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Just read rhis and i found it very interesting my views below
Quote:
If you’ve read the headline and are already flexing your fingers ready to write an outraged response on the T&G message boards telling me that I'm more evil than Wario and Bowser's demonic offspring, let me explain why I think it's about time that Nintendo's most famous character is put out to pasture.
The stuff of gaming legend
The thing is, Mario is a true icon of gaming. He's forever going to be associated with all that's good about our favourite consoles of yesteryear. His Jumpman beginnings in Donkey Kong and the arrival of Luigi for Mario Bros make him more old-school than the Tucker years on Grange Hill.
And then there was his foray into sideways scrolling action and the genuinely world-class Super Mario Bros, the only game whose first level music can be hummed by 99% of gamers – who could also put in the jump and power up sound effects at the most appropriate places.
I've written before how much this game impacted on my own consciousness. Super Mario Bros was a game so powerfully brilliant that it left you wondering at the time if any game in the entire future of gaming could be as impressive.
In fact, Mario even survived the move from silent to talkies (take note, Buster Keaton) and gained a few fairly enormous catch phrases on the way.
I've interviewed a lot of very different people over the years, from world-renowned footballers to game industry giants but a chat with Charles Martinet – the actor that voices Mario - remains one of the most unique and enjoyable I’ve ever had.
Time to move on
But despite all of this, and despite the brilliant Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart on the Wii and Super Paper Mario on the DS, I have reached the inescapable conclusion that Nintendo should start thinking it would be better off looking to the next big thing.
I realise that's controversial. For a start, computer games characters are only bound by the technology of the time, so there's no need for Mario to step down before his aching joints can't quite carry him to the next platform.
Not for Mario the embarrassment of being outraced, outjumped and outplumbed by a younger man. He is as spritely (ahem) now as he was when he first started hurdling barrels and climbing ladders.
Nor is Mario in any danger of needing a new challenge. He's not going to do a Michael Jordan and try his hand at professional baseball or follow Vinnie Jones into acting, for instance.
Indeed, even when the rest of us would have given up on the Princess and told her to get some better bleedin’ locks on her palace, he still appears to be more than game to jet off on his next adventure.
So, I hear you cry – why on earth am I suggesting that Nintendo hang up Mario's plumber workboots and retire his number from the team roster?
Too much of a good thing?
In short: because he's in danger of becoming so ubiquitous that he'll become taken for granted - or worse, considered passé. Mario is linked so heavily with some of the most powerfully iconic games of all time that he is already rightly regarded as the face of gaming, but wouldn't it be terrible if his almost uncountable cameos in Nintendo games started to eat away at that impact?
I for one would be disgusted if the next generation of gamers didn't remember Mario for his pioneering turn in Mario 64, for instance, or as the hero of Donkey Kong but merely thought of him as one of the funny cartoon men on Super Smash Bros part 18 or one of the unlockable characters on the latest Nintendo driving game.
And the time is ripe. The Wii was the first console that didn't have a Mario game as the headline act. Galaxy was a wonderful game and deserving of praise but if you had to pick out the title that made the Wii such a roaring success it would almost certainly be Wii Sports.
In fact you might well suggest that Wii Play and even Wii Fit are more immediately identifiable as the games that define the Wii which, whisper it, perhaps says a lot about Nintendo's move into more of a family (and peripheral-happy) audience.
Bowing out with dignity
I think the greatest icons of all time have often managed to bow out when they are still in touching distance of the top of their game. OK, sometimes that’s been because of death - but I do think that Mario’s massive reputation means that even if Nintendo never used his name again he will still be an-all time great.
Take a company like Disney. Even though Mickey Mouse is still the company’s mascot and a worldwide megabrand, he no longer stars in their headline films.
And perhaps without Mario to fall back on Nintendo will continue on their brilliant track of creativity and innovation - and not resort to forcing the old workhorse into cameos in games not worthy of his presence.
