Nintendo confirms work has begun on the next core Mario game, but won't say if it's for Wii U or 3DS

Nintendo has begun work on the next entry in the core Mario series, but the company won't say if this new game is for the Wii U or 3DS. Speaking with Edge, producer Yoshiaki Koizumi said, "That's still a secret! I can tell you, though, that we've already started approaching our next challenge."

Also in the interview, Koizumi said Nintendo's design team continues to seek out new ways to innovate in the platforming genre. "There's still a lot more room for discovery and invention, and we'll continue to propose new and exciting game mechanics going into the future," he said.

If this new game is a follow-up to the critically adored Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U, co-director Kenta Motokura pointed out that his group "might need to make even more use of the GamePad."

Also in the interview, Motokura explained the genesis of the Cat Mario powerup (pictured) from Super Mario 3D World.

"We wanted Mario to make use of not only the ground but other surfaces, which is what led us to this idea," he said. "At roughly the same time, we were looking at ideas for more exciting ways for players to run around the courses."

"One of the things we investigated was having characters scamper around on [all fours]. For both movement styles, the test characters were either a normal-looking Mario or a version with a slight difference in color," he added. "In finally putting all this together into a new Mario ability, we felt that a cat ticked all the boxes…for the final design, we strove to make it as cat-like as possible, while keeping it clearly distinct from [3D Land's] Tanooki Mario.”