Innovation in software is the source of Nintendo's decline

[Pyro as Bill]

RolStoppable said:

Pyro as Bill said:

Why start with Super Mario World 2?

Isn't SMB 2 a textbook example of what you're talking about?

40M (bundled) for SMB dropping to 7.5M for SMB 2 rising to 17M with SMB 3.

 

Isn't adding Yoshi to SMW or multiplayer to NSMB Wii just as 'innovative' (gimmicky?) as the 2 player/kart addition to Double Dash?

I said "I could go on" in the original post, so obviously there are more examples. The common point is that innovation within series usually leads to decline while refinement usually leads to success.

Yoshi in SMW and the NSMB Wii multiplayer aren't the same as the Double Dash!! stuff. The former things you can choose to ignore, if you don't like them, just don't use them.

The Double Dash!! mechanics you are stuck with and what's actually more annoying about that game (which I forgot to mention in the OP) are character specific items which are a big source of imbalance due to individual items being limited to two characters each (ignoring Piranha Pete and King Boo who can get everything by random chance). Playing with Toad or Toadette (or even both) in four player splitscreen gives you a huge advantage and the only way to balance the game is to turn items off altogether.

Ah ok, I always assumed you could turn it off.

Still, would it really have sold much more if you had the option to turn it off?