Mario has defiently been overused, but then people just keep buying the games...

I think what Miyamoto is saying is he doesn't want a repeat of the fourth generation where we saw, "Mario is Missing", "Typing with Mario", and the dreaded CD-I games.

Sure its popular perception that Mario is whored out, but he's by no means been whored out to an extent that would ruin his character. Nintendo obviously doesn't want to use the character as a crutch nor do they want to feed the perception that Mario is an overworked mule of the company.

There is some humor to be had in this, I just find the distinction between which fanbase finds this funny and which one doesn't somewhat dubious.

@konnichiwa, if you don't care then I'm not going to waste any more time arguing with you.

@Onimusha, I agree, it's good that Nintendo has scaled back using Mario as a mascot for EVERYthing. I don't mind them making use of their symbols when it makes sense, even in a game like DDR Mario Mix, at least it makes sense to have music from Nintendo games, and putting Mario in the name makes that instantly recognizeable. But we don't need Mario's Wii Fit Exercise Training or Mario Pikmin or Batallion Mario Wars, and Miyamoto is just saying we also don't need Mario's Shooting Practice for the Zapper. Of course there's still some humor there, and I'm sure Nintendo laughs at their own expense during meetings where these kinds of things are discussed.

What's the difference if I buy the next Wii tennis game and it has generic characters, or if it has the familiar characters that I've grown up with? There's nothing wrong with including familiar characters into a game to make it more appealing...

What if Smash bros, rather than having loved and famous gaming mascots, had a bunch of random people we never heard of before like -

Ray Thunder - throwing lightning bolts and slamming the ground to make thunder roar
Sasquatch Steve - Huge arms, big attacks, slow
Danny Destructo - Uses various bombs and explosives


Does this lineup of characters seem more appealing than using Mario, Sonic and Link?

There's no problem in using familiar characters - especially when they are used as a staple of quality.

This point that's often brought up... I've never understood it...

Megaman is the most prolific game character EVER. Just hasn't sold the most. So let's all LOL at capcom.

There are currently over 100 titles in the Mega Man series, according to Capcom's official sales data ZOMG

i love megaman and mario for me they can do 5000 new titles

There is nothing wrong with it inherently, but it's also nice to get stuff that's new, too. Imagine if Disney did animated films the way the Muppets do theirs - we'd get Mickey Mouse starring as Tarzan, Goofy as Aladdin.

It was flamebait because it was a quote taken out of context.

Regardless. I don't think they overuse Mario. All the Mario games are quality and he's the only "Icon" really left in videogames since Sonic took a tumble when Sega did. Also unlike most companies who have tried this in the past... their non-core games haven't been cheap cash ins.

That IS how Disney does it now... or will anyway.  Ever since their New IPS stopped selling.  I mean, they are suddenly making sequels to ever single Disney movie that's existed.  Crossovers and crazy stuff like that are sure to be coming soon.  Heck they even have spinoff movies now.  They'll probably make a Kingdom Hearts movie.

 And don't forget the Disney Princess line. They're whored out just as much as Mario.