The Nintendo Switch is the company's best idea in years. It's giving the company mainstream appeal it hasn't seen since the Wii days, and yet commands a certain respect in the industry. That's a hard thing to do. Just think of what the other console manufacturers are focusing on right now. Sony is sticking with highly-acclaimed single-player exclusives. Microsoft is all about that Game Pass. Both strategies seem focused on solidifying ties with hardcore gamers, with kids and casuals apparently lost to mobile games. The Nintendo Switch, however, is doing it all. It's getting families together for Mario Kart AND hosting a respectable slate of artistic games.
The reason the Switch can be a family-fun machine, a competitive platform, and an indie art show is because it's two consoles in one. It's a proper Nintendo home device that can run games close to modern standards and a handheld that lets you catch Pokémon on the go. It's so good at what it does that we kind of forgot about Nintendo's other handheld console: the 3DS.
Where Is The 3DS Now?
When the Switch began to light up the sales charts, fans and industry types all asked if that was the end of the 3DS. Why would Nintendo need two handhelds? The Switch has better graphics, more versatility, and even Nintendo itself was abandoning the whole 3D thing. It only made sense to retire the 3DS after a great six year run.
Except Nintendo didn't do that. The company actually kept insisting that the 3DS was an essential part of the lineup. This is true even as recently as this year, when Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said at a February financial meeting that the 3DS remains valuable despite its rapidly declining sales. He called the handled an important entry point, a console parents buy for their children due to its low cost.
Keeping the 3DS around makes total sense when you think about it in those terms. Parents might feel like a Switch is a risky purchase for a small child. Joy-Cons could get lost, the game cartridges are frighteningly small, and it's just so pricey for something that looks so easily broken. So it was that the 3DS remained a focus of Nintendo's strategy. Except not really.
The Great Games Exodus
For all of the talk of the 3DS remaining important, Nintendo's actions told a different story. The year of the Switch's release, 2017, also saw the console's last mainline Pokémon games. Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon ended the seventh generation of the series as well as its tenure on DS systems. 2018 saw Pokémon Let's GO! move the series to Switch. This year's Pokémon Sword and Shield seems to indicate that the series will stay there.
To stress how big of a deal that is, think about this: Pokémon has been a handheld game since its creation. The series went from the original Game Boy back in the 1990s to every other Nintendo handheld. Fans have wanted Pokémon to go big for years. But the developers insisted that handheld gaming was a core element of the series. Trainers needed to be able to take their team on the go and trade with friends or random strangers. While the Switch is technically a handheld, it also functions on a higher level. Pokémon moving to Switch requires better graphics, better online play, and better features in general. It's not a decision the developers can make lightly.
Nintendo and Game Freak need the new Pokémon games to justify the $20 price jump from 3DS game to Switch game. They would not risk raising the price of an iconic series without believing that the Switch is the future of Nintendo handheld gaming. Which also means the 3DS is now the past.
It's not just Pokémon either. Other 3DS staples have migrated to Switch. Metroid: Samus Returns was in 2017. The next game will be Metroid Prime 4 for Switch. Kirby had a lot of 3DS games but now seems happy on the Switch. Fire Emblem came back to life on 3DS, but got even better on Switch and is probably never going back. Even third-party icons like Yo-Kai Watch and Etrian Odyssey are moving to Switch.
The Grim Reaper: Nintendo Switch Lite
Then comes the final nail in the 3DS' coffin: the Nintendo Switch Lite. This pared-down version of the Switch will only play in handheld mode and cost $100 less than the regular Switch. There's even a special edition Switch Lite made for Pokémon Sword and Shield. So it's a handheld console that's practically made for Pokémon and comes relatively cheap. Almost like... an entry console for children. So long, Nintendo 3DS. You gave us some great times (and 3D-induced headaches). You will be missed.