With the upcoming Nintendo NX still a mystery and Nintendo dipping into the mobile games market with Miitomo, Pokémon Go and other upcoming apps, the Nintendo 3DS’ shelf life is still up in the air.
However, Nintendo insider Emily Rogers has discovered how long Nintendo plans to support its handheld device and according to her sources, 3DS owners should expect software support through 2018.
At the time of this writing, that would leave 3DS owners a little more than two years of software support, at least.
With Nintendo NX rumors making the upcoming console a hybrid home/handheld, 3DS owners have worried about its shelf life, especially if the rumors that a Pokémon game will be included in the first slate of NX games.
Perhaps the NX will be a sort of home console that can be taken on the go, and if Nintendo plans to support the 3DS a full year after the NX release, we may get some backwards compatibility.
Backwards compatibility can give prospective buyers incentive to purchase the NX if they can play 3DS games on it and possibly on their TVs.
Of course, this is all unconfirmed information at this point, and Nintendo won’t comment until the NX is officially revealed sometime later this year, but with Rogers’ sources corroborating LetsPlayVideoGames’ report from early this week, these reports are becoming more and more believable.
We asked senior director of corporate communications for Nintendo of America, Charlie Scibetta, about possibly linking mobile and console systems at E3 and he told us:
“You’re tapping into something we are thinking about very seriously, and that’s the best way that these systems can work together. More to come on that front in the future.”
And with Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing mobile games coming, why wouldn’t Nintendo link those with 3DS and NX titles?
But we want to hear from you, do you believe Nintendo will actually support the 3DS until 2018? Does this hint at the NX having backwards compatibility? Sound off in the comments section below.
