Pineapple said:
RolStoppable said:
Pineapple said:
I'm not sure the sales would be as amplified as you believe they would be by a bi-annual release system for both machines. if NSMB DS had had a sequel released 2 years after it, NSMB DS would have nearly stopped selling at that point. After 2 years on the market, it had sold between 13 million and 14 million. Say the total for the game would be 17 million when all is said and done. That's a bit over half of what NSMB DS seems to end up with.
Now, is it likely to assume that as many people would purchase the sequel? If Nintendo's other franchises are anything to go by, no, it isn't. Every single main-line sequel on a system has sold less than the previous one did in their main franchises. It's true for 3D Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid and Big Brain Academy, as well as sort of for Wii Fit and Kirby. Nintendo's sequels on the same system simply don't sell as much as the first one did.
Which means you're looking at lower sales for the two 2D Super Marios you're going to release on the system. Possibly a lot lower, possibly a bit. Still, you're not going to end anywhere near having 3 30-million selling 2D Marios. The grand total of the 3 wll obviously exceed 30 million - and probably 40 - but I seriously doubt it's going to be the gigantic increase over a single release you're making it out to be.
One of the things that we've seen very clearly with the 7th gen, is that Nintendo sequels on the same system are sales-wise misses.
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How would you know which numbers I am thinking of when I never mentioned any?
But anyway, logically the sales of three games wouldn't equal triple the sales of only one game being released in the system's lifetime. The more important point is that three releases generate more interest in the hardware than only one release, because new games draw attention. The most difficult part is to get people to buy the hardware, but once they own it, they will buy games. It isn't about maximizing the sales potential for a single game in the Super Mario Bros. series, it's about maximizing the amount of hardware that can be sold and thus the overall amount of software that can be sold (which goes way beyond Super Mario Bros. games alone).
You see, a game like Wii Sports Resort didn't hurt the Wii, it only helped because it renewed interest in the system. Sequels don't have to sell more than the initial game on the system to justify their existence.
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I phrased myself a bit poorly there. The point is, I'm not sure there is a demand for several 2D Mario games on a system. The 3 Super Mario Bros games would be made instead of something else on the same machine. I really have trouble seeing how making 3 games in one series/genre will equate to higher hardware sales than three different series/genres. The sequels simply don't make as many people buy the system as the first one did. You can see this in the weekly boosts the systems gain in the release weeks quite easily.
The way I see it, same-system sequels both sell less software and less hardware than you would get by making games in different genres.
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It's a very delicate balance. If you release 3 sequels on a system, you may not sell as much, but at least ensure the consumer interest in your system. Look at Uncharted, it's a perfect example of a healthy series that enjoyed 3-fold the sales due to 3-peat. Mind you, Uncharted 2 did cut Uncharted 1 on its legs, but Uncharted isn't really a very leggy series so it doesn't count as much.
NSMB is a VERY different animal. It is super leggy. A sequel would have been affected by the canibalization of the first entry. This happened for Skyward Sword, it happened for Galaxy 2, and it generally happens for Nintendo's franchise, by their leggy nature.
I think you're right, NSMB would not have multiplied sales due to the nature of the series. But it would have ensured interest in the Wii. AT THE SAME TIME, if not handled properly, it could cause consumer fatigue and disinterest (it is not very much like Uncharted in that sense, which can release episodes without fatiguing consumer purchase). The Mario series CAN be over-released, so 2 is almost a maximum within a generation, especially if there is little to no evolution, and THAT is something that is typical of a traditional type of release (like a revival game for example).
