The people that insult 3d world are the ones who claim that 3d world and 3d land are a different type of game than the traditional 3d mario games (64, Sunshine, Galaxy 1 and 2). If that is the case, than this games sales should only be compared to 3d land in order to tell if it's a success. We don't compare the 2d marios to the 3d marios in sales because they are different games that appeal to different types of gamers. Some people will say "derpa derpa every mario game is the same derpa derpa" but this logic is just plain wrong. I love Mario Strickers and Tennis but I'm not the biggest fan of Mario Golf games; this has nothing to do with mario and everything to do with gameplay. The same can be said for 3d world (I may love or hate it, haven't played it yet), it can't be compared to ANYTHING but the ONLY game that it is truly similar to; 3d land for 3ds.
And even making that comparison is unfair because 3d land is on a cheaper console, the game costs less (even at launch) compared to 3d world, and the console sold way more prior to the launch of the game compared to the Wii U.
Overall, there truly is no way to fairly compare the sales of 3d World to any other game. I just look at it as a game that has already sold 1million worldwide on 1 console with a very low userbase. Know what that says to me? Success!
Essay Pro