February 26 marks a very important anniversary. But we're not here to talk about the 95th anniversary of the Grand Canyon National Park! We have bigger fish to fry.

You see, back in February 26, 2011, the first round of Generation 8 Gaming hardware was released in Japan: The Nintendo 3DS handheld. This is the unofficial celebration place of said handheld.

Note that this thread will constantly be under construction for the next few weeks, up through the third anniversary of the Western launch in late March.

3DS-Related Links

• The VGChartz 3DS Friend Codes Thread

Giving the History of the 3DS in a single post is a futile effort. So here it goes:

1988

• Nintendo releases their first 3D game: A racer for the Famicom Disk system. It was such a flop, it has to share its Wikipedia page with another game. Nevertheless, this was HISTORY.

1995

• The Virtual Boy is released and immediately flops. 22 Games are ever released for it worldwide. Nintendo decides to wait a few years before trying this "3D" thing out again.

2001

• The GameCube is released. Although no titles took advantage of it, the hardware was capable of playing games in 3D! Nintendo just decided that it wasn't worth the expense at this time. Fun fact though: one game was actually designed to take full advantage of the 3D. It was Luigi's Mansion, the often derided launch title.

2009

• October - Rumors about the next gen of Nintendo handheld begin to brew when Nvidia was revealed to be making new hardware for Nintendo.

2010

• March - Nintedno announces that they are going to reveal their next generation handheld at E3, and that it will be called the "3DS."
• E3 - The 3DS is first shown at E3 2010, as well as the first 3DS games. The prototype hardware shown is fairly similar to the final version. Games shown include Kid Icarus: Uprising, Nintendogs+cats, Animal Crossing, Ocarina of Time 3D, Paper Mario, Pilotwings Resort, Steel Diver, Star Fox 64 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, Super Street Fighter 4 3D, Metal Gear Solid 3D, Kingdom Hearts 3D, Dead or Alive Dimensions, and Samurai Warriors. Note that a number of Western games were shown or announced, but later cancelled. These included Assassin's Creed, DJ Hero 3D, de Blob, and My Garden.
• September - The Early 2011 release date of the 3DS is announced. Features such as a Mii Maker, AR games, and Streetpass are also discussed. The launch price of 25,000 yen is also revealed.

2011

• February - The 3DS is released in Japan! The stars of the launch were Professor Layton and Nintendogs+cats.
• March 25 to 31 - The 3DS is released in Europe, Oceania, and North America.
• The day before E3 - The 3DS eShop is launched. About damn time!
• E3 - The first E3 of the 3DS's life is held. Nintendo's main games shown included Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, and the newly announced Luigi's Mansion 2. Also, Link's Awakening DX is available that very instant on the eShop.
• June - Ocarina of Time 3D is released. It is arguably the first killer app for the 3DS, and definitely the best game available for the system so far.
• July 28 - PRICECUTGATE! After disappointing initial sales and news that the Vita would actually be reasonably priced, Nintendo announces a worldwide price cut from about $250 to $170, effective in a couple of weeks. Nintendo seeks to placate early buyers with 20 free Virtual Console games, given by the end of the year.
• September - Monster Hunter 3G and 4 are announced for the 3DS. And the 3DS has been doing well in Japan ever since.
• November - Super Mario 3D Land is released. And now that the 3DS had a Mario platformer, it qualified as a proper Nintendo platform.
• December - Mario Kart 7 and Monster Hunter 3G are released, the latter only in Japan. Combined with last month's 3D Land and the $80 price cut, this gives the 3DS a killer holiday.

2012

• March - Kingdom Hearts 3D is released in Japan, followed by a Western release in a few months. Also, Kid Icarus: Uprising is released. BUY IT!
• April - Fire Emblem: Awakening is released in Japan. It is met with praise and sales. A year later, it is released in America and Europe. It is currently the best-selling entry in series history by a fair margin, even discounting digital sales.
• E3 - This E3 focuses on the Wii U, but a few 3DS games are highlighted. They include New Super Mario Bros 2, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, and several 3rd party games. Compared to the past two E3's and 2013's, this one is a bit of a letdown for handheld fans.
• July 28 - The 3DS XL is released in Japan and Europe. This is essentially a bigger version of the 3DS with much bigger screens for $30 more. It helps boost sales. An American release came a few weeks later. This coincided with the release of New Super Mario Bros 2.
• November - Animal Crossing: New Leaf is released in Japan. It is a big hit. Problem is, it doesn't get released in the West for over half a year. Grumble... Also, Paper Mario: Sticker Star is released in America.

