I think you're wrong about 2017. 2018 at the earliest, probably 2019 depending how much the Switch steamrolls the sales, and if they don't do what we're speculating of a smaller one piece unit, a mini version, that just is the body and the power cord to charge it for the price of a New3DSXL (199.)
Anyways...
If you own a 3DS, what model/color variation do you prefer (explain why)? I have the gray New3DSXL, a subtle colored replacement. I've had a few since they came out.
What year did you buy a 3DS? When it came out.
Was there a particular game that made you want to buy it? I don't remember but it was a mix of that and a future list. I know I had Pilotwings, Steel Diver, Super SF4, and a bit later Ridge Racer, Samurai Warriors, Dead or Alive, and Zelda within the first 3mo.
Did you buy and utilize the Circle Pad Pro? Yes and a bit, with Resident Evil Revelations. I would have felt hosed buying it new, found it second hand.
What were some of the first games you bought and played? Answered earlier.
What's the most recent 3DS game you bought? Senran Kagura 2 (in the mail), Hatsune Miku, and Dragon Quest 7.
What 3DS game do you think you spent the most amount of time with? No idea, I don't play games as heavily as in the DS days and before. Probably an RPG like Tales of the Abyss or one with mechanics like it such as Code of Princess.
Any upcoming 3DS games you are really excited for? Ever Oasis interests me, other than that don't know until it's out. I still should get Yoshis Wolly World at some point and maybe DQ8 if time allows.
Do you think the 3DS surpassed the DS in any way(s)? Successfully pulling off 3D (with New model) and giving a console (Wii era) like experience on the go and the games that put that kind of effort into it giving a true console and handheld like environment.
Do you enjoy the 3D effect, or do you turn it off? I did at first, but the split bugge me, shut it off for years, but now with New3DS I'll use it again especially when it's a benefit.
What's your opinion of the New 3DS? The right way it should have been done years earlier as the 3D didn't work unless you were robot stiff.
Does it make you want to cut yourself that we never got any official metroidvanias for 3DS? We didn't? Castlevania came out, plays like that with a God of War twist to the life/magic bar and combo chain attacks.
If you could have magically made Nintendo create a 3DS game from any of its existing franchises (which didn't receive a 3DS game), which franchise would you have made a 3DS game from? Tough call. Probably F-Zero seeing how well the GC game pulled itself off, or a Metroid game (2.5 D like Other M, or Castlevania which is on 3DS.)
If you were able to make one improvement to the 3DS, what would it have been? The old model a rightly working 3D mode day one, New model a smaller stick over the nub.
Do you think Nintendo did a good job handling the 3DS domestically? Yes they did a great job with it and continue to do so, unlike their bungling of consoles for years. Unlike the WiiU it never felt like a let down or went unused for large gaps of time.
How about that region locking bro? F*cking garbage. Thank you Switch for being free!
How many times have beaten Metroid Prime: Federation Force? I don't own it, looked to multiplayer centric.
How many variants of the 3DS do you own? I've had the 3DS, then the XL, now New3DSXL.
Twenty years from now if you sat back and remembered the 3DS, what nostalgic moment would be most prominent? Not sure if I'd have one. I don't get that absorbed by games anymore, but I'm sure something I'll go back to.