Why Nintendo’s Core games aren't hitting the mark anymore

[lapsed_gamer]

famousringo said:

Hemuli said:
Super mario galaxy sold very well, but it was nothing compared to the sales of all the super mario brothers. New super mario brothers has sold 18 (or was it 19?) million on the DS. Just consider how much a super mario bros could sell on the wii.

Exactly. Malstrom isn't calling SMG a failure because it sold poorly, he's calling it a failure for not growing the popularity of the franchise, which is something NSMB, MK DS, and MK Wii managed to do. And he's trying to figure out what the secret formula is which grows the popularity of a franchise which is already hugely popular.

I'm not sure he's right, but it is a question worth pondering. How do you take a franchise from 10 million sales per iteration to 20 million? Nintendo did it with Mario Kart Wii, can they do it with Zelda?

SMG didn't sell like NSMB because it is essentially a single player game on the Wii. I think it has sold really well and possibly represents the ceiling for a single player experience on the Wii (Wii Fit is technically single player, but it is easily broken up to share with family.)

Saying that SMG has the same expectations sales wise as a Mario game on a handheld is a stretch.