Whatever ends up happening, 2013 is without a doubt going to be a big year for the Big N. Its latest home console, the Wii U, just launched a couple of months ago, so this year is certainly going to be a defining one in terms of convincing the world that U is the future of gaming. On the portable front, several key 3DS titles are due to arrive in the coming months, such as the recently announced Pokémon X and Y Fire Emblem Awakening , and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

While we already know some of the things coming our way in 2013, yesterday's Pokémon announcement only further proved that the Big N undoubtedly has much more up its sleeve. Below you'll find 10 predictions from IGN's Nintendo Team as to what we might expect to see before that shiny ball descends Times Square once more. Some of them are more out there than others, but we think all of them are at least reasonably possible. Take a look, then let us know your own predictions in the comments!

1 Neither of Nintendo’s systems will see an abundance of software releases, forcing Wii U and 3DS owners (and Nintendo) to talk about quality over quantity. It’s like the N64 era all over again…

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2 Both Zelda and Metroid will appear in 2013, though in what style and on what platforms is anyone’s guess.

3 With the assembly of the Namco Bandai team last year, Smash Bros. on the Wii U and 3DS will make an appearance at E3 2013 – but won’t arrive until 2014.

4 Building on our first point (quality vs. quantity), Nintendo will make several key partnerships, and perhaps licensing agreements, to retain third party support.

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5 Nintendo has debated whether to remake Majora’s Mask or develop a sequel to A Link to the Past long enough - we say it will choose to revisit the SNES Zelda. We have New Mario, now we need New Zelda.

6 The Vitality Sensor returns. Because Nintendo is just crazy enough to do it. (Editor’s Note: This is just Rich’s prediction. Audrey thinks he’s a kook.)

7 Wii U is selling well, but not quite well enough. Expect a price cut from Nintendo as it tries to keep its console competitively priced in the face of new products from Sony and Microsoft.

8 Though hardly receiving the attention that the GBA and GameCube did, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Nintendo toy with 3DS and Wii U connectivity a lot more in 2013.

9 The legendary Shigeru Miyamoto has long hinted that he wants to explore new ideas through smaller projects. We’re anticipating at least one of those to surface this year – probably through the eShop.

10 Mario enjoyed a crazy active year in 2012. We wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo lets its mascot take a breather as it focuses efforts on preparing the next Mushroom Kingdom console adventure (Super Mario Universe?).

Audrey Drake is an Associate Editor at IGN and a proud member of the IGN Nintendo team. She is also a lifelong gamer, a frequent banisher of evil and a wielder of various legendary blades. You can keep track of her wild adventures by following Aminka on IGN or @GameOnAminka on Twitter. Game on!