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Jay520 on 29 March 2013
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the_dengle said:
Jay520 said:

Similarly, people may be interested in which IP is bigger on consoles. Mario and CoD are the biggest IPs on console, so it makes sense that people would be interested in who's ultimately the biggest. Sure, you could argue that "its arbitrary because we should compare their presence on every console." And I guess you would be right. But then again, people don't care about CoD on handhelds since its really not a competitor. That's what's wrong with this comparison: its arbitrary and no one's interested in CoD on handhelds because its not really a competitor; so a discussion would be impossible. Just like you would never hear someone shouting "you need to include consoles!" in a Pokemon vs Mario handhelds sales discussion. 

Focusing on this because that's what the issue boils down to. You would absoluteley hear that if people started saying that Pokémon as an IP is bigger or more popular or more profitable than Mario, and bringing merchandising and everything into the conversation... but still not console sales. But that's what the other thread has become, and what it was intended to become, because the title and OP lead it there. And that's why it makes no sense; people are discussing the presence of the larger IP in popular culture and in gaming in general, and they are barred from bringing up half the market.

Why do you think Jaywood essentially showed two numbers and asked, "which is larger, in your opinion?" One number is bigger than the other. That's not an opinion, which means there's nothing to discuss. But by using the word "bigger" and asking for opinions, he is turning the discussion to something other than sales, to presence, to popularity -- things you can't compare while ignoring half the market. It's a slanted comparison. I can't say that Mario is obviously more popular and point to the numbers that clearly demonstrate this without basically having my mouth covered and being told those number don't count because... because I said so. "We're only looking at these numbers I have sectioned off from the others over here."



Well then, if people are discussing the strength of the two IPs overall, then thats a different problem altogether. That's a problem with people reading only the title and ignoring the content of the OP, not with the thread itself. Furthermore, I very much doubt people doubt people are even genuinely discussing the overall sales of each IP. It's more likely that they're just simplifying the discussion so they don't have to keep putting "on consoles" over and over again, which would become redundant. It's clear that whenever says "this game is bigger" they're obviously referring to on consoles. They shouldn't have to keep clarifying that when its obvious what the thread is about. It sounds like you have more of a problem with semantics rather than people geniunely arguing that CoD as a whole is bigger than Mario.

As for your second paragraph....yeah you can use the numbers to argue that Mario is bigger on consoles. In fact, many people are doing that very thing. Mario has an advantage in having the best selling installment, the highest attach rate, all while being exclusive to one console. Look through the thread and you'll see people from both sides raising interesting points about an interesting topic. And again, people shouldn't have to constantly leave a disclaimer saying "oh, and I'm referring to consoles." Not only is it redundant, but the first line of the OP already clarifies this.

And as I said before, if you really have a problem with the thread, why not make a proper thread comparing handhelds and consoles? It's better than adding a thread that even you believe is flawed.