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

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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?

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...

I couldn't agree more, because this list just isn't long enough dammit.

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

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.

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.

Mario games aren't too frequent are they?

Riiiiight...

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Please, stop that.

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.

spwatkins:

Grouchy Imp:
Mario games aren't too frequent are they?

Riiiiight...

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

Mario Teaches Typing 2 LOL

Hey I don't make the lists, I just mock them. It's quite funny to see what Nintendo have stuck his name to over the years for the sake of franchise sales.

It's not really as bad as some people think currently. The last couple of years they've been doing about 4 Mario games a year. Between 2005 - 2007 they were above 8 with 2005 being at 11. If you think about it that was because that was the N64 and GC period where there weren't many games to get for those systems. So Nintendo had no choice but to flood with their 1st party content. The previous spike was between 93 - 95 where it averaged 6 games. There will always be peaks and valleys for Mascot games, and right now we are in a valley. You really only have too many when the games start stealing sales from each other. You really want to avoid competing with yourself, but you do want a new Mascot game every now and then so that New Console buyers can buy the latest Mascot game, and not feel like they've purchased a game everyone has already played. I'd rather they do this kind of thing with Mario anyways. Zelda, and Metroid aren't suited for 2 games a year, but Mario can because of the simplicity of play.

I'm not really concerned about what Nintendo will do with DLC. I'm more concerned about what others will do, and have been doing with DLC.

FinalFreak16:

WaysideMaze:
I couldn't agree more, because this list 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.

It really is. Even when you consider the fact that he isn't the main character in all of these games, it's still such a rediculously large list, the fact that nintendo has gotten away with it for so long baffles me. Still, as long as people keep buying them, why would they consider stopping?

DVS BSTrD:

Carnagath:

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

Please, stop that.

Sorry 4 being a Goomba, but I'm not all that familiar with Mario games. The plumbing angle was the first that came to mind.

Never stop the puns. Never!!

Jove:
You know Nintendo, I'm only speaking for myself, but I wouldn't mind these frequent (yes Mario games are frequent, don't deny it) Mario games and the reboots of old milked IPs like Zelda, if you guys actually released something...oh I don't know...SOMETHING ELSE!? Anything!? You guys put so much effort into rehashing these old IPs yet make none to put that same effort into something new.

Seriously, I bet Nintendo could make the most awesome new IPs because they really do have great imaginations, but their stuck in 1990.

Edit:

SnakeoilSage:
At least put Mario on the shelf for a year or two and create something new, Nintendo.

Stop asking for new ip's untill people start buying them!
Ever heard of supply and demand? Right now there is no demand for new ip so there is no supply.

Grouchy Imp:
Mario games aren't too frequent are they?

Riiiiight...

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

New Super Mario Bros. 2006 Nintendo DS Platformer (2D)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii 2009 Wii Platformer (2D)
New Super Mario Bros. 2 2012 Nintendo 3DS Platformer (2D)

Looks like Mario Bros games are on a three year cycle.

If they're going to do a DLC method, one of them needs to be a Level Editor. Can you imagine how much money that would make?

More Fun To Compute:

Grouchy Imp:
Mario games aren't too frequent are they?

Riiiiight...

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

New Super Mario Bros. 2006 Nintendo DS Platformer (2D)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii 2009 Wii Platformer (2D)
New Super Mario Bros. 2 2012 Nintendo 3DS Platformer (2D)

Looks like Mario Bros games are on a three year cycle.

Perhaps single titles in the franchise are released less frequently, but that doesn't mean that the franchise as a whole isn't milked for every penny. The two studios responsible for CoD only release every two years, yet people don't stop ragging on Activision for releasing one CoD game a year. SMB may release every three years, yet that hasn't stopped Nintendo slapping Mario's name on six titles this year alone - and it's still August.

Grouchy Imp:
Perhaps single titles in the franchise are released less frequently, but that doesn't mean that the franchise as a whole isn't milked for every penny. The two studios responsible for CoD only release every two years, yet people don't stop ragging on Activision for releasing one CoD game a year. SMB may release every three years, yet that hasn't stopped Nintendo slapping Mario's name on six titles this year alone - and it's still August.

That isn't what Iwata is talking about even if the headline is misleading. Trickily phrased in order to make people angry like all blog headlines have to be if they want people to click on them and comment.

More Fun To Compute:

Grouchy Imp:
Perhaps single titles in the franchise are released less frequently, but that doesn't mean that the franchise as a whole isn't milked for every penny. The two studios responsible for CoD only release every two years, yet people don't stop ragging on Activision for releasing one CoD game a year. SMB may release every three years, yet that hasn't stopped Nintendo slapping Mario's name on six titles this year alone - and it's still August.

That isn't what Iwata is talking about even if the headline is misleading. Trickily phrased in order to make people angry like all blog headlines have to be if they want people to click on them and comment.

It's kinda difficult for non Nintendo fans to separate out which games are produced by which devs though. Iwata and his team may indeed produce to a measured release period, but to the layman the market is constantly being flooded by the latest Mario title.

Revnak:
Those two seperate cycles are in identical genres featuring nearly identical gameplay and a two year cycle is still a bit rushed. Do not try and equate the two release cycles of CoD games to how Mario games have been made in just about every genre in existence.

I'm not trying to compare the single CoD shooter series with the entire Mario franchise, merely individual series within it. CoD focuses purely on military FPS games whereas the Mario franchise straddles platformers, racers, puzzlers, and so on and so on. I'm not trying to compare those aspects of the games. What I am saying is that there is as much (or as little) innovation between the first and newest CoD games as there is between, say, the first and newest Mario Kart games (which - for the record - I think is quite a bloody bit).

Mario clearly has his fingers in more pies than any other franchise going, and I wasn't trying to argue that point. What I was meaning is that when you look inside the overall franchise and seize on an individual series within that overarching blanket brand, the newer games can often come across as simply updated versions of the last game.