While they phased 3DS out slowly, they also pretty much had to bet on it for a while because that was their only cash cow in the console market leading up to the Switch, which they didn't know how well it would do.
The rate at which a platform holder wants to 'kill off' their previous system is determined by many factors.
Obviously PS4 support stuck arround longer than planned because of the chip shortage for example.
A drop in price for a system largely depends on manufacturing costs, which in turn is affected by the rate of mass production for the components.
If for example Switch 1 is the only system that requiers certain components, they won't drop in price as much as they would if other popular devices also used those same components. The higher the demand and mass production, the more it drives down cost.
Backwards compatibility is also an interesting subject to think about. While making cross gen games will be no sweat off Nintendo's back, third party developers will probably generally want to leave Switch 1 behind as soon as possible if there's a successor, because porting to Switch 2 will likely be notably less expensive in general. At least until there are no more games being made for PS4. At which point they may be back in a similar situation again, depending on what measures they have taken to alleviate this. Things like DLSS will help, etc.
Last edited by Hiku - on 08 August 2023
