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| Image source: www.pokemon.com |
Think of this as an addendum to my 2ds article. So, for those that haven't heard, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were announced a couple days ago. For the 3DS. Yeah. To be honest, the game itself isn't particularly interesting personally, but this announcement came as something of a shock to some Nintendo Switch owners. There had been a rumor going around previously of a "Pokemon Stars" game for the Switch. Common knowledge would assume Nintendo would choose to support their current system, so why didn't they?
The reason why isn't perfectly simple. It is true that there is precedent, as Black and White 2 came out for the DS nearly a full year after the 3DS came out. Of course, to some extent, speculation on the subject is rather pointless, as it would be nearly impossible to prove a thought process. Instead, what I would rather talk about is how this impacts the 3ds, specifically the New 2DS, going forward.
So, this announcement seems to clearly have the effect of boosting the sales of the New 2DS. It wouldn't surprise me that, come release day, a bundle would be released with both items. Nintendo has already confirmed that hey will support the 3DS through 2018, but I see 3 distinct possibilities:
1: The 3DS remains as successful as it was in 2016 and support runs parallel with Switch through 2019. I find this somewhat unlikely, but the real crux is if the Switch's sales remain constant for the end of 2017 and through 2018. Currently demand is quite high, but high launch sales don't always mean a whole lot.
2: Some sort of handheld sequel console is released for approx. 200$. This could mean a smaller switch, but the form factor of that system doesn't seem to lend itself well to a smaller size. The Joycon controllers would have to be made even smaller, which would be uncomfortable to play detached in sideways position. The other product could be a completely different console meant to replace the 3ds. This would of course come at the cost of significantly cannibalizing the Switch's sales. This isn't entirely impossible, but it does seem unlikely.
3: The switch fully replaces the 3DS and the next Pokemon game comes out for the Switch in 2018/19. This is the one most expected to happen, as it follows precedent. The last major time Nintendo said they wanted to have their new system to run parallel to their old one was with the original DS and the Game Boy Advance. In that case, the DS quickly picked up in sales and the GBA was thus completely ignored.
The fact that Nintendo's path is so vague points to them hedging their bets. I actually think they themselves aren't entirely sure about what to do either. These are some weird times. Who knows, maybe Sony will announce the PS Vita 2 at E3 in a week. Yeah, maybe things aren't that crazy.
