Yet, some still don't believe Twilight Princess great sales are in part because the art style...

In the first retrospective about Twilight Princess, now that the HD version is coming to Wii U tomorrow, Eiji Aonuma has confirmed once again that a "realistic" art style gets a way better response than a cartoony one.

Aonuma: "So we made a trailer with Link in a more realistic art style and showed it at E3...

                   At that time, really, all the fans gave us an standing ovation at the idea that "realistic" Zelda has returned."

He continues:

Aonuma: "Being a realistic Legend of Zelda game...

                   That was the direction we took with Ocarina of Time as well.

                   We'd tested out various art styles, like with the cartoony style of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.

                   But it seemed like users really responded to a more realistic art style, so we gave some serious thought to how to bring that sense of reality (...)"

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Sg54xwXFI&index=1&list=PLA-jTk_6NAwvcjLpoB6ridhs0WxEyqkqC

Realistic Zelda sells more. Fact.

True, but cartoony Zelda ages better. WW, and even Skyward, look as impressive now as they did when they first released. TP, imo, has not aged well at all.

This does not shock me. Realistic appeals to a more casual audience. Casuals only care about graphics.

It's as the old adage goes: Nothing looks worse than a 5 year old 'realistic' game.

I agree, though I personally prefer miles better the art style of WW than the art style of TP. But to the eyes of some people, cartoon = kiddie.

We know that. Still, if they have to choose between selling double the amount of copies or having one that ages well, guess they'll go with the money.

So Zelda and Nintendo fans are casuals?

I'd say keep the cartoony Zelda or handhelds and realistic for home consoles.  I feel it suits better this way.

Not a surprise if you look at the sales of both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.

But I dig more a cartoonish style.

I feel like the same is true for Donkey Kong, the games aim to be more realistic looking and its paying off.
I think its part of what makes 3D platformers more beloved too, the sense of space, instead of just a 2D game.

I believe cartoony style fits better on handhelds.

Agreed. TP/OoT on homeconsoles and WW/PH/ST on handhelds. Althought, with the NX coming soon I don't know, in case it really shares the library, which art style will be the one they choose.