1. HD is a colloquial term for visual improvement, especially when referring to upgraded visuals. It looks little like Wind Waker or Twilight Princess, imo. The color usage and the bright/dark levels are pretty much evolutionary of Skyward Sword's art style.

2. Many people love it, yes. But how long will the hype really last? Most of the people excited for it are Zelda fans who already have a Wii U. I, for one, am super hyped for it. But it's not the type of Zelda to bring in too many new gamers. People are looking for better graphics, as shallow as that may sound, and a cartoon Zelda will not help sway them. 

People like me and you appreciate the beauty of the game. The reality is, most people couldn't care less. All they see is the cartoon world of Zelda, compared to a realistic world of the Elder Scrolls or Grand Theft Auto or Dragon Age on the other consoles, and choose the others. Unfair? Yes. But it's reality. 

This is from Aonuma's GDC 2007 presentation:

"As some of you know, at E3 2004, we unveiled the game that would become Twilight Princess, the realistic Zelda game, and we announced that it was developed by the team that had been developing Wind Waker 2. Actually, there was a reason that that decision was made at the time. At one point, I had heard that even Wind Waker, which had reached the million mark in sales, had become sluggish in North America, where the market was much healthier than in Japan. I asked NOA why this was. What I was told was that the toon-shading technique was, in fact, giving the impression that this Zelda was for a younger audience and that, for this reason, it alienated the upper teen audience that had represented the typical Zelda player. Having heard that, I began to worry about whether Wind Waker 2, which used a similar presentation, was something that would actually sell."

Personally, I don't mind that art-style (well, at least not that much), so I'll have no problem enjoying the game (along with my kids, specially now that they've seen it is 'big' Link instead of 'small'). But teens these days, very audience that Nintendo wants to sell their game to, are not into that.

Whether tech demo style is better art style or not is up to personal preference...but looking at the past, it seems that it would help the sales.

P.S. I'm breaking my rule here in hope you can maintain at least semi-argumented debate ;)

nintendo made zelda cell shaded because wiiu can't handle those graphics in the tech demo, an open environment. just look at this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwmWBcqX4KY cell shaded graphics are easy to do and have already reached the level that it looks like a cartoon.

You don't get it. Nintendo made the game cell shaded because that's how Zelda is meant to look. That's it. No alterior motive. When the next console is as powerful as the PS4, it'll be cell shaded. When the one after that does 4K at 180fps, it'll still be cell shaded. Until Aonuma dies and is forced to give the IP to someone else, there's not a chance in hell that it will ever look "realistic" again, because Aonuma doesn't like it that way. And he won't give the IP to someone who doesn't share his vision. End of discussion.

And for the record, Miyamoto wanted TP to look like Wind Waker and was originally against it looking realistic, so don't anyone try saying anything about what Zelda's "original look" was suppoesed to be, because it definitely wasn't realistic. Miyamoto created Pikmin and Miis. He doesn't care about "realism" or "hardcore gamers."

bolded: let's make a few things clear: Zelda for Wii U is NOT CARTOON. people aren't looking for better graphics but if they were, they wouldn't complain because zelda u's graphics look perfect. and what do you mean by "not the type of zelda to bring in too many new gamers"? This is exactly the type of zelda that atracts new gamers and bring back old ones. It's the huge open world adventure we always wanted. I know there are many shallow people but you are SEVERELY OVERESTIMATING their numbers. you are basically saying that millions of people aren't interested in zelda but would be if it were realistic.

You don't get it. Nintendo made the game cell shaded because that's how Zelda is meant to look. That's it. No alterior motive. When the next console is as powerful as the PS4, it'll be cell shaded. When the one after that does 4K at 180fps, it'll still be cell shaded. Until Aonuma dies and is forced to give the IP to someone else, there's not a chance in hell that it will ever look "realistic" again, because Aonuma doesn't like it that way. And he won't give the IP to someone who doesn't share his vision. End of discussion.

And for the record, Miyamoto wanted TP to look like Wind Waker and was originally against it looking realistic, so don't anyone try saying anything about what Zelda's "original look" was suppoesed to be, because it definitely wasn't realistic. Miyamoto created Pikmin and Miis. He doesn't care about "realism" or "hardcore gamers."

You realize you're talking to a ninjablade alt, right?