By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming - How many years does the 3DS have left?

mii-gamer on 06 November 2014

holiday 2016 is mu guess. 2017 is a little too late.



Around the Network
small44 on 06 November 2014

2016 or 2017 even if it's sell is less then previous years it's still still good enough to wait more because releasing a new handheld



PS4 - over 100 millions let's say 120m
Xbox One - 70m
Wii U - 25m

Vita - 15m if it will not get Final Fantasy Kingdoms Heart and Monster Hunter 20m otherwise
3DS - 80m

zorg1000 on 06 November 2014
Soundwave said:
zorg1000 said:
What does everybody think 3DS sales will look like in the next 2-3 years? I'm thinking

2014, 10-11 million

2015, 8-9 million

2016, 5-7 million (depending if successor releases)

That's probably spot on, and also why Nintendo simply cannot wait until 2017. They can't sustain themselves with 3DS sales that low, and no the next Nintendo fan who waltzes and says "don't worry, Wii U will carry Nintendo until 2017!" needs to stop drinking the kool-aid. 

Nintendo has never had handheld shipments lower than 10 million since the mid-1990s when the Game Boy brand was temporarily fizzling out (before Pokemon), which is why Yamauchi allowed the Virtual Boy experiment to go ahead because they needed something else to sell. 

Sub-10 million shipments of portables for Nintendo is a "danger zone". 

I still think Spring 2017 isn't too out of the question, 2015 has New 3DS plus a pretty solid software lineup, 2016 could see price cuts for all models plus one final holiday push. Holiday 2016 or Spring 2017 are the most likely options in my opinion.



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

Soundwave on 06 November 2014

If you actually look at Nintendo's handheld release history since the GBA SP, they release a new handheld model/revision almost on a yearly basis and have for a while now.

2003 - GBA SP
2004 - Nintendo DS
2005 - GBA Micro
2006 - DS Lite
2007 - nothing
2008 - DSi (Japan)
2009 - DSi (West), DSi XL (Japan)
2010 - DSi XL (West)
2011 - Nintendo 3DS
2012 - 3DS XL
2013 - 2DS (West)
2014 - New 3DS (Japan)
2015 - New 3DS (West)
2016 - Fusion (?)

A new Nintendo handheld in 2016 wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary, in fact it would match up perfectly with their usual release cycle.



zorg1000 on 06 November 2014
phaedruss said:
_crazy_man_ said:
I'd say it would be backwards to release a new model and announce a successor in the same year.


No one cares about the new 3ds.


What exactly are u basing this on?



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

Around the Network
zorg1000 on 06 November 2014
Soundwave said:

Even if we look at the DS-3DS transition

Last 3DS revision (DSi XL) launch in Japan in November 2009. 3DS launched in Japan in Feburary 2011.

That's roughly a 14 month gap. 14 months from New 3DS to Fusion would be Feburary 2016. So a March-May 2016 launch in Japan would actually be a little longer of a gap.

Ditto for the US, DSi XL launched in March 2010, 3DS launched in April 2011 ... 13 month gap between the two.

GBA SP-DS was about a 1 1/2 year gap.

In fact I'd say the New 3DS' timing hints fairly strongly at a new handheld generation beginning in 2016.

Not only that but AMD reports that they huge "two major vendors" that are big contract wins for them regarding an ARM based AMD mobile part for 2016. 

That sounds an awful lot like Nintendo could be one of those contracts, especially when Iwata said he wanted future Nintendo platforms to "absorb" the Wii U architecture in some way (that probably means they have to use AMD). So that all lines up rather nicely. 

U know what, u actually have legitimately changed my mind, I'm going with a 2016 release now as well.

Announcement-January 2016 (gives New 3DS at least one holiday in the spotlight in the west)

Release-June 2016, $199.99 price tag



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

Soundwave on 06 November 2014

My guess is

Fusion is a 20nm system-on-chip mobile part with a ARM v8 core + customized AMD mobile GPU that shares some dev libraries/architecture similarities to the Wii U GPU, allowing for easier porting of Wii U engines/games.

Apr-May (Golden Week) launch in Japan with say Animal Crossing. Super Mario Galaxy 3 for late summer, this time Nintendo will make sure they have a big post-launch title to avoid a drought period. 

June 2016 launch for North America, July launch for Europe.

November 2016 is the launch of the Home Fusion variant (basically the console version). 

New 3DS will be kept around as a budget option ($99.99 for the small version, $139.99 for the XL) for a few years afterwards. 

Holiday 2016 for Japan -- Dragon Quest XI goes multiplatform ... PS3/PS4 or Fusion (home or portable). Fusion version sells the best.



jonathanalis on 06 November 2014

nintendo seems they profit more from software than hardware. 3DS is selling way less than last year, wii U a few more.
But this year they profited in this Q, last year they dont.

They just have to keep apealing games. they can stand until 2017.



Jranation on 06 November 2014

I think nintendo wants to end the 3ds, the sane time as the wii u.

So @ 2017 will give the wii u about 5 years (i think its a perfect time)

To announce the nintendo fusion



Pocky Lover Boy! 

_crazy_man_ on 06 November 2014
phaedruss said:
_crazy_man_ said:
I'd say it would be backwards to release a new model and announce a successor in the same year.


No one cares about the new 3ds.

I beg to differ.  Should be a good boost for the 3DS in the West, already doing well in Japan.

It's no DS Lite, but it still should do well.



NNID: crazy_man

3DS FC: 3969 4633 0700 

 My Pokemon Trading Shop (Hidden Power Breeding)