Among the big Japanese publishers, is Nintendo the least creatively risk-averse?

[VAMatt]

JSG87 said:

VAMatt said:
I generally agree with the OP. But, it must be remembered that Nintendo's whoring out of Mario is in a whole different ballpark than everyone else in gaming. They shoehorned him into racing, fighting, sports, turn based RPGs, action RPGs, puzzles, party games, and just about every major genre out there, excluding shooters. I'm surprised Splatoon isn't set in the Mario universe, frankly.

Nobody else does anything like this. So, in some senses, Nintendo is the least adventurous.

The one thing you have to hand to Nintendo is their ability to take that specific IP and Make it successful no matter what. Not many publishers can say the same.

Oh yeah. They do a great job squeezing pennies out of Mario's ass.  And, they seem to have pulled it off without really watering down the brand. That's because they continue to make quality software. Mario has had a handful of duds attached to his name, but Nintendo just doesn't make enough duds to ruin the brand, I guess.

Mario is clearly the most powerful IP in gaming. I can't even think of anything else that comes remotely close.  Good on Nintendo for making use of him, and good on Nintendo for not running him into the ground, somehow.