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Nintendo Says They Aren’t Milking The Mario Franchise

There has been quite a bit of criticism regarding the fact that Nintendo released New Super Mario Bros 2 in August and is preparing to release New Super Mario Bros U on November 18th. Reggie says that Nintendo are well aware of the dangers that come with milking an established franchise such as Mario, but he insists that the games are only made when the development team feel that can bring something unique to the table.

Q: Yeah, are we getting too much Mario? Is there a danger in using Nintendo’s IP too much?

Reggie Fils-Aime: I would say categorically, no. And that’s because our developers, starting with Mr. Miyamoto and going through the entire EAD development organization, they understand the power of our franchises, and they understand that the only reason these franchises have the power that they do is that they have to make sure that each subsequent edition is unique, different and offers something new. They know that if they don’t do that, we’ll kill the golden goose that lays the golden egg. So it’s something they are highly cognizant of, and even the executives on the business side, we hold that IP very dearly to make sure that every edition in the series is foundationally sound.

80 thoughts on “Nintendo Says They Aren’t Milking The Mario Franchise”

      1. In my opinion the New Super Mario Bros Series is the one that they really like to milk. Luckily we’ll probably won’t see any New Super Mario Bros until a new Nintendo system

        1. aeoluslikestosuckoffmonkeydicksandthemonkeyisicydeadpeopleandtheyalsoseemtobeidiots

          How is it milking if they only are only releasing 4 games, and they also announced that they’ll make a new 2D Mario every new generation, so no ”New” games for 6 years. I’m kind of confused, how are they milking it by doing that?

          1. they’re not milking mario, it’s just that he’s everywhere. there are the kart games, rpgs, 2d&3d platformer, minigame/sport compilations, etc. i kinda understand why people are tired of seeing him so often, which may be the reason why they call what nintendo is doing ‘milking’.

      2. Well some Mario games are safer than others but I wouldn’t call it milking. I guess for some people a franchise is only as good as its last game. I mean it’s as if the last two Mario platformers (3D land and Galaxy 2) never existed. Suddenly a great (but not terrific) mario game gets released and the franchise is getting stale

    1. Same here. Did they really need 2 NSMB games to release in the same year? No, but at least they confirmed that there would only be one NSMB game per platform. But I am getting excited about what 3D Mario and Mario Kart games will be like on Wii U.

      1. aeoluslikestosuckoffmonkeydicksandthemonkeyisicydeadpeopleandtheyalsoseemtobeidiots

        Well, can you even call it milking if there have only been 3 games released (Soon to be 4.) in the entire series. What exactly is the criteria for milking a franchise? I always thought it’s the amount of games made in a set time, like CoD.

        1. CoD is the milk king pretty much, but I guess my opinion on Mario stems from the fact that I don’t feel NSMB is all that “new” anymore. I got bored quickly with the Wii version because aside from the co-op it felt like the same game I played on DS.

            1. aeoluslikestosuckoffmonkeydicksandthemonkeyisicydeadpeopleandtheyalsoseemtobeidiots

              Well, you can’t expect a Super Mario Bros. 3 from every new installment, at least they keep it somewhat fresh, by having the 1st one be a reboot, the 2nd one to focus on Co-Op, the 3rd one to focus on a goal, and we’ll have to find out what the 4th one is about.
              BTW, I have this theory that people are just thinking it’s the same game because the graphics are the same, just look at the response to NSMBU compared to NSMB2, it’s much more positive because it looks somewhat different graphics wise. That might just be crazy talk though.

      2. when nintendo launch a console without mario, people complain theres no good game. when nintendo launch console with mario they say he’s being milked.

      1. Well that was kinda a rush thing but besides that every nsmb is new.My question is,why do the ds and 3ds versions suck compared to the console versions of that generation?

    1. After watching many videos and stuff on the internet, I thought that. But after playing it for a few hours, my opinion changed completely. The game looks the same, but feels way better than any other new super mario.

  1. I don’t think that’s true. New Super Mario Bros. 2 hardly brought anything new to the table imo. Unless you count a Fireflower thats golden and a co-op mode as CRAZY new. But to me it’s not really that fresh and the game is really bare to me.

    1. It’s bringing dlc levels, so we should be seeing some good stuff there. Perhaps they could make some lost levels dlc for those who want a real challenge.

