How was the Gameboy Color a new system? :x Did it add anything besides colour? I had a pocket and Dave had a color, and we played the same games. Besides that, I'm with you. I don't view the DS as the 3rd party they said it would be, nor do I view the Gameboys as the same line.
Game Boy Color games couldn't be played on the original Game Boy. That enough is a good definition of a new system.
Which is why really the DSi is also a new system, which is what annoys me so much. The leap they've made with it from the DS has been pretty much nonexistent.
You have to wonder if Nintendo would have tried a bit harder had the PSP been a bit more successful.