Nintendo is all about the Dollar signs. They know that Mario is arguably the most recognized character in video games so why not use that knowledge to make oodles of dough. Insted of putting out a cartoony tannis/golf game they can plaster Mario\'s name on it and it will sell a couple million more. All of the gaming companies just want to make cash and as much of it as possible, its just that Sega and Nintendo happen to have some of the most brilliant minds in gaming so people try to convince themselves that Nintendo is in the business to please us. Case in point. Nintendo has put out a whopping 5 pokemon games in the course of a couple years. If that isn\'t bad enough, they bamboozle the kidds into buying TWO versions of the EXACT same game just to get 2 or 3 more critters. How sickening is that? Then they make a game for the N64 that requires an expensive transfer pack so that the kids can see their captured critters in 3d(Not that they look much different in 2D or 3D). To us this may be sickening; but in a business sense that was one of the most ingenious business tactics the gaming world has ever seen. I guess that is why they have been around for so long and will remain around for much longer.
[/rant]
Sorry about the rant. I guess I had to elaborate to explain the whoring out of Nintendo mascots.
BTW, this could be applied to ANY company that pastes their mascots all over crap and releases countless rehashes.
And don\'t get me wrong. A lot of these rehashes from Sony, Nintendo, and Sega are nothing less than brilliant.