So, for me, Mario should be allowed to bow out on a high, leaving a legacy that I don’t think any gaming character will ever follow.
i think he has some extremely valid points, but i think nintendo are just to worried to go out on a limb to mae new franchises.
but ask yourself. if super mario galay involved a Frog (instead of mario) and a t-rex (insteead of bowser) and other characters replaced, but it was the exact same game , in every last detail, it would be equally as good and fun to play, but do you seriously believe it would have got 97% average?
nintendo will soon tire mario out, i think they should lay back on him, maybe release one major platforemer game for him per console, stop his sports games, these should involve new characters, and new things, with mario maybe being secret unlockables.
papre mario was no need, why couldnt they have stated a new character (paper boy (name pending)) and made a new franchise, NINTENDO NEED to branch out, if they keep relying on maro for sales Fans will soon loose interest, saying yet another mario spin off.
who agrees disagrees? oh n yeah mario kart is brill (but why did people first buy it, maybe mario in the name?) imo diddy kong racing on n64 was better han mario 64, yet was not as well recieved, when it was imo way more fun, maybe becuase no mario? you decide
and smash bros brawl should involve him as its not all about him,
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Mario is pretty much the legs holding up Nintendo, and since ALOT of Nintendo fans love Mario, if they retired him, fans would rip Nintendo's throat out and start letting off the games...
I'm not sure what to make of this. On the one hand, I love the character and would hate to not still be able to play him in games like Super Mario Galaxy and Mario Kart. On the other hand, he fulfills a similar role as Mikey Mouse does for Disney... and yet, when was the last time you saw a movie starring Mickey?
...
Exactly.
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But Mario Is the Reason I Got the Wii. If I didn't want to play mario games then I would get a 360. And Mickey may not be in anymore movies but he still sucks the money out my pockets at disney land
Yes, Nintendo... Unlike other consoles Nintendo fans tend to forgive Nintendo for releasing the same game over and over and over and over. Then again I personally don't mind it either. They make Zelda games over and over and it's basically just a new story and I love it. Yet when other companies try to do the same they are shunned for it. Except maybe Final Fantasy...
I enjoyed Galaxy and Sunshine and even Mario 64 (which got it started for me). I've enjoyed the main games of his and he should continue to be in games like that.
I agree with the sports titles and spin offs comments(aside from Mario Kart, they can still tweak it out if they wish to do so). Those games don't get any different and I find that disappointing, I loved Mario Tennis on the N64 but the GameCube one felt too similar.
Maybe make the more traditional titles for core gamers (maybe make a game with him involving other characters similar to the subspace stuff but not a sidescroller).
Keep the sports and other silly games for the casual crowd. (Although I really enjoy Paper Mario and Mari Kart).
Mario has to stay though, it's Nintendo's symbol. When you think of Nintendo you think of Mario and that shouldn't change so long as it's properly handled.
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Mario games are fine. They are original and fun. This guy sounds like another crybaby not content with anything. You keep crying, and I'll keep enjoying my new Mario games.
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no they shouldn't retire mario, but they SHOULD keep changing what he does. Mario galaxy was a step in the right direction, but still not enough. Mario is still just going through the motions and not really changing gameplay like he did with Super Mario Bros 1 and Super Mario 64. They had a huge chance to REALLY show case what can be done with motion controls and show exactly how big of a difference it can make, but they kind of fell short in that aspect. Yea, the game was still phenomenal but it wasn't paradigm changing in that everyone stopped and said "we now have to do what they're doing!".
That's what Wii Sports did, not Mario Galaxy. I think Nintendo needs not to take a break from it's franchises, but take a risk and change them up a bit. How many times are we going to have to do the same things over and over in Zelda? Start as a poor villager, learn of some destiny, and then one by one get our shield, sword, boomerang, arrows, bombs etc. until we reach Ganon.
I've said it a thousand times before, think of how different the game would be if they just STARTED Link with all that stuff and challenged you to go on a similarly-sized adventure but this time you're actually trying to go after enemies instead of trying to gather stuff like some middle-earth Indiana Jones.
Nintendo's doing fine, they just need to diversify sometimes.
Time to move on
But despite all of this, and despite the brilliant Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart on the Wii and Super Paper Mario on the DS, I have reached the inescapable conclusion that Nintendo should start thinking it would be better off looking to the next big thing.
Did I miss A Game release or Something? 0_o
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As the previous posters have said, Nintendo is using every opportunity to get their beloved Mario onto the market. Even though I don't necessarily like the spin-offs, they did a really good job with developing each one.
Nintendo is doing a good job with Mario as is. Regarding the side-scrollers, they released the New Super Mario Bros on the DS and a couple re-releases of the old counterparts. I'd personally like to see them make some kind of Wiiware type title from Nintendo of Mario.
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I love all of Mario's core games (Bros., World, 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, the list goes on) and those should never go away. But I agree that many of the spin-off franchises should be dropped (obviously, keep Mario Kart, that's a classic franchise in itself).
But seriously, how many more Mario Parties do we need? And they're going to run out of cool sports eventually. Who wants to play Mario Hide and Seek?
Anybody?
)
