Mordred11 said:
Why would that happen? |
Because it happened before. Mario Kart Wii boosted Mario Kart DS.
Let's see, how to prove this. Right, here goes. First, I'm going to compare Q1 sales of 2007 and of 2008 for Mario Kart DS.
Mario Kart DS Worldwide sales
Quarter 1 2007: 669k
Quarter 1 2008: 791k
So in Quarter 1 2008, Mario Kart DS was slighty larger (18%) than it was in Q1 2007.
Mario Kart Wii launched in Quarter 2. Here's the sales from that quarter.
Quarter 2 2007: 550k
Quarter 2 2008: 1032k
That month the difference was quite a lot larger. 2008 is 88% larger than 2007 all of a sudden. There's next to nothing to thank for the boost other than Mario Kart Wii.
Then, quarter 3, the difference was slightly smaller.
Q3 2007: 580k
Q3 2008: 798k
Difference of 37.5%.
Finally, quarter 4.
Q4 2007: 1263k
Q4 2008: 1808k
Difference of 43%
I don't see any other major reasons for Mario Kart DS's boost than Mario Kart Wii. It also seems quite logical to me. The two games definitely aren't in competition with each other, you play them in complete different situations. But, if you buy Mario Kart 3DS and love it, you'll be interested in buying Mario Kart Wii and playing it with your friends. Vice versa, if you buy Mario Kart Wii and love it, you'll be interested in buying Mario Kart DS for when you're not at home.
I also believe there's a certain long-term effect to this, but I can't prove that.
It's not unique to just Mario Kart, either. The same applied to New Super Mario Bros (DS) and Super Mario 64 DS.
