While Nintendo won't come out and actually say it, the 3DS is pretty dead now. All of the major publishers and developers have shifted their attention to the Switch, and as a result, the older handheld system has seen its list of releases dry up completely. 2019 is looking pretty barren for 3DS owners as far as new releases are concerned.
However, a game announced during a Japanese Nintendo Direct in 2018 was supposed to be on the horizon. Mixi's Mobile Ball was shaping up to be a rather unique action / sports title that would feature cross-play with a smartphone edition.
Sadly, the company has now confirmed that the game has been cancelled due to it not reaching the quality level required for release.
Here are some scans from Famitsu, posted in October of last year (Thanks, Nintendo Everything):
Despite its popularity in Japan, where it sold fantastically well, the 3DS is now seen as old news by players who have fully embraced the hybrid Switch. The cancellation of Mobile Ball could well mark the true end of the 3DS' lifespan.
[source japanesenintendo.com]
Comments (49)
Rip .. ! Bye-Bye 3DS
Now the 3DS is universally dead.
I dislike it when consoles are called " dead" at the end of their production. I will continue to play this system until the end of my life, alongside past, present systems. The 3DS is very much alive to me.
@Fighter_Hayabusa I agree. In the last week I’ve been focusing on stuff in my backlog on the 3DS and Wii U, and am eying up some games on the Wii and GameCube next.
That being said, once Mario Maker 2 arrives, that will probably overrule everything else for a short while.
The 3DS is a behemoth. It will never die.
3DS will NEVER die.
For me, it's a beginning to expand my 3DS games by adding Japanese and Europe exclusive games.
I still have a lot of 3DS titles i have never played before.
So ends the 3DS run. Rest In Peace and long live Switch!
The 3DS is arguably less dead than the Vita, which is out of production but still getting new games this year. The first-party stuff is clearly over, but I could still imagine more eshop stuff down the line, and maybe some limited edition physical releases. It's a unique console, with a pretty much unparalleled software library. It'll hang around on shelves at least another year.
I haven't seen a single 3DS unit in stores lately, but you can definitely still find 2DS/2DS XL units up for grabs. They're mostly using it (as they've stated) as a budget option.
And why not? The 3DS family has its own stellar library and is backwards compatible with most of the DS library as well.
3DS will only be dead to me when Switch will be able to display 3D!
@N1ntendodo
Limited Run Games is still doing a few.
"All of the major publishers and developers have shifted their attention to the Switch"
Lol, no they aint. Atlus is still clinging on for dear life.
Still expecting a Frozen 2 related game on 3DS. Probably match 3.
Perfect time to announce it's successor the Switch mini.
@Knuckles-Fajita I don't think Atlus has any other 3DS games planned now, does it?
@Damo No, but they aren't exactly releasing anything on Switch either. Persona 5 Scramble is a Koei Tecmo game, and SMTV is....er….2020? If we are being lucky?
So yes, all the major publishers HAVE dropped the 3DS. No it's not for the Switch.
It's okay, 2DS/3DS. I still love you.
@Knuckles-Fajita Atlus is working on SMTV, as you say... so how does that mean it hasn't dropped 3DS for Switch?
I loved the 3DS, and I'll continue to love it for years to come.
@Damo That's not what I said.
""All of the major publishers and developers have shifted their attention to the Switch""
Atlus HAS dropped the 3DS, but they HAVENT done the second part of your claim, move to the Switch in any meaningful way, certainly not in line with the other previous 3DS publishers.
I've had more fun with 3ds than anything else. Made life long friends through it & chatted with strangers thanks to streetpass in many countries who became friends or we sat and played for a while. I'll always adore it
It's not dead to me. I still use it all the time.
People seem to get some sort of thrill over declaring things dead now. In the words of Taylor Swift, you need to calm down.
@Fighter_Hayabusa necromancer
Good night sweet prince. With the success of the Switch it was inevitable.
@Fighter_Hayabusa Any system that loses support and games is dead. Sorry. I have an N64 that’s still fun to play but you can’t tell me that’s not a dead system.
