Then most of the opinions you've heard are from Nintendo because most of the opinions I've heard are that it looks stupid. My arguement is the the entire market thinks it looks dumb, and that a game with that kind of stigma won't sell well and the idea would sell better if it was under the Mario franchise. That's enough reason for it not to sell well. That's the only reason it needs not to sell well. If a game like W101, a game that is way more marketable than Splatoon, isn't anecdotal evidence enough, then you're a lost cause.

I'm not so shallow and it is childish and doesn't accomplish anything but make one person feel falsely inferior and one person feel falsely superior. Glad you think that makes me high and mighty.

Nope, it was a genius idea. Like they said in the digital event, the characters were decided afterwards because they were the best fit. Mario characters are only used when there really is no best fit, such as with Mario Party or Mario Kart. Mario turning into a blooper just isn't as good as the squid themed character design in Splatoon. I do still kind of want Mario Paintball, but I don't need it anytime soon after this reveal, and I don't want it to be ANYTHING like Splatoon, because Splatoon is unique and deserves to keep its identity.

Pretty sure the majority agrees that there is nothing wrong with the characters in W101...the problem was always that it was a niche game (yes, more niche than Splatoon) because of its strange control scheme, difficulty and small target audience (due to its mature content (or at least too mature for kids) and design to make it similar to 90s cartoons which would appeal to a very specific age group)...

I've given my anecdotal evidence of de Blob three times now, which is a better comparison than any game you could come up with due to its similar aesthetic and significantly worse character design.

Also, its interesting how you seem to have been able to gauge the "entire market" when I've seen GT, Two Best Friends, IGN, and most of the people in this thread and on VGC saying that they will at least give the game a shot, especially when we find out more information about the single player and additional game modes. You may say that we on the forums and the gaming media don't represent the entire market, but then how exactly are you getting you metrics for the entire market?

Finally, let me restate that if this was a Mario game, it would be very restricted in the things it was able to do, and I don't think the squid mechanic (which pretty much makes the game) would be able to work as seamlessly in a mario game...

The majority didn't buy the W101. De Blob sold less than 1m on a console with a 100m installed base. Your anecdotal evidence supports my argument, not yours. It's up to gaming media to judge quality, not aesthetic, which is what I'm judging. Their reviews of the game won't effect sales of an unmarketable game. I'm not talking about people on forums. I'm talking about the mass market, for the umteenth time. VGChartz is a Nintendo-biased sales site. Most of the people who browse those sites will never even know Splatoon exists, because they'll go onto IGN, scroll down the page, see a thumbnail with Splatoon on it, passively think it looks stupid, keep scrolling, and literally never think about it again.

Paper Mario exists. Mario suits exist. There's literally no restriction to what they could do with a Mario game. Mario got a squid power up. Problem solved.

Didn't read my argument on W101: Check
Has ridiculous expectations on what a New IP needs to sell to be considered a success: Check
Insists that you somehow know what the mass market thinks: Check

Also, it doesn't make sense for Mario to be in this game. Mario wears suits most of the time that give him certain abilities. What happens in this game just doesn't make sense within the mario universe. Could they make it work? Sure, but it would feel forced. It makes much more sense for this game to be a new IP with new characters. It gives them more freedom with what they can do with the game. If it was a Mario game, it would likely utilize things like mario characters, mario powerups, mario locations etc instead of giving the devs complete freedom with the game.

Would it sell better if it was a Mario game? Maybe, but it would have a lot fewer options for expanding the franchise and expanding the world. It would always be restricted to being a Mario game.

I'm done with this discussion, as you obviously have no idea what you are talking about...

No, you don't.

It is better because Nintendo puts too much focus on Mario as is. Granted, I think maybe a few Amiibo should allow for some Nintendo all star guest appearances in Splatoon to help act as a hook but making this a original IP works well for making it a unique product gameplay wise and visually.

Smart.
Mario is oversaturated atm.

It couldn't be a Mario game. Mario isn't a squid.

Smart