THE Nintendo 3DS (ニンテンドー3DS, Nintendō Surī Di Esu, abbreviated as 3DS) is an eighth-generation handheld console produced by Nintendo and released in 2011, successor to the Nintendo DS. Its main features are the ability to produce images in three dimensions without special glasses and backward compatibility with titles from the predecessor handhelds Nintendo DS and DSi. Its main competitor was Sony's PlayStation Vita.