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.)

Those games are nice but I am wondering what else Nintendo will announce! Heres hoping a ND in December

I am certain that Minecraft will be announced as a New 3DS title and there will be a NFC title thrown in there as well.

Something I would really like is a new Wario Land and a new 2d Metroid, perhaps an Advance Wars.

Next year I am getting for sure codename s.t.e.a.m

yeah they're supposed to be announcing the peripheral for old 3ds owners to use amiibo--once the wii u rollout gets done i see them announcing a cross-platform amiibo title in a bid to continue the undeniable cross-platform success of smash.

still wondering what that would look like tho. right now all i can think of is nintendo land with toys.

definitely needs a platformer. last great 3ds platformer was what? 3d land? 2d metroid i see as a 2016 thing. probably they'll be looking to do the same two-in-one-day feat they pulled with prime/fusion in 2002. that worked pretty well for them before and they've already proven adept at doing that with the one-two punch of smash and or/as--i remember iwata saying the people buying them were the same people who played both of those games as schoolchildren in 2001-03.

Are they usually late December? I think it will be January though being Im sure they will announce N3DS date for west so dont want to do it to hurt xmas sales but I guess late December makes sense too.

I don't know why so many people are saying the 3DS is dying in terms of software, but Nintendo hasn't even begun to scratch the surface of 2015 announcements. Now it's just the long wait until Nintendo's Spring Direct that will give us most of the announcements we need for this year. Those are all of the software that can think of myself, although I can predict a new Metroid side-scroller for New 3DS. The potential for new software being on the New 3DS will initially push sales that much greater in order to introduce what the New 3DS is all about and kick-start it into 2016.

By that time, Nintendo should be fully aware of what to do next with the limits of the system and perhaps create a new IP with what they have.

Yea, last year's ND was in December 18 although 2012 was in December 5th but 2011's was in December 27th! And they don't have to really say anything for the n3ds, they could just say games that are coming out for the 3ds in general since 3ds games will work with the N3ds

When do you think N3DS for NA and EU? I think Q1 2015 March to be more exact