Games have gotten a LOT better since the Lynx, lol. I can understand though.  

Both handheld and console for past two gens.

I'll opt for both if NX is good. if not, I won't stick with this crap. I'll get the handheld for Pokemon and whatnot, but get a PS5(or ultimate gaming PC) instead of a console

Ultimately I see this as being a HUGE problem for the whole non integrated system design. At the end of the day people are going to buy one, and then even the people who are considering both will wait to buy the second. Then they get to hear about exclusives coming to other consoles, and suddenly the appeal of getting the second console becomes less and less attractive.

Moonlighter said: I'm thinking about getting the Nintendo 3DS. I'd say handheld first and maybe the console later. I'd choose a handheld only when it's available for a great sale.

It´s a great console! But if I were you I would wait a little bit, just until we get more info on NX. Also, the 3ds is cheap nowadays, unless you meant the new 3ds which should be more expensive, but when the NX is announced I bet they´ll lower the price of the new 3ds so it would be a great moment to acquire one. 

What kind of games do you like on the 3ds? If you like a lot of games, then don´t listen to me and buy one now! :P

I find the buttons of nowadays handhelds to be too small, and I don't have specially big hands, so I'd go for the home console.

This board has a fairly large and vocal Nintendo console fanbase ... but I don't think that's indicative of the actual Nintendo fanbase that actually buys the vast majority of Nintendo hardware. The portable is vastly more popular, even the DS smoked the Wii in hardware sales and both the GameCube and Wii U generations show a lop sided 4:1 split for the handheld. 

The fact is the majority of Nintendo hardware buyers find they already don't need the console. 

Even without a unified library I think this was always going to be a problem for Nintendo in a way because each successive portable generation, the graphics get better and better to the point where any kind of Nintendo game should be possible on the portable next time around with relatively "nice" looking graphics. Even ambitious types of things like a big 3D Zelda or Xenoblade game will look and play great on the next Nintendo portable. 

If they released both the handheld and the home console together as a bundle, I would buy it on day one.
If not, then I would go for the home console first, and the handheld would be a big maybe, because I enjoy playing on a big screen more.

I'd be disappointed because for me, having gone back to the original Gameboy recently, I have realized what made owning both so great... different games. Playing through Super Mario Land 1 and 2, it's obvious that those games were designed to feel drastically different, albeit still fun, to the main line console Mario's so as to create incentive enough to warrant both purchases. You could play Mario 3 and then Mario Land 2 and feel like they were totally different.

If their next hand held is going to be nothing but a piece of hardware designed to carry their home consoles games around, for me personally, it'll be pointless. I'll just buy the console and games and play them that way.

I own both 2ds (didnt care for 3d gimmick) and U... chose both for its library exclusives. As for the NX, if they share the same library, I'll get the home version no doubt, but HH will depend on its features and price point.

Game handhelds were evolving alongside mobile devices but now reverting back to pre gba days.  Nintendo needs to incorporate more telecom into their next HH,  unless they are comfortable with going back to being a cheaper leapfrog type toy.  I won't say "Nintedoomed" but they're in danger when it comes to hosting games on its own HW.  Nintendo is lost in the middle, its time to compete with the big dogs again, or go dramatically low end/a starter device for kids (niche game system).  Nintendo, (unlike Sega back in the day) is in good position to be competitive, but sadly, have not displayed the desire to do so - instead, opting to fly under the radar in hopes one of Sony/MS eventually bows out of the business, before reentering the fray.

All signs point to Nintendo being at a converging point with NX, but unified library aside, its still important to offer enticing and unique experiences for different HW types. Home/HH need to be more desirable "must own" HW, than mandatory must-own.  The fall from WiiDS was dramatic and they need to start pushing units closer to 100 mil per gen,  for the sake of their business.  Cross buy will make any iteration of NX a stable choice, but Nintendo's goal should still be to sell as many HW units as possible, at a profit, from day 1.  Hopefully, we'll soon find out what the "NewXperience" is all about.

I would get the handheld version then