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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Mario is to blame for Nintendo's financial troubles?

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Is he?

Yes 25 9.96%
 
No 187 74.50%
 
Possibly 18 7.17%
 
See results 20 7.97%
 
Total:250

Sort for multiple replies my phone keeps losing my place and it is next to impossible to scroll.

Wii proved new innovative IP have as much if not more potential then Mario. Mario was not the biggest force behind Wii or DS.

So why in the world would Nintendo over shadow their new IP potentially the next big thing by launching Mario. Mario did not save or make Wii. New IP did, DS Mario did not make DS it helped but new IP did most.

Why would Nintendo be.dumb enough to put all of its success behind an existing IP that failed to sell N64 and GameCube over potentially 20+ million selling new IP. Miyamotos new title should be in the launch window and Retros could be as well. A new WiiU bundled piece of software as well as several new IP from other companies. Now new IP aside you have all of the best third party games coming to WiiU likely. You'd have some of Nintendo's strongest IP Star Fox and Donkey Kong. DK which has a ton of sales potential on Wii selling almost as well as Galaxy2.

Their is no need to launch with Mario. Its not leading with your best foot forward its taking your best foot shooting it and leading with your second best foot.



-JC7

"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer

 

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Joelcool7 said:
Dhar look over that list! Firstly WiiSports has an extremely low attach rate considering it was bundled in most of the world. That is horrible it shows nearly 20% of Wii owners opted out of software they shouldn't have even been able to opt out of.

Then WiiSports Resort bundled with Motion+ and consumers wanted to try it out. WiiPlay bundled with controllers when nobody could find controllers I personally had two copies and a friend had three because we couldn't find controllers without it. So look at the sequel to WiiPlay the one without bundled hardware. It bombed look at WiiMusic it bombed. WiiSports was an amazing revolution it was amazing can't argue there.

What your list shows take out the hardware bundles and your left with tons of titles that are non Mario and non Wii related. I have no idea how these games would do without the hardware bundles. I suspect WiiSports would sell about ten million copies assuming Mario wasn't present at launch. WiiPlay may have struggled to break 6 million. Just guessing but based on those I know who bought WiiPlay and the success of the sequel I have doubts it could have competed.


Take out WiiSports/Play and you have Wii Fit/Fit Plus/Sports Resport (fitness stuff) and Mario, Mario, another Mario, and Just Dance. Take another of the next top 10? Just Dance, Mario, Mario, Wii Party, Mario, _another_ Just Dance then finally with a horrid attachment rate of 6.7% you get the first Zelda. Everything from there devolves into also rans and normal software that fits near or less than 5% of Wii Owners.

You gotta face facts man. Fittness and Mario sold the Wii and pretty much nothing else. 



A warrior keeps death on the mind from the moment of their first breath to the moment of their last.



Charge I am not denying that new IP played a major role. Which is a major point of.mine. before WiiFit would anyone have seen WiiFit as a killer app? Would WiiSports be seen as a killer app? No I remember people pissed that Galaxy was not a launch title everyone wanted Mario and Smash Bros day one. But what would have happened if Nintendo had bundled Mario and not WiiSports?

Look at DS new IP like Nintendogs and Brain Age play huge roles. What good would Mario have done?

I also am not denying Mario's sales potential. As you appear to be suggesting. I am saying it would he a stupid launch window title. Nintendo has at least two new IP from two of their finest developers. They have new bundled software they have many other strong IP they could launch with.

As I said the launch holiday season could see 4-million units good case scenerio and 15-million first six or so months. Now what good would a 20 million seller do? The hardware will be sold out if Nintendo launches at a reasonable price with the new IP and some of their other IP like DK and Star fox.

Nintendo launches?Mario when the hardware sales reach 15+ million units being able to sell its full potential and even pushing more hardware. It makes no sense at all to waste a Mario game at launch its a complete waste and then its also a very bad idea when planning to launch new IP.



-JC7

"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer

 

What Rol reread my comment I said five launch titles total. Not five first party launch day titles. If you had read the whole thread I had written you would see I spaced releases out. I was suggesting a smaller launch line up blustered by some of.the industries strongest IP.

I am talking about spacing releases that's the whole reason I am against launching Mario launch day. Rather spreading Nintendo's new and old IP out to give them all the best sales chance while promoting third party competition.

3DS is a wake up call and that call is that Nintendo needs software at launch. Steel Diver was the only Jew IP and it was not good enough. Nintendogs a title Rol you yourself said was a huge launch title.bombed falling flat. Nintendo had a severe drought as they waited for third party games that never showed because Nintendo did not sell the hardware.

3DS failed because of the high price and lack of new IP and relying on weak unproven IP. Rather then Nintendo launching a few new IP instead of launching with LoZ and Star fox Nintendo left their system to die. The failure had nothing to do with Mario's absence. Nintendo would have been fine if they had spaced their titles out and launched their LoZ and Star Fox in the launch window. If the system retailed at 199$ instead of 250$ if Nintendo had invested heavier in their other titles. Kid Icarus was a title supposed to make the launch window but was delayed. Other titles like Animal Crossing were also supposed to launch in 2011 too.



