The Smaller New Nintendo 3DS is Discontinued Globally - An Era Ends

Auf wiedersehen!

Sucks, the smaller was was 10x better. Goes to show that flashier and poweful always wins.

Got every UK variant of this apart from the Pokemon Alpha Sapphire one. Anyone got one?

Unfortunate, but predictable; once the flow of new faceplates started to slow I was more or less expecting a discontinuation.

Now I never want to take mine out of the house for fear it hits the ground and can't get repaired.
🙁

I purchased a ridiculous amount of face plates for this! Personal favourites have got to be Splatoon, original 151 Pokémon and colour Yoshis! RIP

If only the Americans demanded those redundant faceplates harder......

XL is always better! Never had a 3ds which isn't a XL variant.

Never owned or seen one personally, but it will always be the best looking version of the 3DS in my opinion due to the colored buttons and face plates.
....It's pretty much the unicorn of 3DS family..
RIP

Who didn't see this coming. It's not like the thing was ever widely available in NA anyways.

So amped about the 2DS XL this month!

Love my black N3DS with splatoon faceplates. Best handheld I've ever owned

farewell, the last portable that fits comfortably in my pocket.

Wow, that's a shame. I recently ditched my N3DSXL for the smaller variant, and I have zero regrets. It's way lighter, has an excellent textured plate as a default and everything looks sharper thanks to the science behind not stretching out every image to make it look bigger.

I'm definitely hoping the 2DSXL holds out for a while...

Good. The small 3DS gave me hand cramp, the XL is so much more comfortable. Nintendo knows that Bigger is better now... Switch is big but I bet a bigger one is coming next year.

XL all the way!
The screens on the regular one has always been too small for me.

Makes sense, with the introduction of the New 2DSXL. I was going to get one of these New 3DS's, but then I got a Switch...

Well it was good while it last even though it only had limited releases over here. Make sense to discontinued it as they are now focusing on the New 3DS XL and New 2DS XL. I guess the Switch is the New 1DS XL then.

@Firelork Good point.

Will we get a clearance sale on face plates now. $20 for those things was to much to ask for.

Why did mine have to get stolen in Paris last week.

Too bad, seems like the black one will be the rarest one.

Well, I'm happy with the white one and my Hanafuda Cover plates <3

I probably would of replaced my old 3DS XL with this New 3DS if I could of got one on Black Friday last year. But since they sold out fast in the US, I just stuck with my old 3DS XL instead of hunting for one.

Sad to see it get discontinued. I never got one myself, but I've always thought the face plates were a cool idea.

I have Older and New 3DS XL.
New 3DS with faceplates = Beauty.
Ah... time for retirement.
Goodbye, my friend.

I have the new 3ds ambasador edition (the white one with the japanese text on it) but I never play it. It's all about the 3ds xl for me.

This is stupid. But glad we were able to get two of them in my house. I have the Animal Crossing one which my 2nd youngest uses and my daughter has the Super Mario one. She prefers the smaller one over the XL. They don't really sell the smaller ones in Canada anymore. Wish we were able to get the Pokémon one though. We have like 6 or 7 cover plates. My favs have to be the Mario Maker one and the 151 original Pokémon one.

(EDIT: Had to change the wording, because people were confused about what I was saying and thought I was suggesting it was a good idea business-wise for them to discontinue the 3DS.)

Now if only all the other 3DS/2DS models would be discontinued as well.

On one hand it would be sad, and a poor business move, but I personally wish the Switch had the full spotlight. It's just a superior system in almost every way.

Love my ambassador edition but still mostly play xl, and never had the heart to remove my majoras mask plates out of the packaging.

Didn't have this variant but once I replaced my first 3DS with my first XL I didn't really go back to the smaller model.
I got the new 2DS XL the other week and it's so good I've picked up some games that were sitting unloved.
Shame about this model though, the bottoms were sweet!

wonder if the new 2ds xl dosn't sell well how long before the 3ds range is canned.

I'm happy I managed to snatch the Black Firday N3DS, I love it! Its the perfect size, the XL is too big.

The only faceplates I'm interested in now are the Pokemon anniversary ones, so maybe I'll get them in eBay before they become too expensive...

i love my n3DS, currently rocking a kirby faceplate and i play it every single day and bring it to work most days as well

@KirbyTheVampire That would be a boneheaded decision by Nintendo. The 3DS family still accounts for around half of Nintendo's total revenue and it's still doing very well. The 3DS will be around for this and next year in full force before we can start talking about giving up the ghost.

