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Forums - Gaming - How does Nintendo manage to do it so often

Condor1980 on 20 April 2010

Mario games are a phenomenon that no other franchise can come near. "Hardcore" players hate it because it wipes the floor with anything else on offer. True gamers love it because it's pure gameplay every time THATS WHY MARIO IS ALWAYS IN THE MILLIONS! Mario is like so old now it is becoming a timeless icon. Older players love it younger ones love it you just cant beat the gameplay it drags you in. I personally dont see 2D or 3D when I play mario because the gameplay is just so damned awesome every time! At the end of the day neither Sony nor Microsoft have a brand that can will be selling like Mario does 20 years into its life. It really is quite a fantastic achievment what Nintendo do and "hardcore"gamers whine about. Nintendo are the daddys and both the other know it otherwise they wouldnt be copying anything nintendo do!



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mr_capello on 20 April 2010

well known IP's + easy gameplay but still challenging + first mover + only marketing for their own products

also you don't need hours of time to play a game or make progress



mai on 21 April 2010

@people who use milking argument

Previously I put those graphs for a reason, these're just a glimpse of how much worth Nintendo without Marios, Pokemons, Zeldas etc this gen: http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/post.php?post=3345821&page=2&postnum=4



kjj4t9rdad on 21 April 2010
RolStoppable said:
@kjj4t9rdad

I am not going to continue the milking argument, because it seems to be a waste of time with you going into brick wall mode. I better try to convince you that consumers at large very well know what they are buying, although this might lead to the same dead end.

Bundles are your reasoning? Most people didn't own Super Mario Bros. because it was bundled with the NES, they actually bought the NES because it was the only way to play SMB. It was one of the biggest system sellers in history. SMB3, NSMB and NSMB Wii have outsold any 3D Mario platformer without being bundled.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is releasing soon and will further damage your bundle theory (which is weak to begin with), it won't come close to NSMB Wii's sales. In fact, NSMB Wii will easily sell more in its lifetime than SMG 1+2 combined. Why is that? Because consumers know the difference and the games are not about Mario, but their content.

It is your theory that is weak.  NSMB outperforming MG has nothing to do with 2d or 3d. People don't care about that. If it sold more simpley because it's 2d, how the hell did MG and mario 64 outsell every non bundled plat prior to NSMB except one.  NSMB is selling more because it is more fun and appeals to more people than MG.  2d or 3d has nothing to do with it.

Most people didn't buy the NES for SMB.  The statement itself is totally ridiculous.  By most meaning more than half, you actually believe more than 20 mil people bought a console for SMB yet only a little more than 7 mil found the sequal to be worth a purchase.  I don't think so.  How about the other massivly bundled SMWorld it "sold" over 20 mil yet only 4 mil bought the sequal.  These 2 games would not have any where close to thier sales #'s without bundling.



GuyDuke on 22 April 2010
RolStoppable said:
@kjj4t9rdad

You really know almost nothing about the mainline Mario games. Before the 3D platformers, there were only four 2D platformers.

Two of them (SMB, SMW) were bundled with the system and for a good reason: they were system sellers. SMB3 is the one game that destroys 3D Mario in sales. SMB2 is interesting because it didn't have a worldwide release. The original Japanese release was just a harder version built on the elements from the first game. The Western markets got a reskinned Doki Doki panic with Mario characters. It was fun, but it's not a real Mario game (obvious, because it was a reskin of a different game). This shows in sales as it got stomped by SMB3.

Likewise, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is not a real Mario game. It's a spinoff with completely different gameplay mechanics, hence the lukewarm receiption it got. Consumers know the difference.

The Gameboy titles Super Mario Land 1-3 are a seperate line. While fun, they play differently than the console games. SML was bundled, SML2 was a solid sequel and SML3 was actually a spinoff and marked the beginning of the Wario Land series.

So the reasons why SM64 and SMG have outsold every not bundled 2D Mario prior to the two NSMB titles are:

1) There were only two 2D Mario games that were not bundled.
2) Out of those two, one wasn't even a real Mario game.

Good point.