Development on Mario games moved at an almost glacial pace in the past, with years passing between new titles in the series. Fast forward to the present day and sequels seem to be churned out at an ever increasing rate. While the quality of the releases has yet to see much of a decline, Nintendo do seem to have woken up to the possibilities regular Mario games present.
Speaking to Kotaku, Iwata has defended Nintendo's current Mario release slate, saying the company has released the games across different platforms and the fact they were released close together was a quirk:
"We only create a New Super Mario Bros. title one per platform," Iwata said. "I think we'll probably go ahead and continue at that pace.
"That being said, that's probably Miyamoto's choice, so I can't give you a 100 per cent guarantee that that's the pace we'll continue at.
It's likely that within 12 months Nintendo will have released Super Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario Bros. 2 and New Super Mario Bros. U, with Iwata firmly believing each title will offer a unique experience.
"These are two very unique and separate titles," Iwata promised.
"We have a Mario you can play in the palm of your hand and a Mario you can play seated in front of your TV."