What are Nintendo's Big 3 "core" franchises?

[Raze]

7Ate9 said:

Raze said:
Donkey Kong has been around longer than even Zelda. Hell, Mario was a spinoff of Donkey Kong, some people forget that.

well, if they can actually forget it, then DK's not one of Nintendo's biggest franchises is it?

True, but did they really forget it? DK still shows up in Mario Kart. =) They just dont know what to do except make more adventure games with DK. They infused him last gen with Donkey Konga, they just havent plugged him in this gen yet.