Nintendo President: Mario Games Aren't Too Frequent

[Jeremy Wilkinson]

Nintendo President: Mario Games Aren't Too Frequent

Satoru Iwata responds to fears of New Super Mario Bros. saturation.

Nintendo's mascot Mario has appeared in countless games spanning all of its consoles, and the release of two New Super Mario Bros. titles in the same year has led to questions of whether the company is releasing Mario games too frequently. Company president Satoru Iwata has replied to these questions, claiming that the release rate is just right for him.

Working on two side-scrolling Mario titles at the same time while trying to keep them distinct has been challenging, and Iwata told Kotaku that this is an unusual state of affairs for the company. "We only create a New Super Mario Bros. title once per platform," he said, and this is how he hopes it will stay. "I think we'll probably go ahead and continue at that pace." He admitted, though, that the future of the Mario series is not necessarily his decision to make, adding, "that's probably [series creator Shigeru] Miyamoto's choice, so I can't give you a 100% guarantee that that's the pace we'll continue at."

Iwata also hopes that the new games, New Super Mario Bros. 2 on 3DS and New Super Mario Bros. U on Wii U, will not feel unoriginal despite their similarities. "They do share a name and there are some components that are similar," Iwata said. "That being said, these are two very unique and separate titles [...] I believe the two titles are unique enough that I wouldn't say that I'm super-worried that people are going to be confused."

One new feature that New Super Mario Bros. 2 is bringing to the series is paid DLC. DLC is a familiar sight in many recent games on other consoles, but it's something that Nintendo has only recently considered. Although it's a new area for the company, Iwata wants fans who are fearful of the change to know that they will not be given a raw deal. "Our goal," he stated, "is to create DLC in such a way that consumers do not feel that they have been cheated or deceived." Indeed, Nintendo has adopted this idea as part of its company policy. "What we are not going to do is create a full game and then say, 'let's hold this back for DLC.' That's not our plan."

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5935721/super-marios-boss-doesnt-want-to-overdo-it-with-mr-video-game-and-wont-deceive-you-with-dlc]

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[dragongit]

Translation: Mario games arn't frequent enough. They want to ship out a new mario game every month if possible. oh, and by the way, DLC for the mario game about Mario collecting a million coins... very subtle Nintendo, some people may not get the joke... oh... it's not a joke?

 

[GiantRaven]

In some sense I agree, the core Mario games are in no way frequent or could be considered a yearly franchise. The amount of spin-off or side games they do though makes it seem that way though.

 

[The White Hunter]

They aren't really that frequent, to be honest, I think the issue is more the lack of real imagination in new super mario bros so far, the same world themes are being recycled in NSMB2 (god it's even a bad acronym), I don't know about U though, for a start, not to mention how easy they've become in recent years.

SMB3 still kicks my ass sometimes to this day...

 

[WaysideMaze]

<color=magenta>I couldn't agree more, because this list [http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Mario_games] just isn't long enough dammit.

EDIT - Added in fabulous sarcasm pink, to highlight my point.

 

[WildFire15]

Core Mario games still aren't that frequent, I think the main concern is people don't want to see Nintendo dropping into the same sort of release schedule as CoD which has frequent releases with very little in the way of innovation.
Usually, you could look to Mario to have a new twist on the classic formula every time, but with 3 New Super Mario Bros games coming out in the roughly 3-4 years (including the Wii U version which I think comes out at the end of the year) and a dedicated sequel to Mario Galaxy, I think people are getting slightly worried Nintendo may run for 'safe' ground like every other big publisher.

 

[Ghonzor]

I'd like to see a year where Nintendo released nothing but new IP's.
If only...
Instead we get games that have stagnated much like Call of Duty has.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Mario games aren't too frequent are they?

<a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_featuring_Mario>Riiiiight...

I suddenly find myself in even more agreement with Jim Sterling's last vid.

 

[gigastar]

This guy is talking to people who think Call of Duty games are too frequent, i dont think hes going to work towards convincing us.

For example, we currently get one CoD title a year, so far this year theres 5 Mario games released or to be released.

 

[Covarr]

The New Super Mario Bros. series needs an overhaul pretty near to its core. These games all have the same bland art direction (though NSMBU looks to be an improvement in that regard), the same bland music, the same uninspired straight-line level design, the same loose and floaty controls...

Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World looked as different as night and day (whether you are considering the original or All-Stars version of 3). They had tight (but not identical) controls, unique level designs with tons of variety... Heck, Super Mario World frequently used lots of horizontal and vertical motion in the same area... I've yet to see the NSMB series do that. I think what gamers are fed up with is that most of the classic Mario games each had their own individual identities, whereas the NSMB games do not; they feel more like expansion packs than fresh games. Nintendo needs to stop pushing out what's essentially New Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and come up with a new artistic vision for the series.

P.S. Thanks

P.P.S. It occurs to me that Sonic Generations, a game designed around nostalgia and reuse of old levels and bosses, is still far more creative and original than NSMBWii or NSMB2, which purport to be all-new games. That's just sad.

 

[York_Beckett]

I honestly think Mario games are a little too frequent. I just don't get time to get fully excited for them, somehow. They are usually good, but I don't know...

 

[Myndnix]

Not sure if Iwata is delusional or just lying.
Either way, Mario stagnated years and years ago.

 

[spwatkins]

Mario games aren't too frequent are they?

<a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_featuring_Mario>Riiiiight...

I suddenly find myself in even more agreement with Jim Sterling's last vid.

Mario Teaches Typing 2 LOL

 

[SilverUchiha]

For those who say this is just like Sonic, I'd like to make the argument that while Sonic games aren't always "good," they all try to do something unique or different from previous games, while Mario has seemingly stopped that "new idea" process in the past few years, leaving us with stagnation, while Sonic is more or less experimental in trying to get the blue blur to be more fun and relevant. Colors even proved just how fun 3D Sonic can still be.

MOre OT: Four or five mario titles a year seems like too much. Especially when there are plenty of other IPs that are Japan Only (earthbound and many more), haven't been touched in years (starfox, F-Zero, Fire Emblem), or handled terribly in recent years (Metroid). Not to mention a new IP would be nice to see at least once a year, maybe every two (that's really not asking a lot). Not to mention most MArio games are "ReNew SUper Mario Bros," "Mario PArty," or one of the many "sports" games. You know, none of the good ones.

 

[Carnagath]

It may be a pipe dream for Ninetendo, but it would leave us in the U-bend.

Please, stop that.

 

[FinalFreak16]

I couldn't agree more, because this list [http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Mario_games] just isn't long enough dammit.

There are 156 Games on that list that in some way include mario himself or is otherwise part of the mario franchise.

That is just ridiculous.

 

[Scrustle]

With all due respect, Mr. Iwata, it's not really whether you think that Mario games are being released at the right pace or whether they are too similar that is the problem. It's whether consumers think it's a problem. It's obvious that you have no problem with it, since you keep doing it, but plenty of us players are starting to get tired of it. If they start getting tired of your games they will stop buying them, and then you'll be in trouble. Believe it or not, Nintendo doesn't always know best.