Takashi Tezuka, general manager of Nintendo’s Entertainment Analysis and Development department, who worked with Shigeru Miyamoto since the original Super Mario Bros. He said in a recent interview:
Speaking of Mario, when the DS first launched one of the games that helped sell the initial units was Mario 64. Was there any thought of following that up with another all-new 3-D Mario for the DS, as opposed to the New Super Mario Bros. game? Or was New Super Mario Bros. in the works all along anyway?
Takashi Tezuka: Yes, the 2-D New Super Mario Bros. had been in the works planning-wise all along. Actually when we were preparing Super Mario 64 for the DS, some of the characters in that we decided would already be carried over into the new 2-D platformer; so as early as that [the team] was already working on New Super Mario Bros.. And so they just started pulling assets together, different characters and materials, and basically over the development period for New Super Mario Bros. they just threw it all together and that’s what the game is.
Is Nintendo looking to do another 3-D Mario on DS, though?
Takashi Tezuka: Well I’d love to! *laughs* I can’t say anything more than that.
A simple “No” would’ve done, so this surely is a hint.
Read about his Wii work at Gamedaily