Gimme Gimme Games
Nintedo President Satoru Iwata recently spoke about a wide range of topics, mostly concerning the Wii U.
He did address the accusations that Nintendo rehashes some of their IPs, and he says that the people who say that aren’t actually playing those games. Iwata said:
One thing I would like to add, though, is that it might be true that Mario and Pokémon are franchises with long histories and tradition behind them, but we are trying to push the boundaries every time we develop a series title. In other words, the reason Pokémon has been continuously popular for about 15 years and Mario for almost 30 years now is that each sequel has something novel. So I frankly think that those who assume that Nintendo lacks innovation might be making judgments by looking at our game titles without actually experiencing them. Without ongoing innovation, even Mario and Pokémon would have lost their popularity long before.
Iwata knows how the internet gaming community works, making judgments about products without ever experiencing them first hand.
I won’t say Nintendo is immune to rehashing a successful formula, far from it. New Super Mario Bros 2 looks like a prime example of that. But I do think Nintendo gets far too much flack for “rehashes” when often their use of an IP results in the establishment of great spin-off series that take on an identity of their own. (Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Paper Mario, Pokemon Snap, etc
