The knee-jerk reaction seems to be that with the eventual release of Nintendo's forthcoming hybrid console, the Switch, the company's current-generation hardware lineup will have less, if not totally nil, presence in the market.
It's only logical for the Switch to replace the Wii U — the embattled, now-discontinued home console seems officially dead on its tracks, especially considering the Switch looks like it's what the Wii U could have been in the first place.
In terms of handheld, a gaming subset Nintendo excels exceptionally at, things are a little more complicated and perplexing. Apart from being a home console, Nintendo prides the Switch as a handheld device, essentially merging Nintendo's gaming trajectories into one, but what happens to the 3DS, of which more than 60 million units are lying around worldwide?
The Switch Won't Replace The 3DS
It'll persist, apparently. Nintendo assures its handheld user base that the 3DS will still be supported well into the Switch's lifespan.
"In our view, the Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo Switch are going to live side-by-side," Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's CEO, told Wired in an interview. "They're going to coexist just fine. We've done this before, managing two different systems."
The DS Wasn't Supposed To Replace The Game Boy Advance
Fils-Aime's statement holds water. Nintendo has indeed supported two consoles simultaneously in the past — but not for very long. For instance, Nintendo in 2004 revealed the Nintendo DS as a "third pillar" in its console offerings, meaning it's not intended to replace the Game Boy Advance and GameCube, which were Nintendo's home and handled pairing at the time.
Look what happened there. The DS sold like hotcakes, thereby usurping the Game Boy Advance in all fronts. Needless to say that it took no time at all for Nintendo to forget about the preceding handheld.
Nintendo did support the Game Boy Advance — technically. It shipped games for it until 2008, but internal and external interest for the system steadily plodded, halted, then eventually died, in light of the soaring popularity of the DS at the time.
Reggie's comments beg to differ, saying that the "3DS has a long life in front of it" and that the Switch, at its core, is a take-it-and-go-anywhere home console, instead of inherently a handheld device. If Nintendo maintains this business model, then the 3DS could still be the primary platform tailor-made for handheld experiences.
In a climate of dwindling interest for Nintendo's home console, shouldn't they be focusing on marketing the Switch as — also — its next handheld apart from being its new home console? Wouldn't it be easier if the company conflated home and handheld development departments and put their entire focus on the Switch instead of cutting it in half just to inject verve in the 3DS' lifespan? What's Nintendo's game plan here?
Still, 60 million units is a significant user base, and simply yanking its life support seems foolish at best.
Time will tell. The Nintendo Switch comes out March 3, retailing for $299.
