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[Griss]

It did nothing for gameplay (outside of one or two gimmick sections in 3d land), but I still liked the 3d feature, and always played with it on unless there was a huge framerate difference, like in DoA: Dimensions.

My favourite game for it would have to be Ocarina of Time. Being able to peer 'into' the screen into a higher fidelity version of my favourite game ever was just an awesome experience. It gave places like Lake Hylia and the Spirit Temple exterior brand new life.

 

[Iksenpets]

Zelda: ALBW used 3D the best. It actually enhanced the game.

It's the only one where I felt like I needed to turn it on to better understand my environment. Other than that, I always turned it off. It was more of a hassle to hold the system in the right alignment with my eyes than it was worth.

 

[EloquentM]

Jason you seem perturbed. Did you really dislike glasses-free 3D this much?

 

[sixteen-bit]

LBW gains so much atmosphere from 3D.

I'm prolly always gonna keep my N3DS and LBW replays is the reason why

 

[SliceSabre]

I was never able to appreciate the 3D feature because it strained my eyes and made me unable to force on the screen for very long. So no love lost here.

 

[soultron]

The 3D was a really cool feature and I'm glad that Nintendo did it, but I'll admit I never really used it outside of a few games that made really nice use of it. (Examples include M3DL, Zelda, etc.) It made it really pricey in the beginning too, which is what lead to that price cut. I'm honestly shocked it took this long. It will be nice for customers, I guess, at this price, but the naming convention of the whole family of #DS systems is now an even more confusing quagmire to navigate.

I'd probably grab one if I didn't already own a n3DS.

 

[Steel]

Never liked it. Wasn't worth the performance hit on the already terrible 3ds hardware. RIP.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

gotta give it to nintendo, they are not afraid to innovate and they are not afraid to ditch something that isnt worthy.

 

[SciencePilot]

I bought a 2ds and never missed the 3d except once. I wish I had 3d when playing Bravely Default.

 

[titiklabingapat]

VR is next.

 

[fernoca]

So what will happen when they announce some new3DS bundle/color?

They released a Pikachu edition just a few months ago and new3DS still sells considerably well (and more than the cheaper 2D one).

The original 2DS would've been a goodbye if that was the case, yet sales never took off.

 

[Adam Tyner]

No doubt about the home video and TV stuff. I still think 3D, despite peaking at the box office in 2010 (was that still riding on Avatar?), is still pretty big. Talking specifically about theaters.

Even though 3D is in decline in U.S. theaters (only around 14% of the total box office in 2016), that's still a significant chunk of change. It's a bigger deal overseas. A little over one out of every three screens in the U.S. and Canada accommodate 3D, but 3D screens are basically the default in China, Japan, and India.

 

[Knurek]

LBW gains so much atmosphere from 3D.

I'm prolly always gonna keep my N3DS and LBW replays is the reason why

Always means for the next few years, till the NAND memory housing the system's OS fails.

 

[Boy Wander]

I enjoyed the 3d even though it can genuinely be called a gimmick in that it didnt really add anything to gameplay. LBTW probably benefited most from it.

 

[Kinyou]

3D is still pretty big

For theaters, yes. With consoles it came and went pretty fast and now even 3D tvs become rare

 

[Wagram]

I think I used 3d for a total of 30 minutes. I just enjoyed 2d better.

 

[ramparter]

Did you try out A Link Between Worlds? I thought 3D was excellent in that game, especially within the dungeons.

I believe he refers to how badly it was executed in terms of hardware not how games utilized it. For me it was impossible to use it in my original xl, i would turn it on only on for a few seconds or cutscenes. New 3DS on the other hand was actually really good and allowed me to play my games with 3D on.

 

[Oersted]

3D is still pretty big

In cinemas

 

[Marmaladefire]

3D was the worst part of the 3DS which was a great little machine in the end (because it got good software)

 

[Brandon F]

But doesn't every single 2017 announced release still support 3D?

 

[ramparter]

Always means for the next few years, till the NAND memory housing the system's OS fails.

??? Whats that supposed to mean?

