It's almost hard to believe that the Nintendo 3DS is nearly a decade old. Since its initial launch back in 2011, the 3DS and its various different models have enjoyed a wealth of success over the last several years. Although, as of today, Nintendo has changed the layout of the company's official website that reflects the current status of the 3DS.

Back in September of 2020, Nintendo sadly discontinued the 3DS. For many in the gaming community, it was a rather melancholy occasion, but also a reasonable one. The 3DS has been out for several years and has steadily lost popularity within the last couple of years especially. As a result of the discontinuation, Nintendo has done something to further mark the end of the handheld's commercial run.

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As of today, Nintendo has removed the 3DS section from the official Nintendo website. As of right now, the only hardware tabs available on the website are exclusively for the Nintendo Switch, its various accessories, and Amiibo. Fans on Twitter have begun to take notice of this and have since started to pay their respects to the loss of the 3DS.

For those in the gaming community with deep ties to the 3DS, this will come as some very sad news. Ever since the launch of the Nintendo DS all the way back back in 2004, the DS lineage of handhelds have served a significant percentage of the gaming populous well throughout the years. Though, the 3DS in particular garnered quite a lot of attention and popularity for various reasons, including its vast variety of games.

For how long the 3DS lasted, the handheld went through multiple iterations, each of which saw its own fair share of success. The 3DS XL, the 2DS, and the New Nintendo 3DS XL were received well by many in the gaming community. However, now that none of these handhelds are in production anymore, it will be interesting to see where Nintendo goes from here.

It's clear that the Nintendo Switch was made with the intention of serving as a sort of middle ground between a console and a handheld, but right now it seems unclear as to whether Nintendo will produce any sort of portable handheld systems. After all, Sony switched to only producing game consoles after the PS Vita was discontinued earlier last year. Only time will tell if the gaming community will see any kind of return to portable handheld Nintendo consoles.

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