Throwback Thursday: A Crisis About The 3ds Fourteenth Anniversary

April 10, 2025 Jonathan Bailey

Introduction: The Start Of My 3ds Journey

The 3ds came out March 27th 2011 and I got it as an early birthday present, that was where it all began for me. 3ds had 21 launch titles, 4 of which were Nintendogs (so really 17) and they are as follows:

Launch List:

Asphalt 3d
Bust-A-Move Universe
Combat Of Giant: Dinosaurs
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Madden NFL Football
NIntendogs + Cats
NIntendogs + Cats: French Bulldog & New Friends
NIntendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever & New Friends
NIntendogs + Cats: Toy Poodle & New Friends
Pilotwings Resort
Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2011
Professor Layton And The Miracle Mask
Rayman 3d
Ridge Racer 3d
Samurai Warrior Chronicles
The Sims 3
Steel Diver
Super Monkey Ball 3d
Super Street Fighter IV: 3d Edition
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3d

Out of those twenty-one games, only six of them were Nintendo published games. (or three depending, on how you count Nintendogs)

Nintendo Launch List:

NIntendogs + Cats
NIntendogs + Cats: French Bulldog & New Friends
NIntendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever & New Friends
NIntendogs + Cats: Toy Poodle & New Friends
Pilotwings Resort
Steel Diver

All of that setup is to make you understand the general lack of games on the 3ds at launch and yet I still wanted one due to hype for the system alone. Personally, only three games appealed to me and I only had the money for two. The games that appealed were Street Fighter, Nintendogs and Pilotwings. The games I actually bought were Pilotwings and Streetfighter (I already had Nintendogs for DS) and I played the death out of Street fighter. I played Pilotwings a little but I think it should have been the “pack-in game” End of the day, I was happy with my purchase, even with a lack of early games.

The 3ds Ambassador Program

Most likely because of the lack of games, the 3ds only had 3.61 sales in it’s first year. Because of that, Nintendo decided to do two drastic things that they never do. The first and most drastic was a huge price cut from $249.99 (U.S.) to $169.99. (U.S.) The second thing they did that they (almost) never do was giving out free games. The games were given out to people who bought 3ds consoles before the price cut and included ten Game-Boy Advance games and ten Nintendo Entertainment System games. The games were as follows:

NES Ambassador Games:

Super Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong Jr.
Balloon Fight
Ice Climber
The Legend Of Zelda
Metroid
NES Open Tournament Golf
Wrecking Crew
Zelda II – The Adventure Of Link
Yoshi

GBA Ambassador Games

F-Zero Maximum Velocity
Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3
The Legend Of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Mario Vs Donkey Kong
WarioWare Inc.: Mega MIcrogame$
Metroid Fusion
Wario Land 4

I personally didn’t play most of these until later in life. However, I do believe that this was a good move on Nintendo’s part especially since most, if not, all of these games are held dear by people across the world.

3ds Console Revisions:

The 3ds had 3 major console revisions, the first of which was the 3ds XL in 2012. Only one year after the 3ds came out. While that is very early for a console revision, it is very likely it contributed to the ten million unit boost in sales that year. I like the XL but the lack of features from the “new” line of 3ds’s makes it harder to recommend, unless that is all you can get your hands on.

The second major revision was the original 2ds in 2013. Again while it I think it wasn’t necessary, the sales don’t lie, there was another one million boost in sales that year. Personally my least favorite “3ds” model but I do think that it is the best for the money. (about $90 USD used)

The third and last revision was technically multiple, but I will lump them all together since they are so similar. These are the 3ds’s in the “new” line and they released from 2014 to 2017. The thing that makes these different is simply more power and more stable (actually usable) 3d. My personal favorite is the New 3ds XL because of the power and I personally think the 3d is cool. I do, however acknowledge that the New 2ds XL is better for most people given that most people don’t care about the 3d and it is slightly cheaper. I have no experience with the non-XL new 3d’s, so I cannot speak on those.

Conclusion

There is so much more I could say about the 3ds family, but I have to stop somewhere. I will end by saying that, in case you couldn’t tell, I love the 3ds. It is possibly my favorite handheld system, maybe even favorite system overall.