Will the new 2DS be another failure from Nintendo?

[tak13]

You ask if anyone has a seen 3ds in the wild...
So this answer your question about New 2ds xl!

3DS is scarce since January ( in the USA for sure, maybe EU too ) because sales in holiday were fairly bigger than what Nintendo was expecting ( Pokémon go + Pokémon S/M )! Of course they tried to fix the supply issues with the release of New 3ds xl Pikachu edition in the end of February but this sold out quickly and there is the switch which has tremendous demand for the moment ( Nintendo target was 2m and they shipped 2.74m ) , so Nintendo is in tough position regarding production and they rightly chose to focus to their newly console production/meeting demand as much as possible instead of manufacturing and shipping as much as units of their older console are needed...

For reference, Nintendo originally planned to sell-in 5m 3DS for the FY, which essentially means that they had already produced 5m units ready to be shipped through the fiscal year! Nintendo had to raise their aim to 6m in summer and again in autumn, to 7m owing to Pokémon go effect, they ended up selling-in 7.27m...
Hence, the scarcity in the beginning of 2017 was inevitable, especially with an upcoming hot new product by them ...
Also, you have mentioned NES mini... ;)

Anyway.
New 2ds xl, isn't an xl hinged version of 2DS, it's new 3ds xl without 3D effect, with better hinges, lighter, sleek and sexier... That for 150$, 50$ less than New 3DS XL ( or 90$ less as the current 3DS scarcity has inflated the prices ), and 19$ less than the price of 3DS after the price drop...

Even if no one that hasn't bought a 3DS yet wants it, it will still sell well thanks to more owners of older 3ds models finally upgrading because it combines value with performance, something that new 3ds xl didn't do and New 3ds does but it has small screens...