The Official Legend of Zelda Thread: Echoes of Wisdom Sells 3.91 Million Units

[cyberninja45]

Veknoid_Outcast said:

cyberninja45 said:

Veknoid_Outcast said:

cyberninja45 said:

Veknoid_Outcast said:

I think you're really missing the big picture. I don't think a single game, especially a game that sold 4.6 million units and is adored by critics and fans, can doom a system. Gamecube did poorly mostly because of its competition: the PS2. It built on the huge install base from PS1, featured an avalanche of must-have titles, and featured DVD playback. 

You're placing the blame unfairly on Wind Waker.

@ bolded

That's exactly my point right there you just said it, Zelda for GC should have been by all means the most anticipated next gen title at the time, and up to the the point of WW reveal it probably was, afterall it was coming off one of the most well known game amongst gamers at the time called Ocarina of Time.

Now I might have just exaggerated a bit on WW impact on GC sales, but it did play a major role in not helping the GC.

But Ocarina came out five years earlier. The most recent console Zelda was Majora's Mask, a game that sold LESS than Wind Waker.

I don't think Wind Waker was the most anticipated sixth-gen title at the time, either. Games like Metal Gear Solid 2, Final Fantasy X, and Super Mario Sunshine were probably higher on that list.

In any event, I believe strongly that the sales of Gamecube influenced the sales of Wind Waker much more than the sales for Wind Waker influenced the sales of Gamecube. I just don't think a realistic-looking Zelda based off the mechanics of Ocarina would have convinced PS2 owners to abandon ship, anymore than Wind Waker did.

Majora's Mask is considered a follow up to OOT as much as people consider Other M a follow to corruption, not saying that MM is the same quality as Other M though. Yes SMS gets placed in the same bracket as  WW in every way.

NO I don't think MGS 2 was as anticipated as Zelda probably a final fantasy if I remember correctly.

@ bolded this goes strongly against the common theory that software influences hardware sales are you sure that is your stance on it.

I'm not sure what you're saying in the first paragraph. Can you explain that a little further?

I definitely think Metal Gear Solid was more anticipated than The Legend of Zelda: A Wink Waker. Over six million people bought Metal Gear Solid, and over 100 million would go on to buy PS1. Less than four million bought Majora's Mask, and less than 33 million went on to buy N64. 

As for your last point: I'm not saying hardware sells software; I'm saying that in the specific case of Wind Waker, its sales were limited by the number of people who bought Gamecube, not the other way around. A single game doesn't make a console, at least not in today's market. Even games like Super Mario 64 and Halo, two of the most important launch games in the history of the industry, didn't make winners out of N64 and Xbox, respectively. How could Wind Waker, even with a different art style and mechanics, hope to "save" the Gamecube?

I will try to repond to you and irstupid in this post since you both seem to have the same idea.

Yes attaboy also brings some very valid reasons why MM did not sell well again. But I think you and irstupid are trying to downplay OOT popularity at the time to bolster WW image.

If as you say OOT was not much of a system seller at the time or not an anticipated game. Well I have a guiness world record book 2000's edition that list OOT as having the record for the most advanced orders at the time. Think about it, at a time when gaming was not as "mainstream" at the time without the popularity of the internet and what not OOT broke pre order records. If you were to put OOT into a Modern day perspective, comapring  the amount of gamers back then to the amount now, OOT would be at the level of GTA V or a  COD or whatever.

I will explain why this is significant . Gaming was for most intent and purposes a "niche" hobby back then once you was a "gamer" you would have followed gaming news no matter where it came from, so by extension you followed all your favourite gaming franchises with a lot more passion back then (I knew that Super Mario World 2 was not the same as SMW and was probably less than 10 years at the time). And as I just showed with OOT holding the largest pre order record at the time it was one of the most anticipated game with a very loyal following, because as I said in an earlier post it also built a reputation over nes and snes as a solid game.

Now all that is to say that yes people knew what MM was and they knew it was not in the same vain as OOT. And also that a next gen zelda was one of the most anticipated titles at the time up until WW reveal