Nintendo 3DS celebrates 10 years of release in North America

On March 27, 2011, Nintendo released the Nintendo 3DS, the successor to the best-selling handheld console in history, the Nintendo 3DS. Since its launch, approximately 76 million units have been sold worldwide and nearly 26 million in the US, according to the vgchartz website. The mobile video game was released on February 26, 2011 in Japan and this past weekend, the Nintendo 3DS completed 10 years since its debut in North America, with its arrival announced on March 27, 2011.

Check out the tweet from Nintendo of America's official profile below:

On this day 10 years ago, the Nintendo 3DS was released in North America! What are some of your favorite games and memories with the portable system? pic.twitter.com/3HqwqUDUHA

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 27, 2021 Top 10 best-selling consoles in history

The main competitor to the Nintendo 3DS at the time was the PlayStation Vita (PS Vita), which was released in late 2011 in Japan and early 2012 in North America. The most lauded feature of the 3DS release was its ability to display stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or some other accessory. In addition, Nintendo's portable console also had 3D cameras capable of reproducing the augmented reality (AR) technique and a function called virtual console, which allowed the player to download games released in older video games to play.

The various versions of the Nintendo 3DS

Throughout its life cycle, the Nintendo 3DS gained several versions. One of them was the Nintendo 3DS XL, a model that had larger screens. There was also the release of the Nintendo 2DS, a cheaper version of the 3DS, which did not have the 3D function.

The last 3DS variant released by the creator of Mario games was the New Nintendo 3DS, which had a more powerful processor, some additional buttons, an improved camera, more RAM, among other improvements. On December 16, 2020 the 3DS family was discontinued.

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