Looks Like Nintendo Has Been Reprinting 3DS Retail Games For A Final Hurrah

im gonna miss this system so friggin much

Do you think this is because of backlash from the closure of 3DS Eshop?

@Qphlat27 Maybe a desire to m̶i̶l̶k̶ ̶a̶d̶d̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶f̶i̶t̶ meet increased demand.

I just bought a New 3Ds and am ready to start picking up older games. The 3DS will certainly not "die" before we will.

I hope they will consider printing some physical copies of some of the digital-only games. Doubt it though.
I REALLY want a physical copy off Rhythm Heaven Megamix. (You Europeans are lucky)

Hopefully this extends to NA as well. Reprints of insanely hard to find physicals like Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy and Yokai Watch 3 would be appreciated.

I have the reprints of both Fire Emblem Awakening and Rayman Origins.

That explains why I could see some online retailers selling copys of Devil Survivors 2 and Stella Glow. Gonna have to do some hunting for stuff I am missing. Bummer about the thinner case though.

@Qphlat27

Probably not. The used game market makes them no money. Better to supplement your income by reprinting hard to find games than let resellers take all the available money.

@NikHogan The funny thing about the 3DS is everyone was eventually so sick of it because yes, the handheld stuck around for pretty long time. The Switch had just released and people really just wanted to hear about what's coming to Switch not 3DS. Now that Nintendo has basically completely moved on from the 3DS people finally realized, 'man, this handheld and the game library is incredible.'

I love my 3DS. Its just as good, if not better for 'On the go' gaming than the Switch. (That might be a hot take but I'm sticking to it) I've never given up on it and I don't really plan to. Its going to really suck once these games start getting really expensive because it's one of the few platforms I still enjoyed buying for.

RIP 3DS. You will be missed.

Nintendo finally realizing that collectors exist. 😂

I think there is also a certain amount of FOMO occurring with collectors.

I've actually been playing my 2DS more than my Switch lately. I hope there is a sale or reprint of Yo-Kai Watch 3 because that game is resold for crazy amounts.

@Qphlat27 I really enjoy my 3DS, too. However, it is difficult to go back to the small screen after playing Switch.

There are tons of indies, but I think Nintendo gave up a lot of the market on what would have been 3DS games. Nintendo could have published more titles in the $30-$40 range on Switch. The Switch is a handheld and a console, but they have mostly focused on console games.

I really wish nintendo would reconsider their decision on the eshop closure, this little beast of a system deserves a few more years

Thinner case = less plastic = good

This is a great thing. I love it when physical games become less rare.

@Thoughts Yea, I agree. I still think the Switch cases are too big for what they contain as well. They could easily be halved, but I suppose the world just isn't ready for it

Would definitely pick up a few reprints if they come here for a decent price... still need Robobot, Ever Oasis, Kid Icarus, and Detective Pikachu...

Looking to get at least a few of these reprints, some of the games I have been looking for were seriously overpriced here. Hopefully this will alleviate that problem a bit

These will be the last time a game is truly on the cartridge, after this everything going forward are heading to a half physical half digital kind of era.

@Thoughts except if you already have some games, they will not match

If they made some new 3DS consoles, I'd buy one. My own, old and original 3DS is still alive, but I'd upgrade it if the consoles were available in reasonable prices.

I'm not sure, as the DS game boxes are thicker than 3DS game boxes, so maybe the old old ones are thicker as they were using up the DS stock

Ah, the 3DS, that system people hated at launch but grew to love. One of my top handhelds, it only trumps DS because it plays DS games as well.

I would love it if they did one last run of Dragon Quest 8 and a few others for the US

I made a post on reddit recently with my recent 3DS game pickups and realised that my Link Between Worlds classics was a thinner case. Wasn’t sure the reason but now I get it.

I also wondered how these online retailers were getting so much stock of things like Majoras Mask, Dragon Quest and Metroid replenished. Snatched them all up! Hardest to get was probably Bowser’s Inside Story but eventually that went back in stock too.

I went on a physical binge and picked up:

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros/Bowsers Inside Story/Superstar Saga
Zelda: Majoras Mask & Link Between Worlds (classic edition)
Dragon Quest VII and VIII
Metroid Samus Returns
Fire Emblem Shadows of Valencia
Pokemon Ultra Moon
Warioware Gold

All recently in stock brand new in the UK. Only Link Between Worlds was the thin case. All were red strip sealed; except Majoras Mask which is sealed but no strip?

