Nintendo President Is Unconcerned About Frequent Mario Releases

Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, has said in an interview with Kotaku that he isn't worried about the two upcoming Mario games, New Super Mario Bros. 2 and New Super Mario Bros. U, being released so close together.

"We only create a New Super Mario Bros. title one per platform," he explained. "I think we'll probably go ahead and continue at that pace. That being said, that's probably [Mario creator Shigeru] Miyamoto's choice, so I can't give you a 100% guarantee that that's the pace we'll continue at."

Confident that people will embrace both games, he said, "These are two very unique and separate titles. We have a Mario you can play in the palm of your hand and a Mario you can play seated in front of your TV. 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."

Mario was, to an extent, a key part of my childhood. Super Mario Land on the Gameboy was the first videogame I ever played. I vividly remember playing Mario 64 as a kid and being completely enchanted by it. Yet the more recent entries in the Mario franchise don't get me excited like the older ones did. Maybe it's because I'm older and more jaded, but I think the key problem is that what I've seen of the New Super Mario Bros. games doesn't carry the same creative, innovative energy that Mario used to have. I haven't played New Super Mario Bros. 2 yet, so I'm willing to be proven completely wrong, but I would be lying if I said that it and its Wii U equivalent were high up on my 'must play' list.

Perhaps the most important question to ask is: what has Nintendo done with Wario? I played Wario Land 2, 3 and 4 until their cartridges were practically catching fire. I do love the Warioware games, but I hope Nintendo give Wario another platforming game to call his own. You wouldn't see Mario subjecting himself to brutal injury just to get to the end of the level. Plus, Wario has a cooler moustache, and looks a bit like an obese Dick Dastardly, so that automatically makes him better.