DS was formally announced in early 2004 and released in November 2004. 

3DS was announced in March 2010 and launched in February 2011. 

Suddenly going from one game every month or so to one game in the span of 8 months tells me otherwise, but hopefully E3 will change things! I'm not expecting new hardware until 2017 so they better support 3DS Wii U through 2016!

DS announced in 2004 and released in holiday. Most succesfull portable ever.

Stop ignoring the possibilities.

I thought the thing was from 2005, wow. 

I was actually referring to the fact that the 3DS launched in the first months of the year, that's not going to happen again. 

Sales. The past shows that a new SKU doesn't discredit a new system within 2 years of launch (DSi), but I agree the N3DS is an beyond any past effort that Nintendo have done in regard to a hardware update. We could assume they'd really push it but we'd also be assuming that the added power wasn't just pennies for them in terms of additional cost and something  needed to get the improved 3D to work. 

Slightly different but how strongly did Nintendo support motion+? Just because the 3DS has additional power it doesn't mean it'll really be utilised much. They've got it as a a selling point on the box and they've got a game (X) and faster loading speeds to prove it. After one or two more exclusives that may be it for the N3DS. Above all else though Nintendo are going to respond to sales and Japan is falling quickly.

For people suggesting that Nintendo won't release a new system in the same year its announced, I really don't think they or sony/ms have a strict policy regarding this. Recent trend definitely favours short announcement/launch turnover which seems to carry more hype then showing off a system 16months in advance with only tech demos at your disposal.

Another major reason why I think they released New 3DS was simply to sell Amiibo.

Oh, iirc, they wanted to release in holiday 2010.

It mainly comes down to market saturation.

The reason Nintendo released the New 3DS in Japan first wasn't just because of them being cheap and not going for a world wide release (althoug that did play into it) but because the 3DS line was starting to falter sales wise over there with everyone already owning one of the devices and the Wii U being the Wii U that left Nintendo vunerable to losing potential sales.

While it is indeed possible the same may happen in 2016, especially given how "light" the 3DS' schedule is in the second half of the year in terms of potential blockbusters outside of maybe Fire Emblem if, their is a strong possibility that if Nintendo NX is a home console it won't drop until after Nintendo releases its next Zelda. Also if it is a handheld, it won't drop until Nintendo has gotten development kits into the hands of enough developers that are on board with supporting it.

Timelines like that may take more then just a few months especially if Nintendo has learned anything from the failures of its last two hardware launches.