"He didn't say they don't release ANY new titles, just that effort is put into ports that might have netted us a new game instead. "
No, he did say that. See "in place of original titles." Not "alongside original titles" which would imply the presence of both. And also since he didn't mention any series whatsoever, it seems to imply that all Nintendo does if they have, in fact, "broken" this rule, is that they release nothing but ports and have no original titles. At least that's the way I interpreted the frist time I read it. And then somehow the Mario Advance games got dragged into this as "proof" that Nintendo releases nothing but ports in place of new games.
" Now you're arguing semantics on what is a Mario game. I think you know what he meant."
I know what he meant originally which was
"3. Ports are not released in place of original titles."
"Sadly Nintendo usually breaks all three of these."
Which doesn't even include the words Mario or anything. Hell that makes it sound like ports of old games (specifically GBA games) should not get in the way of new games. Which on the GBA, they don't. In fact, I'll make a list.
GBA Ports Nintendo Published:
SMA
SMA2
SMA3
SMA4
DKC
LTTP
Disney's Magical Quest (Yessir they did publish it. Just this one, the rest were pubbed by Capcom)
Classic NES (8 games, but I don't think these break his #1 or #2 rules, since they are direct ports and sold at a discount)
New GBA games published by Nintendo:
F-Zero Maximum Velocity
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (Mario!)
Advance Wars
Advance Wars 2
Fire Emblem
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (... ... ... Well they DID publish it.)
Game and Watch Gallery 4 (Remakes AND old versions!)
Golden Sun
Golden Sun: the Lost Age
Hamtaro: Ham Ham Heartbreak
Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue (Dunno if it's out over here, but anyways)
Kirby: Nightmare in DreamLand (Remake, full)
Mario and Luigi (Hey look, A Mario game! Ok it's more of an RPG. But...)
Mario Golf: Advance Tour (Whaddaya know? ANOTHER Mario Game! Alright, I'm grapsing at straws. However...)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong (BINGO! It's like you are Mario and you run and jump around... kinda like a Mario platformer. In fact, that's just what it is)
Metroid Fusion
Metroid Zero Mission
Pokemon Ruby+Sapphire (I'll be sporting and count this as one.)
Pokemon Pinball: Ruby+Sapphire
Sword of Mana (they published this too.)
Top Gear Rally (Yup uh-huh. This too)
Wario Land 4 (This plays EEEeerily similar to a Mario Game. It's almost as if the mechanics are the same! But if you're gonna be difficult and argue OMG, NOT MARIO, then you will just have to settle for MvDK up there)
Wario Ware Mega Micro Game$
Damn That's pretty one-sided in favor of new games. So obviously a couple of renovated NES games and some click-and-drag SNES and NES ports isn't stopping the flow of new games And I didn't even include the upcoming new games like F-Zero GP Legend, F-Zero Climax (recently announced), Kirby: The Amazing Mirror, Mario Pinbal Land (Mario! Again!), DK:King of Swing, Mario Party Advance (MARIO! Alright n/m), Hamtaro: Ham Ham Games, Mario Tennis (MarioMarioMarioMarioMario), Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. I'm sure I missed something. Oh yeah another port will come out soon. DKC2. One-sided yet again.
Oh I could be a bitch and say since the GBA is region-free, they that would also include the various import favorites like Kuru Kuru Kururin, Legend of Stafi, Legend of Stafi 2, Custom Robo GX (Could show up here), Tomato Adventure, Magical Vacation. I don't think I even need to go on.
I dunno, IS Nintendo shamelessly replacing new games with ports of their old ones? It sure as hell doesn't look like it to me.