| saicho said: SM64 was the evergreen title of its generation and I'm not sure why the user base for N64 would not be taken into consideration. If you release a 2D Mario on N64, it's highly unlikely it will sell 20 million on a 32.93 million user base. |
Er... Maybe the sales of Nintendo consoles are tied to the main series Mario games available? NES had several 2D Marios and was Nintendo's best-selling home system. SNES had just 1, and sold less. N64 had the first 3D Mario platformer, and sold less than that. Gamecube had the black sheep of main series Mario games, which was 3D, and sold less than that. You can follow a similar thing with handhelds; DS > GB > GBA::NSMB > SML1/2 > remakes.
If there was a 2D Mario on N64 or Gamecube, I contend that the N64 and Gamecube install bases would have been higher.
Of course, there would also then be less excitement about NSMBW.
"[Our former customers] are unable to find software which they WANT to play."
"The way to solve this problem lies in how to communicate what kind of games [they CAN play]."
Satoru Iwata, Nintendo President. Only slightly paraphrased.
