Ok, let's back up a second here. You people need to wife up that knowledge, and lucky for you, I have the power vested in me. Specifically, in my pants. Aren't you lucky.
First off, Mario - in terms of a pure platforming series - is handled with a lot of care. There's been exactly three console versions in thirteen years, and really only one new 2D version on the DS (not counting Yoshi's Island, which is up for debate). Still, point being is that he's treated as something of a landmark thing.
Given that, I doubt there's any first party teams that either A) want to make a Wiiware version, or B) would be given the option unless they could really demonstrate something unique that would really call for it.
Further, I'm guessing the inherent limitations all over the place put the kibosh on the idea. Spacing issues would force it into an uncomfortable corner. It's pretty clear that a good portion of the Wii audience wouldn't even know about a Wiiware game (not taking their systems online), wouldn't care, or just simply would view it as inherently less valid as a true retail release. All of these things don't look favorable when it comes to turning a profit and creating a unique product. That's going to torpedo securing the funding from the get go (since you'd have to make that case to all the people inside NCL/NOA who make those decisions).
I doubt Nintendo would want to release a game in the same vein as Megaman 9. Why? Mmmm. For all the reasons above, as well as I could see them viewing it as a "cheap cash in" sort of thing, since the graphics would be in some retro format.
So in some bizarre hurts-my-nuts way, Reggie's got a point. (Note the nut-hurting there - I am not agreeing to all of, but I am spelling them out.)
It doesn't help that - as others pointed out - you could release it on the DS and charge more money for it, or even as a retail Wii release. Then you've got better market exposure, the devs can get proper treatment of the series, etc etc. You can get mad about it all you want, but that's the breaks.
Now, the other part of this discussion - "SPOGS isn't innovative" - is pretty much defeated in a similar, easy manner.
Whenever we talk about the games a service or console offers, what do we focus on? The good shit. You didn't buy an SNES to play Captain Novolin, or an NES to play Color-A-Dinosaur. You got those systems for their awesome titles - Chrono Trigger, FF6, Super Metroid, right alongside Mario Bros 1/2/3, Zelda, etc.
Same with Wiiware. Why focus on the bad shit that's there and obviously doesn't uphold the idea of an innovative/good piece of software? We're not interested in that. We want to check out games like Bit.Trip Beat, Lostwinds, World of Goo, and so on. Throwing out this OMFG [SHITTY GAME] IS GOING ON WIIWARE OVER A MARIO? tantrum doesn't make you look like you've caught someone in a lie - it looks like you're focusing on a turd to prove a point.
Dr. Mario doesn't count, by the way, since that's not a true Mario game. I don't know of true Halo games on XBLA, nor true Metal Gears on the PSN. Those companies guard those franchises in such a way so that they are big productions that can make big profits because they can be marketed in the public eye. Until digital distribution becomes more mainstream and EVERYONE is online, we're not going to see such things.
The only way we're going to get a Mario Wiiware title is if there's a marketable reason to do it. As it stands, Wiiware is far better a platform for things like Art Style, where Nintendo can put out a small proof-of-concept sort of game that's going to recoup its costs with a few thousand downloads. Cubello comes to mind. Mario Wiiware would sell, definitely, but it wouldn't sell a tenth (if not hundredth) as well as the exact same data on a DS cart, where you can get a better price AND a bigger userbase. Further, I imagine Nintendo doesn't want to flood Wiiware with all their stuff, since that's just going to send third parties away when they can't compete with those recognizable franchises.
I'm just the messenger, aight? I'd kill for, say, Braid's graphics married with a Mario platformer, with flowing painterly styles and so on. And I'd damn sure love an HD 2D Metroid, with killer graphics and such. But it's not going to happen anytime soon. You're going to feel a lot better if you look at this logically.
Wiiware has some great stuff en route. More MLAAK, Super Meat Boy, Cave Story, etc. It functions very, very well as a service where smaller teams can make a name for themselves by making something unique and new. It's a good place for unproven IPs, obscure titles you run across on the 'net, and everything in between, right on up to big name titles like Megaman 9 from companies like Capcom.
Again, I'm not saying you guys don't have some valid points. But in terms of volume, they don't fill the bucket Nintendo has set aside from this argument. That's the truth of the matter - Reggie's words? They can be discarded in light of the truth, which 99% of the time comes back to money. That's all there is to it.
SPOGS Racing.
