Nintendo open to more HD remakes

After releasing The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD last month for Wii U, Nintendo has said it is open to the idea of more high-definition remakes of older Mario games, like 2002's GameCube title Super Mario Sunshine or 2007's Wii game Super Mario Galaxy.

Speaking as part of a roundtable interview attended by GameSpot this week, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto said such remakes would not likely be developed internally.

"As for remaking previous games in HD, that's certainly possible, but currently most of our developers are working on making new stuff. HD remakes might however be a good project for a development partner," Miyamoto said through a translator. "So that's something that I hope we have the opportunity to introduce in the future."

No potential development partners for future HD remakes were mentioned. If expanded beyond just Mario-focused games, Nintendo's back catalog of titles is plentiful, spanning games from franchises like Super Mario Strikers, Super Smash Bros., Pilot Wings, Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Fire Emblem, Metroid, and Star Fox, among others.

Miyamoto also made clear that if Nintendo did return to an older game for an HD remake, fans should expect more than a simple visual update.

"The main thing that's always going to be on our minds is what new elements of gameplay can we use with the GamePad as applied to some of these older games," he said. "We want to find some way to bring a refreshing experience to this rather than simply update the visuals and leave it at that."

Also, in discussing Super Mario 3D World, Miyamoto said Nintendo has not ruled out returning to the Super Mario Galaxy series--or at least a game in the vein of that platforming series.

"We did not set out trying to define the future of Mario action games with this title," Miyamoto said about Super Mario 3D World. "Rather, we're just trying to find some fun new elements that we can incorporate. So for example, I certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility of us creating more games in the vein of Super Mario Galaxy, for example. What we're trying to accomplish here, is just to create a really good entry point for new players into the Super Mario 3D games."

The original Super Mario Galaxy was released in 2007, with a sequel arriving in 2010. Super Mario 3D world is the latest Mario 3D platformer and arrives exclusively for Wii U on November 22.