First the facts
Before launching on forecasts related to the public’s mood and the (smoky) statements of Nintendo about the future of 3DS , it’s good to take a moment’s notice of how much the stereoscopic console has to offer to its owners in the coming months after the exploit Christmas party linked to the extraordinary welcome that both criticism and publicity have accorded to Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon .
At the tide of titles already available, in the coming months, another handful of highly anticipated products will be added to the audience, also very different from each other, as testimony to the commitment that the parent intends to honor with the owners of 3DS at least for the whole of 2017.
It comes from prominent titles, for which substantial budget budgets (for a portable console) have appeared, such as Fire Emblem Echoes Shadows of Valentia , the third episode of the Intelligent Systems series to land on 3DS shores , small side projects , like t
he new BoxBoy! , which follows two brilliant and clever jigsaw puzzles, passing through various products already available in other regions and ready to arrive in Europe, such as Lady Layton: The Millionaire Ariadone’s Conspiracy , enthusiastically welcomed in Japan, and the next Yo-Kai Watch 2 , coming out on April 7th.
The arcade sports fans might find bread for their teeth with Mario Sports Superstars(March 10), the more nostalgic with the new edition of an old classic like Blaster Master, called Blaster Master Zero , the lovers of the open world with Shakedown Hawaii , for not to mention two very anticipated first-party titles, but of which we know very little (unless they arrive by year), like Ever Oasis and, above all, the episode of Pikmin dedicated to 3DS, of which we only saw a teaser trailer months or so
.
Bisogna peraltro considerare che questa breve rassegna non comprende né eventuali titoli di terze parti non ancora annunciati né, tantomeno, ipotetici titoli che Nintendo ha ancora in serbo e che, stando alle parole dei già citati Kimishima e Fils -Aime, renderanno memorabile anche l’anno in corso per i possessori della console stereoscopica.
Net of independent titles and furt
her Wii U porting, such as the recent Poochy & Yoshi Woolly World , the 3DS line up for the year just started is expected to be fairly solid, though not nutritious in quantitative terms, with the icing on the cake represented by the unexpected new episode of Fire Emblem , a franchise that seems to have finally emerged from its niche to engage players of all ages and receive the attention it has always deserved.
2018 and beyond
As seen, up to the next Christmas holidays, 3DS owners can be quiet: any doubts, if any, may arise for next year and later, when, with Switch entering its full lifecycle and unification of cycles of development of all first party studies in the big N, the rhythm of t
he outputs could slow down a lot, progressively shrinking until full support interruption.
Personally, I think there are the assumptions that the 3DS console family is almost as long as the Game Boy game , which, with its thirteen yea
rs abundant in the market, has marked not one but two video games.
This hypothesis is endorsed by a number of factors, the most important of which I consider to be the fact that, unfortunately, after
streamlining the development chain to provide the nascent hybrid console with an uninterrupted stream of first-party titles, Nintendo will surmount to redistribute tasks and competences again.
Secondly, Nintendo would be crazy to ignore the fact that 3DS sales continue to prove solid, albeit in a waning phase over the past two years
.
The scenario would of course include a further price cut of the console and continued support, albeit not at the levels guaranteed to date: at that point, Nintendo would devote most of its productive efforts to Switch , as usual, but would continue to guarantee the value of the money of those who bought 3DS , possibly succeeding in ferrying the console up to the threshold
of seventy million units sold.
To do this, it would be enough to bring to the west, albeit with a serious delay, a series of titles that have had a great success at home, inexplicably denied to Western enthusiasts: from the remaining volumes of Sega 3D Classics to the double episode of Inazuma Eleven , spin off of Dragon Q
uest dedicated to Slime ( Slime Mori Mori 3 ) to Puyo Puyo Tetris , without forgetting the third episode of Yo-Kai Watch and the 3D EX Troopers shooter .
Another smart move might be to ensure cross-buy capability for the titles of the Virtual Console between Switch and 3DS , thus securin
g the holders of both consoles a remarkable value plus, at least as seen in the integration between PS4 and Life.
Under these conditions, considering the good installed base, the advantageous price and a boundless library of titles, in particular in Japanese gaming ga
mes and two-dimensional platforms, the lifespan of the 3DS consoles could be extended considerably in the footsteps of already mentioned Game Boy , if not because of historical importance, at least in terms of longevity.
