Helping with Mario Kart 7 and building a new engine seem to have been the primary cause of the game's developmental longevity.

I do agree that Zelda will not be coming this year, though.

I think Nintendo should focus on coming out with a fresh franchise. All of these sequels won't sell a lot consoles. They have the talent to make a new one. I don't think they'll release a Zelda game this year

Smash may release sooner than expected, but it will be S.T.E.A.M. that will be their big title for Christmas.

They did that with The Wonderful 101. Sadly that didn't pan out...

That's cos people say they want new IPs, but when it comes time to put down the pennies, they shun the unfamiliar.

Here's what I consider ideal release timing following MK8

June - Watch Dogs
July - Hyrule Warriors
August - Bayonetta 2
September - Super Smash Bros
October - NFC based title
November - Zelda U
December - Yarn Yoshi
Early 2015 - X, Devil's Third, Human Element

Either way, there's enough out there to have a major release every month after MK8 releases.

maybe, maybe im expecting too much. Maybe im thinking the team is bigger than it actually is. The Assassin's Creed team is HUGE and I dont think Retro is anywhere near that big, so i should have probably taken that into account.

Last of Us, Dishonored, Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Infamous, Heavy Rain, etc. All those games are still fairly recent IPs that were introduced in PS360/Wii era and they all did good, im talking the original games. Im sorry but this whole people dont accept new IPs is a fallacy. Plenty of new ones do good. MAYBE what you need to start saying is Ninty owners say they want new IPs but shun the unfamiliar. Becasue after all, its always NINTY that needs to make new IPS. You rarely hear someone say that about Sony, or alot of 3rd parties. Xbox to a much lesser extent.

Wii Sports/Fit/Play/Resort/Party sold 8m-80m a pop, and it was a new IP last gen. ;)

It's not just Nintendo gamers; for every new IP that takes off on PS3/360, countless others are shunned in favour of the latest COD, Assassin's Creed, etc. (Vanquish, Lollipop Chainsaw, Dragon's Crown, Eternal Sonata, etc)

I've said myself for some time that Zelda U COULD come out late (as in December) 2014. It's been in development, easily, since late 2011, and absolutely since 2012. It's had time in the oven, and reportedly THE biggest in-house Nintendo team has been working on it (bolstered by the ALBW team after that game was finished). I won't say that Zelda WILL come out this year, as it could always be a 2015 title. BUT, I do think there's a good chance that it could make a holiday 2014 appearance, just in time for Christmas.

If that happened, I don't care what else comes out, MK8 + SB + Zelda = 2014 Year of Wii U. And that isn't even including Bayonetta 2, X, SMT x Fire Emblem, Sonic Boom, Yarn Yoshi, etc.