The 3ds doesn't seem to be dying....

[Farhaan Raja]

Despite the switch being out, and the 3ds being older than six years old, the sales are still going strong. Here's why:
The older versions are dirt cheap; like seriously.
MASSIVE LIBRARY OF GAMES, ranging from fire emblem, Xenoblade, Zelda, Mario, Sonic, Kirby, Kid Icarus and more... including 4 Monster Hunter games...
Free Online
The clamshell design is still efficient.
The 2ds provides a suitable option for kids.

It's still going strong, which is something I wouldn't think possible with the Switch.

So who still thinks the 3ds is dying? The hardware may be old, but the sales figures speak volumes.

[SOURCES]
https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/18/16905012/nintendo-3ds-switch-holiday-sales-2017
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2017/01/...al-strong-3ds-sales-but-flagging-wii-consoles

 

[coolflare]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2017/01/...al-strong-3ds-sales-but-flagging-wii-consoles

This source here is really irrelevant since it’s over a year old.

As for your other points, the old models aren’t being produced anymore, only the New ones are.

Also, you mention the “Clamshell design” as a reason the 3ds isn’t dead. Design is important but it doesn’t determine sales. Look at the Ps Vita as an example, it was designed well and could easily fit in your pocket, but that thing didn’t do well because it was lacking great games, something you mention the 3ds has and is 110% true.

The games is the one thing I have to agree with here. 3ds has many games I fell in love with like Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Which got me in the series) and Pokémon XY.

As for why I and many others think the 3ds is dying is because 1st party support (games made by Nintendo for the 3ds in this case) is fading away. Last 1st party game I can think of from the top of my head for the 3ds this year is Kirby Battle Royale. I haven’t heard about any other so far (but E3 still has yet to come) and let’s face it, reason people pick Nintendo consoles over Sony and Microsoft’s offerings are mainly for Nintendo’s stellar 1st party games. Xbox has Halo and PlayStation has Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian but the Big N has so many IP’s like Mario and Zelda that truly overshadow what Microsoft and Sony have. When there’s not a lot of 1st party support, then good 3rd party support soon fades away, leaving only a barren wasteland of shovelware. Nobody wants that to happen to the 3ds but it’s Time is coming, and sales of the console won’t change that, games will.

 

[pokerus]

Yeah I think the 3DS still has some time left but I definitely don't think it'll be around for a whole lot longer. I can see it taking a couple years or so and then the Switch will be more prominent. I do agree that there are so many 3DS and 2DS models which allows for a variety of people to have access to them. It has a solid library too which makes the 3DS such a great family of systems. I don't think the Switch is necessarily the "3DS-Killer" everyone is believing it to be. The 3DS will die in its own, with it without help of the Switch.

 

[Duffy]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/ventur...ds-had-its-best-january-sales-since-2013/amp/

3ds has got some more in the tank. It's been on the verge of slowing down for over a year, but just hasn't slowed down yet, even with sparse first party support. It always seems like in a month or two it'll stop seeling but then a month or two goes by and it's still selling. Momentum is huge and 3ds has some top-heavy momentum carrying it right now.

 

[2071]

That's great. There were many games that I really enjoyed for the Nintendo 3DS System (Mostly Kid Icarus I guess). I don't really touch my 3DS to play any games on it anymore nowadays but it's nice to see that it is still alive. There are some titles that I am looking forward to. Sometimes I feel like I should to buy a New model 3DS because it'd be better than the old systems I currently have, but I'm still indecisive with that

 

[luigiFTW]

The system itself isn’t dying, because its still popular with many good games available for it, but nintendo isn’t making too many games for it anymore, and there is almost no 3rd party games coming out, because they recognize the potential of the switch and are starting to make games there.