2013

• February - Dragon Quest 7 hits the 3DS in Japan. It is a big hit. Why don't you bring this West Square Enix?
• March - Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon is released... and becomes a big hit! It is notably better received than the original, particularly critically, but also matches the original game's sales, and seems destined to do better eventually. Some time later, developer Next Level games announces they'll exclusively work with Nintendo from there on out.
• April - Friend Collection: New Life is released in Japan. About a year later, it is rumored for a Western release.
• May - Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D graces the 3DS. It is a surprise hit. I guess people really were waiting for a waggle-free Donkey Kong Country.
• E3 - Nintendo showcases a number of 3DS games, but the star is definately Pokemon X/Y. Other games shown included The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Yoshi's New Island, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, as well as the third party games Etrian Odyssey Untold, Shin Megami Tensei 4, Ace Attorney 5, Project X Zone, and Rune Factory 4.
• July - Mario & Luigi: Dream Team is released.
• October 12 - The entry model "2DS" is released in the West. Costing only $130, it sacrifices portability and 3D capabilities to be affordable and durable. It is aimed at younger audiences and people who just want to play Pokemon X/Y at the cheapest cost possible. Incidentally, said Pokemon game is released on the same day, and becomes the first 10-million seller on the platform in a matter of months.
• November - The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is released. It is regarded by some as the best Zelda game since Ocarina of Time. Which usually happens for console Zeldas, but not handheld ones!
• December - Puzzles & Dragons Z is released in Japan... and promptly sells over a million copies at retail. Activision, THIS is how you should have brought Angry Birds to the 3DS!

2014

• ...not much has happened yet, other than Kirby 3D coming out in Japan... but I remain optimistic!

Sales Success Stories!

In under three years of market availablility, the 3DS has sold over 43 million units worldwide.

That's more in three years than many platforms have sold lifetime!

Even in North America, one of the 3DS's weaker regions, the platform has outsold the GameCube. It is currently likely to outsell the original Xbox in about a year, and will also probably top the Sega Genesis.

In Europe, the weakest region for the 3DS out of the big three markets, the 3DS has outsold the 2600, NES, Genesis, SNES, N64, GameCube, and original Xbox.

In Japan, the 3DS has outsold EVERY single 7th gen console, the Saturn and N64 combined, and EVERY SEGA console combined. The 3DS is also on track to overtake the GBA in the next year, and the SNES soon afterwards.

In the Rest of the World, the 3DS has outsold the SNES, N64, and GameCube COMBINED. As well as EVERY SEGA PLATFORM EVER COMBINED.

In terms of software, the 3DS is hard to gague due to a large number of eShop and bundled sales. Nevertheless:

In under three years of market availablility, the 3DS has sold over 130 million retail games worldwide. That is an attach rate of about 3 games per system. This is a greater total than every Atari 2600 game EVER SOLD.

Japan in particular is a 3DS hotspot, with over 52 million games sold. That's over 30% more than the N64 or Saturn, nearly twice the Genesis or GameCube totals, and quadruple the 360 total.

4 exclusive 3DS games are among the 100 Best-Selling skus of all time: Pokemon X/Y, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, and New Super Mario Bros 2. For context, Pokemon X/Y has outsold the PS1 version of Final Fantasy 7, 3D Land has outsold Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mario Kart 7 has outsold the original Super Mario Kart, and NSMB2 has outsold Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii.

Other 3DS games that have sold over 2 million copies include Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Nintendogs + cats, the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and Monster Hunter 4.

90+ Games on Metacritic

85+ Games on Metacritic

80+ Games on Metacritic

75+ Games on Metacritic

This section is devoted to the 3DS's low points. Call it a roast if it makes you feel better. This is where we mourn the critical flops and sales shortcomings the 3DS has had.

This is the Future thread! Here, we'll see what games the 3DS has coming up, and invite speculation as to the system's future.

Happy birthday 3DS! aka, the most unappreciated console on this site :(

Currently own 33 retail games, 31 being exclusives. Amazing library and can't wait what 2014 and beyond brings us!

Yayy, Happy Bday! I bought mine right at launch and I never regretted it since! I even bought a 3ds XL just cause I loved the games so much and it is killing its "competition" like tits suffocating men! Go 3ds and continue to bring the competition to its knees and make Sony regret the lack of support for the vita so they can never made another handheld again!

I have one since launch. No regrets

Got mine in Summer '11 just before the price cut (got all those ambassador games). Didn't like it because it felt too small and then got the 3DS XL in 2013 and everything changed for the better