Ehh in the last 2 years I've got 4 games, 2 of them were new and one of them I dumped as it was a re-release and bored me. I just got one for the first time this year the other day Luigi's Mansion and it's amazing. The system has life, even in death it has life as the monster has a big library and an even bigger DS library to tickle too. At some point a couple years back I dumped some games I kind of wish I hadn't, so maybe now is the time to scrape up some gems stupid cheap since people will jump on the dump your old crap bandwagon which kills prices.
@RootsGenoa And when it has all the cool features that 3DS and Wii U had. Being able to take my Switch with me to randomly and wirelessly hook up to other Switch systems a la 3DS StreetPass would make the Switch a true replacement for it. As for Wii U, even it had video calling. And I still haven't forgiven Nintendo for getting rid of PictoChat / Swapnote.
@Knuckles-Fajita What's your point? 'Shifted their attention' means nothing other than them now (exclusively) making games for the Switch instead of the 3DS. It doesn't mean that they've released anything yet, only that they're working on it. They've even announced that they are working on those games - multiple times, even. I don't know why you're trying to make those words mean something they don't, and then try to do a "gotcha" on the writer.
3ds is still selling and still has enormous space in shops. Why was that last sentence Nintendolife? You seems kinda weird talking about 3ds and wiiu.
Both had great moments, but it’s all about Switch, we know, but a little more respect would be nice.
Be cool Nintendolife, be cool..
Nintendo has been doing the same thing with the 3DS that they did with the GBA after the DS came out. Never announce the new console as the successor, check. Continue to make statements about how great it is even when the games stop releasing for it, check. Never admit when it is a dead old platform that is no longer supported, check.
I think the motivations are the same. The GBA was an old cash cow that they wanted to milk for as long as possible, and the 3DS is in that exact situation.
@Anti-Matter it's more in the end of focus sense, the gameboy (advanced sp at leat) was not an unusual site well into the ds era, this is more about switch being treated as active mobile platform now as opposed to stuff like the 3ds remakes of past few years happening
I think a more respectful way of referring to the 3DS currently is "officially retiring" rather than "it's dead" because so many people still enjoy their 3DS, myself included, as it still offers experiences not available on Switch whatsoever. Calling it dead makes it sound like the system is an unusable brick with no redeeming features.
I know this is kinda off topic, but Mr Marowak, a 3DS speedrunner and musician has passed away recently. You probably know him from silvagunner fame
@Fighter_Hayabusa Me too, except I'm going to continue to play the THREE 3DS's I have until they kick the bucket...
@Fighter_Hayabusa I agree 100%. The 3DS is an Immortal System in my book. It has an Incredible amount of quality games. The amount of old NES, SNES, etc. Titles available for it MAKE it timeless to me. It's also one of the most comfortable and we'll designed systems I've ever had the pleasure of owning.
@gaga64 So true! I've been playing tons of classic wii games lately, just beat Kirby Return to Dreamland and New Super Mario Bros wii!
@Fighter_Hayabusa "Dead" means the system won't be supported by major companies and will cease production. Of course you can still play yours and keep it alive, people still own (and play on) healthy NES units in 2019.
And this right here is a problem with [most of] Nintendo's systems in the last few generations; they don't have a life once they get to the end of their lives. Other consoles from the likes of Sony and Microsoft can see solid support for systems like ten years into their existence in one way or another, even after the next gen of systems has released. Nintendo needs to start thinking about how to make its systems have much longer lifespans again, much like the original NES, SNES and Game Boy had back in day. I hate that when you buy a Nintendo console these days it seems to have like a 3-5 year lifespan and then it is almost utterly dead in the water as soon as the next gen system arrives--that's just not satisfying for gamers and consumers who fork out their hard-earned money for these consoles.
@impurekind The 3DS was released eight years ago. I'm also quite curious which games on the PS3 or Xbox 360 you're referring to with "solid support for systems like ten years into their existence".
@nintendoknife Well I guess the 3DS has actually had a decently long life, but boy is it being dropped like a brick now--and we're still technically in its life cycle. It's still being sold on store shelves yet it's very clear Nintendo is basically giving up on it before even its generation has come to end, which of course sends a similar message to everyone else too (developers, publishers and gamers alike). That's just not great as I see it. Nintendo should be putting out the best games the system has ever seen as it reaches its twilight years and basically continue to support it until the thing basically has no life left in it, much like it did with the NES, SNES and Game Boy.
