Topic: 3DS future is in uncharted territory

https://mynintendonews.com/2018/02/09/nintendo-president-says... what is your thoughts on it?

Given their track record, 3DS will be done this year. They say these things for just about every handheld, but they soon end the handheld afterward.

My thoughts are that Uncharted is a Sony IP and that it will never happen.

It'd be sad to see the 3DS coming to an end, but it had a good enough run to become one of my favorite portable systems. I even like it more than the Switch, even though the Switch is amazing.

It would make sense to put out a few more games for it given that it's still selling 100,000 consoles a week.

I dunno if they will though.

This. I fully expected the 3DS to last at least through this year, but after that....Well, we'll see.

Hardware sales only mean so much, especially at the tail end of a system's cycle. What proportion of those sales are from people replacing broken hardware? How many of those people are buying a lot of games? How many are buying games from used sales bins rather than new releases? So it's less about hardware sales and install bases and and more where their resources are better put. In a nutshell, this graph matters:

I think we may see some more stuff for 3DS in 2018 if only because there are likely some projects that started development when they were still unsure about Switch. But the Switch is where most of their software sales are coming from now so I'd be surprised if they're greenlighting that many new 3DS projects.

Before 3DS discontinued, hopefully Nintendo release an Update for All 3DS to be REGION FREE.
Just enough Stupid Region Lock.

@skywake

Thanks, that's a good graph. Although to get the complete picture, you'd need to also look at absolute numbers and then compare them to what the typical development budgets are for the 2 consoles. Obviously 3DS is gonna be cheaper to develop for in general (I assume). And that drop in relative sales might not correspond directly with a drop in absolute sales because the total of all software sales could be increasing.

I'd definitely say that it's not rational for them to fully develop a brand new AAA (assuming that means something on 3DS) first party game.
But one of the suggestions I've made repeatedly is that they should just reuse all the pre-existing assets and make a Mario 3D Land 2. That wouldn't cost them too much and it's one of the franchises that people will go out of their way to buy (as with Pokemon)

I guess I'll never see a Windwaker port on the 3DS...

I was making more of a point about Nintendo's support so total sales don't matter quite as much. Nintendo's overall output of software will remain relatively similar regardless of how well they are doing overall. So it's a question for them of whether they put resources into one of their platforms or the other.

Obviously some projects cost more and some work better on one platform over another. That's all true. But last year when some Nintendo exec was looking at whether or not to greenlight Skyward Sword HD on Switch or A Link Between Worlds 2 on 3DS (for example)... they were likely looking at Switch sales and signing off on one and not the other.

@skywake

Was that example hypothetical?

I was looking earlier at replacing my 3DS in the UK and was a bit surprised, Amazon, Nintendo online and Shopto only have 2DS' for sale. Amazon has some re-sellers, but no one seems to have stock or advertise the 3DS model. Is that a new thing? Did I miss something?

Edit - I did find some direct on amazon after looking, but still surprised Nintendo itself is only pushing 2DS.

@Chris77 : Nintendo have been on an anti-3D crusade since the release of the New 2DS XL. Most of even Nintendo's own 3DS games no longer contain 3D (the last, from memory, being Metroid: Samus Returns).

With the release of the Switch, I feel that Nintendo should be pushing the 3D angle more than ever in order to establish a point of difference between the two platforms. Without 3D, I see no point in playing a game on 3DS as opposed to the Switch. At least the low resolution of the 3DS was compensated for by the amazing 3D visuals. Hell, I would double-dip on games if I could enjoy them in 3D on the 3DS (I would have bought Fire Emblem Warriors on 3DS as well if they bothered to implement stereoscopic 3D visuals).

@sillygostly Yea I completely agree. The 3D effect I thought was great. I'd be sorry to say goodbye to my 3DS, so I'll see if they come down a bit. £200 seems a bit steep this far in to the lifecycle - and it would be my third 3DS. I think the 2DS XL is a fair enough price but I'd rather keep the 3D effect. That and my 3DS has a lot of VC stuff on it I'm reluctant to resign to the scrap heap just yet.