Super Mario on Xbox?

While Mario, possibly the most iconic video game character in history, has primarily been the preserve of Nintendo consoles, the Japanese company has begun to slacken the Italian plumber’s exclusivity with the announcement of iOS and Android game Super Mario Run, released next month. Should Nintendo continue to extend its first-party properties to other formats, one man sure to be first in the queue is Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox. In an interview with AusGamers, Spencer declared his love of Nintendo – “the strongest first-party of anybody,” he says – and expressed his desire to see Mario come to Microsoft’s console platform.

“I’d love to see Mario on Xbox,” Spencer said. “As someone who’s been in this industry and played games forever, I’ll still say it: Nintendo has the strongest first-party of anybody. They’re just fantastic and the memories that they have instilled in so many of us, who’ve played their games and had those delightful experiences, having those on Xbox would be great.”

“Obviously we have Minecraft on Nintendo and when that opportunity came up to work with them on Minecraft, you know, some people might look at it and say ‘why would you even do that?’, but with Nintendo, it’s been a great partnership on Minecraft,” he added. “In fact they put Mario in Minecraft on Wii U with the mash-up skin pack. And continuing to work with them on that and building a stronger relationship… I mean if that paid dividends down the road that lead to something else, that would be fantastic.”

Spencer was also enthused at the idea of Xbox characters making the leap over to Nintendo, specifically appearing in cross-franchise beat ‘em up Super Smash Bros.

“I know I get questions all the time on would I ever like to see Banjo in Super Smash Bros. and I’m, like, “yes, I would do that in a second”,” Spencer declared. “And certain people think I’m saying that as some sort of PR answer and I’m, like, why wouldn’t you?”

“Anyway, I’m a big Nintendo fan and I think they’ve been incredibly important for the games industry, they do a great job with younger audiences, and if we ever had a chance to work with them in the future, I would absolutely do it,” he said.