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[PAOerfulone]

mZuzek said:

Runa216 said:

I don't WANT to hate Skyward Sword, but the reality is that it was largely rejected and for good reason. 

Unprecedented rejection.

Also, you show quite a lack of understanding of Zelda sales trends. Zelda games don't really sell based on install bases, they are the kinds of games that sell consoles and not the other way around. The first Zelda game to release on a console is always the best-selling one, and if there is a second one, its sales are always much lower. The best comparison you could make here is N64's OoT and MM versus Wii's TP and SS, and here it shows. The "widely accepted" great game Majora's Mask was actually outsold by Skyward Sword, despite the earlier entry (Twilight Princess) not managing to outsell Ocarina of Time. Regardless, it's a trend that's always happened, even with remasters:

NES - Zelda 1 (6.5m) > Zelda 2 (4.4m)
GB - Link's Awakening (3.8m and 2.2m) > Oracles (1.9m and 1.8m)
N64 - Ocarina of Time (7.6m) > Majora's Mask (3.4m)
GC - The Wind Waker (4.6m) > Twilight Princess (1.6m)
Wii - Twilight Princess (7.2m) > Skyward Sword (4.0m)
3DS - Ocarina of Time 3D (5.2m) > A Link Between Worlds (3.5m)
WiiU - The Wind Waker HD (2.1m) > Breath of the Wild (1.5m)
and inevitably,
Switch - Breath of the Wild (10m+) > whatever comes after.

Sure, Breath of the Wild has sold as much as it has because it's a fantastic game, but also because its style is far more appealing for a general audience than Skyward Sword's. The most successful mainstream single-player games nowadays are always the ones that allow for loads of freedom, it's just what the mainstream audience wants. Skyward Sword is a very linear, story-based game, and it was the second Zelda release on a console people didn't care about anymore (see 3DS game sales in 2017), and it required an additional peripheral to play. It actually sold very well for the kind of game it was and the circumstances it released on, but sure, go ahead and make a fuss about how it's rejected by everyone.

It's not just Zelda either, plenty of Nintendo's other 1st party franchises follow that trend:

Mario:
NES - Mario 1 (40.2m) > Mario 3 (17.3m)
SNES - Mario World (20.6m) > Mario All Stars (10.6m)
GB - Mario Land 1 (18.1m) > Mario Land 2 (11.2m) > Mario Land 3 (5.2m)
N64 - Mario Party (2.7m) > Mario Party 2 (2.5m) > Mario Party 3 (1.9m)
GCN - Mario Party 4 (2.5m) > Mario Party 5 (2.1m) > Mario Party 6 (1.7m) > Mario Party 7 (1.6m)
Wii - Galaxy 1 (12.8m)* > Galaxy 2 (7.6m);

Pokemon:
GB - Red/Green (31.4m) > Gold/Silver (23.1m); Yellow (14.6m) > Crystal (6.4m)
DS - Diamond/Pearl (17.7m)* > Black/White (15.6m)*
3DS - X/Y (16.3m)* > Sun/Moon (16.1m)* - Not even the peak Pokemon GO hype + the 20th anniversary could crack this one.

Donkey Kong:
SNES - DKC 1 (9.3m) > DKC 2 (5.2m) > DKC 3 (3.5m)

* (According to Nintendo's Financial Data)