New 3DS and Xenoblade Chronicles

Did Sega have an influence on this?

I doubt it. Both the GameBoy and the DS had plenty of incarnations as well. It just seems to be something Nintendo does, and it's quite frankly annoying. I guess it works, though. I suppose it's nothing special to some people, like the ones who buy a cell phone every year because a newer model came out and not because their old one broke.