So, was 3D World better than Odyssey? S-P-O-I-L-E-R-S

[Jumpin]

I think there is a place for 3D World/Land type Mario games, but they should NOT be the main 3D Mario. They're NOT early-gen system sellers, they're games that capitalize on the highly active userbase volume that occurs in the mid to later-mid generation.

In other words, it's kind of like NSMB, which launched at the end of 2009.  It didn't sell consoles; but, it enjoyed incredibly high sales of nearly 30,000,000 units over the last 40% of the Wii's lifespan.

While Wii's hardware peaked in 2008, its software sales didn't peak until 2010, about 2/3rds through the generation from the 2006 Wii launch until the 2012 launch of the Wii U.

For reference purposes, 2010 was the year of Super Mario Galaxy 2, Just Dance 2, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Epic Mickey, Kirby's Epic Yarn, and Mario Allstar Collection.

2011 and 2012 could have been strong years too, but Nintendo had switched focus to more nichecore titles like Zelda, Xenoblade, and Kirby's Dreamland - which are better suited for selling extra hardware in the early generation but are fairly terrible at capitalizing on existing userbases.

 

In short, I think more core Mario titles (like Odyssey) are suitable for early gen, they sell fewer, but the people who buy them will buy the console for the game.
Simpler multiplayer type Mario games (NSMB & 3D World) don't sell consoles, but are much more HIGHLY appealing to those who already have a console than the core Mario titles; the NSMBs and 3D Lands are best suited for mid to late generation when people are buying the most games.

Last edited by Jumpin - on 12 December 2017