Looks like the original 3DS may be discontinued

3DS units are getting increasingly harder to purchase as rumours circle that the base model has been discontinued all together.

The bog standard 3DS looks likely to be scarce in the coming months.

Destructoid has collated together a number of pieces of evidence suggesting Nintendo has decided to stop making and selling the first version of the portable hardware, most notably the fact that it is no longer sold through the platform holder's website.

Various retailers are low on stock, both in the UK and US, and one peripheral manufacturer has flat out stated that the 3DS is no longer in production.

All this has to be taken as speculation for now, but it's worth noting that the 3DS and 3DS XL have been officially discontinued in Japan, which suggests Nintendo is keen to migrate over to the New 3DS family instead. We expect it to follow suit in the west sooner or later.

This is a bit of a worry for existing 3DS owners, as the New 3DS offers a bit of extra processing grunt, and games designed to be played on that hardware won't work on your original 3DS or 3DS XL; if the original 3DS is phased out, it's likely most or all new games will require the New 3DS hardware, leaving you with the choice of upgrading or missing out on new games. Sadly, most Nintendo portable fans are used to having their hardware purchases made redundant in quick succession.

Best to wait for a Nintendo statement before we get freaked out, though; it might just be a temporary stock shortage. It doesn't look like the 2DS or the 3DS XL (which regularly outsells the smaller model) are experiencing stock shortages.

The original 3DS has been succeeded by the 3DS XL, the 2DS, the New 3DS and the New 3DS XL, so you certainly have options.