Well obviously - because it's going to be called the 4DS - it's going to involve time travel.

*Gets coat and runs*

One thing people seem to think will go that I think will stay is 3D. The reason being that 1) the tech cost has already fallen a lot judging from the price of the N3DS at launch and 2) they also just invested a lot of R&D cash on the face-tracking 3D so I doubt they'll want to ditch that. Of course, they may wait to hear consumer feedback.

Lol, finally someone gets it.

Ya I think the next handheld will be somewhere between Vita & Wii U in terms of power, similar to how 3DS is between PSP & Wii. 3DS/New 3DS are able to display Wii level visuals on a smaller screen, at a lower resolution and even able to handle ports of some of the more graphically impressive Wii games like Donkey Kong Country Returns, Monster Hunter Tri & Xenoblade Chronicles.

Nintendo did say they plan on "absorbing" the Wii U architecture for their next-gen devices so despite being weaker than Wii U, it should be able to handle down-ported versions of Wii U games/engines easier than 3DS can with Wii.

The console I believe will be similar but instead it will be a slightly enhanced Wii U. Same architecture as Wii U/handheld but more powerful, so games/engines are up ported.

Both devices will share the sames games but the handheld will be at 480/540p and the console at 1080p with some extra graphical effects.

I also believe Nintendo will ditch dual screens and the Gamepad. The handheld will resemble a smaller/sleaker Gamepad, perhaps with a 5 inch screen and 3DS style analog nubs, similar in size to Vita. The console will have a standard controller and when linked together, the handheld can act as a Gamepad for the console which will give the option for dual-screen gameplay.

Also both devices will go full digital and allow cross-buy/cross-save on all games.

This design would be a massive hit, just because it looks so cool. It could actually make apple products look boring... And that's what Nintendo needs right now.

Now, add another proper analougue stick, put the D-pad above the left analogue stick, and heck, I'll buy it.

It's not at all like the Vita TV, since it will have a monumental gap in power from the handheld, unlike the Vita TV. The handheld will be a bit stronger than the Vita, the console will be a bit stronger than the PS4, and they will still share the same library. The Vita isn't a separate console; it's a Vita with no screen. Nintendo will still have two separate systems at separate price points depending on the power. Handheld at $200 and the console at $300-$400.

They won't rerelease two screen games on one screen systems. It would cost way more money to rebuild an 2-3 entire libraries of games than the return on rebuys would make it worth, and you're damn sure not going to get 3rd parties completely rebuilding their old games when the alternative would require little to no time and money. And they are definitely not rebuilding their library an entire 3rd time, when they've already lost so many consumers from doing it the first time, and when the entire model of the next platform is a unification of all games on all accounts through NNIDs. They aren't gonna turn around and say "but not 3DS, Wii U, or DS! You'll need to rebuy all of those, only they'll be worse with only one screen! :D" If 3D was out, the N3DS wouldn't exist.

That image simply isn't happening. The closest thing to that will be a redesigned gamepad for the new console, and it will definitely not throw away real analog sticks, real triggers, and real bumpers.

None of that is ever happening. Not only is there no market for that; there's a market against that. It would make the Wii U look like Nintendo's most financial console.

I think the microconsole will be more powerful than the handheld variant but it won't be a ridiculous gap in power. That would undermine the whole point of the scalable/sharable games.

I suspect they will have one processor core (system on chip) which is an ARM CPU + AMD mobile GPU part. This is the heart of both systems. One of these will be able to pump out Wii U-ish graphics at about 4 watts power output (thus suitable for a tablet style handheld).

The microconsole IMO will use pretty much the exact same processor, it'll just have 2 or 3 of the SoC cores ... so 2x-3x the Wii U at a very low 8-12 watts output. Handheld has 2GB RAM LPDDR4 RAM, microconsole has 4GB LPDDR4 RAM (same stuff Apple uses in the iPhone/iPad). No disc drive, no fan, no giant power brick, scales down in cost extremely quickly. Both handheld and home variant can share the same physical carts or you can choose to buy your games digitally.

I don't think Nintendo dares release a console again at above $200 either. Unless they have a magic Wiimote like gimmick, they just have a terrible time selling anything at a premium price point. Profitable at $200 from day 1 is likely a big priority. That way even if it sells only 20 million, they'll still make money on it.

Competing with the PS4 is a non-starter. PS4/X1 will be around 80-90 million install base by 2017 (even worse for 2018). No one is going to buy some "Nintendo PS4" showing up that late when Sony/MS have established online communities, hundreds of games, mindshare, etc. etc. It'll be the Wii U all over again where no one cared that Nintendo finally caught up to PS3/360 graphics, like big deal. Too little, way too late. 

Something cheap, that plays their entire library of games, can interface with amiibo toys, profitable from day 1, I think will be Nintendo's play (not saying I personally agree with this approach, but I am just looking at it from their management's POV). 

Knowing Nintendo it will be slightly weaker than the Wii lol.
I hope it'll be a mini Wii U.