@Gridatttack Black the rarest?!

@KirbyTheVampire Sure, like how they stopped making NES Classics

Damn.

Always wanted that one.

Love my camouflage cover plates shame the big one doesn't use them

Love my regular size New 3ds. Very thankful I got one last Black Friday. Black 3ds with the wood grain faceplate looks slick!

I have an original 3DS and it really cramped my hands. I never got the original XL since didn't want to upgrade just for a bigger size, but when the New 3DS XL came out I jumped on that and it's great. The screen might be a little diluted compared to the smaller model but the overall size of the XL is absolutely essential for myself to play for a decent period of time. Never understood why the XL never got the faceplates though.

Wait, what? Why did the XL sell way more units despite not having a higher resolution and therefore lower pixel density (not to mention a higher price)? That really makes no sense to me. I always suspected the N3DSXL to be the niche product, not the regular one.

"it's true, but even in territories where both models were readily available (in the early days, at least) the XL has performed better."

Not sure how is in the more Nintendo supported countries, but XL was always easier to find around than the non XL. Finding any accesories for the standard size is almost impossible.
XL It sold better only because it had more exposure. People couldn't find the smaller version, or didn't know about it.

Gotta find and buy few N3DS before the price go up... Just to have some spare repair parts, I guess.

@Tasuki I didn't say it was the best decision for them as a business. I just mean I wish they would do it so that all their efforts would be concentrated on the Switch, because it's a superior system, and I much prefer it to the 3DS.

The way I worded it did make it seem like that's what I was saying, but even if I was saying that, no need to be a gigantic douche about it and call me stupid, lol.

I'll try and get a second hand one some point if they're reasonable, so I can actually use the faceplates I purchased!! Ideally the black one as it will go with more of them. Probably not for a while though.

Goes to show people really don't care about graphics as the xl versions stretch the pixels, graphics always ALWAYS look better on small screens!

I really like my new 3ds, always thought the xl type models were too big to lug around.
Won't fit in my suit pocket!

I love this version of the New 3ds (it's the best one imo). Still salty that NoA never fully embraced this model in the states (It's most likely down to Reggie being butthurt that the Gameboy Micro faceplates didn't take off back in '05 ). Still need to go get some more faceplates. I'm looking to nab the FE Fates, Xenoblade, Splatoon, Sable Able and Super Mario Maker Plates

I bought the smaller model for the face plates. There were some really nice designs. I read some games don't transition so well to the XL screen as they weren't intended for the bigger display. Curious to know if many later games were affected by this, or if what distortion there was, wasn't that big a deal.

@shani Probably to do with screen size being too small with the non-XL varieties.

Legitimately did not realize until this article and people talking about face plates that I had the smaller model, I don't get out often.

@gatorboi352 Same here! I can't wait to upgrade my original black 3DS from 2011

This is a major blow, right there. I actually liked personalizing my Standard New 3DS with its face plates and it's easier to fit in my pocket than an XL model would.

Hopefully in the case of my standard New 3DS breaking down, I'd be able to get another one. I just cannot bring myself to buy an XL model of any kind.

Unless you really like 3D it has kinda lost its place in the market. the 2DS XL is £130 the small new 3DS was £150. Id rather save £20 and have that screen real estate. Also including the Switch Nintendo would have been producing 5 hardware SKUs and the SNES mini. Thats insane. I loved the way the smaller model looked with the buttons and customization options but the XL model was a much better gameplay experience.

Wouldn't be surprised to see the original 2DS go soon. It is now the only model without the new hardware, which most be a pain to have to make from a production line perspective. much better to have the units all using the same components

I was furious when the Americas did not recieve the New 3DS regularly. I don't like the way the image looks on the XL. As such I have yet to have updated my launch 3DS. Was going to buy one from an eBay seller. Now surely the prices will be ridiculous. Guess I will have to bite the bullet and get an XL then.... I love my DS / 3DS collection too much to not update the system. My launch 3DS is starting to look it's age.

Omg wow!!

I would have bought more cover plates if they weren't so ridiculously overpriced.

i have a new 3ds from every region. sad.

The 2DS is not going anywhere so there will still be a smaller/lighter option for young kids.

I've been hooked on the XL screens since the DSi XL, but I'm glad NoA at least gave it's consumer base the option (however brief) of the small New 3DS.

@Pupito
Just look next time you look at display tvs. The smaller screens sizes look way better than a large screen. Take a 20 inch and 40 inch set for example everything is stretched out on the 40 while the 20 is much nicer.

