Come on guys, you only have to look at the history of the franchise to see what the next Zelda is going to be. But you have to understand that Aonuma cares about reception far more than he does sales.

He made Wind Waker -- in the present, everyone adores the game, but back then it was too different and everyone just wanted Ocarina of Time with better graphics. So he made Twilight Princess. People loved it before it came out, then they played it and thought it was too big and empty and not colorful enough. So he made Skyward Sword, which packed tons of content into smaller areas, and players said the areas were too small and there wasn't enough real exploration.

Go back to the time before and immediately following Skyward Sword's release. Aonuma and Miyamoto can't stop talking about the motion controls, and how they're almost certainly going to be used in future Zelda games. Now try to find an interview within the past 18 months in which the motion controls are mentioned once as a possibility for the future. The verdict came in, and they abandoned that idea.

You're all going to get your darker aesthetic, non-linear, non-motion-controlled console Zelda game. And then people will complain that it's too dark, too open, and not motion-controlled enough, and the whole thing will be derailed.

God I hate the Zelda fandom.

Let me buy you a beer.

And on top of all that now I have to develop a taste for beer? Man, this sucks.

OK, let me buy you a Capri Sun. Better?

He's still trying to "surprise". Not giving people what they want but what he THINKS they want.

How about a really solid by-the-numbers Ocarina clone with maximum production value.

No thanks, I gotta drive.

Well I for one would absolutely NOT buy that.

I think it's great that Aonuma still wants to surprise people.

So Nintendo are a charity to keep up what the hardcore want it to make using casual money?

What they should have made with that money is Wii Sports 2, NSMB Wii 2 and Wii Relax/Vitality Sensor.

It has nothing to do with being charitable. Wii Sports will never cost as much money to develop as Zelda, but it will always sell more and be exponencially more profatable. Zelda on a Wii fit budget wouldn't sell, and not making a Zelda game would completely alianate an entire audience that won't buy a console with out it. That is obvious. I don't know what kind of point you were trying to prove, but you definitely didn't prove it.

You are a Nintendo exec. You have $50m in capital gained from good sales of Wii Sports.

Do you invest it in:

a) Wii Sports 2, NSMB Wii 2 AND Wii Relax/Vitality Sensor

b) Zelda

Wii Sports is cheaper than Zelda and exponentially more profitable (you said this). AND you can afford to develop the other two games with the budget saved vs Zelda. Therefore Option a) gives a far greater return for the same money invested. Why choose b) at all?