Nintendo 3DS ceased production in September 2020, and in March, Nintendo announced the closure of the eShop, leaving thousands of games condemned to oblivion (or to ROM websites, to be precise). Focusing on the Switch, which serves as both a handheld and home console, the Japanese company bid farewell to its handheld… without knowing that three years after its discontinuation, it would continue to sell games by the bucketloads.
Three of that one, not that one
In the last three months, Nintendo has sold a total of 210,000 3DS games. Yes, no more consoles are being sold, but the total game sales have increased from 391,380,000 three months ago to 391,590,000. And you might say, “Well, that’s not much.” But try selling 210,000 games for a console that’s twelve years old. It’s true that during winter, it sold over a million thanks to the closure of the eShop, but apparently, people can’t get enough of the 3DS.
To put it into perspective, the Wii U, which was released after the 3DS, has not seen its game sales increase for a long time, partly because the most important games have already been remade for the Switch. In other words, Nintendo may be considering whether to completely close the chapter on exclusive handhelds (to be honest, the Switch is more of a hybrid than a true handheld) when they see that the 3DS continues to be a money-making machine.
It’s quite interesting to note that the best-selling games worldwide for the 3DS are still ‘Mario Kart 7’ (of course), ‘Pokémon X/Y’, ‘Pokémon Sun/Moon’, ‘Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire’, and ‘New Super Mario Bros 2’. These are classic titles that, if you didn’t get them at the time, you’ll probably miss out on. Additionally, it’s worth considering that the second-hand market is still going strong for the Nintendo 3DS, even though finding original copies is becoming increasingly challenging.
Is the 3DS here to stay? Despite everything being stacked against it, it certainly seems so.
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