Best Selling Hardcore Games On Nintendo Platforms

[Train wreck]

Soundwave said:

TruckOSaurus said:

happydolphin said:

TruckOSaurus said:
That's one of the worst definition of "hardcore" I've ever seen.

Good for you. Now propose an alternative that builds on OP rather than putting him down.

Okay, let me put it that way: the research done to get the sales of all the games is commendable but the selection of said games seems to have been done so the results would prove his final point. His rules conveniently exclude games that would go against his conclusion like New Super Mario Bros. Wii or Mario Kart Wii or Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

The list as pointed out in the OP was to give some context into what a game like ZombiU might sell.

We already know that Mario games sell well on Nintendo consoles, that doesn't really mean much if you're developing say ... Zombi U or Ninja Gaiden.

This list is intended to remove that and look at things from the POV of a publisher who doesn't have the luxury of putting Mario or Mickey or Lego, etc. into their games, by looking at the historical record of what games like that have sold on Nintendo platforms from 1995 onwards.

One of the interesting trends that becomes visible is that it's very hard to sell more than 3 million copies of a game without benefit of Mario/Zelda or a kids-friendly brand on the last three Nintendo game consoles (15-16 year period).

You already see two games 'marioified' their Wii U lineup.  Tekken and Scarbblenauts developers know their games wont be able to stand up on their own against nintendo's own lineup so they have to include characters (or look alikes) to be revelant.