They will not release the DS' successor until DS sales begins to drop, which will take at least 3 to 4 years. This console is a huge monster. And if you think it's annoying, what do you think about PSP 1000, PSP 2000, PSP go, etc...

lol. i love your word choice

haha best words ever lol

Actually it's a pretty easy explenation. Nintendo is trying to move to a broader business strategy. Think of companies like Apple, Samsung, Hitachi, Sony.... when they produce PMP, TV, Radio... they don't produce ONE product and try to sell it to everyone. They launch a brand line of products. Sony has more than one tv style. It has to do affordablity and features. By creating a larger variety of choices and lower costs rather than bundling eveything into one device they can sell to a much bigger audience. The hate comes from the fact that, that's not how the console companies work. It's always been assumed that gamers buy the next iteration of device because it's supposedly the next major supported device. So it just comes down to gamer habits and perceptions. Of course it's going to take time, probably another 10-20 years.

Definatly not 2010 as Nintendo released the DSi LL. 2011 is a maybe as the system is still doing well in 2009. I say 2012 and after is when we'll see the next DS.

Never. A new DS model will appear soon, though. This time, it will be just 2 big screens.

As long as Nintendo can keep the sales, DS and its sons will exist.
But we can be sure Nintendo are already developing a sucessor, and they launch it when they need.

2011 for a year to release both console and handheld for Nintendo, a repeat of the awesomeness that was 2001.

I certainly hope so, at least. I graduate in May 2012, so my financial independence begins from that point, so i'd much rather have the hardware at least release while i'm still under the financial umbrella (though i suppose i could set aside like $500 in graduation gifts just for that purpose)

I think that it is possible to see it as early as Q4 2010 and as late as Q4 2013 ...

Nintendo will have sold over 120 Million units by the end of 2009, and even Nintendo would admit that breaking the 200 Million mark before releasing a new console is unlikely (and probably not the best business strategy); it would be a risky move because you don't want interest in your console to drop before you release a successor. On top of that Nintendo will probably release a successor to the Wii in a similar timeframe and I suspect that they would want to release them with at least 1 year (probably 18 months or longer) between them; to a certain extent, ideal release dates for both the DS and Wii's successor is probably 2011 or 2012, and the question within Nintendo is (potentially) which system needs to be replaced sooner and when should it be released.