  2. Errr, id still call it milking xD but its milking done right, all the various IP’s are great, from the NSMB series, to the 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Paper Mario and the RPG games ect

      1. Sir, I say that is quite the bad argument. There are more things to criticize on than the starting level. Nintendo has been known to make the game accessible by keeping the beginning simple.

    1. Some Guy on the Internet

      No, anything with Mario doesn’t mean it’s milked. It’s these “New” Super Mario Bros. games that are being milked. 64 was unique, as are Sunshine and Galaxy. Some could say Galaxy 2 milked Galaxy 1, but from the looks of it (as I have not played Galaxy 2) it looks unique, new levels are available, and there’s the inclusion of Yoshi. New Super Mario Bros. games are just start to finish to save the princess, all the while using a power up or two. Some people enjoy it, but for me to spend $60 on a re-told story with cosmetic changes you’re going to have to include something else.

  3. I don’t think they are milking it so much as two things:

    1. They need a MUCH better marketing team, specifically in the west, to tell them stuff like “don’t make the Wii U look identical to the Wii” and “Don’t release two games of the same series within three months of each other” or better yet, “Prepare a 3D Mario before you release yet another New Mario game.”

    2. While Galaxy, Sunshine, 64, World, Bros. were all quite different from each other and fairly big leaps and they seem to look at New Mario as like a side-game like Mario Kart or Mario Party with only incremental changes. Because it’s based on the old Mario style, they should focus on New Mario as a main-series too. Mario 1, Mario 2 (US) and Mario 3 are all very different. Mario World grew into a more free-roaming world, added Yoshi and upgraded the graphics but even that that’s a larger leap. Whilst NSMB.U actually does look like a decent leap from NSMB.Wii, what with the touchpad, new powers e.t.c. The fact that they JUST released a game that really added nothing but a coin-gimmick shows poor decision making. NSMB.2 should have done more, more with the gameplay, more with the power-ups, more with it’s component as a portable game.

  4. Nintendo says all the right things but they have been milking the franchise for a while. Super Mario Bros U is pretty much just a copy and paste from the 3DS game. The only difference I seen were just some of the monsters and this is suppose to be on a next gen console. Nintendo can do better than this

  5. Hahaha, Don’t fool yourselves. NSMB2 didn’t even have an original soundtrack. Not one. The airship level didn’t even have airship music. The “new” series is so milked, at this point, I bet they have an .exe tile level editor. It feels so hollow, soulless and milked.

  6. NSMBU is for people that want to play old school mario in hd. Whats wrong with that? I just hope this game is long and challenging.

  7. You know,

    It’s completely criminal when critics say Mario is being milked to death, but they show do love to ride on EA, 2K Sports and Activision’s dicks with the constant Madden, NBA 2K, and CoD games that brings absolutely NOTHING new to the table with NO new gameplay elements and expect gamers to dish out $60 year after year with the same shit. OH THE HYPOCRISY! Here’s the killer: a Mario based action game does NOT get released all the time unlike those three game franchises I’ve mentioned earlier. Now, I’m kinda skeptic on NSMB 2 because I find the million coins thrown in the game a bit of overkill. NSMBU is something I am anticipated for though.

    1. 100% agree. Reviewers are just assholes, theyre partly to blame with this whole segregation of different platforms, rather than all consoles having great games, for hardcore and casual gamers.

  8. they should take more ideas from mario 2 USA. give us something that has not been given in 20 years,something different ,same goes for zelda 2 for the zelda franchise.

  9. excited about NSMBU but i have to add that i’ve been playing mario since the first title and i agree with Reggie that there is something new in each successive mario game. that even goes for all the ones released on gameboys. NSMB2 is still amazing to me, esecially on the 3DSXL. try telling me you found every star coin and every secret world! i love it so much!! the little rocks in the ice world. the music. the graphics. new enemies. very precise control. unlimited lives so you don’t have to keep going back to the 1up levels. so great!!!!
    whoever says it’s milked is clearly not a fan of the series.

  10. Of course it’s not. With NSMB there has only been one per console, starting with the DS. 4 games over 4 consoles. Hardly milking. With the exception of Galaxy 2, there’s only been 1 3D mario game per console starting with the N64. If you include 3D Land, then that makes 5 games over 15 years. While not every Mario game brings as much new stuff as others, each one is unique enough to stand on its own. And sure, we’ve seen more than usual recently, but that’s because we’re in the middle of a hardware transition.

