Quantumn - in what country? I know in Austrailia, they are, but Im talking about a major shift in the US, PAL or Japan regions, and not a smaller region.
I wouldn't be surpised if they did bundle SMG in smaller countries, but to pack in SMG like in the US, UK or Japan would be crazy, as it's really not needed. Why give 5m copies of SMG away when you can easily sell that many?
Look at Mario Party 8 - people ARE willing to buy many many hundreds of thousands of copies of Wii games in a week - why pack in your most sellable title in the biggest market for software sales (US)?
Also, Im talking about a definitive title, not an optional one. We see companies like MS, and maybe even Sony throw a game in here and there. For the 360, I've seen plenty of Call of Duty 2, Burnout Revenge, and NFS:MW bundles, but they're just pack-ins from that store. Im reffering to Nintendo shipping 100% of its copies with a given game.
IMO, the Wii Sports pack in is the most brilliant, well thought out move, and I think packing SMG is taking a step back, honestly. SNES pushed SMW because they were behind Sega, and needed a quick kill. Nintendo is pushing proprietary motion sensing control, and Blue Ocean. Blue ocean works when your packing titles that aren't standard fare - Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong, Pokemon. I see a day when Wii is bundled with Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Health, and such. Heck, if they included a ton of minigame titles like that, I'd have no choice but to buy one too. And ultimately, such minor titles being bundled works - it costs Nintendo pennies on the dollar to push last-gen (graphically) games that will cater to Nintendos new userbase (its a new user base, trust me. See MP8, WW:SM, WiiSports and WiiPlay. The mini/casual games are selling in droves), but in the end, is what the Wii, by many, will be purchased for.
Nintendo packed in Super Mario/Duck Hunt. Did that hurt Super Mario 3 or Legend of Zelda, preventing them from selling? No. Nintendo packed SM1/DH to push the NES proprietary technology vs. the Atari, and it worked. Wii Sports will, and will continue, to drive system sales for 2 more years, not SMG. SMG won't sell systems like Wii Sports or Wii Play will. After all, Super Mario Sunshine moved very few GCs, and by now, the major bit of Wii addopters dont know or care of Mario as much as the other titles the Wii can and will offer.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
