Nintendo: We are not milking Mario franchise

Nintendo is not milking the Mario franchise by releasing so many games, according to company president Satoru Iwata.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 launched on the Nintendo 3DS last week while New Super Mario Bros. U will be available on Wii U at the end of the year.

Iwata told Kotaku that he's not worried about the franchise going stale as the two games offer different experiences.

He said: "These are two very unique and separate titles. 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.

"I believe the two titles are unique enough that I wouldn't say that I'm super worried that people are going to be confused."

Iwata claimed that Nintendo would probably continue with releasing one Mario game per platform.

He added: "We only create a New Super Mario Bros. title one per platform.

"I think we'll probably go ahead and continue at that pace. That being said, that's probably [Mario creator Shigeru] Miyamoto's choice, so I can't give you a 100% guarantee that that's the pace we'll continue at."