Nintendo's Fils-Aime believes there's no danger of creating too many Mario games

Asked whether Nintendo was risking Mario overkill with its recent series of sequels, Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime replied: "No."

GamesIndustry.biz put it to Fils-Aime that we might be "getting too much Mario" and that there might be "a danger in using Nintendo's IP too much". To this line of enquiry, the big man replied: "I would say categorically, no."

For some reason, we imagine him folding his arms and looking cross while he uttered those words. Just us?

Anyway, a mere eight months passed (not very long in Nintendo time) between the release of New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario 3D Land on Nintendo 3DS, while the New Super Mario Bros. U title will be ready for the Wii U's launch this November.

Fils-Aime is confident that Nintendo's quality control machine is as finely tuned as ever, though.

"That's because our developers, starting with Mr Miyamoto and going through the entire EAD development organization, they understand the power of our franchises, and they understand that the only reason these franchises have the power that they do is that they have to make sure that each subsequent edition is unique, different, and offers something new," he explained.

"Unique", "different", and "offering something new" - anyone know what the difference is between those terms? Let us know if you do.

Fils-Aime says that Nintendo's key developers would never want to "kill the golden goose that lays the golden egg", and that the company's executives "hold that IP very dearly".

So, Nintendo will keep churning out the Mario sequels at a steady rate to keep us pouring golden coins into its pockets. Frankly, we're inclined to let it.