Nintendo, playing it safe with their big releases? Saying that the Mario spin-offs are Nintendo's big releases, aside from Kart and Smash Bros. perhaps, is ridiculous to the extreme. Probably the only thing more ridiculous is the notion that Nintendo doesn't change up their big name franchises. Has this person even played a Mario, Zelda, Metroid, or Starfox game, because all of those series have made several drastic departures from "the norm" in history while managing to retain the core qualities that make them great. Mario Sunshine, Zelda Majora's Mask, Windwaker, and now Skyward Sword, Metroid Prime, Star Fox Adventures, all risky deviations that provided fantastic outcomes to many fans.

I guess it all whittles down to what you want in a game. No, Nintendo hasn't moved every franchise into a brown/grey HD FPS or empty sandbox, so I guess they aren't "modern" or "mature" enough for some people.


Specifically to Mario Kart, what else are they really supposed to do? A arcade cart racer featuring the Mario Universe, how do you really go about changing any core concept of that without making an entirely unrelated game? They make one a console generation to take advantage of the new features of that console, and maybe through a twist or two and see what sticks around (classic tracks and powerups) and what doesn't (DoubleDash co-op and motorcycles)

While I'll be the first to admit I'd prefer Nintendo to invest more time and effort in generating some new, character driven IPs, by the same token I'm also one of those guys that starts thinking about the next game in the series once I've plowed through the newest one. So yeah, bring on the Mario Kart.