Mario is probably still more recognized than Pokemon or any other video game mascot. Nintendo will never replace Mario as their mascot. There is no need to. Microsoft and Sony would jizz in their pants if they could have a mascot as good as Mario. Mario is what made Nintendo during the NES era and will continue to make Nintendo massive money.

I can kind of support the stance that Mario needs to be in fewer games, just to keep him fresh, but to say he needs to go away is sensationalistic and silly.

Main line Mario games are nearly always awesome and the vast majority of second string games are still of very high quality. If you want good games to go away you need to hand in your gamer card.

I hate fish. Fish needs to be discontinued immediately.

a few years ago I read that Mario was more recognizable worldwide than mickey mouse....

Basically he's the ubersuperstar.

Nintendo would lose 1/2 it's stock value if they announced they were dropping him...

(about bad mario games... didn't he do sucky PC games in the SNES era?)

sethnintendo:"Mario is probably still more recognized than Pokemon"

Good thing you said probably because I think overall Pokemon is more known.

Also: I never said Mario should go away I said "Kind of go away" which by that I mean not be mascot/have fewer games. Mario shouldn't leave Nintendo but a mascot should be the more known one which people will probably disagree with me but in my opinion overall Pokemon is more known which is what a mascot is.

Popuarity is not a matter of opinion.

Sales disagrees with you as you can see Mario games still sells cause people still loves Mario and wants more of Mario.

1. I didn't say popular I said more known and their is a difference. For example: Right now Animal Crossing and Pikmin are more popular than Donkey Kong(Sales) while Donkey Kong is WAY more known.

2. Fine Pokemon IS more known than Mario

1. Being more known isn't a matter of opinion either.

2. No, it isn't.

That's really all I can say, here!

IMO Mario will remain Nintendo's mascot until the company dies ( If it ever does, which I hope not. ) No matter how much people dislike him, more people will always like him. He is too loved by almost.........everyone, any age, any gender. When people think of Nintendo, Mario pops into their head. Hell when people think of Video Games 99% chance Mario pops into their head. Also IMO, His games are fantastic, back then and still are currently. I recently enjoyed New Super Mario Bros Wii, much more than even I expected. Nintendo is the Disney of Video Games and Mario is the Mickey Mouse, even though, IMO, they are both better than those two. We all know Disney and Mickey Mouse will never die, atleast in history. Same with Nintendo, Mario will always be the first thing remembered when someone remembers Nintendo...........I think it's impossible to replace Mario, after all he has done, including saving the entire gaming industry in the states from the crash. I love Zelda, even more than Mario. They could put Link as the new mascot, Mario will still come to my head first when Nintendo is mentioned..........and that is my OPINION on this topic.