AC came out in 2001 (Apr-Japan, Dec-US)
AC:WW came out in 2005 (Nov-Japan, Dec-US)
AC:CF came out in 2008 (Nov-Japan & US)
That's a span of ~4 years for AC > AC:WW, and 3 years for AC:WW > AC:CF.
Nintendo knows that the AC franchise ranks towards the top of the list in terms of replay value and the length of time that people play it, compared to other games/franchises. Also, For both DS and Wii, Animal Crossing has been the highlighted game by Nintendo for an add-on or new feature. MKDS was the first wi-fi game for DS, followed closely by AC:WW. For the Wii, AC:CF was the first game to use the Wii Speak. I think we can agree that one of those features ended up more successful than the other, but regardless - there are 2 main points to my argument:
-Nintendo is in no rush to get the next AC game out (for 3DS), and
-Nintendo will likely wait half a year or a year after 3DS comes out and then release AC for 3DS with a new feature of some sort
Therefore, my best guess would be a beginning of summer or holiday season 2012 release.
AC:WW came out in 2005 (Nov-Japan, Dec-US)
AC:CF came out in 2008 (Nov-Japan & US)
That's a span of ~4 years for AC > AC:WW, and 3 years for AC:WW > AC:CF.
Nintendo knows that the AC franchise ranks towards the top of the list in terms of replay value and the length of time that people play it, compared to other games/franchises. Also, For both DS and Wii, Animal Crossing has been the highlighted game by Nintendo for an add-on or new feature. MKDS was the first wi-fi game for DS, followed closely by AC:WW. For the Wii, AC:CF was the first game to use the Wii Speak. I think we can agree that one of those features ended up more successful than the other, but regardless - there are 2 main points to my argument:
-Nintendo is in no rush to get the next AC game out (for 3DS), and
-Nintendo will likely wait half a year or a year after 3DS comes out and then release AC for 3DS with a new feature of some sort
Therefore, my best guess would be a beginning of summer or holiday season 2012 release.