So we all know about Retro right? Austin TX, 1st party developer, and world renouned game studio. They have a lot of talent in there, and they have games to prove it.  

Now we all know about Nintendo. Kyoto, Japan, stubborn, overly controlling, and at times downright irritating.  

Let's look at Retro's catalougue of games: 
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2
Metroid Prime 3
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Mario Kart 7 w/EAD1
Wii U game (Rumored to be Eternal Darkness 2) 

See the resemblance? All of those games are based off of Nintendo IP. Ever since 2001, Nintendo's been forcing their way on Retro. It's not like there are bad results, but I doubt people at Retro want to be Nintendo's puppets. It's time for Nintendo to give Retro free reign over their next project. They've more than proven themselves. This isn't EAD where Miyamoto can point and tell people what to do, they need more creative freedom. We don't want them ending up like Rare.

According to several articles I found, lots of key staff left after MP3, and several Retro employees were unhappy working on DKCR. Even more staff left after DKCR. Retro wanted to make a Zelda spin-off, and several new, mature IPs, and they were all terminated by Nintendo.

The tighter Nintendo's leash is, the more staff will depart from Retro. One can only hope that Nintendo approached Retro about MK7 with a "We want this game out by X date can you help us?" attitude instead of a "Drop what you're doing and get the hell over here" attitude.

Unfortunately, the effects of Nintendo's meddling can be seen at what used to be such a great studio: Nintendo Software Technology.

Things got a lot worse over at NST, and it lead to the disbandment of their console team. They (I think it had to do with Wii Crush?). They used to be so great, and now all they do is make Mario vs Donkey Kong games and DSiWare/3DS apps, when they used to be so great.
Nobody wants Retro to crash like NST did, so let's hope that this Wii U game "that everyone wants us to do" is something that THEY want to do as well. With the creative freedom they deserve, Retro can be THE best developer in the industry, maybe even better than Nintendo itself. /Rant

While it's probably true that many key staff members have left due to constraints being put on their creativity and artistic licence, it would be daft to think that Retro would have any difficulties finding talented designers and developers to replace the departed. I mean come on, we're talking about a studio with a superb record of producing AAA titles, owned by Nintendo, the biggest video game publisher in the world. It's doubtless that some staff will value the level of trust Nintendo puts in Retro Studios, by allowing them to develop games the use Nintendo's key franchises, while others will be frustrated by such restrictions.

While I would personally prefer Retro to be given much greater reign to develop new IPs, it's doubtful the demise of the company is coming any time soon. We certainly haven't seen a dip in the quality of their output after all.

Nope, I want Nintendo to force Retro into making an entire DKC Returns series (and have them make a new Metroid game too while they're at it). What I want is all that matters to me.

Tighten the leash, Nintendo.

What the customers want to play is more important than what the developers want to create.

A lot of developers have forgotten that.

The leash is fine as it is. Not tight enough to make the employees resign en masse or anything, and not so loose that they start shoehorning their crazy ideas into their games. (Like Sakamoto and Aonuma, for instance)

Where was I when NST used to be so great?? can't remember that....

A decent sized leash, as others have said, keeps developers on their toes. Optimum video game development occurs when developers face just the right amount of adversity, whether that adversity is hardware limitations, executive demand, hard deadlines, or low budget. Too much adversity, and you get unhappy workers who either leave or see their output diminish, too little adversity, however, and you get pointless crap that nobody asked for

This extends to most art forms as well. Anyone up for the Star Wars Prequels?

Do you have links on these alleged Retro people leaving? (Literally, I'd like to read up on them and rumours for leaving). And does Nintendo own Eternal Darkness?

Honestly, I'd love to see what could Retro do with an idea/game of their own.

While I concede you that what consumers want is usually more important that what developers want, you have to remember that sometimes developers know what's best for their games, not consumers. For instance, if developers only did what consumers want, GTA games and its clones would still have a top-down view like the early GTA games had. 

I'd like to know just how much say Nintendo gives it's internal development studios, not only in terms of choosing the project, but the little quirky ideas that are put into games they develop. Are good ideas within the studio ever expressed in a game, or is everything according to Nintendo's strict design specification? Ideas, anyone?

Couldn't have said it any better.