3DS Life Sapn

[MegaMan64]

How long will the 3DS life span be?

[MAGNUS-8M]

Hard to say. With all of the extras it has, I'd rather see it go beyond what the DS has if that's not too much. And game wise, with what we're already seeing so early, I'd love to see what they could do with the system in the same amount of time or more.

But market wise, no idea. Lately everyone's trying to shift back to the Atari days of quick and easy cookie-cutter games on cellphones and iPod Touch/knockoffs. Maybe that'll help spur on another crash and allow Nintendo to pick up the pieces again, or maybe the aspect of 3D will give Nintendo a quick surge of new/returning customers. Or maybe Apple will try to steal Nintendo's thunder by announcing a newer/more-expensive 3D iPhone/iPod Touch(despite Nintendo's own annoyances with a touch-enabled 3D screen getting smudged easily, as well as being difficult/impossible to make it 3D in landscape AND portrait orientations....but they could still attempt it in some other way I'm sure).

But yeah, mostly, if I ever get enough money to invest in a 3DS, I'd love for it to last as long or more than the current DS series, which was pretty amazing after Nintendogs took off. I think the possibility of a PSP2 trouncing 3DS' visuals immediately might finally give Sony an edge, but that didn't make too much difference this generation. It's just a matter of what Sony decides to 'take' inspiration from this round I guess(such as their own motion-control, touch-screen, camera(s), or 3D-screen).

[MegaMan64]

Ya I dont think the PSP2's graphics will impact 3DS sales that much.I guess its what the people decide to choose. 3D or early PS3 visuals.

[Jirachi]

I voted for over 9000 lol but seriously I imagine were dealing with at LEAST 6 years here.

[thresholdXCI]

I think the speed of the developing smartphone/ iPod scene will affect the lifespan of the 3DS a lot. And smarphones are really starting to take off at the moment. I think four years until Nintendo at the very least release a significant upgrade, if not a successor.

[Mako]

I'll say 7 years, but I can very easily see them releasing upgrades similarly to how the DSi was released...

[Ngamer01]

It's hard to say. I can say the 3DS will have a long life span, but Nintendo is known for "refreshing" it's handhelds.

I would expect a 3DS revision maybe not within 3 years as DS -> DS Lite, but maybe more than that now.

[AndyTheZombie]

I say 7 years or more than the DS maybe it will last 10 years who knows I hope it will last for a long time.

[tristenj1992]

Depends on what you mean by "lifespan". Do you mean how long it takes before the 3DS becomes obsolete or until the systems actually start breaking down due to age, wear and tear, etc.?

[Ngamer01]

When it comes to game systems, the lifespan most would discuss is how long until the systems become obsolete (discontinued or replaced with next generation models).

[MegaMan64]

When it comes to game systems, the lifespan most would discuss is how long until the systems become obsolete (discontinued or replaced with next generation models).

ya that is what I mean by lifespan.

[DonnyDarko420]

I'm thinking the 5-7 range, so I went with 6.

I'm guessing when all is said and done, there will be 3 different iterations of the 3DS that make up the 3DS family.