How powerful will Nintendo's next handheld be?

[curl-6]

the_dengle said:

curl-6 said:

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.

This is already true and has been true for the entirety of the 3DS's life. Gaming handhelds were never seen as an "essential" purchase. They are a luxury product when priced too high and a toy when priced low enough. Americans love to buy expensive things they don't need, so just because most people own a smart phone already doesn't mean none of them will want to buy a dedicated handheld -- as proven by the 3DS, which has sold more consoles in any single region than the Vita has sold globally. I have not seen any major change in the market within the past ten minutes which would convince me that Nintendo's next handheld will sell one-fourth what the 3DS has managed.

How do you account for the shrink in userbase from DS to 3DS?