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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Why does Metroid Mainline Games sale so sell low? And could it sale higher now?

Some may argue Metroid sales are "niche" but I don t think so- Those sales are pretty strong overall and it is a franchise that has lasted the test of time- As far as the IP/brand there is no way it is "niche" it is prob Nintendo's 3rd most famous brand after Mario and Zelda (I m not counting Pokémon)



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Dunban67 said:
Some may argue Metroid sales are "niche" but I don t think so- Those sales are pretty strong overall and it is a franchise that has lasted the test of time- As far as the IP/brand there is no way it is "niche" it is prob Nintendo's 3rd most famous brand after Mario and Zelda (I m not counting Pokémon)

These sales are over a LT, Metroid often sells something like 300k or so upfront and then legs take it past the million mark, look at OM for reference, you may not count it but Pokemon is the second most famous brand in fact I doubt Metorid is even in the top 5 as Fire Emblem has probably over taken it and Animal Crossing demolishes it. Splatoon may overtake it as well.

Metroid is only famous to those on forums and such.



Dunban67 said:
Stefan.De.Machtige said:
At this point, Nintendo will have to reboot the series in some great way for just make the 2 millions range possible.

I m not so sure-  Existing Metroid fans are hungry so there would be a strong "by in" from existing fans for a mainline Metroid-   If it is a 3d Prime type game then IMO there will be alot of new fans wanting to experience what all the Metroid fans have been talking about- plus Samus is getting good exposure in Smash games-

Also look at Fire Emblem-  It was thought to ne dead in the West (by Nintendo) then went on to record sales with its newest iterations

One of the main reasons why Fire Emblem Awakening succeeded was because it was able to be accesible to a greater audience that previous games were not able to. Casual mode allowed for new players and casual players to play the game without the danger of actually losing their comrades if they feel if its too much of a challenge for them to start. Permadeath was a factor here for some fans or consumers who wanted to try the games. Of course, it didn't hurt that Awakening combined pretty all of the elements that were introduced from previous games and added a few new things that allowed it to stand out and be great.

I wonder how Metroid can close that gap between casuals and core gamers while remain the challenging series it is known to be. 



You can perceive that the games that sell the most are the ones that can give the most instant gratification to the players. It includes all those Free-To-Play shit on mobile, Call Of Duty, Mario, Wii Sports, GTA 5 ( it does have a complex system to learn, but most people only go destructing everything) and etc.

More brain games are more difficult for the general public to appreciate, or either they have a very big hardcore fanbase that can push millions of units, like MGS, this franchise always sells around the same numbers since PS1, FF, DQ, Blizzard games and MMO`s in general aren`t for the general public, but they happen to have such a huge fan base that they look to not be niche, but they actually are.



Commenting on the Prime trilogy specifically, the series didn't evolve. You essentially played through the same game three times with different skins and different locations. This would be fine if the core gameplay concept was enticing enough, but when pretty much all you have to look forward to is the next world to explore or the next boss battle (which will then be followed by more chores and backtracking until you reach the next one), the effort vs reward ratio is skewed.

Another large issue is the paradoxically linear nature of all three games which are supposed to be based around exploration. There is little to no room for the players to think creatively in how they choose to explore the worlds because you are always limited by your gear and inventory. Pretty much all opportunities for the player to think outside the box are limited to boss battles and different ways to take down other powerful enemies, even if they, too, tend to be overly linear in nature.

The Wii's limited hardware is another detriment since one of the main selling points of the first two games was the compelling scenery. And the trade-off for the poor visuals? Motions controls that, again, paradoxically bring you out of the game. The series actually became less immersive with this final entry.




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Kai_Mao said:
Dunban67 said:

I m not so sure-  Existing Metroid fans are hungry so there would be a strong "by in" from existing fans for a mainline Metroid-   If it is a 3d Prime type game then IMO there will be alot of new fans wanting to experience what all the Metroid fans have been talking about- plus Samus is getting good exposure in Smash games-

Also look at Fire Emblem-  It was thought to ne dead in the West (by Nintendo) then went on to record sales with its newest iterations

One of the main reasons why Fire Emblem Awakening succeeded was because it was able to be accesible to a greater audience that previous games were not able to. Casual mode allowed for new players and casual players to play the game without the danger of actually losing their comrades if they feel if its too much of a challenge for them to start. Permadeath was a factor here for some fans or consumers who wanted to try the games. Of course, it didn't hurt that Awakening combined pretty all of the elements that were introduced from previous games and added a few new things that allowed it to stand out and be great.

I wonder how Metroid can close that gap between casuals and core gamers while remain the challenging series it is known to be. 

I agree w your post-   And one thing of several that Nintendo is extremely adapt at is creating a game that can close that gap....  IF they are committed to it- If not you get the recent Starfox iteration or they get someone else to make a Prime Federation force-  Nintendo can do it but they seem to have gotten so conservative w their games -  they need to break out fo that soon IMO



Is pretty niche, which is also why Nintendo doesn't invest a lot into this series :/



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Pavolink said:
Not bad for Other M!

Eh, the sales numbers don't tell the entire story. It sold much worse than the Prime games at launch, and only managed to reach a million units a full year and a half after its release due to being one of the few Nintendo games to receive significant price drops.



Wyrdness said:
Dunban67 said:
Some may argue Metroid sales are "niche" but I don t think so- Those sales are pretty strong overall and it is a franchise that has lasted the test of time- As far as the IP/brand there is no way it is "niche" it is prob Nintendo's 3rd most famous brand after Mario and Zelda (I m not counting Pokémon)

These sales are over a LT, Metroid often sells something like 300k or so upfront and then legs take it past the million mark, look at OM for reference, you may not count it but Pokemon is the second most famous brand in fact I doubt Metorid is even in the top 5 as Fire Emblem has probably over taken it and Animal Crossing demolishes it. Splatoon may overtake it as well.

Metroid is only famous to those on forums and such.

Pokemon rivals Mario in brand - i just counted Pokemon as The Pokenon Co s IP

Re your response-  As far as sales go you are correct but i am saying Metroid (not including Pokemon) is Nintendo s 3rd strongest brand/IP  as far as brand recognition and brand strength, not sales-   You could argue Donky Kong might be ahead of Metroid but oddly enough i think the Metroid brand has gained strength in recent years with no games  due in part to the amount and depth of fan loyalty/passion as well as Samus part in Smash bros and DK has lost some brand strength even though it has had several good games -  really Samus and Metroid are 2 brands combined into one -   With out Samus the Metroid brand would be much less significant (purely from a brand standpoint not a gaming standpoint)



Nintendo is great a creating IP/brands but they are still struggling how best to leverage them -
And Nintendo s operating execution has been terrible since the last 1/2+/- of the Wii s lifetime
They are sitting on a boxful of winning lotto tickets but they don t know how to cash them in- Granted it is not an easy task but they need to do a better job of figuring it out, bringing in more fresh blood and taking a few more risks