I disagree. Pokemon alone is not enough on its own to keep Nintendo going. I'm not disputing the various revenue streams it gives them but its not enough financially. And no Pokemon doesn't appeal equally to to both a young and adult audience. Sure there are adults who like it and even buy every Pokemon game released as well as the merchandise but it mostly appeals to the younger audience. Pokemon is in no way a solid fall back and Nintendo cannot retire Mario as the franchise contributes too much to its overall revenue. Pokemon is also not the number one franchise and I would say Mario is more likely to be that then Pokemon.
Mario is a far bigger franchise then Pokemon as the following link indicates.
http://en.wikipedia....game_franchises
oh i wasn't disagreeing that mario IS bigger than pokemon, but pokemon is easily their next best franchise, and they dont even develop pokemon. Donkey kong, metroid, starfox EVEN zelda can't hold a candle to pokemon. Sooooo if nintendo decided "hey lets take a break on mario and focus on pokemon" i think it would be ok. Mario fans will happily wait in anticipation for a new refreshing title, pokemon fans happily play as much pokemon as possible, and nintendo will still generate substantial revenue and exceed their selling goals.
I do think however that many people (like myself) who grew up on pokemon when it debuted in the late 90's, still enjoy the games. Plus if you're over 16 playing pokemon, i don't consider you a 'kid" per say, therefore, im willing to bet that the ratio of kids:adults isn't as lopsided as its assumed.
