It's the end of an era for the 3DS line, Nintendo's last fully handheld consoles. After 14 glorious years, Nintendo has stopped providing repairs for any of the consoles in Japan, even the 2017 New 2DS XL.
Nintendo announced today (in a machine-translated tweet from its Japanese customer support account) that due to a shortage of spare parts, there would be no more repairs for the New 2DS XL. It adds that repairs for all other 3DS series handhelds have also been terminated as of September 4, 2025.
So, if you've got one of these old machines and it needs to be fixed, you'll have to do it yourself or rely on a third-party to help you out. If you live in the US, you might still be in luck, as one support page claims that the company still supports 2DS and 2DS XL consoles, but other than that, Nintendo won't be able to offer any assistance.
This is a sad day, as the 3DS line sold over 75 million units as of June, 2025. I remember buying my 3DS XL just so I could play Pokemon Y and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask 3D remakes. Those games were real system-sellers.
I never really used the actual 3D functionality of the console, but it was a testament to Nintendo's desire to push handhelds further than they'd gone before. And it was nice you didn't need to wear those red and blue glasses to feel the effect.
The 3DS line was the last of the handheld consoles made by Nintendo, marking the end of an era at the company. The 3DS eShop closed back in March, 2023, and with Nintendo stopping repairs, this line is truly dead and buried.
While you're here, take a trip down memory lane and check out the best 3DS games of all time.
