No, it didn't. It was released in 2001 and discontinued between 2006-2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_boy_advance

And Nintendo was still publishing games in 2006, like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Drill Dozer, and Mother 3. They even published Final Fantasy VI Advance for the West in 2007.

Mmm... ↓.

And there's no reason why Nintendo can't continue making the odd 3DS game through 2016/2017/even 2018 if they want to, even if they release another portable in say 2015. 

Well I was talking sellthrough which vgchartz has

2011-13.25

2012-14.10

2013-14.85

but if u want to talk fiscal shipments than its

2011/12-13.53

2012/13-13.95

2013/14-11.65 with one quarter to go, likely over 13 million.

So my point still stands that 3DS yearly sales have been very consistant for 3 straight years and I know it has peaked but thats not what I was disputing, we were talking about whether or not it will sell over 10 million this year and I strongly believe it will.

3DS doesn't need an upgrade. PS Vita should. 3DS as handheld dominates not just in Japan but internationally.

Wii U on the other hand, I believe Nintendo is going to either develop a new console for this Gen or upgrade Wii U. On Game Theory: Wii U is the new Virtual Boy, Nintendo mentioned that if they flop, their going to make a new one immediately. Like what happen to Virtual Boy. After it flopped, they developed Nintendo 64 immediately.

And really, they still have a lot of money left. Like about Y600,000,000,000. And if they continue to flop through the years, they would be dead around 2050. So, I hope they don't waste this opportunity.

EDIT: OF COURSE, to maintain/increase 3DS's lead is to make good games. For the Wii U, the alternative way to increase their sales is to make more good games. Another way is a price cut.

No, of course not. In fact, they also released Pokémon Black/White 2 and Conquest for DS in 2012, more than a year after 3DS release. The lifecycle of a platform is indeed not directly tied to the release of its successor. Still, it does have an obvious effect on its market and support, and I don't see any reason not to give 3DS at least 5 years without it. An announcement in E3 2015 and release in February 2016 would be exactly that, and that would be the earliest I would expect it to come (which would be sooner than DS to 3DS). And if they end up going for a "dual" platform as some speculate, I definitely see it being at least a year later than that.

Also, people seem to forget that DS was originally meant to be a "third pillar" in Nintendo's hardware lineup, not a successor to GBA, so that's something to take into account here...

The 3DS was actually supposed to come out for holiday 2010, they just didn't have games finished for it (surprise, surprise).

Nintendo needs a new money maker, they can't rely on a declining 3DS to carry the entire company and the Wii U might as well be a dead corpse that's dragging everything down with it.

That's why I think the economics of it just make sense.

Also I don't think Nintendo has the time you guys think they do, they need to answer the rise of the smartphone/tablet, in the same way the DS was pushed to market to provide an answer to the PSP. Every single day Nintendo is losing kids to the tablet/phone revolution, milking the 3DS as their only portable platform as 2014 and 2015 goes on is only going to make them looking increasingly outdated and out of touch with what's happening in the market place.

I don't think they have a choice really. Honestly the Vita will probably soon start outselling the 3DS on a weekly basis in Japan too, so there's that as well. The system is being hit hard by YoY declines there. I suspect you may see a 3DSi this spring/summer (model revision) starting with Japan first, then a new portable entirely in fall of 2015, one that's capable of handling ports of Wii U games. 

The online infrastructure and environment/games are very different between the PS4 and WiiU. That said I do agree that game releases are too few and far beyween. Until Kart I personally have no incentive to turn the device on.

my guess is 2016

The name may be a bit dumb, but it's NUT a  bad concept for a video game system if you think about it!