Nintendo is desperate to end 2d Mario

From an interview…

GS AU: So what is the core Mario experience?

YK: I feel like the core experience is something that we may have started to get away from a little bit when we first started presenting games in 3D like in Super Mario 64. The idea in those games is that you walk around in those environments and give the players a lot of opportunity to explore.

But the real basics of the Super Mario series is that players have to get to the goal of a level without dying. You have short levels with a very quick tempo, and it should be a very thrilling experience. So some of that was actually missing from Galaxy. The gameplay was a bit slower, and it was so much easier to die, so the core experience of getting to the goal without dying was harder to achieve.

This time around, you’ll find that we have something closer to the three-minute levels you see in Super Mario Bros, so for me, overall this feels closer to the core of the Super Mario Bros. experience traditionally.

When was the last time Nintendo changed the gameplay skeleton of any of its big games in the last fifteen years? That’s right, never. This is how desperate Miyamoto is to end 2d Mario.

I’ve been trying for Nintendo to alter the Zelda gameplay skeleton. Even a gradual shift would be great. Don’t emphasize the puzzles and crappy NPCs so much. Focus more on the combat and on the RPG elements. Nintendo refuses to do this which is why Zelda has become such a joke.

So while Nintendo is unwilling to alter any of the Zelda gameplay skeleton, Nintendo is willing to make a RADICAL change in the gameplay skeleton of 3d Mario. Wouldn’t it just be easier to make another 2d Mario?

“No! I don’t want to make 2d Mario anymore! The future is 3d, Malstrom! 3d! 3d!” says Miyamoto.

This is the third 3d Mario designed to attract the 2d Mario crowd (Galaxy games were the first two). The reason why Super Mario 3DS won’t work is for the same reason why the earlier 3d Mario games won’t work.

1) Nintendo can only see the superficial issues (such as the 3 minute timer)…

2) It is replacing 2d Mario.

When I see Super Mario 3DS, I ask, “Where the hell is 2d Mario? What the hell is this crap?” If Super Mario 3DS was made after a 2d Mario, this wouldn’t be an issue. But with no 2d Mario present, hostility will greet Super Mario 3DS at the beginning.

But let’s say that hostility wasn’t there. Let me put this into context of how ridiculous Nintendo has become.

They expect 2d Mario fans, who do not like 3d Mario, to buy an expensive handheld that is branded 3d, whose games are all 3d, that has 3d output, that tries to sell them their beloved NES classics mutated in 3d, to buy a 3d Mario game?

Their response will be this:

It’s time for Miyamoto to grow up and realize the market is his boss. The market wants 2d Mario. A much better approach would be to make the best 2d Mario game ever complete with all the production visuals and flair. This would attract the 3d Mario audience far better than the other way around.

Here is a noteworthy comment:

GS AU: When you’re designing a new Mario game, how much influence do fans have? The inclusion of the tanooki suit in Super Mario 3DS, for example, answers a lot of fans’ calls. Do you listen to fans before you start development?

YK: I think it’s important to note that our staff are all fans of the series as well, having grown up with Mario. And, as such, they’re very familiar about what the traditional Super Mario game elements are, and what makes it a fun experience. So we decided to focus on those few elements and culled the rest, to really get down to the essence. And of course, on that list the tanooki suit was very high. So I would say in that sense, yes, we do listen to fans when we design the game.

In other words, the fans have no involvement whatsoever. Look at the way how he answered this!

Q: “Do the fans have any influence?”

A: Our developers are fans, so therefore the answer is yes.

That is not an answer. I don’t really care if fans have influence or fans don’t have influence. What I care about is this double talking where he tries to twist an answer that suggests there is influence where there is none.

Believe me, if fans had any influence, we would have seen 2d Mario before 18 years. Apparently, 2d Mario people buying Nintendo’s hardware and the game in huge numbers is not enough influence.

I do believe arrogant people are eventually disciplined by the universe. The type of attitude I have been seeing from Nintendo lately, especially on these simple matters, will be calling for a large disciplinary action fairly soon.