After a long run, it looks like the end has arrived for the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo has officially discontinued the dedicated handheld, which means that it will no longer be producing new machines. With the death of the 3DS, the Switch is officially now Nintendo's sole focus and only console offering.
The Switch has been Nintendo's star platform for more than three years at this point, which means that other machines like the 3DS and the Wii U have been largely put to the side. In the case of the Wii U, that comes as little shock - under-performing in every sense of the phrase, Nintendo discontinued the Wii U at more or less the same time it launched the Switch.
Just in time for our realization that this COVID-19 quarantine is really, truly real, the Nintendo Switch eShop has a brand new sale for multiple games. Some games are half their original price, some are discounted even deeper. There are a few Nintendo 3DS games in the mix as well - like the always strange card game Culdcept Revolt!
Nintendo has delivered a new round of financials, this one detailing the nine-month period ending on December 31st, 2019. In that financial report, we learned that the Switch has now sold a total of 52.48 million units. That, importantly, is enough to surpass the Super Nintendo's lifetime sales.
Most of the holiday gaming sales have already wrapped up, but Nintendo is serving up one more before we say goodbye to holiday discounts entirely. Nintendo has kicked off a New Year Sale on the eShop, which sees a number of Switch and 3DS games discounted. If you received a Switch as a gift for the holidays, this sale could very well be worth checking out.
We've arrived at another Thursday, which means Nintendo has delivered a fresh list of games that are about to hit the eShop. This week, that list is arriving the day after a Nindies Showcase that revealed titles like Cuphead and Cadence of Hyrule for the Nintendo Switch. We've still got a little while to wait before those games arrive, but some of the titles announced yesterday are already available on the eShop.
Nintendo has detailed the week of eShop releases ahead, and this week, the 3DS is actually the headliner. It's a relatively quiet week for the Switch, but on 3DS, we've got the arrival of Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn to look forward to. In this age of the Switch, it isn't often that the 3DS gets the biggest release of the week, and that'll probably become increasingly true as we continue to the move through the year.
If you've been following the gaming world, you've probably already heard the bad news: the PlayStation Vita has officially been discontinued. We first caught wind of Sony's plans a couple of weeks ago, when it updated the listings for the two remaining PS Vita models to say that production would be ending soon. Then, over the weekend - only a short time after those updated listings were discovered - Sony finally pulled the plug.
The 3DS has had an interesting eight-year life cycle thus far. Sales of the handheld started out weak, prompting Nintendo to drop its price not long after launch. That price cut seemed to spark something in consumers, as the 3DS went on to be one of Nintendo's most successful pieces of hardware. Then the Switch launched in 2017, and though it fills mostly the same purpose as the 3DS, Nintendo has stated many times that it will continue to offer the 3DS as something of an entry-level console for those who may be new to gaming.
Nintendo has detailed another week's worth of upcoming releases for the eShop, and in an increasingly rare twist, a 3DS game is the headliner this time around. Attention as largely moved away from the 3DS as the Switch grows in popularity, but every once in a while, the little handheld still gets a big release. That's happening this week with the launch of Yo-Kai Watch 3.
The Nintendo Selects line of budget-priced games is growing by three today. Nintendo has added three more Nintendo 3DS games to Nintendo Selects, which essentially means that they get new box art and a lower price. If you've held out on any of the games joining the lineup today, it seems that now is a good time to buy.
It's Thursday, and Switch owners know what that means: a new batch of games heading to the Nintendo eShop has been revealed. This week, the headliner is unquestionably Wargroove, a strategy game from the folks at Chucklefish that at least somewhat resembles the Advance Wars game of yore. A lot of people have been looking forward to this game for a long time, and now it's finally here.