Nintendo's Wii U is struggling, but recent announcements point to big developments in the future

“Our mission in developing this new Zelda game for Wii U,” Aonuma said, “is quite plainly to rethink the conventions of Zelda. I’m referring to things like the expectation that the player is supposed to complete dungeons in a certain order, or that you’re supposed to play by yourself. The things that we’ve come to take for granted recently. We want to set aside these ‘conventions,’ get back to basics and create a newborn Zelda game so that the players today can best enjoy the real essence of the franchise.”

Along with a brand new Zelda game, an HD remake of 2002’s “The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker” was also announced with images of its completely revamped graphics.

Iwata also promised new entries in the Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. franchises for the Wii U, as well as a solo game for the infamous Italian plumber and a new 2D platformer starring his capacious dinosaur pal Yoshi.

One of the biggest surprise announcements, though, was a non-Nintendo role-playing game being developed by Monolith Soft. Rumors are already buzzing about what the untitled game could be, but Iwata points to this as an example of the kind of software that fans can expect to see more of down the line: third-party titles developed in a close relationship with Nintendo in order to create platform-exclusive content.

If that turns out to be true, even non-Nintendo fans might have reason to pick up a Wii U in the coming year.

But the question remains, will Iwata's new announcements be enough to save the Wii U, or is this just a case of too little too late for the new console?

A native of Utah Valley and a devoted cinephile, Jeff is currently studying humanities and history at Brigham Young University.