Nintendo officially unveils 3DS, available March 27 for $250

By Aemon Malone Published January 19, 2011

At a press event in New York today, Nintendo announced details about its long awaited glasses-free 3D portable gaming system. Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s president and chief operating officer, hosted the event and ran through a presentation on the 3DS.

Fils-Aime called the 3DS capable of “a different kind of 3D,” meaning it doesn’t require any special glasses to produce its effects — although glasses-free 3D isn’t exactly groundbreaking technology anymore.

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Here’s a quick rundown on some basic facts we learned about the 3DS:

The 3DS will be released on March 27 in the U.S. with a MSRP of $249.99 (Japan will get it at the end of Feb.)
There are two screens: a touch-screen (the lower screen) and the 3D display screen.
There’s both an accelerometer and gyroscope — watch out Apple.
The 3DS will be available in two colors: Cosmo Black and Aqua Blue.
3D capabilities extends to video and photography — not just games.
It will ship with a 2GB SD card, which can be upgraded.
It will run on two 266MHz ARM processors.
There’ll be a charging-cradle — no adapter and cable.
Nintendo is planning an “e-shop” which will offer Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles.
a Web browser and broad support for social gaming.

Fils-Aime also promised both third-party and Nintendo game titles available within the 3DS’s “launch window.” Coming from Nintendo, there will be a new iteration of Nintendo’s classic flight simulator Pilotwings Resort; Nintendogs and Cats, a pet simulator; a submarine game called Steeldriver; a shooter called Kid Icarus: Uprising; and a 3D-ified version of the classic Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Coming from third-party developers there will be at least two fighting games, Dead or Alive Dimensions and Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition; and at least two sports games, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D and Madden NFL. All told, Nintendo says there will be over 30 titles available for the 3DS by early June.

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Gaming

Play these 3DS and Wii U games before Nintendo shutters their online features

Captain Falcon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

In April 2024, Nintendo will discontinue online services across its Wii U and 3DS consoles. While the eShops for both systems were shut down in March 2023, this will remove the online functionality of many apps and games, making gaming on either of these platforms an almost entirely offline experience. As a result, many games on those systems will lose important features and never be quite the same to play afterward. So, you'll need to get some gaming time in by next April if you want to refresh and preserve the memories of playing online on these two underdog Nintendo platforms.
While the aforementioned eShop closures make it impossible to buy new games digitally, plenty of games that you likely already own physical copies of or already had downloaded have online features that won't work properly come April 2024. As such, we recommend you play the following games online before the discontinuation of those services next year.
Kid Icarus Uprising

Kid Icarus Uprising is mostly remembered for its entertaining story, charismatic characters, and odd controls, but it also features a surprisingly fun multiplayer experience in Together Mode. In multiplayer, up to six players can use powerful weapons and abilities from the main adventure in one of two modes. Free-for-all lets players loose on a map, tasking them with racking up the most kills within a set time limit. Light vs. Dark is more complex, as two teams of three face off until enough players are defeated that one respawns as an angel; when that powered-up angel is killed, the match is over.
While far from balanced, Kid Icarus Uprising's Together Mode is one of the most entertaining competitive multiplayer experiences exclusive to 3DS. It can be played locally, using bots to fill in empty spots, so thankfully it won't stop working entirely. Still, it's not easy in 2023 to come across multiple people near you who have copies of Kid Icarus Uprising and want to play. As such, check out this cult classic 3DS game's hidden gem of a mode before praying that the rumors of a remaster eventually become true.
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Gaming

Nintendo is shutting down online services for 3DS and Wii U next April

Mega Man and Mario fight in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U,

Nintendo confirmed it will widely shut down online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games in April 2024, which will be just over a year after it discontinued the Nintendo eShop on those systems.
This deactivation of most of the online services for those platforms was revealed on X (formerly Twitter) and Nintendo's support site early Wednesday. "In early April 2024, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. This also includes online co-operative play, internet rankings, and data distribution," the message says. "We will announce a specific end date and time at a later date. Please note that if an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software, we may have to discontinue services earlier than planned. We sincerely thank players for using the online services of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software over a long period of time and apologize for any inconvenience."
Essentially, this means that after April 2024, you won't be able to use any online features in things like 3DS Pokémon games or Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U anymore. Nintendo does say in the Q&A section of its support article that people will still be able to play games offline and redownload updates and games from the Nintendo eShop for the foreseeable future. Pokémon Bank will remain unaffected, so it'll still be possible to transfer Pokémon from Ruby and Sapphire all of the way to Pokémon Home. However, SpotPass support and other online-focused applications like Nintendo Badge Arcade will stop working entirely.

Just like the Wii U and 3DS eShop closure that caused a ruckus earlier this year, this move is a blow to game preservation and will forever harm some games not available anywhere else. While it's understandable that Nintendo might want to move on from these systems' dated online infrastructure, it's still a disappointing move for those of us who spent a lot of time playing games offline and online on these systems.

Gaming

We ranked all the best (and worst) video game system startup sounds

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First impressions are important. That’s true both in people and video game consoles.

The first time you boot up a new gaming system can be a magical moment when done right. There’s always a built-in bit of tension anytime you get a new video game console, as you gingerly unbox it and set it up. That prelude can feel like an orchestra tuning its instruments, building anticipation for the moment where you’ll finally get to power it on and hear the opening notes of a long symphony. And I’m not just speaking in metaphor here; I’m talking about the all-important console startup sound.