Switch is not the successor to the 3DS. The big differences are that Switch can function as a home console with multiple users and the higher price point of both software and hardware - double in both cases.
With the 3DS, a handheld, the 25K yen was deemed too high as a value proposition; but 30K yen seems just right for the hybrid Switch console. With handhelds, there’s typically only one user per unit - and you can see how this effects buying habits; despite selling for double the price, and having a significantly smaller user base, Switch software at the end of 2017 exceeded 3DS’s software sales at the end of 2011 in Japan; and that’s not counting the very likely higher digital purchases as well (which numbers we can only really imagine at this point).
This higher software tie-in number is typical of home consoles (with multiple users) - as are the software and console hardware price points. This is why the Switch can’t be considered a successor to the 3DS, it’s a different market.
In other words: the hybrid market the Switch occupies looks much closer to the home console segment in spending habits than the handheld segment.
Last edited by Jumpin - on 22 March 2018I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
