to the fact that we no longer have repair parts in stock, we will no longer be able to accept repairs for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL as of March 8, 2021. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, and thank you for your understanding."
It's worth noting that the spare parts problem affects only these two models - the original 3DS released in 2011, and the 3DS XL which followed in 2012 and is pictured above (that's my 3DS XL, so, hopefully it lasts!). The New 3DS, New 3DS XL and New 2DS XL - actually my favourite of the family to play on, that last one - will continue to be supported, should anything break. For now, anyway. It's also not clear what this means for repairs in Europe - but if there are no parts in Japan, there are surely no parts anywhere.
The Nintendo 3DS family - encompassing all of the above, and 2013's original, non-clamshell 2DS device - has sold a total of 75.7 million units globally. That makes it the fifth-most-successful handheld console range of all time, behind the DS at one (154 million), Game Boy Advance at two (81.5 million), Sony PSP at three (80-82 million), and the Nintendo Switch at four, which is at 80 million units and rising. Bit of a cheat, that, as the Switch in its original form isn't a dedicated handheld... but we'll allow it. Because the Switch is the best console ever.
In related Nintendo news, the company's new theme park, Super Nintendo World, is finally opening in Japan on March 18th - with sites in other countries opening in the future. Also, how do you pronounce the "Bros." of Super Mario Bros.? It seems there's quite the debate going on.
Featured Image Credit: Nintendo, the author's very own hand