Super Smash Bros. was previously out on N64
-  Super Smash Brothers was a must release on the cube even if its the same thing as the N64 game.  Nintendo needed a big multiplayer game and had there own game in there pockets and knew no one an create a game like this (since no other company has the amount of popular characters that Nintendo does, they are popular because they are put into great games that are getting better with each new version)
Mario Golf And Mario Tennis Also on N64
-  Mario Golf on the GBA added an RPG element to the game
-  Mario Tennis will probably also add an RPG element in the next version coming out
Mario Kart out on N64, GBA and SNES
-  Mario Kart Double Dash was almost a reinvention of the game and added an entirely new feel to it
Mario Party (which they are absolutely abusing) also on N64
-  agreed, super monkey ball has blown mario party out of the water

Mario is universal and can be used in several different genres where as most other characters dont have the ability to play golf, tennis, party, racing, platform, etc…

Yeah, they do. The DS, while I still don’t quite “get” it all yet, is looking like an innovative handheld, especially in comparison to the PSP (this is stricktly in the gaming dept., however).

But I wasn’t disputing that. All of my points were to prove that Nintendo is overusing their star franchise.

[quote author=“DougKaplan”]Mario is universal and can be used in several different genres where as most other characters dont have the ability to play golf, tennis, party, racing, platform, etc…

I’m sorry, but do you understand how ridiculous that sounds?!? There is nothing that makes Mario so universal that he above all other characters can star in a Tennis or Golf game. Nothing! He lives in the Mushroom Kingdom! What would they know about Golf or Kart racing?

Seriously, there’s nothing Stopping Sega from doing all the same things with Sonic, Eidos with Lara Croft, Namco with Klonoa, Capcom with Mega Man, Konami with Sparkster from Rocket Knight Adventures, etc. Any other company can use their most popular character in a variety of different genres of games and people will buy them, so long as they are good games.

My whole point is: outside of monetary reasons, why use Mario in all of your games, when you can just create something entirely new? There is nothing so crucial that those games would require Mario and nothing else in order to work.

Therefore, they are abusing Mario.

Those companies can be my guest and try and take there beloved characters and put them in a golf/tennis/party/puzzle/etc. type game and see how well it does.  Sega has tried with Sonic to be a fighting game on the GBA, a pinball game, and robotnik puzzle games, but do they sell and ask around, are they any good?

No one besides Nintendo has been able to make high quality titles over and over again with the same few characters and why stop when they are on a roll?

I would LOVE to see anyone of the characters above do a different style game than we expect from them but they wont try it because those who have (besides nintendo) have failed because the characters cant do other styles of genres.  People love seeing Mario in every environment possible, its the allure of the character.

Dude Nintendo should make a game where—Get this—Mario is a plumber. No seriously, hear me out. He gets calls to houses, and he’s gotta like plunger toliets to get goldfish out, or like fix a faucet, or he’s gotta lay 20ft of pipe in 5 minutes before the water turns on… or he’s gotta install a sprinkler system, and use wrenches and stuff. It’d be cool. It’d be like… Sim Mario.

NOTE: I only read the first post.

Super Smash Brothers, Paper Mario, and Super Smash brothers are great game. Same with Mario Kart, and the like.

Of course they abuse mario. sunshine, paper, doctor, they are doing anything that comes to mind because somebody is bound buy it.