Coloured SNES buttons should exist on every Nintendo device ever. I've already modded my switch with these buttons using this wonderful tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSM79rxV4l0

Worked great.

I have the white small New3DS and totally happy with it. It's a true portable in a way that it Switch, brilliant as it is, is not. I play it often - currently rocking some Donkey Kong Returns on it.

Well. This is sad.

Why?

I have a Nintendo DS Lite, and borrowed for a couple of days the New 3DS which I assume was the XL model.

I simply preferred the smaller screen of my Nintendo DS Lite. The resolution, pixels fits it.

I remember when my old Nintendo rep came in and we compared Smash Bros with his N3DSXL and my new 3DS and we saw how the larger screen made edges more aliased, more "jaggies". The XL screen was definitely more vibrant, but the N3DS was crisper. I'd rather have a crisper picture than a bigger 3DS screen. Heck, back in the day I'd prefer playing on my GBA Micro instead of my SP.

Hmm... So far I have owned the 2ds and as of last year the n3ds. I must admit it had given some serious hands cramps. I bought a n3ds grip and gaming has become awesome. Will probably buy an xl version down the road probably n3ds. Got the appropriate grip ready.

Even though there will soon be 6 different 3DS iterations, Nintendo seems keen on only offering a few iterations on the market to prevent oversaturation.

@Kamiyouni How was the smaller one more powerful than the larger one?

@Kamiyouni the xl/ll is more understated than the cover plates, and they're the same power. Just a case of "bigger is better" though, also tiny screens really are annoying. Love my launch day Cosmo black, but my xls always got the most play.

Nintendo only cancelled this in anticipation of their magnum opus: the New New 3DS. The processor will run 3 percent faster and it'll display games in full 4k on a 3 inch screen. Stay tuned for the New New 3DSXL next year!
..................
I'll just be over here in my corner with my Switch...

smaller one is way better! perfect size & weight. The XL/LL screen just looks blown up to match the larger screen. it does not have any higher resolution. the only reason i purchased a XL is because that was only thing available in North America at the time.

Ahh they finally figured it out, bigger is better 👍😁

@Exy if only they were available for us Americans. I got my Pokémon 20th anniversary edition. I've only seen the Animal Crossing edition on a store shelf and they didn't last long. Cover plates have been basically non existent in my area at least. I tried looking online for some but they were all imports so I didn't bother with it.

The colours on the N3ds just pop. I was amazed at how washed out they were on the XL. The screen size is perfect, imho, and the unit is easier on my hands.

Only have the included Animal Crossing faceplates, but I love the white unit.

@olrodlegacy it was only available on the Black Friday edition in the US. Dunno for Europe.

Previously you had to import one from Japan.

Strange! Will Nintendo replace it with 2DS XL?

I bought a white 3DS XL and I still have it and play.

@gatorboi352 An affordable system with an amazing library and backwards compatible with an arguably better library--I can see why you'd want to express legitimate excitement in lieu of inventing a new reason to troll.

Well, it looks like my future 3DS upgrade unit will have blown-up pixels and will have to be toted around in a bag, since the XLs don't fit in my pockets....

Thanks for everything, NoA.

Living in NA I obviously never owned this version (I have a New XL though) but I definitely think this was the best looking 3DS model. I'm one of those few who actually preferred the smaller (3)DS models, but my original 3DS was falling to pieces and I needed to upgrade. I really wish I could have gotten a regular-sized New 3DS. Oh well.

But now I have the Switch. So I don't think I can ever go back to a 3DS, XL or not. The Switch is just too perfect of a system in its ability to seamlessly transition between console mode and portable mode.

XL fo lyfe, yo.

Sorry. I mean, I prefer the XL model, but the smaller device is very nice as well.

I am glad to have one of these North American models.

@Kamiyouni

Agreed, but the N3DSXL isn't more powerful. They both have the same hardware. The screen is bigger on the N3DSXL. While the N3DS has slightly better picture quality.

@Fooligan

Unfortunately, it looks like the opposite is occurring. Prices are going up.

This was the best model. By far.

Glad I bought extras...though I don't see the first one dying anytime soon considering the hardware seems like the most solid that Nintendo ever produced and that's factoring in the actually-bombed Gameboy.

Prices are going to skyrocket. The black North American one will be worth a fortune sealed in a few years.

