3DS still has a future. Not being replaced by Switch.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/02/kimishima_on_the_role_of_the_3ds_after_the_switch_launch

How could it? Switch's "handheld" battery life is atrocious.

@ronnieav: 6 hours, right? It's really not that bad, for a system as powerful as it is.

Anyway, I think it's kind of a poor move on Nintendo's part, not to focus all of their energy onto developing for a single, unified system. The Switch needs all the support it can get. And personally, I'd like for it to succeed.

@Ovirew: could be that the unannounced games could have been in development before the NS was announced. And with the last console not selling well they might not be ready to make the Switch until their confidence has been restored in "console" systems.

Given that the sales are still pretty decent, I don't see them killing it off too soon.

I guess to me it's like, if you are a 2nd-party dev working under Nintendo, you'd think the big-wigs would've made a stop at your studio and been like, "Hey dawg, I heard you like developing games, and I'mma letchu finish, but could you start work on this new system for us asap?"

Now we have like 4 1st & 2nd party games being developed for the 3DS through May (Tank Troopers, Yoshi & Poochy, Mario Sports Superstars and Fire Emblem Gaiden) And, there is still a Pikmin 3DS game on the way.

Grezzo, a smaller dev who helmed the 3DS ports of OOT and Majora's Mask, as well as the development of Zelda: Triforce heroes (among other things), also has an original game called Ever Oasis coming to the 3DS this year. With so much emphasis on the Switch now, it's likely the title will get overlooked when it comes to the 3DS.

But its almost the exact same battery life as the 3DS.

Nintendo said the same thing about the GBA when the DS was released. Remember how Nintendo said that the DS was not a Gameboy replacement but instead it was their "3rd pillar", but the Gameboy still soon faded away.

If the Nintendo Switch is successful, I doubt we will see much support for the 3DS after next year.

My thoughts exactly. Nintendo likes to be careful how they position new devices early on, which is maybe understandable, but I feel like what they should be doing right now is fully embracing the Switch as a hybrid. Let's face it, we all know it is one - that is pretty much a major selling-point here.

If the NS were to fail like the Wii U, wouldnt they want to continue supporting the 3ds to keep the cash flowing?

@Black96Z: Just like Nintendo announced they weren't ending Wii U production.

I don't know why people keep listening to the company line. They are only saying this because of two reasons: One, they don't know how well the Switch will do and don't want to have to take their foot out their mouth later. Second, the 3DS is still selling well and they don't want to cannibalize its sells with Switch by saying its on its way out. But....its on its way out, but they want to sell more 3DS throughout this year.

@Ovirew: How is two hours the same as a 3DS? Or are we taliking launch model. .

Maybe if you blast the speakers and have the 3D on all the time, but even then I think N3DS is 4 hours.

I use my N3DS an average of 4-6 hours for travel during weekdays, each day. From my understanding, Switch is not up to that with a likely 2 hours!

I hope they'll announce a NewSwitch or something because 2 hours is pretty pathetic_

@RSM-HQ: I had thought the system got closer to 6 hours in general, so I was a little dismayed to read that mileage varies quite a bit depending on the game. Anyway, I'm still pretty excited for the Switch. 3 hours for Zelda might not be as amazing as 4 or 5, but it's still pretty incredible to be able to take a game like that along with you somewhere. Maybe there are other system settings that can be adjusted to get better battery life out of the Switch? I guess we'll just have to see.

Anyway, I guess some games will take more, some games will take less. It still won't impact things most of the time when I'm sitting around my apartment and want to play a game portably, and at any rate the Switch is likely good for at least a 2 or 3-hour multiplayer session somewhere. I guess if people want to do some LANing, they should keep some charge cables handy.

Doesn't matter how hard we use our 3DS's, they'll kill it off. I mean they already trying without giving us too much.

I just feel Nintendo is all over the place, they made the perfect hardware for a 3DS successor, yet they peddling it like a console with motion controls, and years ago said they combined both development teams into 1 team so everyone assumed the hybrid was so that all games are gonna be put on 1 system, a notion everyone believes, yet any Nintendo fan gonna listen to the "3DS will be supported til 2018", yet all we got Mario Sports Superstars and FE Echos coming first half, but then there is only Pikmin and BoxBoy 3. Personally I wonder why they aren't all co-released with Switch. This isn't even considering the whole GBA and DS thing.

I wonder if Nintendo cuts off 3DS development from 3rd party. Cause if I was all those JRPG devs and publishers, it would be cool having all that new power, but they either release an easy game to make on a system with 60 million devices, or they make a longer more expensive game on a brand new system. I mean the only 3DS-like game on Switch was Octopath.

Personally I think 3DS is perfect, it just needed no 3D and upgraded the dual screen setup.

Wont die anytime soon. Games are still coming out for it.

Of course he would say that, cause they don't know how well Switchy will sell....just wait IF Switchy sells good...you can be sure they will pull support from 3DS soon...can't keep supporting 3DS forever. :P

2.5 hours of continuous use, nice try though fanboy.

If you'd read the remainder of the conversation, you'd see that I realized the Switch gets between 2.5 and 6 hours of continuous use.

And it's between 2.5 and 6 hours of continuous use, nice try though, angsty troll.

@ronnieav: 3ds is6 hrs just as long as switch

Get outta my fan club.

@csward:

Wrong! It's between 2.5 to 6 hours of use. It varies from game to game.