Yes, asscoiating games based solely on one character makes much more sense than using gameplay mechanics. Clearly New Super Mario Bros Wii is the long awaited sequel to Mario Kart Wii. The new tracks are a bit strange though, and a lot less circular.

Lumping them all together because of one commonality makes absolutely no sense. This is more true since most people would lump the Final Fantasy series together, and they don't even share a common world! When a spin-off becomes successful enough to spawn its own franchise then it is time to stop counting them in with the main franchise. For example, the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series of games is never used to show how "milked" Final Fantasy is. And those games come out like crazy it seems.

FUCK! I lost my Diablos card ...AGAIN, and trying to get it back I just lost my Ifrit Card. Sigh, now another half hour worth to get them back. But back on topic, yes, I would partially consider the Zelda franchise "milked" but not to the full definition. I do find it funny that people can't accept how much the Mario franchise has gotten milked since the beginning. And to that other guy, NO that silly example you gave about Kratos being in Soul Calibur. Notice I didn't mention at all SSBB, because I don't consider it as part of the Mario franchise to the full definition as it's a crossover of many different games including MGS, Metroid, Zelda, etc. Anyways, back to getting my cards.

I really don't understand what your point is.

The core Mario series has been in existence for 25 years and it's been universally recognised as one of the best, and it's certainly still a massive event when a new one comes out - note how surprised people are that Nintendo for the first time since the NES are releasing a sequel to the series on one console.

There have also been numerous off-shoots that have turned into highly successful series in their own right, sometimes by Nintendo and sometimes by other companies - such as Mario Kart, the 3 different RPG series (RPG, Paper and Mario & Luigi), Dr. Mario, Smash Bros, Mario Party.

There are also lesser recognised series such as Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, and one-offs like the great Mario Paint.

I guess I could understand what you mean when you say 'milked' if the series were suffering a decline in quality because so many titles were being chucked out with little or no demand for them or that they were becoming low grade, but people WANT new installments of the core series, they want a Mario Kart and Smash Bros update on a new system, they want more from the RPG series. These series are very popular.

Listing all the games that feature Mario from different series only demonstrates how popular and consistent these series are, it certainly doesn't justify an argument that the franchise is getting 'milked.'

Yes if you want to.

No if you don't want to.

It's all a matter of perspective, kind of a metaphor for how this generation has been. It's all been a matter of perspective.

"It's too early to feel safe!"

Old school gamers know where that quote came from.

Seems to me you're trying to spin everything because you don't like something, and think is normal to dislike something.

Mario is featured in different franchises, which is a normal thing for a mascot, almost like a logo. Cartoonists used to have one prominent character they used in all cartoons, Miyamoto was inspired by this and created Mario for this very purpose. But all along they've been very careful about the quality of the games Mario is on.

Milking is I believe when you take a game franchise and make many versions of it in a short span, or put your character on many subpar games to give them a boost at the expense of your character's reputation(in case of branding). When branding and game is mutually beneficial(the game being good benefits brand reputation, brand may benefit the game) and the products are different, they're not mutually exclusive. The games Mario has been in and were different franchises are different consumer product segments.

I said No, I think MW2 X360 will sell more, even though Mario deserves more sales compared to it.

The whole bet was a mess to begin with. The interviewer asked if NSMBWii will outsell MW2. Reggie said yes, on one console, by the time January NDP comes in (not making it obvious if he actually meant USA sales or not). The interviewer than shouted "THREE SIXTY!!!!" and Reggie didn't comment on it.

So, the bet is about NSMBWii outselling MW2 on _____ console, in ____ region, by the end of January.

So basically the interviewer just set him up for a fall then?? That is just mean.

No.

The interviewer said "On the 360?". Reggie then said "I do belive so..."