For those in the UK that are interested: best two places are Base.com and 365Games. 365Games was better because it gives reward points but in the last couple weeks it’s gone weird, upped its prices and is swamped with NTSC games; and since the 3DS isn’t region free that doesn’t help.

Also 365games send each game separately. So if you order 5 games you have to explain 5 packages to the wife. It makes no sense and it maketh me shooketh.

Why can't they just port like half of the 3DS's library on the Switch? I know the answer would probably be a no

Awwww, Europe. 😢 Would love some NTSC reprints. Stupid 3DS region locking! 🔒😡

I still say the 3DS is a good enough system to co-exist along side the Switch. I think it is silly that they discontinued it. The Switch would still sale like hotcakes even if they continued selling the 3DS.

I love my little clamshell game machine, and the games made for it are super nice for that "pull it out of your pocket, flip it open, play a few minutes, close it, and slip it back in your pocket" style of on the go gaming. The Switch is great, but it is bigger and has no clam shell to protect it in your pocket.

The two consoles serve different purposes and are fine co-existing on the market at the same time.

I've bought some reprints here in Sweden with the thinner case: Luigi's Mansion and Hatsune Miku.

I also got some reprints of some Atlus and Square Enix games, but those have the regular European 3DS case.

@Zverik Yeah, the European DS cases are pretty thick and have pretty ugly spines. The US DS ones are thinner and have prettier spines. Thankfully the DS is region free, so I have both EU and US versions in my collection.

@T0biasCZe The planet is more important than the game collection imo

They need to make some more N64 controllers not 3DS games!

@K1LLEGAL Thanks for the info! I haven't used Base before, but I think I'll grab a few games from them.

Base.com are already fleecing us. The price you've shown that they're charging for Soul Hackers is £36.19 but on their website they're wanting £43.49.

@Qphlat27 No way, they’d have to apply for the manufacturing contract way in advance. Especially with the different boxes.

@Zverik I only own one EU DS game (Izuna 1, because apparently EU copies are/were cheaper than US) and I could see that EU boxes are thicker than US and JP boxes, and from that game I could see it was probably to make room for multi-language manuals.

I recently bought a brand new copy of Metroid Samus Returns and I was quite surprised at the ease of buying it brand new at normal pricing and the thinner case. But now it makes sense!

This whole time I wasn't aware that Europe had a different case to other regions, I thought that they just randomly decided to update the design. However I really don't understand why they made it so tough to open :/

@KingBowser They should port more 3DS games to Switch, but most would have to retain their 3DS pricing. It may just not be profitable.

Samus Returns may be the exception, as well as other big names such as the Mario and Luigi games. Miitopia was an interesting choice for a 3DS game that was ported to Switch. Games like Dragon Quest would depend on 3rd Party publishers.

While I will be disappointed with the smaller boxes but I really want to get Soul Hackers Physical as it is the only Shin Megami Tensei games for the 3ds I don't own physically.

Curious.

thats great news, with so many systems around I am sure they can make an extra buck,

Maybe they should reprint that bad batch of Pokémon Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire and Persona Q cards that will all be dead before 2030 and hand them out to people who paid money for them only to end up with a dead, unfixable game cartridge only a few years after launch.

A lot of people wanted the 3DS dead because they just couldn’t stand looking at its low res screen anymore. But I love that low res screen (unlike the WiiU gamepad screen)

Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I totally missed the boat on 3DS and am just now getting one, and I'm down for anything that makes the games everyone's saying I should play easier to get hold of in physical form. Thanks Nintendo.

I would LOVE to take advantage of UK/EU game prices - I've done this for the Switch and regular DS - but when it comes to the 3DS, region locking is unfortunately a thing.

Question: why isn't SMT Devil Survivor Overclocked on the Aussie eshop? It's the only one I want and the physical price is disgusting.

@Qphlat27
A final print on certain retail 3DS games was likely always planned from the beginning.

I want YOKAI WATCH 3 got reprinted again, either PAL or USA version I will get one.

