Family friendly and casual series are losing their appeal on Nintendo platforms, and this trend is especially visible with the need for buyers to upgrade to a new platform.
The most major shock is the waning interest in the New Super Mario Bros. series, a family-friendly series.
As you can see above, the series is struggling not only on the Wii U for explicable factors, but is also struggling on the 3DS for less justifiable reasons.
Sure, the lower sales can be explained by a plethora of justifications, but this trend is not unique to new super mario bros. Here are a few casual series experiencing this down-trend as well.
Nintendogs
Art Academy
Brain Age
For Brain Age, the 3DS follow-up barely appears on the graph.
There seem to be two main exceptions however.
Just Dance
The Just Dance series was gaining popularity with time, each entry selling more than the one before it. With Just Dance 4, that trend was broken.
But could this also explain what's happening above? Look at the next graph, showing just dance series on the Wii only, including Just Dance 4. It seems like people are still buying it on the Wii.
Could it be that the U is dooming these games from seeing a successful trend from one entry to the next? What could explain this, is it there a perception problem with Nintendo's new consoles (3DS/U) as compared to their last consoles (DS/Wii)? Could it be that people are just waiting to upgrade? Were the DS/Wii so successful that people are still holding on to them? This is a very complex question.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Another exception is Animal Crossing: New Leaf. The game is alive, and we know that the Animal Crossing games are addictive in nature, which could explain why the sales bridge well from the DS to the 3DS.
Mario Kart 7
Yet another exception is Mario Kart 7. On the 3DS, it seems to have thrived, in contrast with other 3DS follow-ups.
Why would one franchise keep its relevance on the 3DS, but so many others not? Is Mario Kart just a much more enduring franchise than the others, which people seem to get tired of?
Food for thought.
