Italics made me laugh :D

Okay, let me get more specific. Have you ever played Shadow of the Colossus?

There's a game with very little story, yet for some reason it had a GREAT untold story. There is so much you are thinking must have happened in that realm, yet little of the story is told. And like Mario, it doesn't need a story because you're going from Colossus to Colossus. However, like Sal gave in his example, in Journey (which I have yet to play), there is a great untold story, told with the dynamics of the characters, with the environmental objects and worlds you cross, told by the swaying music. It doesn't even need a story that the game conveys an emotion. (@Xxain, read that it'll answer your story whore question).

The last paragraph is one that troubles me the most and I'll tell you why. Mario is a character that represents the company as a whole. It's the icon of the company, and close enough to being the icon of the industry. Should a character with such a great reflection convey vaccuity? Or should he convey emotion? I believe emotion.

When Super Mario offers themes that are limited to children, it alienates the folks who are older who would also like to enjoy it. As such, many in this thread say it is the example of a game that is not age restrictive, but it is the exact opposite, it restricts to kids. On the flipside, nothing in Disney movies makes me, as an adult, and as a child in the past, want to shut it off. Rather, I want to stay and watch it.

That's the all-encompassing quality a Mario game should have, as the icon of Nintendo. Anything else would be selling it short, to make a pun. ;)

Great post, but I will turn C.S. Lewis on the head to prove my point. Did he ever considered children as vastly different than adults in that they could just no comprehend adult concepts?

The children in Narnia couldn't understand why adults concerned themselves with needless things. That would be the likes of the pulp we are fed like the GoW games or the Batman and X-men craze and reboots, ad nauseam. I'm not talking about that adult. I'm talking about adult that children and adults alike can enjoy, case in point, like Chronicles of Narnia, an excellent example.

This isn't just personal opinion, I know there are others who feel as I do about Mario.

and yet clearly there are more people who feel otherwise, hence it's sales.  So it is really more of a personal problem.  I mean, bad example, but i know more then one gambling addict.  It's still a personal problem each person grips with.

Heck, look at all the internet love with the bronies.   As far as I can tell it's unironic, actually watch and enjoy said show like mostly.

Mario's childishness is really part of it's charm at this point.  Bright colors, ineffectual funny villians, the atmosphere more or less replaces what a deeper story normally would.

I don't see any difference between say Mario or Phineas and Ferb for example.  Tons of adults enjoy that show.  More then kids I think.

Mario IS the kind of game adults can, and do enjoy.  Just not one you personally enjoy.

I'd disagree about Shadow of the Colossus.  Shadow of the Colossus IS a story driven game.  While the story of Shadow is told in a very minimalistic fashion I feel that it is still front and center.  If it wasn't for the story, Shadow of the Colossus would have been a really mediocre experience.  

The key thing is this.  Team Ico decided to tell a story in a unique and creative way.  Mario games are not really trying to tell a story at all.

If you want to talk Disney, let's talk Mickey Mouse.  When Mickey started out he was a very mischievious character, and at times a bit of a pain in the ass.  As time went on, his rough edges were smoothed out.  He became friendly, cheerful, and helpful to a fault.  In general, corporate mascots are cheerful and bland faces that are designed to appeal to as broad of an audience as possible.  Your representative is generally the least objectionable person you could find.  And that's why Mario represents Nintendo.

In addition, I think story would be intrusive in a Mario game.  When I'm playing a Mario game, I simply want to pop it in and play.  Honestly, if I had to sit through more than five lines of dialogue, I'd get fidgety.  There are other games I play for story, but that's not what I'm looking for out of Mario.

But, why exactly is it that you feel modern Mario games are so kiddy?  I've been replaying Super Mario Bros 3 lately, I've played quite a bit of NSMB, and I've been playing Super Mario 3D Land regularly since its release.  I just don't see what makes Super Mario Bros 3 any more or less kid-like aside from the retro visuals, which are simply a product of its times. 

Now compare that with Disney movies, which almost all adults will admit are timeless classics (the main ones). It paints a rather different picture I would say. Phineas and Ferb is not in the same league.

I wouldn't say Mario is different from the Disney movies either.

Furthemore, Disney Cartoons are considered classics.  Which, Micky Mouse is practically the prototypical Mario.  Right up to where the latest Micky Mouse game essentially tried to copy Mario back.

Which Mickey Mouse classic would you be thinking of? I ask because the only one I know is Fantasia 2000, and that's nothing like Mario, and conveys a whole other level of emotion.

Pretty much all of them.  All of the original cartoons are considered classics, not just the movies.

I think you've got a very dim and narrow view of american animated culture.