@Tyranexx
Well, that's why I have four 3DS XL machines with 3 different regions so I can play all regions 3DS games legally. 😁

@TheFatPlumber It's £39.95 on The Game Collection, if that helps?

https://www.thegamecollection.net/shin-megami-tensei-devil-summoner-soul-hackers-3ds

@Anti-Matter I'm honestly tempted to buy a PAL/Region 2 machine just to get in on some of these sweet reprints...almost. Hopefully Nintendo of America also does a few reprints.

@KoopaTheGamer
Nintendo made the “new 3DS” , the “new 3DS XL” and the “new 2DS XL”. They also made the “3DS XL” and “2DS”.
That’s 5 consoles Nintendo made after the original “3DS”. Perhaps they should make a seventh version of the 3DS?
(BTW, I’m just teasing you, I know what you mean)

If they did another run for 3DS system I'd be all in. I had a huge digital library but its not worth the price of a system now to try and get that back. But I'd buy two systems if they did a re-release.

Oh no, i still need to buy a couple of 3DS games i want
Guess i'll better start looking for them now

Discontinuing the 3ds is like discontinuing the iPhone. Nintendo could keep this system alive for decades but …nope. Another bad business decision. So many gamers are distraught over the end of the 3ds, but Nintendo does not even care.

any info on where to find those in Italy (or Europe)? I'm looking for a copy of Stella Glow...

I'd like it if they pushed out one final stock of 3DS systems. Mine has an nonexistent battery life and dead shoulder buttons and it's the smaller New model that NoA isn't offering repairs for. I wanna replay Kirby Planet Robobot but I can't guard...

So the reprints all have the world edition circle on the bottom right of the cover? That’s why I am seeing these games show up on eBay.

@NikHogan I used to feel the same way about the SNES.

@Kiyata If people were still making games on it I'm sure people would still be buying games.

@Shredderlovespizza On top of that they could make the hardware a little bit stronger and put some anti-aliasing in and it could have kept going.

I got really excited until I realized this is only happening in PAL territories.

@Wyatt006 Woah woah, Megamix was digital-only in the US? That's crazy!

@Aurumonado No it sounds like there are reprints in North America too, it's just less obvious because the case hasn't changed.
See the tweet from the NY indie store that says they're stocking up on reprints.

@123akis It wasn't just me! I got a new copy of the Luigi's Mansion port and thought it was glued shut at first because it took more force than usual. Then I noticed it was thinner and started thinking maybe it was a refurb in a fake case or something.

@SirPrimalform Looking at the picture from that store - they look like the World Versions (U.A.E, Malaysia, Singapore). Same game card as NTSC but less value because of the logo.

@Aurumonado Ah ok, I identified them as North American by the ESRB rating. As long as they're the same region as far as the carts go it doesn't matter if you want them to play. I can see how you might not want them if you're a collector though.

@Tyranexx You should think twice that. I mean, that I live in Europe but also I have a Us New 3ds xl (I have also european systems of course) for 2 reasons. First of all for the physical usa exclusives like SMT IV, Rune factory 4, Return of popolocrois, Jake hunter, Corpse party, Lord of Magna, Code of Princess, Alliance Alive, River city series etc, and now the final physical game Fragrant story. Secondly back then some of the games were cheaper or in the same price as the europeans but in collectors edition like etrian odyssey series. In your case if you have a european 3ds system, you will get some great european exclusives games like inazuma eleven series (3 games), rhythm paradise megamix, dead heat dillon in dirty cheap prices. In addition you will get many games that you probably want to buy in usa region but are too expensive. Just compare the prices even in the first party games and you will be shocked how cheap are.

@Guile It still boggles my mind how some PEGI-rated games are cheaper on Amazon US than their ESRB counterparts; my guess is region locking has something to do with it, though I've also had luck with region-free consoles like the Switch. Definitely considering finding a EU system now. Appreciate the feedback.

@Tyranexx Just hack your 3DS and you can make it region-free.

@SirPrimalform I'm thinking about eventually doing that with my spare unit tbh.

@Tyranexx Oh yeah, if you have more than one then it's a no-brainer!

Please don't promote VGNY. The owner pays his staff well under minimum wage, has them work 60 hour weeks, and often goes on coke binges and sexually harasses customers.

@SmartNickname If you're still looking, here's Stella Glow at the best price I've seen it: https://www.base.com/buy/product/stella-glow-nintendo-3ds/dgc-stgl3ds.htm