If you were holding onto a New 2DS XL as a dedicated handheld console, it might be time to finally send it to pasture. In a post on Twitter, Nintendo of Japan has announced that it is officially ending repair support for the offshoot model of the 3DS family. Back in August 2024, repair support for the New 3DS had ceased, with the regular 2DS following a few weeks later. This left just the New 2DS XL as being officially supported, but that is no longer the case.
As with other consoles of eras past, hardware parts for the 3DS and all of its permutations eventually run out as manufacturing stops. While official repair support lasts for some years after the console is pulled from the market, that doesn’t mean buyers ten years after the system’s launch should expect to receive repairs indefinitely. I’m honestly surprised the New 2DS XL was supported as long as it was considering it was released eight years ago and discontinued three years later. I guess Nintendo wanted to ensure that its final dedicated handheld device had the longest life it could.
While this would normally be a sad day, the eShop for the 3DS has been closed for two years now. Even if you could find a brand-new 3DS or 2DS, you wouldn’t be able to update the console or download any games to play on it. You’d need to rely solely on physical media or hacking to get more out of it. I guess that’s just the march of progress, though, as much as I don’t like it.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
