Last week, Nintendo announced its release plans for the coming months and the big news was that both Mario and Metroid would be getting fresh games before June is through. Super Mario Galaxy 2, the first direct sequel Nintendo has done in some time, is set to arrive on May 23 in North America and June 11 in Europe, while Metroid: Other M will be out on June 27 in North America, both on the Nintendo Wii.

With the summer launch schedule packed this way, a lot of people thought that Nintendo was actually nearing another huge release for fall and Christmas. And the only thing close to Mario in terms of popularity is a new Zelda, this time for the Wii home gaming console.

Talking to digital lifestyle magazine Wired, Cammie Dunaway, who is the executive vice president of Nintendo of America, stated that “If you compare the first half of 2010 with the first half of 2009, it's night and day. And from some of the things that Iwata has talked about, and that we will talk about at E3, like Zelda, you know that we're going to have a good back half of the year, as well.”

The representative of the aforementioned magazine asked whether he would need to buy Dunaway dinner after he bet that Nintendo would not put out games for all its big franchises, Mario, Zelda and Metroid during the same year. The Nintendo vice president then answered, apparently without joking, “I think you do.”

Of course, the Japanese company can come right out tomorrow and say that the press twisted Cammie Dunaway’s statement but it's as close to a confirmation of a Wii Zelda for Christmas as the gaming world will come for some time. Expect more to be revealed at the E3 trade conference, which takes place in June.