It’s been on again/off again thing about Nintendo finally driving the last stake through the heart of the 3DS. Something that many assumed would happen when the Switch was released. Yet, Nintendo declared they would support both systems. So when Nintendo officially announced the Nintendo Switch Lite earlier today, we figured that the 3DS was a done deal.
But is it?
Apparently, it isn’t according to Nintendo of America’s president, Doug Bowser. Which he commented on when speaking with The Verge.
“We’ll continue to support our 3DS family of systems as long as there is demand,” stated Bowser.
Which does make sense as the 3DS is still very popular in other regions such as Japan. Sure, the Switch is portable, but in the same sense as the 3DS is.
However, that all may change with the introduction of the Nintendo Switch Lite. Which puts it on the same playing field as the 3DS. With the pending release of Fire Emblem: Three Houses this month. Followed by Pokemon Sword and Shield in September, and Astral Chain, Daemon X Machina, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Luigi’s Mansion 3 in the following months, the 3DS’s days could be numbered.
With Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth being the last game released on the 3DS in June 2019. There aren’t any other games (that we know of) that have been announced for the system. It doesn’t look good. Yet, only Nintendo knows what the future of the 3DS will be.
One thing is for sure, it lasted longer than another certain handheld.