Nintendo 3DS

The Nintendo 3DS is a handheld gaming console released by Nintendo. It launched in Japan on February 26, 2011, followed by North America and Europe on March 27, 2011. The 3DS was the successor to the Nintendo DS and introduced glasses-free 3D gaming without requiring any special accessories. It sold over 75 million units worldwide before Nintendo discontinued it on September 16, 2020.

Several hardware revisions were released over the years, including the Nintendo 3DS XL, the Nintendo 2DS, and the New Nintendo 3DS, which came with improved specs and a second analog stick.

Nintendo 3DS Notable Games

The 3DS had a strong first-party library built around Nintendo’s biggest franchises. Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Fire Emblem Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D were among the standout titles. Pokémon X and Y also made their debut on the system, introducing full 3D battles to the series for the first time. Ocarina of Time looked especially impressive to me.

Nintendo 3DS Tech Specs

The 3DS ran on a dual-core ARM11 MPCore processor clocked at 268 MHz with 128MB of RAM. The top screen was a 3.53-inch autostereoscopic 3D display running at 800×240 resolution, while the bottom was a 3.02-inch resistive touchscreen at 320×240. It came with 2GB of built-in storage expandable via SD card and connected via Wi-Fi, infrared, StreetPass, and SpotPass. Battery life ranged from three to five hours for 3DS games and up to eight hours for DS titles.