This is called milking a franchise.  Ninty does this with much more success than anybody else.  They put mario in every genre they can to use the brand recognition to sell other games.  I find it funny that companies like Activion get bashed for putting out a million Guitar hero games but Ninty is praised for doing the same thing.

DISAGREE! A game can be epic and sell very well - Galaxy is epic in certain phases (Bowser's battles, Volcano explodes) and really fun.

Nintendo games are just magical. They appeal to everyone, everybody can find its own genre and be satisfied through it and their games are much more "fun" in a way than any other companies.

It's not the same thing at all, that's what you don't get.

Every single Guitar Hero game has the same core gameplay nothing changes beyond the track list which is why people are getting tired of Guitar Hero games, they know it's the same old thing again and again.

Your comparison would make sense if every Mario game played exactly the same with just some new stages every time Nintendo released one.

kjj4t9rdad said: RolStoppable said: "The vast majority of people don't look at Mario Galaxy as a 3D platformer and NSMB as a 2D platformer, they look at them as Mario games." You need to replace "people" with "Nintendo detractors". People actually see 2D and 3D Mario platformers as entirely different games, that's why there's such a massive difference in sales. This will be proved again when SMG2 falls far short of 10m while at the same time NSMB Wii goes on to easily pass 20m. If people really viewed 2D and 3D Mario platformers simply as "Mario games", then pretty much everyone who liked NSMB Wii should also buy SMG2. Not gonna happen, especially because there are oldschool 2D Mario fans who call 3D Mario "not a (real) Mario game". No I don't.  If I was talking about the people on this site you would be correct, but I'm talking about gamers as a whole.  And yes most people don't know the difference between 2d, 3d platformers, 1st person or 3rd shooters, nor do they care.  They play games that they find fun.  It has nothing to do with being a Nintendo detrator (as you put it).  Just because people view them as mario games doesn't mean they are going to buy every Mario game.  It's ridiculous to make that assumtion. There could be a million reasons why NSMB outperforms MG, 4 player co-op,  retro appeal from the nes and snes owners or simply its just a better games than MG.  But it doesn't change the fact that they are both Mario games. I'm not disputing that there are "oldschool and hardcore" people who know the difference and even consider 3d mario not "real" but they are in the minority, by a lot.

Consumers are not deaf, dumb, and blind sheep.

It is very easy to tell the difference between 2D Mario, 3D Mario, one of the Mario sports games, Mario Party, or a Mario RPG.  That is why they sell so very differently.  Even uninformed consumers see the box art and the title of the game.

Then there is this thing known as word of mouth.  While the word of mouth on Galaxy was great, that game just doesn't appeal to as wide an audience.  It seems too complicated.  When someone sees NSMB Wii, it is instantly recognizable how the game is played.  That opens it up to a much wider audience, which also helps to spread the fantastic word of mouth that game got.

It really is quite special, what they do. They just seem to have the touch!

because casual gamers buy casuel games....nintendo is dead to me since 64

It is the same thing.  Guitar hero has 3 different game mechanics with Guitar hero, world tour and DJ hero.  It is just not done to the extent of Mario.  They are using an established name to sell something different. The difference is Activision is milking one genre with GH,  while Ninty is milking every genre they can with Mario.

There are a shit ton of Mario Kart games, there are a shit ton of 2d mario games and every other genre ninty has put Mario in.  Like I said before, Ninty does this with much more success than anybody else.  I didn't say it was a bad thing.

Because unlike other companies they take their time to polish their games, to find the balance to make fun for everyone.
Because they know when they fail and learn from their mistakes and that reflects in their works.
Because they don't see customers as milking cows nor retards unlike 3d parties and MS and sony.
Because they know that a happy satisfied customer has more future for them than a happy for 15 minutes one.
Because they do love what they do and that shows it in their products.

It really isn't. How many Guitar Hero games have come out this gen? and with very little to differentiate between one game to the next. The very core mechanics remains the same in all cases with only subtle changes. There's been at least 1 "X Hero" type game every year released by Activision.

Now, how many Mario Kart games have released this gen?

How many 2D Mario games have been released this gen?

How many 3D Mario games have been released this gen?

How many Smash Bros. titles have been released?

If you actually look at how many games of a specific mechanic are released, it's actually not that much on a generation to generation basis. This makes a huge amount of difference. As I said the mechanics of these games are most important. You can argue that they've released huge number of 2D Mario platforming games (I count 7 on main consoles- not including Mario RPG or Donkey Kong), but that's in the space of 20 years.

You can argue that the Mario character is "whored" out, but the fact remains that without Mario, the vast majority of the games would still sell well (although not as much as with Mario) and be successful just because they have good quality gameplay and are readily accessible.

theRepublic said: kjj4t9rdad said: RolStoppable said: "The vast majority of people don't look at Mario Galaxy as a 3D platformer and NSMB as a 2D platformer, they look at them as Mario games." You need to replace "people" with "Nintendo detractors". People actually see 2D and 3D Mario platformers as entirely different games, that's why there's such a massive difference in sales. This will be proved again when SMG2 falls far short of 10m while at the same time NSMB Wii goes on to easily pass 20m. If people really viewed 2D and 3D Mario platformers simply as "Mario games", then pretty much everyone who liked NSMB Wii should also buy SMG2. Not gonna happen, especially because there are oldschool 2D Mario fans who call 3D Mario "not a (real) Mario game". No I don't.  If I was talking about the people on this site you would be correct, but I'm talking about gamers as a whole.  And yes most people don't know the difference between 2d, 3d platformers, 1st person or 3rd shooters, nor do they care.  They play games that they find fun.  It has nothing to do with being a Nintendo detrator (as you put it).  Just because people view them as mario games doesn't mean they are going to buy every Mario game.  It's ridiculous to make that assumtion. There could be a million reasons why NSMB outperforms MG, 4 player co-op,  retro appeal from the nes and snes owners or simply its just a better games than MG.  But it doesn't change the fact that they are both Mario games. I'm not disputing that there are "oldschool and hardcore" people who know the difference and even consider 3d mario not "real" but they are in the minority, by a lot. Consumers are not deaf, dumb, and blind sheep. It is very easy to tell the difference between 2D Mario, 3D Mario, one of the Mario sports games, Mario Party, or a Mario RPG.  That is why they sell so very differently.  Even uninformed consumers see the box art and the title of the game. Then there is this thing known as word of mouth.  While the word of mouth on Galaxy was great, that game just doesn't appeal to as wide an audience.  It seems too complicated.  When someone sees NSMB Wii, it is instantly recognizable how the game is played.  That opens it up to a much wider audience, which also helps to spread the fantastic word of mouth that game got.

I never said consumers were dumb, blind or deaf.  I said they don't know and don't care about what genre a game is.  To put it another way, the people you speak of in your last paragraph, if you asked them if NSMB was a 2d platformer or a retro mario game, what do you think the answer would be? 

Again, just because Mario is in the title doesn't mean everything is going to sell the same, I never said it would. 

Even an idiot can look at MG and NSMB and see they are different, but that doesn't mean that they know that one is a 2d platformer and one is a 3d platformer.  People like us who debate pointless crap about games are by far in the minority.  Most people just simply don't know and don't care, they just want to play games as a way to relax and have fun.