So... let's discuss the (New) 3DS and what it means for Gen VII.

First of all, holy crap Silktree, you won.

Secondly, the rumors for a new SoC for a new handheld has been here for months.

Thirdly, though the CPU speed is unknown, it is known that (New) 3DS' ram is probably the double the amount of current 3DS' FCRAM and +4 MB VRAM.

Now the whole hindsight section is over, let's begin:


First and foremost, let's discuss what will happen to Gen VI games. The only remaining games of Generation VI will be the next Kalos games, which I have discussed in previous posts. Traditionally such releases were enchanced for the next console release; Gold and Silver were enhanced for Game Boy Color(Crystal was GBC exclusive), and Generation V games were enhanced for DSi and 3DS. The next games might be (New) 3DS enhanced, or they might not be. If they are enhanced, then Game Freak(or at least one of the teams), will have experience related to the gimmicks of the (new) platform.

On the other hand, since the next generation games are traditionally released 2 years into the system's launch, and this has been the case even for DSi and Color, then we can expect 7th Gen for 2016. Which means the next Kalos games will be released for 2015. This, of course means that this generation will be short.

Now that's over with, let's take a look at what (New) 3DS means;

-First and foremost, the (New) 3DS is not likely to live long.
As Silktree discussed in his blog, and I have discussed here, Advance and Color's lifespans until their successor's release was short. Like, around 3 years short. This is also true for DS vs. DSi, as the latter only lived for 3 years until 3DS' release. The (New) 3DS is not the new king that will usher us to the land of hardcore, it is merely a distraction to fill the gap between 3DS and its true successor.

This also means that any generation that will be on the (New) 3DS will not be a long one, as it has been the case before(with the exception of Advance Generation, however D/P was seemingly originally intended for 2005 release).Or at the very least, the releases won't be long. Presumably we will see 3 games, the new Kalos games and two games within (New) 3DS lineup, with the third ans/or second being something in between for the next console. There might still be year gap similar to the year gap between Advanced Generation games and DS era games, which would mean that the next generation might actually be a long generation, but only due to technicality.

-Secondly, the (New) 3DS has more connections to Wii U than original 3DS.
As in, it will have connections to Wii U in the first place. Well, OK, this might be bit harsh since connectivity between 3DS and Wii U Smash was been worked on since 2011. However, since the (New) 3DS actually has some of the features Wii U has, such as the NFC, it is probably safe to assume that (New) 3DS will be their means of connecting the two consoles:
For example, currently it requires a huge amount of effort to port Wii software to Nintendo 3DS because not only their resolutions but also the methods of software development are entirely different. The same thing happens when we try to port Nintendo 3DS software to Wii U. If the transition of software from platform to platform can be made simpler, this will help solve the problem of game shortages in the launch periods of new platforms. Also, as technological advances took place at such a dramatic rate, and we were forced to choose the best technologies for video games under cost restrictions, each time we developed a new platform, we always ended up developing a system that was completely different from its predecessor. The only exception was when we went from Nintendo GameCube to Wii. Though the controller changed completely, the actual computer and graphics chips were developed very smoothly as they were very similar to those of Nintendo GameCube, but all the other systems required ground-up effort. However, I think that we no longer need this kind of effort under the current circumstances. In this perspective, while we are only going to be able to start this with the next system, it will become important for us to accurately take advantage of what we have done with the Wii U architecture. It of course does not mean that we are going to use exactly the same architecture as Wii U, but we are going to create a system that can absorb the Wii U architecture adequately. When this happens, home consoles and handheld devices will no longer be completely different, and they will become like brothers in a family of systems.

This, of course suggests that (New) 3DS' lifespan and Wii U's lifespan will be interconnected, assuming Wii U won't get its own upgrade. This too, however, would suggest a short lifespan, as Wii U is unlikely to live beyond 2017/2018.

Now we got the (New) 3DS covered, what about the next generations exclusivity? Things get weird here.

First and foremost the only times exclusivity happened for the handhelds was when the handhelds proved to be distinct from their predecessors. Since DSi didn't end up as too distinct from DS, and 3DS was at the corner, so the Gen V games ended up as just enhanced for the later DSi and 3DS. Similarly, international release of Yellow and G/S were also only enhanced for Color, but Crystal was exclusive to Color. As the transition will be a lot more smoother this time, with the next Kalos game being released after the release of (New) 3DS, there is little reason for non-exclusivity for the new 3DS. Especially considering the "excellent" 3D rendering of X/Y. However, the games might still be downgraded just to increase the potential install base. On the other other hand all older versions of 3DS will probably have their production stopped before that happens.

In short, it can go either way. On the other hand, there still needs to be some sort of connectivity with Gen VI games, for Strange Souvenir.