fumanstan

First NBA Street... now DDR

http://cube.ign.com/articles/577/577880p1.html

cheapskate

He's EVERYWHERE!

Goldberg74

... what's next? ... is he going to replace Link in the Soul Caliber reissue?

Gallant Pig

I heard he's going to be one of the pimps in the new Grand Theft Auto, and Peach will be his best bitch.

DRG

cheapskate

You know... he always looked the type...

Michael Ballack

This is ridiculous. Like a lot of people, I came of age playing video games like marios 1-3 on the nes, and will always have a special place in my heart for mario, but... Maybe it's a combination of me being 22 and enjoying more adult games, but I feel Nintendo has ruined Mario. You have Mario Tennis, Mario Cart, Mario Party, Mario Bash Brothers and etc. It's overexposure. I'm sick of that little plumber. Just give us an old fashioned mario platformer with gamecube graphics already. I don't want Mario to bleeping play basketball or dance. End of rant.

sfsdfd

Well... he is Italian. He could be one of the bosses in GTA: Little Italy.

- David Stein

sfsdfd

Nah, it's George Lucas syndrome. I couldn't believe the hideous explosion of Star Wars garbage merchandising after (and even before) The Phantom Menace. Lucasfilm/Lucasarts/Lucas* produced like 14 lousy videogames, hundreds of action figures, robots, Lego sets, toothbrushes, cartoons, etc., etc., etc. Every imaginable article of manufacture on the planet was available with an Episode 1 logo of some kind. If you'd looked hard enough, you could probably have found Jar-Jar-insignia condoms.

I see this as a symptom of extreme overcrowding of the market. Consider the volume of (ostensibly) new media every year - videogames, music albums, movies, TV shows, books. I'd love to see some stats about that, because I swear we have more of everything today than we've ever had before. In the abstract, that's not a bad thing - but we don't have the resources to sustain this quantity while maintaining quality. As a result, the quality of the average movie, videogame, etc. has plummeted.

Someday, consumption will slack off as a result - the public will reach a saturation point for bad content, and they'll start consuming less. Until that happens, media producers have to find ways to sustain consumption. They can't do it by improving the quality of their media; that's too expensive and difficult.

So instead, they sustain it by alternative techniques. Brand awareness is probably the strongest at this stage. You put out one good content anchor, and then you can spin off a hundred crappy tie-ins. Why do you think every media market is flooded with crappy and derivative sequels?

That's exactly what's happening with Mario. Same happened with Star Trek, and with the Batman franchise. The only factor saving Star Wars from the same fate is its implicit end point (i.e., only one episode left in the current epoch.) Eventually, media developers will realize that they're killing their own much-vaunted brands with these crappy tactics. But they haven't realized it yet.

- David Stein

cheapskate

It's unneccessary too, because by all accounts, there are still good "Mario" games being made (I've never been interested in them myself - but I try and keep up on it) ; they're just getting diluted by needless overexposure. Not that other companies wouldn't do it if they could - I just can't think of any one character that's had the staying power and popularity of Mario. Jak & Daxter? Bubsy? Sonic? Earthworm Jim? Crash Bandicoot? It's not like they haven't tried...

boredsilly

It looks like Nintentdo is trying to reinvigorate the license by exposing Mario and crew to audiences who may not still play his games. Even though there are still a ton of Mario games (most all of them being really good and playable) he doesn't seem to be the automatic powerhouse he once was (being replaced by Halo's, GTA's , & MGS's). That might be because Nintendo has been slacking about getting us proper Mario games like you said. Mario Sunshine was it for the cube and thats been out for a good minute. Yeah, you've got those other games, but like even the new Paper Mario (while a great game) isn't the style of gameplay I think of when I think of Mario or want to play a Mario game. Can I just trade in the last 3 Mario Partys and get a proper new side scrolling or 3d Mario game that isn't a rehash of one of his classic titles?

Of course I could be totally wrong and Mario could still rule the world with an iron biscuit.

msdmoney

I think Nintendo is desperately looking for ways for third party games to succeed on the cube, and allowing their characters in games has worked well in the past, ie. Soul Calibur 2. Third party multiplatform releases just don't sell as well on the cube, and having something exclusive is a must.

