It just isn't the same anymore. With Nintendo announcing earlier this year that they are closing the system down March of next year, it really is the END of an era. And I'm not talking about the 3DS era, I'm talking about the GAMEBOY ERA. When the DS was first launched in 2004, GBA was still being sold. The DS was sort of a continuation of the GameBoy, if you think about it. But now, with no more games being made AND system support being pulled entirely, this is truly the end. You can make an argument for the Switch being the continuation, but it's really not. It's a home console with portability (poor, at that). Ad when you think about it. Nintendo has always had two consoles available for sale, since the SNES days of the 90's. Now, there is only one. I'm thinking Nintendo might have something BIG in the works, like some revolutionary device/smartphone called the PokeDex. Who knows. It'd be cool if they did. But alas, playing this system (which has provided me with more than a decade of very fond memories) is like showing up to a party everybody used to be at, but there's nobody there. Dance floor is empty, nobody socializing. All the lights in the club are on, it's time to go home everyone.
When 100% of people walk around with a smart phone in their pocket capable of doing everything and anything including playing games its no wonder products like Game Boy are becoming obsolete/A thing of the past. Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap was a game I played TONS of on my GBA Final Fantasy 3 Remake and Fire Emblem were the ones I played most on my DS Never had a 3DS
Wasn't worth paying $50-$80 every month to check bus schedules and have 24/7 access to Facebook, Instagram, etc. I felt like it was polluting my mind. Always being informed about all of the terrible goings on all over the world.. It's liberating not having to be reminded of all that you have no control over. You literally PAY MONEY to feel like crap.
Dude everything moves with the times... Look at how big phones/Computers used to be now you can fit them in your pockets in some cases lol Why don't you move onto a different console/handheld??
I was a young satellite communications operator at Fort Gordon, GA in the early 90s not long after the OG monochrome gameboy came out. the MOS (military job) of satcom tech required 9 months of training, 6 days a week, 60 hours per week. It had very difficult requirements and was always in shortage. My classmates were Army, Navy, and Air Force service members, about 20 of us in total. (that was the only class per year, in total counting both officers and enlisted, the mos-related service members probably numbered less than 200 in all branches of the US military, it was a small pond, even it it spanned the globe) During this time, we were still considered in AIT, and so had drill sergeants, bed checks, floor waxing etc, far beyond the normal basic training plus 1-4 month job or AIT training of many other military jobs. I give all this info because I'm high AF right now, and to impress that the 20 of us all became pretty close friends over that 9 month period. Two things my class figured out early on, how to use military decryption to unscramble the spice channel, HBO and anything else bouncing off the commercial birds (satellites) and wire it to any officer's tent who wanted cable TV in addition to his phone and satellite internet. We were generally popular dudes to know, the kind of guy who in Afghanistan could hook you up with an extra 10 minute sat-phone call at 3am to your 5 year old son during his actual birthday party at the proper 7pm stateside time, maybe for a log of skoal or few packs of shitty USA golds, MRE M&Ms or just beef stew bags in general. Sometimes we'd hook you up just for free if you had a good reason (like kids bday above). The second thing we all discovered, is that the game boy game link cable used a similar TDMA timing as some our own multiplexers (which basically would condense down like 20 phone lines into a single data stream by chopping it into little bits at precise times along the carrier wave the satellite dish sent to space), so I could play tetris against my old classmates I hadn't seen in years who might be on the other side of the world. This was a huge step up from the using oscilloscopes to play pong across space with other operators (google o-scope pong gif I promise its cool). The OG game boy also had an art game we all ended up buying, which allowed you to share pictures with friends via the cable. So I could basically take a paint screen, crudely brush "Whats up you nut sack?" to share it with friends doing the same job in Okinawa for example, or in a carrier group in the Gulf, or to an AWACS plane 30,000 feet over Poland. It was free worldwide free proto-texting network for us. So all that background just to emphasize how many fond memories I had of the OG monochrome game boy. I was also disappointed to see it (and game boys in general like you mention) kind of go away. I think I've mentioned I have a lot invested in that system lol. That being said remember the good times you had with the device, take any lessons learned and move forward, it might not get better, but it can always get worse if you aren't paying attention because you were too busy worrying about shit you couldn't have changed anyway. In the words of a Gen-X hippie like myself
Well I mean I have, I have the Switch. Imo, the 3DS is better, I can play the system for HOURS, unplugged or even plugged in, it doesn't slow down, doesn't throttle under load. I cannot say the same for the Switch, unfortunately. The 3DS just feels like the GameBoy, perfected. It did so much. And when you look at the capabilities of both systems and compare them, if you didn't know any better, you might actually say the 3DS is the more advanced system. I've done so much on the 3DS, but it feels like there's still so much more I could do. Seeing all of the friends I've added over the years, all the little doodles and drawings I've made. The colours, the lights, the sounds, the unique home interface. The Switch is just so bland and doesn't offer nearly enough of what made the 3DS so special. It's really disappointing that Nintendo doesn't do more for the Switch. At this point I'm prepared to just abandon consoles entirely for my PC. I guess what I'm sad about is because I know what's coming. It's not here yet. But if you've ever played the LoZ: Majora's Mask, this feels like running around in Clock Town when there's 4 hours left before the moon falls, to be hit with that dreadful screen: You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?
It's a bittersweet feeling for many Nintendo fans with the announcement of the closure of the 3DS system. For some, it marks the end of an era that started with the GameBoy. The DS was a natural continuation of the GameBoy, and it allowed for new and exciting gameplay experiences. However, with the announcement of no new games and the eventual discontinuation of the system, it truly marks the end. Some might argue that the Switch is the successor to the 3DS and the GameBoy, but it's not quite the same. The Switch is a home console with portability, but it's not as portable as the 3DS or GameBoy. Additionally, with Nintendo only having one console available for sale, it does make one wonder what they might have in store for the future. Despite the closure of the 3DS system, it's clear that it provided many people with fond memories and a decade of enjoyable gaming experiences. However, it's now time to move on to the next chapter in Nintendo's history.