It would have been fine if Sony had given it the 1st party support that Nintendo gave the 3ds and if it had more pricing options.  Part of what makes the 3ds a hit is that there is a high end system the new 3ds and there are options all the way down to the very affordable 2ds.  I bought a New 3ds but my gf's kids got 2ds because you can buy 3 of them and not break the bank.

They were a demographic. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22253758

My Great-Grandmother (who is 91 now) uses it as part of her dementia therapy, and my grandmother (61 years old) used to play it all the time. 

Sure the middle-aged population were also a demographic, but certainly they weren't the only one. 

By the way, all consumers who aren't hobbyists are fickle. The CoD brogamers and Guitar Hero players are just as fickle as Brain Age and Wii Series gamers. Only a moderately sized niche of gamers are dedicated fans who won't change their tastes and who will buy the same thing again and again. The reason why these consumers of such demographics moved elsewhere to find entertainment was because the games that targeted them were not innovating, and they got bored. This doesn't make such demographics the problem, but the developers/publishers. 

So why did your grandmother stop? There is Brain Training for a 3DS, but I'm guessing she doesn't want to spend $170 + $20 more for more Brain Training. 

Actually for a senior, a tablet is probably better anyway, the far larger display is easier to read. There are a multitude of Brain Training style games on the app stores too. 

COD brogamers who make have bought a Guitar Hero or even a Wii Sports as a one-off still buy consoles and really don't need to be convinced to buy video games. They would buy video games even if you set up a fire hydrant outside of a store and blasted them with water to try to keep them away. 

The Brain Training/Wii Fit crowd saw the iPhone/app store and were done with $30+ games tied to their TV or a seperate portable gaming device period. Is Kim Kardashian's iPhone game innovation? Is Candy Crush with paid DLC innovation? Flappy Bird?

These people don't want innovation. Maybe we should just accept that this portion of the game market is more like the people who watch primarily reality TV shows on TV. They don't want deep or even particularily good games, they just want something easy to play and simple and preferably cheap that fits into their smartphone anchored social life.  

That's the difference. COD gamers are still here pumping billions into the traditional game market, casuals are not. 

She still plays the DS version. Why would she buy the new version if it isn't any different? That's my point. The only people who buy the same product again are fanatics who are satsified with minute differences enough that they justify it in their minds. 

Tablets are a pain for seniors (or even middle-aged people) because they have trouble with the concept of an app store. 

Call of Duty's sales are actually decreasing. Why? Because the series is make minute changes. Bro-gamers have other options, so they go elsewhere. Elderly people who played brain training do not, so they get bored and quit. 

I didn't realize that people who play Wii Fit and Brain Training are interested in entirely different games like Candy Crush or Flappy Bird to replace the experience. In fact, I hadn't realized middle-aged and elderly people were interested in such games (I'm pretty sure they aren't.)

You can't blame people for quitting gaming after you stopped making good games for them. That's asinine. They are still there, and they still want to play. There just isn't anything worthwhile to play on dedicated handhelds for them. Meanwhile, if what you say is true, there are worthwhile experiences on mobile platforms (although I still believe these older generations aren't targetted.) For the longest time people said girls aren't interested in video games. Now just look how wrong they were. Girls just didn't have many games to peak their interests and bring them into gaming. 

I would say keep the price down under $200 at launch and just have quality Nintendo software. The odds are they will be unopposed next go around so should get a nice bit of third party, especially in Japan. Not sure how they recapture markets that fled in droves to phones though. 50 million for total handheld sector and having nearly 100% of it may keep Nintendo content if they can turn a tidy profit each year.

I think Tomodachi success is a good example of what ur saying, it's a new ip in the west and is a very unique title. If 3DS had more of these types of experiences than 3DS could be seeing more of the casual demographic.

For tons of reasons like memory cards, lack of quality retail releases, the quality ones didn't belong to hugely popular franchises. Poor marketing, the first Vita commercials didn't even boast of its specs or sell it as its own gaming device:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGNxHa0bqCI

... Appealing to an older demographic is not reason for the systems failure. I'm pretty sure the majority of 3DS owners are in their late 20s/30s to be honest.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to make their marketing and hardware more appealing to a wider range of demographics. People forget that the DS/GBA weren't primarly marketed at kids. The DSlite especially was design to sleek and modern, something the 3DS has not been at any point in its life.

I think it's a shame that you didn't answer him properly, since I think he had a few good points in there. But I guess you've had similar arguments with others before and have grown tired of answering the same counter-arguments?

Yes that is a good example.