Interesting article from IGN UK, an interview of Aonuma concerning partnerships with outside studios to develop Zelda.
This will certainly fuel the "Retro on Zelda Wii U MEGATON !" further. But the bold part is interesting here. As the future title of that franchise will be quite demanding on visuals, we can expect Nintendo relying on another studio to handle specifically the graphics. I just hope that Nintendo games will keep their coherence with this new development approach, outsourcing, even with close monitoring, is often less preferable than doing everything yourself, especially with Big N games where what is displayed isn't just a pretty scenery but is heavily linked with the gameplay.
But this news can be 3DS related also. They overlooked the possibility that this whole "collaboration with another studio for a future Zelda" could concern a 3DS Zelda, with for example a Monolith collaboration as we know they recruited for this platform recently.
And Iwata announced Zelda Spirit Tracks on DS at the 2009 GDC... so maybe this year, it will be the turn for Zelda 3DS, even if apparently, Iwata will not be present ? Tadammmmm, some anticipation & expectation spice a few days before the show