Note: Our refurbished grades - Pristine, Very Good and Good - are solely based on the cosmetic condition of the phone. In October 2009, tech tabloid Bright Side of News reported that Nvidia, a graphics processing unit (GPU) developer that recently made headway with its Tegra System-on-Chip processors, had been selected by Nintendo to develop hardware for their next generation portable game console. On September 28, 2012, the system launched in two other regions, Hong Kong and Taiwan, in Cerulean Blue and Shimmer Pink. Unlike with previous Nintendo consoles, the complete software manual is only available digitally via the system's Home Menu.

On June 20, 2013, a system update brought the introduction of the Save Data Backup feature, which allows the user to back up save data from downloadable Nintendo 3DS software and most Virtual Console games. Featuring 90% larger screens than the original Nintendo 3DS, the system was set to launch on all major regions during the middle of the year.The Nintendo 3DS is also the fastest selling console in Australia, with 200,000 units sold through 37 weeks of availability. The regular-sized New Nintendo 3DS also has slightly larger screens than the prior model, and a suite of interchangeable faceplates.

Other features of the 3DS include its StreetPass and SpotPass tag modes that are powered by Nintendo Network, augmented reality capabilities using its 3D cameras, and Virtual Console, which provides a method for users to download and play video games originally released for older video game systems. The bottom screen is a 4:3 resistive touchscreen with a display resolution of 320×240 pixels ( QVGA). In 2011, 58-year-old former Sony employee Seijiro Tomita sued Nintendo for infringing a patent on the 3D screen that obviates the need for 3D glasses. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé partially cited these concerns as one of the influences of the creation of the Nintendo 2DS, an entry-level version of the Nintendo 3DS systems lacking 3D functionality. It was subsequently released in Europe on January 27, 2012, in Australia on February 2, 2012, and in North America on February 7, 2012, coinciding with the release of Resident Evil: Revelations in those regions.Five of the six cards have a picture of a character on them, consisting of Mario, Link, Kirby, Pikmin, and Samus. The system's memory can be expanded via an SD memory card slot, which supports SD and SDHC memory cards. Netflix users are able to pause streaming video on the Nintendo 3DS and resume it on other Netflix-enabled devices.