@G0dlike same! My favorites are the Teresa (boos- which I have sealed) , Hanafuda and these Korean exclusives:

http://www.perfectly-nintendo.com/wp-content/gallery/new-3ds-17-08-2015/3.jpg

I'm so glad I managed to get one of these when they finally showed up in North America. At the low price I was hoping to grab a second one as a backup once they were back in stock, but they never came back

I've always preferred the XL models, but Just because this smaller model is going away almost makes me want to go out and get one before they're gone

It seems like Nintendo has now placed all their emphasis on relatively "big" portable gaming devices, as the Switch (in handheld mode) and the normal 2DS are too large to fit into most pockets, while the New 3DS XL and New 2DS XL can fit into most pockets but are nevertheless quite uncomfortable.

The discontinuation of the standard-sized New 3DS has marked the end of an era indeed - the era of small, conveniently pocket-able handhelds.

Whew, glad I was able to get one here in NA for Black Friday. I really love this version--looks sleek, colored buttons, faceplates, etc. XL screen always looked funny to me, the pixels stretch and the colors looked off to me. Plus it would never fit in my pocket.

I'm not surprised by this move. The system wasn't selling as well so Nintendo decided to launch a new product to boost interest again. It's clear they want to see the 3DS through to 2018 so they are making tough choices. Personally, I'm glad I have a white and black version of the smaller consoles (NTSC) to have as collectibles in the future. Could be great little units to let me son use as he grows up, too. If you wanted a smaller version, I'd look to grab one soon as I'm sure the prices on eBay (and the like) will only go up.

Once you go XL, you can't go back. The bigger screen size is just too nice.

@Pupito It's barely noticeable, you need to be incredibly obsessed to even care. It's not worth getting both unless you want a collection.

I'm an old gamer at 47 years. I started handheld gaming with the Gameboy, Pocket, GBC, Advance and SP then had a DS phat, lite, DSi and then a DSi XL. I've loved them all for their time, but the n3ds xl is my favorite. Probably my old eyes (wearing trifocals), but the smaller 3ds was too small for me at this point in life. It's always sad to see any system reach it's end of production. Long live handheld gaming! (not you Switch, you're probably too big for my pocket and definitely too pricey)...mutters about kids in college and weddings to pay for...

Never had a 3DS and will likely never get one. I don't think I'll be missing the New 3DS because of it's minimal size. All the friends of mine who have it complain that it's too small and shift to an XL model sooner rather than later. I s'pose this is the beginning of the end of the 3DS line IMO. It'll be dead by Holiday 2018 or maybe Spring 2019

Big is beautiful?

@KirbyTheVampire Switch is garbage and if that was all Nintendo was offering, they would lose all the people who don't want a Switch, like me.

@Klobb

It's very noticeable. Just the colour aspect alone is much improved on the N3ds as opposed to the XL.

I personally preferred the XL, due to my large hands, but I will also be saddened to see the little guy go.

Even if it looks a little fuzzier, I still prefer the XL. That bigger screen makes for a more immersive experience.
But I liked the colored buttons of the smaller one... The New 2DS XL could me so much more cooler if it had buttons like that. Anyway, I just got one (New 2DS XL) yesterday and I'm already loving it.

I'd always pick this one over the XL. The screen resolution and faceplates make it better.

@Scott_PdP Big shout out to late 40s gamers - we are out there

Frankly all 3DS systems look lousy to me with their decade old picture quality. But the smaller model is notably less pixelated than the XL versions. Thus I prefer it. I went out of my way to get the American small N3DS while I could. To me, this discontinuation is further proof that Nintendo is planning on retiring the whole line of systems within a year, two at most.

I felt this was the way things were going. I wanted to buy a NN3DS for my daughter for Christmas and they were bloody expensive! The year before I snagged a NN3DS for less than £100 with a NSMB2 download code included.

Coupled with the fact that the only new devices being released were XL bundles it was pretty clear before we knew about the NN2DS things were slowing down.

Glad I bought 2 of them when I had the chance. Never understood why people wanted the big clunky XL models, and using the shoulder buttons on those monsters hurt my hands.

@Mahe I'm pretty sure no one here cares if you ever buy a Switch. I don't think any one of us would ever want to play an online game with you on Switch, so you're doing us a favour

There were so many scalpers and people wanting a small New 3ds in North America that I never even got one. (a limited bundle)
(I have my reasons for wanting the small New 3ds.)

I refused to pay some reseller in it to make a quick buck.
I so wanted Nintendo to take my money.

I officially refuse to purchase a New 3ds XL "globally". (in spite)
I kept waiting for them to release it to get a small New 3ds.
Low demand.... yeah right (in U.S.)