aww.. but i don't mind Mario as Nintendo's mascot
it's he's who most of us grew up with
for the most part for the majority of us, mario will always be remembered and could never be replaced regardless of what we all actually feel; in my honest opinion Mario's what helped propeled gaming to what it is now
but most importantly, i believe Nintendo should actually use it's other most prominent figures that represents other aspect of gaming:
Zelda: for the core gamers, and
Metroid: for the hardcore gamers
hell, they should use all other characters they have..