 

[Kapow]

I bought a 2ds and never missed the 3d except once. I wish I had 3d when playing Bravely Default.

I just picked up a 3DS recently and am playing through that right now. The game is absolutely stunning in 3D, especially the towns. I hope you get a chance to experience it sometime

 

[Aostia]

They missed the 2DS the first time?

really...I mean, this article is at least late

 

[Ruud_Luiten]

VR is next.

VR never got to the level of 3D.

 

[extralite]

Sure, Nintendo says good-bye to 3D.

Like they said good-bye to 2D Mario after the SNES. Until they welcomed it back on DS with NSMB, with great success.

Like they said good-bye to sandbox 3D Mario after Sunshine. Until Odyssey, when they'll welcome it back.

Like they said good-bye to cel-shaded Zelda. After Wind Waker, they gave fans the realistic styled Twilight Princess. Then they welcomed it back with Phantom Hourglass on handhelds, then Skyward Sword on consoles. And again with Breath of the Wild.

Nintendo tries something new, it gets mixed responses. So they try the opposite, or go back to something old and safe, like 2D Mario. Until they try again. It's a never ending cycle. Old new is the new new yet again. Their customers are a lot more conservative than Nintendo.

The 3DS was actually Nintendo's 3rd time to try 3D. It was of little importance on Famicom, they got burned badly with the Virtual Boy and 3D didn't prove to be system selling feature with 3DS. It still is appreciated by many.

When VR starts to take off, 3D will make its return on a Nintendo handheld. I can see them going into both directions at once, 3D on a screen for the younger audience, VR for the 13 year old and over.

 

[TheCongressman1]

I don't think 3D vision itself brought anything fundamentally different to gaming, but I still really enjoyed it on 3DS.

 

[bananafactory]

Did you try out A Link Between Worlds? I thought 3D was excellent in that game, especially within the dungeons.

ALBW and 3D Land had great implementation it's just the screen tech that let it down. I could never use it without a massive headache or blurriness/ghosting despite the viewing angle and I'm someone that has no problem with 3d movies.

I did hear they fixed it with the new 3ds but it was too little too late imo

 

[Lord Error]

Always means for the next few years, till the NAND memory housing the system's OS fails.

That's not gonna fail that quickly, no way. I have a few machines from 80s that use various kinds of ROM to store their OS, and they all work perfectly. C64, two different Game & Watch handhelds work as good as new basically.

In case of NAND, I think the life expectancy is measured in the number of write cycles, and the firmware in the console is updated so few times that it's not even worth considering.

 

[Cuburt]

People tried to say this when they announced the original 2DS, then Nintendo came out with the N3DS with improved 3D.

Article is just some BS Jason had drafted up for the day they discontinued the 3DS and opportunistically jumped on this headline with his snarky piece to get all the clicks before some other jaded cynical journo gets incredibly insightful idea to write a 3D eulogy.

 

[Mihos]

I never got into 3D gaming because of the frame rate stuff.... I still buy the hell out of 3D movies for my home theater, though. Movies like Pacific Rim and Dr Strange look odd to me in 2D

 

[kamineko]

I never really enjoyed it much

Or at least not enough to justify the cost

Really, all I ever wanted was to plug my handheld into a TV for long SMT sessions

Now we just need more Megaten

 

[atr0cious]

Uh, that's a bold statement and the entire premise of this article hinges on it. Are you sure you really want to soothsay like that? Especially because it's Nintendo. This is extra baffling because it's trying to pass a knee-jerk reaction to an unexpected stealth release off as "oh, I expected this."

Agreed. This article makes way too many assumptions, and may as well have been written for the switch announcement. People said the exact same thing when the 2ds came out and then the New family happened. Until the 3ds is dead and Nintendo confirms the current iteration of the switch is also the handheld, this article is useless, regardless of it's intentions.

 

[Dad]

I never used it much, but I did enjoy the diorama effect it gave all the rooms in Luigi's Mansion

 

[dark10x]

2DS uncomfortable? It's the most comfortable handheld Nintendo released since the original GBA.

