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.

RolStoppable said:
@kjj4t9rdad

By saying that Mario games which cover various genres are equal to the countless iterations of Guitar Hero games you have proved that you are a Nintendo detractor. Only those would say something as ridiculous as you have, in order to prove a flawed point. It's probable that you won't stop there and go to even greater lengths from here on out

.I never said they were equal.  I said they get praised for milking while Activision gets bashed.  Just because they spread out the same character over different genres or differnent games doesn't mean they aren't milking thier golden goose. They both use a successfull ideas to sell different games. That is what milking is. They do go about it in different ways but the fact remains they use the success of mario to help sell or add sales to differnet games. 

Activision has released more iterations of Guitar Hero with the same core gameplay in the six years of the franchise's history than there are 2D Mario platformers which exist since 25 years. There's more GH than 3D Mario platformers. More GH than Mario Karts, Mario RPGs, Mario Golf, Tennis, Football, even Party which had been the most used spinoff with yearly releases. 

And thier are more "mario" games than any other.  It doesn't matter if they release 1 game or 20 in the same genre.  They put Mario in every genre they can.  the only difference is Activision milks a game while Ninty is milking a character. 

The reason why all those Mario games still sell so well is because they are rare compared to pretty much all other franchises in existence. No, that's not a joke. How many other companies limit their output to one, maybe two, titles per generation?  Actually I agree with this.  Gran Turismo is the only other I can think of.

All Nintendo detractors see is Mario here, Mario there. That's why they lump all those games together as if they were the same. But the neutral consumer sees a Mario platformer, a Mario racing or a Mario sports game or whatever else the game is about. That's the big difference: The consumer doesn't think that the game is about Mario.  So when a consumer buys a mario game with mario in the title, they don't think it's about Mario.  Yeah right.  They see a mario themed game.  Which is exactly what Ninty wants. I fixed the rest of this paragraph for you.

and how does everyone else (for the most part) just dream about it?

Wii Sports 60+ million<--- would never play this crap over any game this gen

Wii Play 27+ million<--- look up ^^

Wii Fit 22+ million<--- not even a damn game *facepalm*

Mario Kart Wii 21+ million<--- I love this game........................ 10 years ago

Wii Sports Resort 14+ million<---- loook up^^

New Super Mario Brothers Wii 13+ million<---- BEST GAME EVER!!!!!! in 1989

Wii Fit Plus 11+ million<--- not a freaking game *double facepalm*

Super Smash Bros. Brawl 9+ million<---- AWESOMELY FUN!!

Super Mario Galaxy 8+ million<--- TERIFFIC GAME!!!

Nintendo Dogs 23+ million<--- are you f**king kidding me?

New Super Mario Bros. 21+million<---- ............................................................... seriously????

Brain Age 19+ million<---- loves it :)

Mario Kart DS 17+million<--- don't have a ds... and is it any different from mario kart games on other nintendo handhealds......my guess no

Pokemon Diamond/pearl 17+million<----- loved this game.....................5 years ago

Brain Age 2 14+ million<------ played it already

Animal Crossing 11+ million<------ muwhahahahahahahahahahahah

Super Mario 64 DS 8+million<----- played it on the second to last nintendo !!GAME!! console they ever made

This is in one gen and only 8million and up sellers. If you really think about it, it is just plain crazy <-- correct

RolStoppable said:
@kjj4t9rdad

You said "it's the same thing" which is pretty much the definition of "equal". But since you admitted that Nintendo has a different approach than Activision when it comes to milking, it makes what Nintendo does different, not "the same" like you previously said. You are contradicting yourself.
They are both milking an established name.  My comments stand.

Of course it does matter that Nintendo uses plenty of different genres for their games. Video games are an entertainment medium and people get bored of playing the same thing every year. That's why GH is dying off while Mario is still going strong. It's hard to get bored of new releases when they only happen every five years.

changing genre does help to prolong the franchise but does not effect whether or not the franchised is milked.  Not everybody wants every genre to be the same characters.

Yes, the consumer sees a Mario themed game, but that doesn't mean that they perceive it as being about Mario. The name Mario has established itself to stand for quality, regardless of genre. This boosts sales, but the games are not about Mario, rather they are about their content like platforming, racing or some kind of sports and consumers know this.

But the games are about Mario, in each one you are mario or one of his friends battling Bowser and his friends.  Whether the battle takes place in a 2d plat, 3d plat, a baseball field or a race track it is still mario and friends vs. bowser and friends.  The boost is sales you spoke of is my exact point.

Nintendo tried very hard to replace the main series Mario games (the 2D ones) with 3D platformers, but despite the complete absence of 2D Mario for over 15 years, the 3D games never reached the same sales numbers. Nintendo believed that people like Mario games because of Mario, but the truth is that people put the gameplay way above the character.

I disagree with this statement completely.  The 2d plat that had excessive sales were all bundled.  The only 2d plat that has SOLD more than 8 mill and wasn't bundled is Super Mario 3 (in my opinion the best mario game ever)  The rest of the 2d mario games sold on par with the 3d plats

How else can you explain the huge difference in sales between 2D and 3D Mario platformers, other than consumers being aware of what they are buying and knowing that the games aren't about Mario, but rather their content? Quality isn't the issue, because Mario games are the best in both categories, 2D and 3D platforming.

When talking about 2d and 3d mario's as a whole, bundling is the difference.  As far as NSMB & MG a lack of 2d plat is as good a reason as any, maybe NSMB is just more fun, I don't know