In a way, wasn't Masuda in the right by claiming they don't bring back features from previous games to make them more memorable? Because I'd say it worked. People go back and play their favorite Poke games from any gen; they didn't become obsolete since there's always something to differentiate them.

Of course that doesn't mean I like it. But it might be one of the few franchises where you can go play the Gameboy Color/advance/NDS titles and enjoy them without their age showing all that much