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Mario doesn’t matter

November 08, 2007 in Blog comments 17

Many gamers see Mario as a soulless corporate icon and wish Nintendo would invest in some new IPs. Only Mario is simply a coat of paint and has little to do with actual game mechanics.

Miyamoto has said time and again that he only creates new characters when old ones would not fit with his new gameplay ideas. He also often speaks of his design philosophy stressing that form follow from function. It follows from this that if Mario were not the star of Nintendo’s new platformer but was replaced with Xavier the Xtreme Xskimo, it’d be the same exact game.
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Most recently commented on by on Nov 11, 2007

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  • 0
    Play ISDF Nov 9, 07
    I can see what Miyamoto is saying, it's quite understandable what he's saying. But I do think some new character blood wouldn't hurt. I don't think it's asking too much to introduce a new hero that could work for one of his idea's, is it?
  • -2
    Bale Fire Nov 9, 07
    Its an excuse obviously. Nintendo haven't come up with a popular new character in years
  • 4
    Miss Razz Nov 9, 07
    Miyamoto is probably right. They could easily replace Mario with another character and many of Nintendo's games would be the same (although the same could apply to many non-Nintendo games too). But to be honest, who would rather play a Nintendo platformer that feels like a Mario game without having Mario in it? Bleh.
  • 0
    Dragon Nov 9, 07
    As long as Mario games are still popular, it doesn't matter whether they keep him or not.

    At least to me.
  • 3
    Solid Snake 4Life Nov 9, 07
    Replace Master Chief with anybody and it's still Halo. This applys to everything. However NIntendo knows thier IPs are so popular that they don't need to.
    • -1
      iLLmatic Nov 9, 07
      Its not a matter of them needing to do it or not, its the fact that they don't want to. You don't have to stay with the same thing just because its popular, but sadly thats how it works because like you said, its still popular. This goes far beyond Nintendo; far too many companies are scared to do something new because they have the comfort of creating something that they know will sell, i.e a sequel to a popular title. Still, Nintendo has definitely milked Mario, Link, and Samus for everything they are worth.
      • 2
        Revolution 9 Nov 9, 07
        Maybe Mario, but Link and Samus haven't really been milked at all.
        • 0
          Zero and X Nov 10, 07
          Link is starting to head in that direction unfortunatly......
  • 1
    Mario_1 Nov 9, 07
    Mario DOES matter as a character. Even if Miyamoto himself states otherwise, he's wrong.
    Mario's one of the greatest video game characters of all time.
  • 0
    doylie Nov 9, 07
    It's like if a metal gear solid game didn't have solid snake or big boss. It wouldn't be the same game.
  • 0
    Revolution 9 Nov 9, 07
    It might feel little awkward without the familiar character, but it besides that, it still would be the same game.

    And I think Miyamoto was actually taking a hit at the game industry by saying a lot of games have the same gameplay, just switched up characters and settings to make it feel different.
    • 1
      Seeker X Nov 10, 07
      Miyamoto was a bit too egotistic with the Halo 3 comment, he doesn't need to look more arrogant by criticizing the game industry's developers. I respect him for remaking genres with his classical characters, but his fatal weakness is story development. And nobody can disagree that most, if not every, Nintendo classic character has the same story, just played out in a different context.
  • 1
    kik36 Nov 9, 07
    I would prefer to see a fresh face for Nintendo.
  • -1
    Underated Nov 10, 07
    mario games have still been greatly successful, so until they stop selling there's no need to change something that doesn't need changing.
  • 1
    Final Blade Nov 10, 07
    Don't get me wrong i like Mario alot but i think its time to create a new character to help sell Nintendo products. I thik mario has been milked far too much. There isn't creativity or openness for games.
  • 0
    xegaldis Nov 10, 07
    Hm, I see what they mean. Mario seems to be the face of Nintendo, but there are other games to be related with Nintendo.
  • 1
    Sonic Flash Nov 11, 07
    I think he was addressing people's boredom over Mario, when in fact what we're actually excited about with new Mario games is that Miyamoto is directing it.

    We're actually excited about Miyamoto games, not necessarily that they have Mario in it.

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