Nintendo Announces The 2DS

So if you’ve considered another story confusing or seemingly pointless, you haven’t read about this yet. Nintendo recently announced their newest handheld out of nowhere: the Nintendo 2DS. This new handheld will be available on the same days Pokémon X and Pokémon Y release, October 12th, and will be fully compatible with 3DS and regular DS games.

Instead of the clamshell-sort of design that the DS and 3DS handhelds have maintained, the 2DS will be more like a slate, unable to close and open. Think about it like an old GameBoy, big and almost impossible to fit in your pocket but crazy fun nonetheless.

The 2DS, as previously mentioned, will be fully compatible with 3DS and DS games, but will not feature 3D capability.

It still features all of the functions that the 3DS offers (Wi-Fi, local multiplayer, etc.) and can be put to sleep via a slider accessible at the bottom of the handheld. The 2DS can still take 3D pictures, as well, but they cannot be viewed in 3D unless transferred onto a 3DS. The 2DS includes only one speaker which plays sound in mono, but features full stereo capability when using headphones.

The 2DS will be released in two colors, red and blue, and will be sold alongside the 3DS ($169.99) and 3DS XL ($199.99) for $129.99 and comes with a 4GB SD card. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime emphasized that the 2DS is a handheld intended for children under the age of 7, as the 3DS is aimed at ages 7 and up.

In an interview with IGN, Fils-Aime talked about the newly announced 2DS and explained what Nintendo’s aim for it is, stating:

“Imagine a standard 3DS laid all the way flat, and with the depth slider all the way down. Everything else is there in the system. We’re always thinking about what we can do that’s new, unique, different, and brings more people into this category that we love, and so with the Nintendo 3DS, we were clear to parents that, ‘hey, we recommend that your children be seven and older to utilize this device.’ So clearly that creates an opportunity for five-year-olds, six-year-olds, that first-time handheld gaming consumer. We’ve always been thinking about, ‘how do we approach that as one target?’ And that certainly helped spur the idea of the Nintendo 2DS. Let’s have the consumer have access to all of these great games – Mario Kart 7, Animal Crossing – but do it in a 2D capability with a device that has a dramatically lower price point. That’s just an example of how we’re always thinking about, ‘how do we get more people playing games? How do we get more people playing Nintendo games?’”

It’s certainly something to wonder about, but the 2DS does seem like a pretty natural marketing route for Nintendo to take since the 3DS is meant for ages 7 and up. Meaning if you’re younger than 7 and you want a 3DS, you should probably consider the 2DS!

What do you think about this? It’s kind of odd, in my opinion, to be announcing this new handheld now. Maybe it would have been better to talk about the 2DS before or at the time when the 3DS was released? Leave a comment down below and share your thoughts!

Source: IGN