I posted this on another gaming site from talking with friends about nitnendo's (in my opinion) awful e3 presentation...but I think its relevant here too.
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I agree that, say, Zelda needs a break. The excellent Skyward Sword just came out, as well as plenty of re-releases (Ocarina of Time 3D, Minish Cap on 3DS, Four Swords, etc), all within the last year alone. But the other franchises? ie: Metroid, Star Fox, Animal Crossing, Smash Brothers, Kirby, Donkey Kong, F-Zero, Pokemon, etc.? Most have run entirely cold with only a few exceptions. Where are they? What is Nintendo doing with them? Don't they know THOSE are the things that the fans and core gamers want to see? Here, let's take a closer look at what Nintendo is doing:
Software Planning and Development Team 1: Finished some sort of japanese rhythm game awhile ago. Are they responsible for the new wario thing nintendo didnt bother mentioning?
SPD2: Finish co-developing Xenoblade. What are they up to? Maybe too early to tell.
SPD3: Pilotwings 3DS. Now?

(Its not as if that game was a high profile game to begin with. Worked on Metroid Prime games in the past)
SPD4: Last finished Wii Party in 2010. Have been quiet ever since.
SPD5: Hasn't made a game since 2009? No clue what they are doing, or if they even still exist.
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development 1: Finished Mario Kart 7 half a year ago. Probably working on something - possibly DS related?
EAD2: Has been working on Animal Crossing 3DS for years EAD 3 - Finished Skyward Sword 8 months ago. Too early to tell, but likely something important.
EAD 4: Pikmin 3
EAD 5: Star Fox 64 3DS was their last thing. Wii Fit U might be their doing.
NST: Nothing for years. Who knows?
Project Sora: Obviously just finished Kid Icarus, presumably just starting Smash Brothers.
Retro Studios: Did half of Mario Kart 7, nothing else since Donkey Kong Returns. Obviously has been working on SOMETHING for years.
Alpha Dream: Nothing since Bowser's Inside Story
Intelligent Systems: Fire Emblem and Paper Mario 3DS
HAL: Nothing in a long time besides Kirby's Return to Dreamland, which had been on and off in development since the Gamecube days, and Epic Yarn in 2010
Camelot: Mario Tennis 3DS
If you bother to read that, you should be able to devise that the majority of Nintendo in house teams havent released too much in a
LONG TIME. This is ESPECIALLY true since the Wii has seen upwards of
ZERO games in its release schedule, and precious few games released in the entire calendar year of 2011. One can assume we'll see some of these games show up tomorrow for the 3DS event, but Nintendo is releasing a brand new console at the end of this year. Are you going to tell me after that horrendous E3 showing that ALL of these teams just didnt have
ANYTHING to show in time? Give me a break.