Nintendo must reinvent Mario for him to survive
We all know Mario as the happy go-lucky, kiddy-friendly, mushroom munching plumber, but is this ‘image’ going to damage Nintendo’s future relationship with the now adult gamers? I believe it will, and now is the time that Nintendo MUST redesign Mario, or risk losing the large majority of the ageing fanbase.
Below I’ll present 4 potential paths that Nintendo could take Mario on.
Mario of War.
With Dante’s Inferno & Bayonetta recently reviving the Hack and Slash Genre, now would be the ideal time to put out a Mario inspired hack and slash! Can you imagine dualing against Wario, doing quick time events to try and slash him up, while avoiding swarms of goombas? That would be seriously awesome.
Or even better, taking on Bowser in true Shadow of the Colossus fashion, giant boss, combos, blood, and loads of gore! An then finally, after rescuing the princess being able to make love for bonus points, and health regen. Bonzai!
A Mario with excess blood and gore would certainly make a dent in the adult market.
Final Mario.
Okay, this is what I envision, an adult themed Mario RPG, dealing with life, death and survival.. Also potentially make Mario a little bit emo-ish to inspire the younger players.
Ideally I would like it to be a multi-dvd game, perhaps 3? And at the end of the first dvd they kill off Princess Peach (Maybe Wario stabs her with a sword), this would work to get the gamers really angsty, as emotion filled RPG go down a lot better then mundane text filled adventures (yes, i’m looking at you Paper Mario).
Make note of this one Nintendo, it’s gold!
World of MarioCraft.
This one is a bit of a no-brainer, a MMO-Mario would sell like bananas coated in chocolate with nuts! They could make multiple factions the Antagonists and Protagonists. Imagine being able to play as an Antagonists Koopa, grinding away so you can go kidnap the princess from Mario, then the opposing faction has to attempt to rescue her before you brutally rape and murder her.
Further more, you could have factions within factions, eg; you could have different policies on kidnapping… like the bowsers could just take her and not abuse her, but in opposisition the Dry Bones will kidnap her and attempt to plunder her body for goodies…
While the protagonists are regularly rescuing the princess for rewards.
Think of the potential Nintendo!
Multi-platform Mario.
Seriously Nintendo, no serious gamers want a Wii, if you want our loveable Mario to survive, please unleash his future games on real consoles.
Thereadersay.
To conclude, where would you like to see the Mario franchise taken?
Wouldn’t Sonic be a better first choice?
I love satire
When I started reading this I was like “WHAT-THE-HECK?! I hope this is sarcastic!” Then I read Multi-platform Mario and was happy with the sarcasm.
Mario is meant for little kids and that audience, changing it would be wrong.
Also, nice to see you’re a “hardcore” gamer that won’t play the wii because you follow the gamer cliche and don’t actually play games for fun like real gamers do.
I lol’d. If you meant this to be funny, I think it was really good. Although, I think that the Paper Mario games are exemplary in a genre that is all-too-often covered in explosive verbal diarrhea.
“Follow the gamer cliche and don’t actually play games for fun like real gamers do.”
I play games for fun, but if the game is designed for pre-schoolers, then it isn’t much fun.
Hmmm. I’m having a hard time figuring out who here is a complete jackass and who is awesome… Haha!
wtf mario doesnt need to change to survive, this article is so full of crap. have i bought a mario game since mario sunshine, no. tht doesnt mean no 1 else aint buying the mustachioed’s games. whts the new mario bros on wii clocking at worldwide/7, 8 mill, exactly. wanna know wht it is ppl have more of then money, kids a whole bunch of kids. so as long as there are kids parents will buy mario. this article is no doubt written by a nintendo hater. wht a joke.
why not have both? have a more mature mario for the younger ones to grow into,i wouldnt say make him bloody but introduce more things,maybe mature him a little in one franchise and leave him be in the other,like with zelda wind waker/twilight princess
This is awesome! Hopefully we’ll get more from you in the future.
3 words. Grand Theft Yoshi.
Enjoyed this post, thanks!
great article
Our community blogs rock
I like the idea of having Mario appeal to older, mature gamers, and then having him go all emo to appeal to the youngsters in FFM.
Mario games sell. Mario platformers rock. If they’re not your cup of tea then I don’t think Nintendo will get too upset. Mario is almost as old as me so he’s hardly struggling to keep up.
Mature gamers like retro, niche and indie titles. Stuff Like Mario. The games and hardware you describe principally appeal to single adolescent boys who do it by themselves in darkened rooms. Whereas Mario is something I do with with my significant other. Pretty sure I know which is prefer.
umm…. Everyone loves Mario. Thats why its sales are kicking ass. Most of the people I know that are playing NSMW are in their mid to late 20s
im sorry 4 askin but u ppl arent serious r u, u do get it was a jokey kind of thing u dont really get this bent out of shape over a joke do u? marios sellin #’s 2 know mario isnt goin away netime soon, aye hardline maybe they wouldnt get so upset if u saved it 4 April but if u were serious some points u had would be cool maybe a Fable type mario where u travel around u could even knock up daisy in in 1 city & peach in another while givin the vulgar thrust 2 bowsers daughter.lol or A hard rain mario where the origami killer turns out 2 be an upset luigi for not gettin a sequel yet 2 haunted mansion….the possiblities are endless.lol
Yaaaaaaawwwwwnnnnnnnn.
Yeah… Nintendo obviously has no idea what they’re doing or how to make something successful. Oh wait…
talk about retarded…. this entire article is a huge waste.
new mario wii…. is most def surviving.
If this article was meant as a joke…….then it was a bad one.
If this article was meant to be serious…………then i fear for the author’s psychological condition.
Seriously, either the person who wrote this has no taste in humour or they have learning difficulties……i’m struggling to pinpoint the answer myself.
@hardline
Anon said, “Follow the gamer cliche and don’t actually play games for fun like real gamers do.”
You replied, “I play games for fun, but if the game is designed for pre-schoolers, then it isn’t much fun.”
Hardline, you’re a moron. If you played for fun you wouldn’t care what the game looks like or whatever style and theme it portrays. Keep sounding like an idiot. I love reading ignorant posts from stupid people like you.
This is the most stupid blog post I’ve read in months.
The guy is just jealous that he can’t play Mario on his system(s) of choice.
Admit it, you want a Wii.
This article is bad and you should FEEL bad
seriously, I lol’d.
I want to thank Will for allowing such people to comment.
I honestly didn’t think that people this stupid could actually work a computer. How wrong I was. Jesus Effing Christ. Please continue to post, morons, you are making my day.
Wanna see my toes? Huh? Huh? Do ya?