The Nintendo 2DS will get a huge price drop from $129.99 to $99.99.

First launched in 2013, the 2DS is a handheld console with two screens, but without the foldable design of the Nintendo 3DS. This makes it suitable for younger players who might be a little rough on the hinges of the 3DS.

It’s intended as an access point for those young players, and will play most games for the 3DS (minus a few of the newer ones). It also plays games from the original Nintendo DS system. Starting August 30, it will come packaged with Mario Kart 7.

“At a suggested retail price of $99.99, Nintendo 2DS is an even more attractive introductory option for first-time gamers,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “The new lower-priced hardware combined with the strong lineup of new games launching this year and arguably the best library of games in this generation makes it a great time to be a Nintendo fan.”

It’s definitely a good deal, especially for children who might not be ready for a 3DS yet. This year’s 3DS games are also coming to the Nintendo 2DS, including Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is the latest handheld-only Zelda game and will come out on October 23. It won “Best Handheld/Mobile Game” at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, and will feature cooperative play for up to three players.

Little Battlers eXperience is another new game for the DS family of systems, including the 2DS, and it came out on August 21. This is a game where you customize robots and pit them against each other. There are thousands of customizable parts, resulting in 30,000 different robots. The game allows local versus battles, as well as a co-op Ranked Mode.


This article was written by

Simone de Rochefort is a game journalist, writer, podcast host, and video producer who does a prolific amount of Stuff. You can find her on Twitter @doomquasar, and hear her weekly on tech podcast Rocket, as well as Pixelkin's Gaming With the Moms podcast. With Pixelkin she produces video content and devotes herself to Skylanders with terrifying abandon.