(IGN) Released in 1983, the Nintendo Entertainment System was the king of all-consoles with sales. Today, history has been made and the NES has been knocked down to number two by one of its own: the Nintendo Wii. Though the system has the weakest software sales for a Nintendo console, the Wii itself has sold more than any other console ever. Iwata simply said in words that don’t really seem to be put together as I would say them:

It has replaced NES to become the best-selling Nintendo home videogame console of all time.

While it is the best-selling Nintendo console, it most definitely is not the best that the company has put out for entertainment value. Even the previous console, the Gamecube, had more games to offer to the American and Japanese markets. Now that Nintendo has hit this milestone, will it begin to focus on the software part of their business? They have a new Zelda and Metroid coming out within the next year and a half, but what about first-party series that haven’t been seen on a Nintendo console within the last few years? Castlevania?

(Gamespot) – With this year’s release of Wii installments for Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing, and Mario Kart, there are few cherished Nintendo series in need of a new-generation debut. That means it’s about time for the publisher to start a second lap of its greatest hits, and if one industry analyst’s prognostication is accurate, leading off that lap could be a second installment of The Legend of Zelda.

In a note to investors this morning, Lazard Capital Markets’ Colin Sebastian listed a slate of 22 games that could potentially help drive a 5 percent growth in game sales for 2009. In addition to heavily anticipated games like Resident Evil 5 and Starcraft II, Sebastian included a new Princess Peach adventure and an as-yet-unannounced Zelda game.

In the report, the list of games was sourced to Lazard’s research, as well as to company reports. Speaking to GameSpot, Sebastian clarified that the inclusion of a Zelda game on his 2009 list was speculation on his part.

The last Zelda installment, The Twilight Princess, was a launch game for the Wii in November of 2006. It was originally announced as an exclusive for Nintendo’s previous console, the GameCube, but was adapted to headline the slate of traditional gamer offerings at the Wii launch. Twilight Princess did arrive on the GameCube, but its release was staggered a month after its Wii counterpart.

Sebastian’s note also referenced Grand Theft Auto V in passing.

“Looking ahead to 2009, we expect mid-single-digit growth in software sales on a tough growth comparison and potentially fewer hit titles (e.g., no GTA V until 2010),” Sebastian wrote.

When asked for clarification on that remark, Sebastian said he wasn’t so much specifying 2010 as a release window for the game as telling investors that it would definitely not be coming out in 2009. However, he also pointed to Rockstar Games’ release schedule of Grand Theft Auto games in the previous generation, which saw GTAIII released in 2001, GTA: Vice City in 2002, and GTA: San Andreas in 2004.