I think most people are just happy/satisfied to see that it's selling well enough (relative to other franchises on the console) to most likely be picked up as a standard part of Nintendo's "generational" franchise line-up. There aren't really any dreams of a massive Wii-U turn around, anymore, it's just about salvaging the most good out of a relatively depressed development cycle as Nintendo can.
On the whole, if Nintendo manages to launch a new perpetual IP even in the midst of the Wii-U catastrophe, that's pretty good. Particularly since it's looking like the "Wii"(/Mii)-brand games aren't likely to survive to become perennial franchises, and will need to be replaced.