Is Mario done for?

[countrysteaksauce]

Its time for them to invigorate the series. Mario needs a gun and misogynistic catchphrases, also strippers.

 

[spyrewolf]

wario shake was a step in the right direction, mario needs to go back to his 2d roots and have modern updates applied to him (much in the way wario shake was done). these 3d mario's have changed the soul of mario, zelda works in 3d because even in 2d, link moved through a world

 

[ZP---Fanatic]

After Super Mario 1,Super Mario 2 Super Mario 3 Super Paper Mario-The Thousand Year Door Super Paper Mario (The Newish One) Super Mario Sunshine Super Mario Galaxy Super Mario 64 Super Mario DS (The Sh!t One) And The Other 40 That Are Released Tonight? No He Isnt,I Bet NINTENDO Are just Gonna Keep Him And Remove The Mustache And Call Him Gario :/

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

Phew, what is up with the Mario-bashing??

The Mario games aren't that bad. They aren't stagnant either, as some are saying.. The whole "random" gravity thing was quite inventive (although the cameraman still should be keelhauled). A lot of people just dislikes it since it's mainstream.. It would be far down on my personal favorites list, but not as much that it advocates to kill the franchise.. A lot of people seem to think that just because a franchise has gone on to long, and that the latest installment wasn't the very best game ever, should be put to sleep (ZP had some of this mentality in his Nintendo-bashing episode (Zelda? Mario? I forget..))

Consider the CEO (or whatever) of Coca-Cola Inc. making this statement:
"We have decided to discontinue the Coca-Cola soft drink. We know a lot of people regulary buys this product, and that it is well liked among a lot of target groups, and that this is the largest source of income to the corporation, and a pillar of who we are, however we believe the product has become stagnant. In addition, there are some fancy wine-connoisseurs that feel the product is low-class."

Yeah, not gonna happen.
There is a long way from best game ever, to bad. The Mario games are not bad, they may not be what I/You/Anyone, like best, but as long as they aren't outright bad, Nintendo has my endorsment to continue to make them. (And I'm sure they value that..)

Your Coke example is, I think, a very apt one. Mario is such a household brand that he's never going to truly disappear from the Nintendo stable. I do think that his games have decreased in their rate of innovation compared to the way they used to be. Perhaps this is why so many people here are hoping to see him die a painful death soon.

I'd personally prefer it if Mario games became less frequent and introduced more interesting gameplay mechanics. Yes, I know it's getting harder and harder to break through that wall of innovative gameplay as more companies get bigger budgets and are able to hire more talent, but Nintendo seems pretty capable of coming up with some really good ideas. If only they'd save them up for a little while and put them all into the next Mario title.

 

[Terramax]

Seriously? You are being ripped off my friend. I got Mario Kart for £27.99 and that was at least a year ago (and it was from game, Brand New before you ask).

I'm just saying how much I still see it in the stores for. On boxing Day I still saw Zavvi selling MK DS for £34.99.

I know wiser people will find it cheaper, but obviously some poor naive sod is buying it for that price or they wouldn't put it at that price.

 

[Blind0bserver]

I do hope that Mario gets put into retirement soon. With every new game that comes out (with an exception or two depending on who you talk to) it keeps getting harder for the poor guy to go out with some dignity.