‘Pokémon,’ 3DS, and the (Near) Future of Nintendo’s Handheld Line

While we fans continue with our idle speculation regarding what the newly revealed Switch means for Nintendo’s dedicated portable line, there’s little doubt that the upcoming holiday season will treat the noble 3DS exceedingly well.

Surely the cornerstone of Nintendo’s fall lineup is Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, with fans of this 20-year-old franchise already flocking to the eShop to check out the recently released Special Demo Version–making that the most downloaded demo in eShop history in the process. Moreover, it was announced last week that Sun and Moon are now officially the best pre-selling games in Nintendo history.

Ahead of the November 18th release date, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company International have continued to share glimpses of the Alola region, with the latest trailer giving us a look at the fully-evolved forms of the new starters, not to mention some other new (and some very, very old) friends.

But, lest we think that Sun and Moon are the only seasonal tricks up Nintendo’s sleeve, October also saw the reveal of yet another New 3DS XL variant. This New Lime Green Nintendo 3DS XL system is currently available for pre-order via Amazon, and, in addition to its sassy citrus color scheme, it comes with the classic Super Mario World  pre-installed.

While that may seem a bit of an odd pairing–a shiny new portable and a 25-year-old video game–let us not forget the veritable vortex of nostalgia still surrounding the holiday season’s other big Nintendo release, the NES Classic Edition.

All this is to say that, while we still don’t know Nintendo’s long term plans for the 3DS (or its eventual successor), a combination of new releases, old favorites, and surprising hardware reveals certainly seem to say that the Big N’s dedication to the platform looks solid for the important holiday shopping season.