He's right.
It is quite possible to take risks with existing IPs, just as it's possible to play it safe with new IPs. Why else do you think that so many new IPs can so often look like other existing IPs? And how about franchises like Kid Icarus, Kirby, and Metroid that can do brand new things with existing IPs?
He is completely and utterly right. That said, I do think Nintendo is playing it safer this year then they have in the recent past, but even then they're still publishing two new games from Platinum Games. They've got "X" coming, which at worst is a sequel to Xenoblade, which didn't exactly sell all that well to begin with. Fire Emblem Awakening was a big risk to localize: the game could have not only been the last Fire Emblem to be localized, but the last Fire Emblem period, had it not sold as well as it did.
New IPs are, frankly, overrated. They can allow for new settings, yes, but they don't automatically make a better game, or even necessarily a riskier game.
Hell, just look at FUSE: what was an interesting looking shooter was turned into a generic "me too" game by focus groups. That was not a game that took a lot of risks, regardless of the fact that it doesn't have a number next to the name.
