https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/10/nintendo-recommits-to-keep-the-business-going-for-3ds/
In the age of the Nintendo Switch, the company's older 3DS handheld tends to get the short end of the stick in terms of press and player attention. But Nintendo has maintained that it's
not going to abandon the dedicated portable, which showed surprisingly resilient sales as recently as this January.
In a recent financial briefing, Nintendo recommitted to keep selling and supporting the 3DS, and the company explained why the eight-year-old system continues to have a place next to
the Switch.
Nintendo 3DS is set apart from Nintendo Switch by its characteristics as a handheld game system that is lightweight, price-friendly, and highly portable. Affordability is the strong point
that positions Nintendo 3DS in a niche clearly separate from Nintendo Switch. In the grand scheme of things, Nintendo 3DS has a prominent position as the product that can be served
as the first contact between Nintendo and many of its consumers, and for this reason we will keep the business going.
Keeping the 3DS around as a form of "entry-level" Nintendo hardware makes a lot of sense. The New 2DS XL now retails for just $150—half the price of a new Switch—and that's with a
copy of Mario Kart 7 bundled. And until major Nintendo franchises like Pokemon and Metroid come to the Switch, the 3DS represents the best way to enjoy them in relatively modern
forms.
While 3DS family hardware sales for the last six months are down 65.1 percent year over year, those reduced sales still represent one million new units shipped in a six-month period.
The Switch itself only shipped 5.07 million units during the same period, suggesting that a good chunk of Nintendo's consumers still look for an older, lower-cost option.
For context, the Game Boy Advance only shipped 420,000 units in its eighth full calendar year on store shelves. Even the best-selling original DS managed just 2.35 million full-year
shipments at the same point in its life.
While the long-lived DS hardware line will eventually die out, the 3DS is showing a longer tail than many expected. Upcoming ports like Luigi's Mansion and Bowser's Inside Story could
help stretch that out even further in the coming months.
o shit more [STABILITY] incoming
This is fucking insane. This portable is going on eight years old.
Children who are likely to get a 3DS this Christmas are as old as the 3DS launch games.
It doesn't matter at this point. The 3ds has been blown wide open several times with unpatchable exploits. The latest one is absolutely free and can be done with the latest patch. The 3ds is so stable at this point that it may as well be an truly immovable rod.
frogminer is unpatchable as long as you have some sort of userland exploit
only free one that still works off the top of my head is steelhax
oh right they broke OoThax right after I CFW’d my old 3DS.
Not gonna lie, I have very little motivation to use my 3DS now. I’ve sold off so many things now I have more original DS games than 3DS.
I should just refurb a DS Lite. Did you know Nintendo still sells new DS Lite batteries?
oothax nice stone age technology
p sure that broke before we even moved away from a9lh
True. Even then you can use another exploit that only costs a few dollars at most to buy a DSiware game.
Okay but why
For every 3DS alternative (NSMB2, MK7), it feels like a gimped version of the alternative. Granted, I know it's a mobile platform, but I feel we're past that point. Older Pokemon games, that will soon be outdated, too. And every time a game is put on the 3DS, I can't help but say "okay but why not the Switch, too?"
Plus if I have my Switch with me, I won't have my 3DS with me. I'm not going to carry both.
Just let the 3DS phase out, and the Switch take its place. I can't imagine games that'll be coming to 3DS that make it more appealing than to play something else on my Switch, because that's what it'll come to. Even Pokemon is coming to Switch.
I'm not very interested in a switch yet but I just got a 3DS and I love it.
This novelty won't last forever and eventually the switch is going to receive games I'm interested in, but until then I'm very happy to hear the 3DS has a year or two more of support in it. It's a very handy little device.
This is, the 3DS has a huge backlog of games to enjoy on it. It doesn't need the support. The Switch is growing (and fast), and I'm happy for it, but I feel you'll only hurt the Switch's growth by neglecting to put certain games on it and instead 3DS.
Give me a reason to put away my 3DS and focus entirely on the Switch.
If enough people are using and buying the device to have Nintendo think it's worth it, my guess is they don't want to give you a reason to put the 3DS away. Chances are they want enough reasons to have both while the 3DS is still relevant.
*sighs in GamePad*
Knowing that people continue to enjoy the 3DS will not stop me from wanting to die every time a game I like is announced for and sent out to die on the 3DS.
You can buy better capacity 3rd party ones for cheaper though.
Maybe if they want to extend support for the 3ds and make it more popular they should do something logical such as releasing the SNES VC games on it. I really don't know why those are limited to the mainline consoles only, it's fucking retarded since the 3ds would be a perfect platform to play them on.
SNES VC is on 3DS; it's just limited to the "New" models. While there are unofficial emulators out there for the older models via homebrew, Nintendo's own emulator that prioritizes accuracy over efficiency apparently can't run at full speed on them.
Is there now? Kinda annoying it's only on new models though. Mine's an old model and I can't really afford to upgrade, especially with how rarely I actually play it at this point. I was really disappointed looking though the available VC titles and seeing nothing past NES/GBC games on it.
Sure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuczOsWiKrs
The 3DS is still a solid alternatives for parents who are wary of buying a more expensive and more fragile console like the Switch. The 3DS, especially since it's lowered rather significantly in price, feels a lot more like something you can put in a kid's hands and expect to survive at least a couple of bumps whereas the Switch is literally just a screen.
Also, in a family with siblings, you can buy two New 2DS XL's for the price of one Switch. That's like a no brainer to prevent arguments over who gets to play what games.
Nintendo knows there is still a market for the 3DS family.
Actually, 2 new 3DS XL's for 1 Switch. The NES 3DS XL is $150 on Amazon. 2DS XL's are actually the same price on Amazon but I've seen them for $130 at Best Buy.
I literally never take my switch outside because of how expensive it is, and the screen is a gigantic piece of glass. The 3ds, with its plastic shell and close-ability, is much more durable mobile console. As such, the 3DS is my only mobile console while the switch remains in its dock.
GBA VC exists as well, and it runs on O3DS. It's just limited to the "Ambassador" titles normally, however with the right header tweaks you can inject and have working all but like 3 or 4 games which used fancy cartridges. Notably, unpatched Pokemon roms work since it was discovered that the VC emulator did actually support all (?) save types if you changed some header bits.
Wait the switch isn't plastic? I have one and it feels like plastic.
You're right, the screen is plastic which is also why it scratches easily.
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