DSi doesn't relate to the DS at all like the GBC did to the Gameboy. Not in the least. You can't make that comparison at all. I already said it, even - the DSi doesn't add any technical capabilities whatsoever. No extra graphical capabilities at all. It adds a freakin' camera. What can that honestly present to an actual full new generation of Pokemon?
As for the next handheld, like I said, they're already making statements about it to the public, with over 18 months until the likely release date. That's a LOT of time. By that expected release date, the DS will be seven years old. It's incredibly doubtful that they'll continue prolonging the DS's life beyond that for an entire year. That would make the DS eight years old at its replacement, and it would put the DS replacement's release in dangerous proximity to the release of the Wii's successor - which is gonna come out in 2012 or 2013 (and both of those dates leave 2012 as way too close for comfort). No, it's an incredible stretch to think Nintendo would actually put it off and allow their tech to become stagnant and old, thus causing their stock values to plummet. It's a simple matter of marketing and analysis.
And you're basing YOUR argument on Japan's market that is of incredibly inferior size. So they won't be competing with themselves in Japan. How about the rest of the world? The other 95 million DS owners. They can avoid self-competing with them by holding off the Western release until mid-2011... which actually may work, but it's awfully risky. And you're still ignoring the rest of the 5th Generation's games - the spinoffs and continuations. What would they do with those games? Unless they intend to release the DS's successor the same way they did the DS - as a "third tier" - and still put all those games on the DS while supporting its successor at the same time, it just wouldn't work. Period.
No, it's going to be another 4th gen title. Although, I WOULD be willing to wager that it may be more of a "mid-gen" concept - something that connects the 4th gen to the 5th gen and introduces some new stuff to tie us off. The timing just isn't right for introducing something entirely new that should be supported on this platform for the next three to four years, so introducing something that leads into that new platform would be ideal. I don't disagree on it utilizing the DSi's features, but you guys are simply missing a major part of market strategy in your predictions here.
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