The idea of the New 3DS is really draconion, but genius nonetheless. Instead of releasing a brand new portable this new model is pretty much the Gameboy Color of the 3DS. It's more powerful so it'll be able to play a few new games, but most games will be playable on both models, so even when the original model gets phased out, regular 3DS games will still be coming out.
This new model is for a few exclusives here and there along with dual analog that people who haven't purchased a 3DS will buy into, and these exclusives are going to be interesting enough, plus the extra analog, to force an upgrade on some of those who have already bought a 3DS and 3DS XL. So Nintendo's plan is to make all their profit from the new hardware rather than the games.
The genius doesn't stop there, because not only the above, but they also stop the Vita from making any headway. If Nintendo released a brand new portable, the power of the 3DS compared to the DS, most developers would focus on the New 3DS graphics than those compatible with the regular 3DS, and since they're so close in power and the Vita already having six million in sales, there's a good chance they make it multiconsole with the Vita. Since it's just like a GBC though, most developers will develop for the weaker 3DS side where all players can purchase it, and then once sales of the New 3DS increase, they'll later start developing New 3DS exclusives.
Genius move for Nintendo but ultimately screws the fanbase over unless they want to purchase the newer version and Sony from getting any headway with the Vita.
Additionally, Sony still has a chance to be successful with the Vita though. Sony really has to bank on the next Nintendo portable being a lot more powerful than the New 3DS but weaker than the Vita. Sony can relaunch the Vita and talk with developers that there's already 10 million(which by then the Vita may have,) so why not do multiconsole versions of their games with the Vita version and point out how many Vita owners buy a lot of games. Because Sony's pointed out several times that the Vita game sales are good with the games we actually receive. This will also look good on Sony for keeping a single portable through two generations of Nintendo portables as well, so they can make their next portable and maybe people will actually think about it and purchase that one.
If you really think about it, it does seem that Nintendo purposefully gimps their portables on purpose so they can later sell the upgrade, selling multiple versions of the same portable to the same millions of people. The DS had the XL and then they only launch with the non XL version of the 3DS. Despite all the begging from day one of the regular 3DS, they don't include a second analog stick on the XL version, even after releasing a dual analog add on on the original. Now they add the dual analog version with this upcoming New 3DS. It's like this for every Nintendo portable to date.
