I'm no gaming expert - or maybe I am, hence why I only play PC titles

- but here's my question for you folks. The Wii had a software shortage for a couple years to put it lightly. The 3DS launched with next to nothing before Nintendo threw out some various halfass, spiced up stuff like Mario Kart and NSMB.
So...what the fuck have Nintendo's developers been doing for the last 3 years? I honestly assumed they had a bunch of shit planned early for the WiiU, given the software drought the Wii had. Yet it launched with...a spiced up Wii port of NSMB and Nintendo Land, which, if games were vinyl singles, would have been the b-side of WiiPlay 6 years ago.
Is the plan just to release a couple Mario titles, a couple Zelda titles, one Metroid, one Mario Kart, one Animal Crossing...and then use the profits to build a slightly weaker version of the competition's console for the next generation?