    If these games are milked, then our definition of “milked” needs to change.

    1. Super Mario Galaxy was released three years after the first. That’s NOT malking. It was also better in many ways, and it’s the third highest rated game of all time.

      1. Thanks. I never said it was milked. In fact I said the opposite. I was merely pointing out that only 1 console out of 4 had more than 1 3D Mario game. Further proving that it’s not milked.

    2. You forgot about the Mario Kart games, Mario Party games, Mario games on the DS (Partners in Time, Bowser’s Inside Story, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, etc.), Mario at the Olympics games, Mario Tennis, Mario Football games and some more I don’t think I need to mention.
      I’d call this “milking”.

      1. Sorry, but none of those are Mario platformers. Each one of those is its own unique experience. You can’t consider it milking just because they put mario in those games, when those games are each completely different from the other, and are able to maintain quality. They put mario in the games because they know he’s popular, which is smart, but since each experience is still unique (and most of those game also only get one release per console), it’s not milking.

        1. They aren’t talking about Mario platformers here. They are talking about the franchise. And the games I just listed obviously do belong to the Mario franchise.
          And it’s not “just putting Mario in the game”, the games are called after him. Not only platformers with him in them are Mario games, the other ones are as well. And it’s not like the only case one can call a franchise “milked” is when games similar to each other keep getting released. You can call something “milked” when they use the same thing over and over again, which, in this case, would be Mario. Instead of keeping to rely on Mario the whole time, they should try to come up with new things. Them using the same franchise again and again and again does nothing but give me the feeling that they do not care about us, the fans, but the money. Because they know very well that Mario sells, no matter how good or bad the game is, thanks to the fanboys who buy every single thing that says “Mario” or “Nintendo” on it. I am a huge Nintendo fan myself, always been, but I have to admit that I didn’t buy quite a few of the “newer” Mario games. Sure, they’re not bad games, but they’re not too good either. Many of the Mario games of today do not give me the same experience and fun as they used to do years ago. If you call the Mario games of today “unique”, then we need a new word to describe the old Mario games, because the new ones are nothing compared to them. (Not all of them, though. I still do enjoy many of them)
          That’s my opinion at least, of course you’re free to have your own opinion as well.

          1. The problem with that attitude is that you’re acting like all the different mario games released aren’t good.

            If they were putting out crappy games, and just adding mario to them, then I could see your point, but their not. The Mario sports games are fun, and are basically released only 1 per console. The Mario Kart games are fun (1 per console). The Mario RPGs are fun. etc. etc.

            If making good games, and only releasing basically 1 per console is your definition of milked, well I think that’s silly. If all of these games actually degraded in quality, and the selling of the game became more important than making a fun game, then I could see your point. But that’s simply not the case. And to me, that’s not milking.

            When Nintendo says that their biggest money maker (NSMB) will only be released 1 per console, so that they can maintain quality, it’s clear that they care less about money and more about making good games.

      2. Actually, Mario Party, Mario Kart, 3D Mario, etc. are all unique in different ways. Maybe people wouldn’t think that Mario gets milked if they added other Nintendo characters into the side series like the characters in Super Smash Bros. It would be called NintenKart, Ninten Party, or something like that.

        1. But that’s the point. They choose to make a lot of games (way too many, if you ask me) with characters of the Super Mario franchise. They do not create any new franchises, instead they keep using the same one over and over again. And it’s been like this for decades now. As I said in a previous comment: This just gives me the feeling that they only care about the money they make, because they exactly know that games of the Mario franchise sell like no other game franchise does.

        1. Totally agreed, I don’t plan on buying any Super Mario Bros.-like game in near future neither. Exactly as you said, it’s just overdone.

  11. Of course they’re gonna be a like. They are in the same series. Seriously you guys won’t be satisfied unless there is a big of difference as sunshine and 3D land. Or atleast big enough difference to the point were they only have the same name. Be happy they’re trying to differentiate each game. instead of making a copy and paste game. New Super Mario bros 2 was big enough of a difference. Coming from someone who hasn’t got the game. They aren’t milking there’s just so many different games that it would take forever to get those out of the way if they spread each game over a span of 3 years. Plus it’s a money maker. If you feel like they’re are milking then ban together and get people to not buy them in protest. If you’re so upset about it.

