Nintendo 3DS Game Boy Advance Slot? No—Removed After DS

No. The Nintendo 3DS does not have a Game Boy Advance cartridge slot.

The Slot History

• Nintendo DS / DS Lite: Slot-2 (bottom) = GBA cartridge slot. Full hardware compatibility.
• DSi / DSi XL / 3DS / 3DS XL / 2DS / New 3DS / New 2DS XL: No Slot-2. Removed to slim the chassis, cut cost, and push digital/DS-only software.

Playing GBA Games on 3DS

• Virtual Console (eShop – Closed 2023): ~30 GBA titles were sold digitally (Metroid Fusion, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Golden Sun, WarioWare). If purchased before closure, redownload via "Redownload" in eShop (still works).
• Homebrew / CFW (Luma3DS + Open_AGB_Firm): Runs GBA games natively via the 3DS's ARM7 coprocessor (not emulation). Requires custom firmware. Best compatibility/performance.
• Injection: Convert GBA ROMs to installable .cia files (Virtual Console injection) for home menu icons.

No physical GBA slot on 3DS. Digital (if owned) or CFW + Open_AGB_Firm are the paths.