How powerful will Nintendo's next handheld be?

[curl-6]

the_dengle said:

curl-6 said:

I dunno, I can't see any reason why this trend would reverse. 3DS is fighting valiantly against the tide, but I think a dedicated gaming handheld will be an incredibly tough sell come 2016/2017, even with popular franchises.

No trend has to reverse. If the damage is already done, the market the 3DS has made for itself has no reason to shrink further. It follows that a more appealing product could potential outsell its predecessor in that market.

Anything is possible at this point, I see no reason to believe the next Nintendo handheld will be doomed to Vita numbers when Nintendo owns multiple franchises that tend to sell more games per release than the Vita has sold total hardware.

People see a mobile phone as an essential purchase, but not a gaming handheld. And if they can get their gaming fix on their phone, that will discourage many from spending the extra money on a handheld.

Yes, Nintendo has powerful franchises, but as we've seen with the Wii U, that's not always a get out of jail free card.

We'll probably just have to agree to disagree, but I honestly don't believe dedicated gaming handhelds have a future.