Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario and possibly the most influential game designer of all time, was interviewed by IGN today during E3. He was asked if he could say anything about the next main title in the Mario series. Surprisingly, IGN didn’t get a handwave and a “no comment.” They didn’t get screenshots and a trailer either, but they got enough.
According to Miyamoto, the next big Mario game is still in the experimental stage. “We’re always challenging ourselves to create something new, so hopefully you’ll see a new kind of Mario in about a year or two,” he told them. “Maybe next E3 we’ll be able to share something.”
The NX launches in March and every modern E3 is in June. “Next E3” means “no Mario at the NX launch,” unless they slap one of his many spinoffs together.
Miyamoto went on to explain the challenges of getting this new title right. Unlike with Zelda, they can’t take huge risks and expect them to be accepted. “It’s kind of difficult with Mario because some of the more important conventions of Mario are based on the approachability and accessibility of those games,” Miyamoto said. He noted that new people have joined Nintendo in the last few years and that their perspectives have allowed them to look “at the conventions with fresh eyes.”
The last big Mario game was Super Mario 3D World in 2013.
