How long before we see the 3DS Lite? 
 
Nintendo breeds handheld hardware revisions like rabbits. 
 
It goes back to the GBA- only took a couple years before they listened to everyone, or realized they were losing money to modders, about the backlight. Then the GBA Micro came along.  
 
Then the DS, the Lite, then the DSi, then the DSi XL. 
 
So it's reasonable to ask this, because does anyone like being burned by obsolescence?

I don't know, the 3DS already looks pretty slick.

Yeah and so did the GBA, the DS and the DS Lite. I'm excited for this and it looks b.a. but I know what Nintendo's gonna do. Probably make it 4D and become quadrillionaires or something.

"Yeah and so did the GBA, the DS and the DS Lite. I'm excited for this and it looks b.a. but I know what Nintendo's gonna do. Probably make it 4D and become quadrillionaires or something. "

I dunno, how long did it take Sony to come out with the 2000, 3000, or go? Or the Iphone 2, 3, or 4? Hardware revisions are a fact of life for portable devices.
It will probably be about two years after the original release.  
@Captainlunchbox said:

" Yeah and so did the GBA, the DS and the DS Lite. I'm excited for this and it looks b.a. but I know what Nintendo's gonna do. Probably make it 4D and become quadrillionaires or something. "

They probably will come out with a newer 3DS a year or so after its initial launch. That's just the way it is with most companies, and it's the price early adopters pay.

To be honest, I don't know what they could add to the 3DS. It looks like a pretty full featured device. I'm sure they'll find a way to upgrade it to make money, but I imagine they'll be more like going from the DSi to the DSi XL (which isn't really a major upgrade, and is easy to just ignore) rather than the DS to DS lite, or DS lite to DSi (which were pretty significant upgrades).

" @Blueman: Yeah but that's your opinion- when it was announced, Ninty marketed the dual screens like they were hot new commodities. They're not gonna openly acknowledge that it looks like shit haha. "

If 3DS hits early 2011, then holiday 2012 for the Lite.

" @MattyFTM: It's my guess that they'll find a way to downsize it either in weight or size, refine the buttons, add another analogue stick- things of that nature. But even those small improvements would justify a whole new model is my point. "

" @MattyFTM: It's my guess that they'll find a way to downsize it either in weight or size, refine the buttons, add another analogue stick- things of that nature. But even those small improvements would justify a whole new model is my point. "

Unlike the DS Phat, the 3DS already seems pretty awesome. That's not to say they won't release a slightly improved version of it a year or two after launch -- they will -- but it's probably not gonna be enough of an improvement to justify waiting (or trading in an original 3DS, for that matter).

Judging from the GBA and DS, the first revision might come in 2013 or later.
 
But I don't see how it really matters. Unless you have a disease that forces you to buy the same console over and over again, it shouldn't really matter at all, or even notice it.

The thing with the original DS, is that you could tell by looking at it that you would prefer a smaller, more elegant one. When I bought a lite, there wasn't really anything I thought they needed to improve with it, and, at least for me, I was right - the DSi and LL didn't have any major design changes worth upgrading to. The 3DS is like the lite to me now. It looks good and I can't see what they could add to make it more appealing to me. I'm sure they will iterate in some way, but I won't be waiting for the next version, but rather I'll be buying it on launch day!

I don't know. It'll happen, but when and what they will do to it is something else.