so with the rapid fizzling out of the vita (it is selling 58% less than last year in this week's numbers, and most of its meager sales are disproportionately in japan), nintendo will be in the same position they were in with the gba for almost its entire life: without a serious competitor of any sort (in the dedicated handheld space, that is). they stand to consolidate the whole market, especially in japan, where that means a heck of a lot (in many ways they already have, but where are all those niche vita games going to go to if not the 3ds?). coincidentally, next year will also see the western release of new 3ds which should give the system a sizeable boost, as it has done already in japan.
i've read all of the handhelds are doomed because phones and tablets threads, so please, none of that. most likely 3ds will be at 50-55 million by the time new 3ds is out worldwide (europe/na). next year there are already several major retail releases we know about (these are north american dates):
fossil fighters frontier (winter 2015)
story of seasons (february 2015)
monster hunter 4 ultimate (march 2015) [launch title for new 3ds?]
codename s.t.e.a.m. (spring 2015) [possible million seller given intelligent systems' pedigree--possibly a launch title for new 3ds]
etrian mystery dungeon (spring 2015)
majora's mask 3d (spring 2015) [certain multi-million seller, probably even within 2015 depending on how early 'spring' is--possibly a launch title for new 3ds]
rodea the sky soldier (spring/summer 2015) [looks like a winning blend of nights into dreams and kid icarus uprising, cross-platform release]
xenoblade chronicles (spring/summer 2015) [possible million seller with x hyped for fall--confirmed launch title for new 3ds]
bravely second (spring/summer/fall 2015) [can't see nintendo/square not localizing this quickly, with nintendo distributing again--an eventual million seller]
the great ace attorney (summer/fall 2015) [shu takumi's current project, looks like it's going to be epic and slated for a spring release in japan--capcom will likely want to localize quickly as this series has a sizeable north american and european audience]
pokémon z or pokémon yz and xz (fall/holiday 2015) [certain multi-million seller with neat new 3ds exclusive features to sell people on the handheld without affecting older 3ds owners too much]
detective pikachu (fall/holiday 2015/early 2016) [nothing on this game in a while, but apparently still in development]
how's the future look for the 3ds? any retail titles i've missed? (of course there's the e3 onslaught of announcements--i think with the wii u on firmer footing the presentation will be more evenly divided between 3ds and wii u.)
