Most of Nintendo's IP's that are dormant were not so successful. Star Fox was, but Kid Icarus and Pikmin are dormant for a reason, really.
There are plenty of active IP's that would be worth owning to Nintendo, that happen to belong to troubled companies. Grand Theft Auto, for one! Not that they would get it for a worthwhile price.
A game I'm developing with some friends:
www.xnagg.com/zombieasteroids/publish.htm
It is largely a technical exercise but feedback is appreciated.