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A few years dorsum, Nintendo launched a depression-price follow-upwards to its 3DS. The 2DS was a slate instead of a clamshell, and it dropped the 3D capabilities Nintendo built into the 3DS, all while selling for a lower price ($129 at launch compared with $170 for the 3DS at the time). Now, Nintendo has released a new budget-oriented version of its 3DS XL, the New 2DS Twoscore.

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The New 2DS XL drops the slate form factor that the 2DS favored and returns to a clamshell design. Every bit the proper noun implies, the "2DS" even so can't handle the stereoscopic 3D effects that the 3DS uses — though these were mostly limited to eye processed and minimal changes, unless you consider loftier bombardment life consumption to be a feature. Otherwise, the hardware between the New 3DS 40 and New 2DS Xl is identical, though non e'er laid out in the aforementioned fashion. The front camera has been moved to the hinge on the 2DS XL, while the rear photographic camera is now on the bottom of the organization. This ways the New 2DS Twoscore should also feature a quad-core ARM11 CPU, 256MB of RAM, and the faster Wi-Fi that was bachelor on the newer 3DS variants.

In that location's been widespread speculation that Nintendo would kill the 3DS family unit if the Switch really took off, though Nintendo has ever refuted these claims. Instead, they appear to exist positioning it every bit a budget, kid-friendly entry-level auto. That'due south really a fairly smart motility, especially if yous desire to introduce your kids to Nintendo games with a handheld that's less expensive to replace than the Switch. Information technology may also assistance Nintendo stave off competition from smartphones, though repeated hardware refreshes haven't reversed the 3DS' slumping sales.

At that place are two ways Nintendo could play this out. One would be to but retire the 3DS and handheld brand, focus entirely on the Switch, and merge the game libraries of the two devices. Another would be to create a new line of budget handheld products. Emulation of classic 3DS games wouldn't necessarily be an effect for a smaller handheld device like the theorized mini-Switch. The 3DS uses ARM9 and ARM11 code, which should be piece of cake to port to a modern 64-bit ARM architecture. The GPU would be another matter, but the PICA 200 core used by the 3DS and 2DS was first presented in 2006 and its performance is an order of magnitude or ii away from a modern GPU. Emulation should be plausible. Whether that makes sense, given slumping handheld sales, is another question. With the Switch selling like crazy, Nintendo may merely wind downward the 3DS over the next few years.

The New 2DS XL volition retail for $149.99; it arrives July 28th.