    1. SO MUCH OF ^^THIS

      I think you can relate this to people whining about what sports stars are paid…’boo-hoo, they all make too much money, and they don’t even do anything’. If people really are so against such a thing, then protest with your money. Stop attending live games. Stop buying jerseys. Sooner or later they will be paid less. Don’t like Mario, or think he is being ‘milked’? Stop buying the games. Enough people stop, and Nintendo will put more distance between them. Personally, I think that the NSMB series, while more ‘core’ type gamers enjoy the game, it appeals more to the casual pick up and play audience with a certain level of fun and nostalgia, while the 3d series always have more challenge and depth to satisfy those that want a deeper experience. Although I think they did a bit much with the NSMB series in the last few years, I think they have spaced these things mostly pretty well overall. And I don’t count karts and sports and such, as those are totally different genres than platforms.

  12. Its a yes/no. They do bring something new but its not enough to “Wow” us like super Mario galaxy. They could enhance the current power-ups and make them more fun to use. Adding a new power-up IS different but its not enough

  13. I swear any franchise today is called milk. You might as well say Halo, Gears, Elder Scrolls, God of War, Uncharted, and ESPECIALLY CoD!

  14. There have only been 4 “New Super Mario” games spread across 3 different platforms in the span of 6 years iirc. That is in no way milking. Mario himself is a ubiquitous figure in the game world. I think people are getting confused because they see Mario everywhere from the 3D Mario games, to 2D Mario games, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario Tennis, Smash Bros etc. Mario is synonymous with Nintendo. It’s been this way for almost 20 years. It was never a problem before. I don’t see it as a problem now. People are just looking for a reason to complain.

    Reggie is right. As long as the team thinks they can bring something new to the series, they should do it. Those games sell like hotcakes. I’m betting a lot of parent use these 2D Mario games as introductory games for their kids. Leave luck to heaven.

    1. Is he talking about New Super Mario Bros. only? No, he is not.
      He is talking about the whole Mario franchise. And this franchise is milked, whether you like it or not.
      As you said it yourself: The Mario franchise is selling like hotcakes. That’s why Nintendo doesn’t even dare to create new franchises, because new franchises might not sell as well as Mario. They do not care about gameplay as you all think they do, it’s only about money.

      1. The point of any business is to make money and Mario makes money. If they didn’t make so much money we wouldn’t be getting the awesome Wii U.

        Don’t try to make it sound like this is a greed thing on Nintendo’s part. People want Mario, they give it to them. I don’t see anyone pointing a gun to your head forcing you to buy the Mario games. If you don’t like it, fine. A lot of other people do.

  15. Right now on this moment it feels like they are milking it, i mean 2 new super mario bros games, mariokart and a 3D platformer with mario in almost less than a whole year? Yeah, it feels milky. But if you look at it from a larger scale they arent really milking it even tough i think it would have been better if they spreaded those games. But then again all fans are waiting for them to come so that would piss them off. :/

  16. The Mario franchise has been milked so much. Look at all the stupid Mario spin-offs they’re constantly releasing. Seriously, do they have to make Mario games based off of sports?

  17. I don’t think the series is being milked that much at all. I mean, didn’t they previously say just one NSMB game per system?

    Even the presence of two such titles in a short time frame was kind of unavoidable, since the 3DS and Wii U needed one such game at round about the same time.

  18. Well NSMB2 really wasn’t that much new… Sure there was coin rush, but the main theme of the game had a lot of similar stuff from the Wii. If they are claiming New Super Mario Bros 2 to be another “Unique and different” game, then I think we are in trouble.

    NSMB2 was OK and kind of fun and had a couple new ideas like coin rush (Although it was more on the side like on the Menu I think) and it had a tiny bit new music maybe, etc but I don’t think we should use the “Unique and Different” term for this one because still, a lot of things were like the Wii. Although I guess the offering something new might count as in offering something like Coin Rush. :P

    Although New Super Mario Bros U looks good for the “Unique and Different” part. I can see new graphics, and some other new ideas, and I like the new main music. :)

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