Outlaw

ding ding! we have a winner!

outer-edge

I'd say this has a lot to do with it. Mario has been in other games even back in the NES days: Dr. Mario, Mario is Missing, Golf, Mario's Time Machine, Yoshi, and I even think there were a few educational themed ones (I could be wrong though).

So, Mario appearing elsewhere besides a "Mario game" is not uncommon. Appearing in third-party games is more of a push it seems though, and I am not entirely sure I agree. Link in Soul Calibur was interesting, but not necessary and I'd rather see Nintendo preserve their characters and story to their games. I think Nintendo's own Mario appearanes are fine though, as most feature the whole Nintendo cast and are more about the style of game than the actual Mario appearance or name (racing, tennis, golf, party games, etc.). Most of these games are fun and the Nintendo cast just gives them a unique theme no other company can use.

DaveNinja

They just better not put him in a Mike Tyson based boxing game.

Drexl

Exactly. I don't know if this has been mentioned on the forum yet, but now Super Punch-Out! is going to be unlockable in the GC version of Fight Night Round 2:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=57572

marioxb

You mentioned a couple of the educational ones right there, Mario's Time Machine and Mario is Missing. They were made by Mindscape/The Software Toolworks along with the Mario's Early Years trilogy: Fun With Letters, Fun with Numbers, and Preschool Fun. They were all for Super NES. Time Machine and Missing were also on NES. Yes, I am a Mario freak and I buy EVERY Mario game. Kinda slacking right now as I still need to pick up Mario vs. DK, Paper Mario 2, Party 5 & 6, Power Tennis, and eventually NBA Street V3, DDR and Fight Night 2 [OK, it's not Mario, but Mario was in the NES (Mike Tyson's) Punch-Out!!]

I find this both disturbing and awesome that Nintendo is invading everything. Actually more awesome than disturbing. Though I will now be buying games I may or may not have bought without the additions. So let's see, Nintendo in non-Nintendo made games, not counting PC:

The five educational titles I mentioned above
Soul Calibur 2 (Link)
Pac-Man Vs. (Mario's voice)
NBA Street V3 (Mario guys)
Dance Dance Revolution (Mario guys)
Fight Night Round 2 (Super Punch-Out!!)

and of course for the lovely Philips CD-i:
Link: The Faces of Evil
Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
Zelda's Adventure
Hotel Mario (actually a pretty cool game)

Anything else I failed to mention?

PixyJunket

Pac-Man vs. was made by Nintendo.

njchris

It doesn't bother me. I like Mario, but I don't buy everything that has his name on it. I have to like that type of game before I buy it.

However, I do not think they would be making so many if there was no market. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy them, so if you don't like it.. don't buy it.

If a game is fun, that's all that matters to me. Re-used character doesn't matter if the game is fun.

marioxb

Yeah, well it was, but it was sold by Namco and used Namco's Pac-Man character. The only way to get the game was with Namco games: Pac-Man World 2, I-Ninja, or R: Racing Evolution.

DARTH GAMER

I too am sick of the little plumber. After twenty years or so of seeing Mario in this and mario in that, IMO, It's time to put the final nail in the coffin. Don't take that as console bashing either. I own a game cube and even love all the old mario bros games. They were great and like someone said, will hold that special place in my heart and video gaming history. But they need to get a new mascot. End of rant.

tsohg

I would love a mario platformer as well. I could never get into the party and "sports" games.

Also how difficult is it to give Kid Icarus some love DAMMIT!!!

Josh H

There's a new 2D mario platformer coming for the DS soon. And supposedly a new one for the GC as well, but I imagine that won't be seen until 2006. I personally think they should hold that one to launch with their next gen console.

Anyway, I'm not sick of him. I just buy the main games ,the cart games and maybe some of the sports titles.

I don't care about these guest appearances. They're a good idea though, gives mario fans (and kids) more incentive to pick up the GC version of the game.