Game of the Day

(Highlighting a game to talk about the change in sales)

9/11

Mario Kart Wii

Description: Today's Game of the Day is Mario Kart Wii.  Mario Kart has always been a succesful and reliable franchise for Nintendo, but with Mario Kart Wii the franchise has been taken to new sales heights. When Nintendo decided to release Mario Kart Wii on the same day as Grand Theft Auto 4 (yesterday's game of the day) many people thought it wouldn't compete. However; Mario Kart Wii held its own, opening with a strong opening week, and maintaining strong sales for well over a year already.  So what can the large increase in sales over the Gamecube game be attributed to? The larger Wii Userbase? Mario Kart Wii being a better game? Something else? Vote in the poll and then leave a comment letting us know what you think.

Updated: Poll expired and reuslts posted. Check the next page for my take on why the game saw the change in sales.

Previous Change in Sales Game of the Day Threads.

Grand Theft Auto 4 (9/10)

Call of Duty (8/28)

Mario Party 8 (8/27)

A combination of reasons, it's better than Double Dash, it's more accessible, it has a fantastic viral effect and it's worth keeping so even used copies are expensive and not very common.

It's a much better game.

It has addictive online play which still has me pick it up sometimes.

Casuals buy it for the Wii Wheel.

I have really no idea.

It's certainly better than Double-Dash, but DD is the worst in the series IMO.
Personally I don't see a reason, why this sold so much better. It's not even my favourite MK game....

MK64 FTW !!!!!

The Wii Wheel. That's it really.

I was surprised that a couple of people think sales are due to the Wii Wheel, so I added that as part of the "Wii Remote fits the game well" option.
That said do people really think the Wii Wheel is a real factor in the game's sales? There have been steering wheel controllers for a long time now, sure they were expensive and not bundled with a game, but I just never really thought of that as a possible explanation for the increase in sales Mario Kart Wii has seen.

It absolutely is a factor. Other steering wheel controllers were way too expensive and aimed at the high end of the market. They add to the experience, but they're not worth the price.

The Wii Wheel is a cheap, ergonomic piece of plastic. It adds to the experience while coming free with the game. Not only that, but it looks more fun to observers (part of the game's viral effect).

Mario + free steering wheel thingie approved by Nintendo = automatic purchase for many.

@Demotruk, that is a good explanation of why the Wii Wheel is important. The Wheel is featured prominently on the box, so obviously Nintendo had a reason for doing that, I just hadn't thought about it being that important to the game. I guess with the other similar accessory - the zapper, not being nearly as successful I didn't think the Wii Wheel had much of an impact. But your explanation has convinced me, but now I’m wondering why Mario Kart DS has been almost as big of a success without a bundled accessory. I guess that can be the game of the day, some other day.

Mario Kart Wii is tracking way ahead of MK DS.

http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=Mario+Kart+Wii+-+Wii&reg2=All&game2=Mario+Kart+DS+-+DS&reg3=All&game3=&weeks=100