Shakedown: Hawaii Could Be One Of The Last Big Nintendo 3DS Games

The Nintendo 3DS has certainly had a crazy life. It started out looking like a flop, quickly recovered, and seemingly out of nowhere, became one of Nintendo's strongest hardware lines ever. Now that more development is moving to the Switch, there are few days remaining for the Nintendo 3DS. But it is getting one more big title, at least, in Shakedown: Hawaii.

Yes, Shakedown: Hawaii is coming to the Nintendo 3DS, surprising just about everyone.

In some ways, this release doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Shakedown: Hawaii is already available on PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and even the PlayStation Vita. Aren't the bases pretty much covered for anyone who'd want to play this game? Haven't most people given up on the Nintendo 3DS and moved to a different platform?

Apparently not, and one might imagine developer Vblank sees the install base of the 3DS as an opportunity to rope in some more sales. After all, it's not like Shakedown: Hawaii is a graphical powerhouse. The 3DS can run it just fine.

It's also possible Vblank just loves being one of the last few games released before a system says goodbye. We mentioned previously that Shakedown: Hawaii is currently on Vita; the folks at Vblank managed to sneak that game out in cartridge form before Sony shut down cart manufacturing altogether. Who knows if Shakedown: Hawaii sold well or not. But the game is available on a 2019 PlayStation Vita cartridge, and that's something not a lot of games can say.

It'll be interesting to see how much of an audience there is for the Nintendo 3DS version of Shakedown: Hawaii. While the 3DS did end up with a pretty sizable install base, one has to wonder how many of those systems are gathering dust in closets now that Nintendo has all but abandoned the platform. Should we get news on sales data, we'll be sure to let you know.