And according to Wikipedia the Xbox 360's lifespan was 2005-2016 and the PS3's lifespan was 2006–2017 (11 years apiece*), with likely a few new games or DLC still being released even now (Shovel Knight: King of Cards for example), which is a pretty amazing run for both of those consoles.
*Almost all of Sony's home consoles have had like 10 year lifespans as I recall.
@Knuckles-Fajita Developing one of its biggest franchises on Switch isn't "meaningful"?
@impurekind Very interesting, you cite Wikipedia numbers which essentially only indicate that some games were still released for those consoles in later years (and not that any of those were important or worthwhile releases), and that you're talking without having anything to say. By the same logic the Wii is still going strong thirteen years later with its yearly releases of Just Dance. Come on, dude.
Once a company releases a new console, they'll still release whichever games they were still working on for the old one (even if it takes two more years), but all new projects will be for the new console. The same goes for most third-party developers. The only games that still get released for previous generation consoles are made by developers who think that their games would, for any reason, fit better on the previous console than on the new one, or who think that they'll make more money by (also) releasing it for the older one. Nintendo isn't developing any more games for the 3DS because after 8 years, the market is nearly saturated and they won't be selling any more 3DS's. They want to sell more Switches to everyone, even if they already had a 3DS and especially if they didn't, so they create all of their new games for the Switch in order to sell as much as possible to as many as possible.
The Soul still burns, with the huge library of games to play:)
At just under 8 and a half years on the market, does anyone else see Nintendo to continue cashing in on the 3DS family until the 10 year anniversary mark, whereby they release some super special edition of the console?
Personally, I hope Nintendo keep doing whatever works for them and makes them money; they're a business at the end of the day.
If I had an older product that still continued to sell even after I had released a new product, therefore having both products make me money, why would I stop selling the old product?
That's weird, Nintendo said it was doing very well, and they were going to keep supporting it, but games are now being cancelled for it? Hmmmm. I mean it's not like they've got a successor for it on the market or anything since you know Switch isn't its successor- that's what Nintendo keeps reiterating. I wonder what's going to replace 3DS if it's not Switch mini...
@GuruOfGreatness you know, if it's continuing to sell there wouldn't be games getting cancelled on it, they'd do whatever it took to put them out to cash in.
@gamefreak77
But the actual console itself is still selling isn't it? As are the games that are already out and manufactured for it I would assume. If so, I'd continue to sell the console and games already out IF they were still bringing me in a tidy little profit.
0:14 fat spiral nipples lol game looks fun honestly and yeah even switch will be weak hardware once ps5 is out around next Thanksgiving. Don't blame developers for switching, pun intended. Just hope they don't get lazy a la bloodstained.
Cancelling a 3DS game in Japan doesn't mean much, it probavly just means that they decided to shift their focus on different platform that could benefit more in the long run. Look how long it took Nintendo to integrate compatibility for Pokémon GO! to a console version of Pokémon. For months and months everyone was expecting (and hoping) it to be compatible with 3DS's Pokémon Sun and Moon, since 2017 was the year of both Go! and Sun/Moon but rather than update the Pokémon Bank's cloud to allow cross-platform compatibility, they lingered and lingered for the Switch to come out and do a tie-in for their Pokémon Let's Go title. Boardroom decision which results in the 3DS losing out attention in the long run.
Thus, Mobile Ball will probably follow the same way. This time Nintendo has played it safe with its third-party developers and even had the sense to use its Virtual Console catalogue to really give gamers a proper selction.
But let's face it, the 3DS is still the best handheld in the last 10 years and with its backlog of DS games too there's no reason to stop playing it. It'll be a while before Nintendo will release a proper succesor. The Switch Lite is just aimed at the hardcore handheld market (like me) to make more money.
Until Streetpass is continued in the next generation of Nintendo's handhelds I'm sticking with my beloved 3DSXL in the meantime.
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