Nintendo has said it won’t happen anytime soon, but I think most of us here would agree that it’s in the cards eventually.  Between the highly criticized battery life, the slightly “muffin top” lid and layered look, and the fact that every Nintendo handheld has been redesigned in its life (minus the Virtual Boy), I believe that a thinner, sleeker system with better battery life is inevitable.

Seeing as how the original DS was very lamented for its bulky design and dim screens, it took less than a year and a half from launch (a little longer in NA) for the DS Lite to arrive.  Since the situation isn’t nearly as bad this time I would guess late 2013.

Late 2014; presumably 2 1/2 years into Nintendo's launch of their console.

Probably around the same time NGP launches.

My question is whether they will improve not just the physical design, but also the 3d functionality.  It's so light (the 3d) that I think it would be one of the demands in a redesign, but that would really piss off people who own the old system... It's akin to making the graphics of a redesign even better.  Otherwise I just see them making an XL version cause the system is already fairly light

I think the redesign will come less than 2 years though.  I mean I think the battery life is the give away for this one.

The asthetics are brilliant, but the undermining problem of battery power needs to be fixed.

2 years at the least, I would say. As long as the 3DS keeps selling well, there won't be any need for them to make one so early.

Battery life won't be a concern, because there are already alternative methods to extend the battery life like Nyko's battery pak.

The DS Lite was released as a means to fix many aesthetic problems with the original DS.  The DSi was released to enable firmware, DSiWare, new UI and the cameras.   Because the 3DS is already well enabled in those facets, a redeisgn is not as imperative as it was with the DS and even DS Lite.

2014 at the earliest.

Unlike the DS, there's nothing wrong with the design of the 3DS, and the battery life can be rectified via different methods (and isn't a problem for me IMO)

So...Holiday 2013-2014 I say. No sooner

when I buy it, it will be the redesign. It's got the battery life of a PSP now. Which is okay. But that's the reason I usually took a DS lite on road/air trips.

Two Weeks.