Simple question really. It’s getting first party games in 2019, which is pretty amazing support. I don’t mind either. It’s been a great platform. How long should they keep it going? How long would you like to see it keep going?
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If Nintendo aren’t going to make another machine with a 3d stereoscopic screen then keep it going forever I say. The graphical power levels are more than adequate so I don’t really agree with the games looking “bad” or “ewww240p” opinions that some people have about it. For me, the 3d viewing experience is what makes this machine stand out against other machines which I know isn’t how everybody feels about it considering the 2DS success lol.
There is a case to be made that Nintendo’s Switch game development bandwidth could be increased in which case I’d say if it stopped after 2019 I wouldn’t be sad as it had a great run with a solid library.
Maybe best thing to do would be to port those new 3ds developed games to switch with a ‘simple’ rendering and AA boost? Switch is host to a bunch of retro games, I can’t see ports failing to find an audience.
I would love to see a new dedicate handheld that had more grunt… Switch is OK, but still doesnt to me feel a true handheld… 3DS though graphically is really showing its age… Dont think it will happen though…
If you think about how the Game Boy aged and how “bad” those games looked late in its lifetime compared to consoles (GBA… the real upgrade was 2001!!) then I think 3DS keeps going for quite awhile. It’s the budget system with some higher end options for those who like 3D (like me) and that’s ok!
I think it’s a great device for budget minded parents. The switch is still too expensive to be Nintendo’s only item to sell to younger kids and get them hooked on Nintendo characters.
Since the Gameboy, they’ve always had a highly competitive low budget hardware option on the market for parents. And I don’t think they’d be willing to give that up even though the Switch is a success.
I don’t see it leaving the market until they can sell the Switch for under $200
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Another overlooked benefit is how robust it is as a unit, same with the DS, I’ve never had one fail and the clam shell design protects the screens.
The switch is very nice but it’s very delicate for something designed to be portable, the joy cons detach, the screen is vulnerable and I wouldn’t fancy it’s chances if it’s dropped.
My sons has already cracked along the top fan vent and some of the plastic “bars” have fallen off.
They’d be insane to keep supporting it beyond the already-announced titles. Game sales are mostly awful and every third party has bailed out on the thing.
Really think that what appeals to me wouldn’t appeal to the market at large. Seeing as I just want a device with a good screen and enough buttons/sticks to accommodate games. As in 2 sticks, 1 dpad, at least 4 face buttons and 4 shoulder buttons. Anything other then that is extra and anything less is a sacrifice. Gotten to the point where “power” maters less since as long as they don’t aim too low it will be good enough to have good games.
The current not so 3ds/2ds seems fine with about all of that. Could have a better screen situation but whatever. The clamshell design seems like a winner and I can’t think of much more other then a bit more power and better screen you could really add to it. Add too much more power without another gimmick and it becomes too much of a competing product to the switch, and has the problem with “why make a game for this instead of home consoles?”. Go too simple/start removing buttons and you start competing against smart phones.
Really as much as I would like a “new” portable Nintendo console I wouldn’t be surprised if it was abandoned/phased out for the switch going forward. Yes, a portable system should be more affordable/less fragile but it is a hard market. It’s not like they didn’t abandon the gameboy brand already.
Nintendo’s last Super Famicom release was in the early 2000s I think (Fire Emblem 5), so I’d be happy if the 3DS lasts that long. The problem is Nintendo has repositioned the handheld away from what it originally stood for - the 2DS XL is an entry level machine akin to what the iPod was after the iPhone launched.
Not everyone can afford, or would want, a Switch, after all, but it’s also evidently changed Nintendo’s approach to the machine both in hardware design (3DS models have basically been discontinued at this point in favour of the 2DS XL) and in software output, where modern releases built with 3D are now few and far between.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the last truly original 3DS game from Nintendo turns out to be May’s Dead-Heat Breakers, which was a pretty interesting, if not flawed, game. Everything else at this point feels like it’s rolling off an assembly line, though the Luigi’s Mansion remake might be worthwhile. It supports 3D, is co-developed by Grezzo who did a good job with Ocarina of Time on 3DS, and has some kind of historical significance behind it given Nintendo had a 3D prototype of the game running on GameCube in the past.
Overall then, Nintendo will support the 3DS through to 2020 at the earliest, but we’re a long way away from the Nintendo that was making/funding/publishing games like Pilotwings Resort, Pullblox/Pushmo, Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball and Culdcept Revolt due to how they view the system.