This is not DS,this is Nintendo 3DS - new ad clarifies things

[gumby_trucker]

RolStoppable said:

You are making this more complicated than it is. Super Mario Bros. already had a sales history that shows how valuable it is. Super Mario World was actually a step back from Super Mario Bros. 3 in many ways, but it still sold like hot cakes and moved the SNES hardware. The Super Mario Land games which were lesser versions of Super Mario Bros. were highly successful too and moved GB hardware. This series doesn't need to offer new gameplay aspects to make people buy the games and systems and most importantly, these games work regardless of being on a home console or a handheld.

This cannot be said about Animal Crossing, Brain Training and Nintendogs, for example. Animal Crossing didn't matter on the Nintendo 64, it didn't matter on the Gamecube, but it was a big hit on the DS and then it didn't matter on the Wii again. What you need to understand is that certain game types can't be equally successful on both, home consoles and handhelds. There are only a few series that could ever achieve this, Mario Kart would be another one next to SMB. Pokémon is never going to replicate its handheld success on a home console, because the trading aspect and its entire social component wouldn't be the same anymore. This is also why Monster Hunter can never be as successful on a home console as on a handheld.

Look at the list of bestselling GBA games. Right below Pokémon you find ports of Super Mario Bros. games. These aren't new games, yet they still sold five million copies each and moved GBA hardware. Five million! Knowing that how can anybody seriously say that a 2D Mario without a unique feature wouldn't be enough to get people to buy the game and the hardware?

Regarding Malstrom, he did say what Nintendo has to do when it comes to Super Mario Bros. The games need to explore their own universe further instead of just recycling the same themes over and again. Now I am not the most creative person, but what I can think of is something like a Toad Town themed world where levels take place in a library, bakery or toy factory. This would add another layer to the universe that is the Mushroom Kingdom and it could be interesting.

Lastly, what made the latest SMB and MK games so successful is that they focused on doing their job instead of relying on stupid hardware gimmicks. The job of NSMB is intense 2D platforming action and the job of MK is exciting multiplayer racing. All four games absolutely rocked and none of these games did anything groundbreaking. They were "just" fun games.

I'll start with addressing your second paragraph before getting back to the main point about SMB.

I agree with you that it should also be taken into consideration that not all games are suited for all kinds of platforms, but please don't tell me I'm over-complicating things if you intend to then add further considerations of your own to prove your point.

Nintendogs is indeed a game Nintendo never tried to move to home consoles, probably because as you said they didn't see a way to make it work on that format. However the 3DS is not a home console, so there must be another reason that game didn't sell. My suggestion was the uniqueness issue, what's yours?

I'll acknowledge that Animal Crossing seems to be better tailored to handhelds as well, and indeed Nintendo are releasing a new installment in the series on 3DS - by your logic it should prove to be a system seller, time will tell...
Incidentally this is a game Malstrom conveniently ignores, stating more than once that it doesn't exist or doesn't matter. When asked why, he goes on to say that it's because it has no release date, which seems like a petty nitpicking argument at best.

If you're going to argue that it should have shipped this year, please don't. That would just be another nitpicking argument which hardly merits further discussion. Running a large corporation involves a lot more juggling of different interests than just worrying about finishing a certain game on time. Let's not pretend we could do it any better if given the chance.

Regarding releases of ports or remakes like on GBA, I was under the impression Nintendo were already doing this on 3DS via the eShop. 

Finally, the main point about what you correctly acknowledge are "just" good games, such as 2D Mario and Mario Kart. I think both you and Malstrom make a similar mistake - maybe due to ignorance on your part, but not on his - when you assume that a simple looking game is simple to make just because it requires limited resources in terms of art and programming. More often than not what makes simple games fun and gives them their infinite replayability is due to thorough, repeated and rigorous balancing. This is something that cannot be stressed enough! A good example would be Blizzard games - those literally spend YEARS in beta because they must be played and played and played again, each time slightly changing a few parameters here and there and then playing the game for countless additional hours to see how they affect the "feel" of the game.

Therefor I cannot get behind the argument that these games are either easy to make or require limited time. In fact, assuming a game sells twenty million units simply because it's called Mario Kart or Mario Brothers is an insult to the consumer!

Regarding making an actual creative suggestion - one that has substance to it, not just a couple of lines you would pitch over the water-cooler, is something I expect of someone like Malstrom if he wants to be considered a good critic. Showing is always superior to telling.