With Nintendo having the 3DS in full distribution, it is time to thin the handheld herd some, as there are just currently too many models that are still in distribution. The latest casualty is the original DS Lite, which after a five-year run has been discontinued and retailers will no longer being getting any additional product, from what we are told.

While Nintendo is not yet confirming that they have made the initial DS Lite end-of-life, it stands to reason that this is the case; considering that they already have the DSi and DSi XL, is there really any need for the old DS Lite? We don’t think so, and we expect it to quietly fade away, but as inventory of the units dwindle there might be some deals to have on a new DS Lite, should you have to have one.

Speaking with some of our sources in the development community, at least for the rest of this year you can expect the DS platform to continue to receive significant software support, with many releases planned for the rest of the year. Next year, however, looks a bit murkier as developers are faced with the decision to continue with DS titles, do 3DS titles, or a combination of the two.

We will have to see how things shake out, but we expect things to be about the same, with more software headed to the 3DS next year as the platform sales continue to grow.