 

[WarioFan63]

I don't understand. Besides Pikmin, aren't all of Nintendo's upcoming games this year in 3D? And all those Atlus and Capcom and other third party games still coming? I dont think this is goodbye just yet.

EDIT: Oops he mentions those games in the article. I still think thats an indication its not goodbye yet.

 

[wondermega]

Every time these threads come up I'll repeat myself, Sega 3D classics were incredible to behold. The other 2D games with 3D effects were also excellent (mighty switch force, mutant muds, etc). Love the 3DS and disappointed to see it go.

 

[Pyrrhus]

It was inessential but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the 3D in Pilotwings Resort. It really did help sell the experience.

That said it also made Kid Icarus a nightmare.

Well, regardless, I'm glad we're now in the Switch Era. I saw what Iwata and Miyamoto were trying to do with the 3DS and Wii U and could appreciate them on some level, but in the end, both experiments were failures. The back-to-basics focus on depth of play and convenience over gimmicks is welcome. The DS and Wii were so successful that they learned the wrong lessons and suffered greatly this decade as a result. New and steady hands appear to be at the tiller now and things are looking up.

So, farewell, 3D. We'll always have Rocket Belt.

 

[thecouncil]

Never played a game without it.

 

[JJH]

Had an original 3DS and a 3DS XL and never found any use for it. I liked it in SM3DL, but turned it off for everything else. I was hoping for some more media content to use the 3D, but that failed too. Would have rather that cost go into better screens, because the 3DS screens are garbo.

 

[Shikoba]

I liked it in some games, didn't like it in others. All the same it was cool to "experience" 3D games without glasses and headsets. My 3DS will always have a permanent spot in my collection for 3DS/DS games.

 

[zeexlash]

And good riddance, can't stand it.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Best 3D use was Zelda ALBW. Only game I used it on from start to finish.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I actually like 3D but it was absolute trash on the 3DS

I could've went for a 3DS model that required glasses. Neither the original nor "super stable" is nearly as reliable as glasses 3D.

Uh, that's a bold statement and the entire premise of this article hinges on it. Are you sure you really want to soothsay like that? Especially because it's Nintendo. This is extra baffling because it's trying to pass a knee-jerk reaction to an unexpected stealth release off as "oh, I expected this."

Yeah. It has other problems in addition to its flatness, but original 2DS didn't set the world on fire, and this new one isn't exactly an amazing price to make up for the big missing feature.

 

[Arkeband]

I played with 3D for the titles they actually spent time incorporating it, but sadly most titles really botched it.

I mean, the Sega Sonic 3DS ports had better 3D than most first party Nintendo titles.

 

[Mr-Joker]

I never cared for the 3D effect and never turned it one but this article was completely unwarranted and is years late as we had the 2DS, plus Nintendo never enforced 3D because they knew that not everyone can see 3D and the fact that if they did that they would cut off the children market.

Plus this is Nintendo we're talking about, they will probably revisit the idea again later down the line.

I dont think thats all due to 3D though.

It was, no-one went to watch it for Avatar outstanding storytelling and it didn't take long for the movie to be forgotten.

Pokemon XY/ORAS is probably the worst. Not only is it limited to battles, is also negatively effects performance.

That's due to the 3DS hardware being weak as it struggles with the super detailed Pokémon models, the 3D effect doesn't help.

 

[axisofweevils]

This kinda reminds me of similar sentiments when the original 2DS was released, then Zelda: ALBW was released, which made heavy use of the 3D.

 

[VLiberty]

base 2ds is by far the most comfortable one, what is he talking about?

 

[Common Knowledge]

Kind of off topic, but wasn't there an infamous thread where the OP flipped out on people for disagreeing about Sony defining the future with their 3D initiative they had for a short while?

 

[Yukinari]

When no games aside from 3D Land and Kirby Triple Deluxe/Robobot used the 3D to its full potential then it feels more like an afterthought.

In every other game it just enhances the visuals and does nothing for the gameplay.

 

[ClivePwned]

the 3D effect used to give me headaches so I haven't actually had it switched on in years.
If I ever get another (3rd) 3DS, it'll be one of these new 2DSs