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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Will there actually be a 3DS successor?

Nintendo Switch is doing incredibly well both in hardware and software. A home console you can take with you is certainly an appealing concept in today's post-Smartphone world. That said, Nintendo is still keeping the 7 year old Nintendo 3DS around for a little longer as a sort of budget option for younger children. This, combined with some vague comments and Nintendo's "Home console" PR for the Switch leads some people to believe that the 3DS is getting a more direct successor platform in the future. However is this really the case? I mean, let's look at some of the arguments as to why a 3DS successor is supposedly necessary.

* It'd be more pocket-able - While being able to fit in your pocket is a nice bonus, it's not something the vast majority of the Switch's consumers really care about at this point. Not to mention that it's also not something that really warrants the creation of a new platform. If Nintendo wants, they can just make a smaller, clam-shell Switch with Tegra X2 and a smaller battery. Even still, Switch is small and durable enough that it can fit into any purse and bag of small sizes no problem. 

* It'd have games designed for a handheld - This is what really gets me. "Games designed for a handheld"? What does that even mean? If you're talking about low-budget experimental/nostalgic games, then Switch already gets those in spades. Hell Octopath Traveler, the very definition of a handheld style game, just came out a few weeks ago, and already it's become the console's first break out third party hit. If you mean games designed with short play sessions in mind, then the Switch has that too. Even with the more console style games, Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey are designed to give you something rewarding to do even if you only have a few minutes to spare. Not to mention that other console games on the system like Fighters, indie games, and platformers also lend themselves well to short burst play. So what exactly would a dedicated handheld provide that the Switch doesn't already deliver? 

* It'd be cheaper - Yes, but only in the short term. Switch is eventually going to climb down in price, and will be able to reach affordable enough prices for mass adoption very soon. Nintendo already wants to sell one Switch per-person in the future. So what Nintendo would essentially have done, is waste millions of dollars in R&D just to solve a problem that already has a solution. 

* The president of Nintendo said they're considering it - False. Nintendo never actually said they were considering a 3DS successor. What actually happened was that Shuntaro Furukawa was asked about a 3DS successor in an interview, and he simply replied with a generic "We're considering a variety of possibilities". It's an answer that could be best summed up as "we'll see what happens". This doesn't confirm or deny anything, it's a canned PR statement that they always give when those questions come up. When talking about the 3DS in relation to the Switch, Nintendo always referred to the 3DS as a "gateway" to the Switch for younger children. If it's a gateway to the Switch, then Nintendo is already acknowledging that it is in fact, a successor to the 3DS. Nintendo gave out the same generic PR statement last year, and people thought that they would go through with it. But it's 2018, and yet no substantial leaks or rumors about this mythical device. 

So is the 3DS getting a successor? In my opinion, No. There is nothing a direct 3DS successor could provide that isn't already served by either the Switch, or smartphone games, the latter of which, will become more and more important to Nintendo's bottom line as they try and boost their performance in that area. Thus, further erasing the need for such a device. It's okay if you want a 3DS successor, I would like a pony and a million dollars, but I'm not getting it. Nintendo is a business, and to a business, majority consensus rules. Considering there's no widespread demand for a successor to the 3DS now that people are using the Switch exactly how Nintendo envisioned it, it's safe to say they probably won't be making one anytime soon, especially since 3DS sales are already seeing massive plummets. 



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Switch should be Nintendo's platform going forward. They can add any form factor they want to the ecosystem, but they need to remain focused on a single OS, and a Unified library of Games and Apps.

I am all for a more Mobile focused Nintendo running the Switch OS. I would love to see them put out a smaller Wifi Only Switch, and a Switch Phone with 5G.They could easily put them on the market for $200 and $300 respectively at any point, it is just a matter of them doing it.



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Kevyn B Grams
10/03/2010 

KBG29 on PSN&XBL

Yes, Nintendo Switch is the successor.

Some 3DS owners have already fully replaced their handheld gaming time with Nintendo Switch.

Others are waiting for something cheaper and smaller.

I see the Nintendo Switch Mini/SP/(whatever they call it), launching for $199 around October 2019 just before "handheld focused" 2019 Pokemon arrives.

That synergy (of cheaper/smaller hardware + Pokemon) would capitalize on the opportunity to transition a lot of 3DS stragglers, as well as, being the hot Christmas item for parents to saitiate the Pokemon fevor of their little ones.

The most likely reason they aren't doing it this year, is because they want a better cost margin on the SOC die shrink (probably 10nm or 7nm) that will be cheaper next year, AND that Gen 8 Pokemon won't be ready till next year anyway.

Really, if they Ace the Design, Marketing, Ample Supply of Nintendo Switch Mini, and the Quality of Pokemon 2019 is High, then this could be Nintendo Switch's "DS Lite moment" and the platform as a whole could see a huge boost to hardware/software sales long term.



There already is - it's called Switch - a handheld you can dock.



Why are you trying to continue the long, drawn out discussion from resetera here? With a misleading title as.well?



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It's already out it's called Nintendo Switch.



Mar1217 said:
HoloDust said:
There already is - it's called Switch - a handheld you can dock.

and a console you can take on the go

Isn't that normally called a, "handheld"? You reiterated what he said. A handheld is a console you can take on the go.



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you will have a switch mini in 2-3 years,but that's about it.



Doesnt make sense for there to be one.

The point was nintendo was to focus its software efforts, into 1 plantform that was a hybrid.
That is the switch, it is the successor to the 3DS.



Why split their attention between two products that does essentially the same?