NSMB Wii is taking off like a rocket...

[68soul]

The "niche" argument may be explained this way: most FPS appeal to the "avid gamers" crowd, mainly young boys from 10 to 30 years old... it's quite a huge potential userbase, but it's also very limited when you compare it to the public of most Hollywood blockbusters, by example... i'd say that userbase is "only" 30 million people, playing mostly on PS3, X360 and PC...

Now, the name "Mario Bros" is a kind of legend in itself, and has a "real" universal appeal: it's the most famous brand in gaming for more than 20 years, so it may appeal to the old gamers generations, the actual gamers generation, the young kids of today, women as well as men, newcomers as well as veterans... now, THAT potential userbase isn't 30 million people, it's easily the double, if not three times more...

Of course, not everyone will buy it, and it will have a "saturation point" around 20-30 million copies... but you can't deny a game like this isn't in the same league as the most famous and successful games of today: GTA, CoD, Halo... it's a game for everyone, and not for the niche of "hardcore gamers playin' with virtual guns", simple as that...