Yes I do think Nintendo can potentially release a WiiSports like title every generation. WiiSports was nothing amazing



-JC7

"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer

 

Umm Rol Mario is Nintendo's strongest IP. 2D Mario is Mario they are the same franchise.
Also if I am so bad at what I say Nintendo should do why was my thread on buying Nintendo stock Reggie not being responsible and how Nintendo could turn things around used in Google Finances annual report on Nintendo alongside IGN and Michael Pachter. In fact my article was the only one not from a professional game industry analyst.

Rol you contradict yourself. Saying new IP like WiiFit and WiiSports and Brain Age etc..etc.. made DS and Wii successful yet insisting Nintendo use Mario instead of give new IP a chance.

As for everyone on this site lol. Rol you always talk like you speak for everyone. You don't and yes a good number do but a good number don't. Stop making wide God like statements to discredit me. I really could care less.

You see when Google Finance thinks I have the right idea. When I get in talks with other industry officials. When I have the support most often of Spurge a major player on these forums. When I have support of Galaki when I have the support of Jew members like



-JC7

"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer

 

Around the Network

Long story short Rol any member that has been here a few years knows I have support and you have support. Both of us are intelligent and both make decent points.

Even new users like NintendoPie see me and support me often and that is without me even being on the forum. He read my past threads.

Seriously Rol most of the users here know we both have support. You don't fool anyone by saying I have no support.

2D Mario is part of the Mario franchise. It is part of Nintendo's strongest IP. But what about Pokemon an almost equally powerful IP. Nintendo has tons of major IP.

Sorry Rol but their is no reason for Nintendo to rely entirely on Mario for success.
Nintendo has some amazing IP and new IP from Miyamoto and possibly Retro among others. Why in hell would Nintendo launch a Mario game without the hardware to support it and it over shadowing any potential new IP.

Its nuts. I notice you avoided my question. How would Mario have helped Wii at launch bundled as Nintendo's flagship title instead of WiiSports? Would WiiSports have survived would Nintendo have won the new gamers over would WiiFit have then been a success.

Mario would have devastated Wii's launch just like it could WiiU. Then you insisted without 2D Mario 3DS was going to fail you continued insisting Nintendo was making a bad decision launching Super Mario 3D Land. And despite all of your car about Nintendo making had decisions. Those decisions saved 3DS. In fact it is now one of the highest selling consoles in Nintendo's history. Again without 2D Mario.

Prior to 3DS's release I was predicting it would fail to succeed as good as DS. You stated Nintendogs was a strong IP. You continued to claim Nintendogs was a powerful IP till 3DS started going down.

If Nintendo listened to your advice 3DS would likely be worse off today. Nintendogs was in no way a smart flagship title and 2D Mario would not push hardware any more then Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart have. In fact I know that their is still a shortage of hardware here in Abby. Some of my local stores are actually sold out of 3DS.

The 3DS is doing good and all without Mario 2D. The title you insisted was needed. Now in this thread you mention needing Mario you and other users reference 3D Mario. But then back track when I prove it did not help hardware much.

I know you believe Nintendo is D00med without 2D Mario. But DS and Wii did fine without 2 D Mario for years in fact the t



-JC7

"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer

 

Joelcool7 said:
 3DS is a wake up call and that call is that Nintendo needs software at launch. Steel Diver was the only Jew IP and it was not good enough. Nintendogs a title Rol you yourself said was a huge launch title.bombed falling flat.

Now you're asking for it! What the hell do you mean by Jew IP?



happydolphin said:
Joelcool7 said:
 3DS is a wake up call and that call is that Nintendo needs software at launch. Steel Diver was the only Jew IP and it was not good enough. Nintendogs a title Rol you yourself said was a huge launch title.bombed falling flat.

Now you're asking for it! What the hell do you mean by Jew IP?

That is autocorrect talking :D



RolStoppable said:
Joelcool7 said:
Long story short Rol any member that has been here a few years knows I have support and you have support. Both of us are intelligent and both make decent points.

Even new users like NintendoPie see me and support me often and that is without me even being on the forum. He read my past threads.

1) Seriously Rol most of the users here know we both have support. You don't fool anyone by saying I have no support.

2D Mario is part of the Mario franchise. It is part of Nintendo's strongest IP. But what about Pokemon an almost equally powerful IP. Nintendo has tons of major IP.

2) Sorry Rol but their is no reason for Nintendo to rely entirely on Mario for success.
Nintendo has some amazing IP and new IP from Miyamoto and possibly Retro among others. Why in hell would Nintendo launch a Mario game without the hardware to support it and it over shadowing any potential new IP.

3) Its nuts. I notice you avoided my question. How would Mario have helped Wii at launch bundled as Nintendo's flagship title instead of WiiSports? Would WiiSports have survived would Nintendo have won the new gamers over would WiiFit have then been a success.

4) Mario would have devastated Wii's launch just like it could WiiU. Then you insisted without 2D Mario 3DS was going to fail you continued insisting Nintendo was making a bad decision launching Super Mario 3D Land. And despite all of your car about Nintendo making had decisions. Those decisions saved 3DS. In fact it is now one of the highest selling consoles in Nintendo's history. Again without 2D Mario.

5) Prior to 3DS's release I was predicting it would fail to succeed as good as DS. You stated Nintendogs was a strong IP. You continued to claim Nintendogs was a powerful IP till 3DS started going down.

6) If Nintendo listened to your advice 3DS would likely be worse off today. Nintendogs was in no way a smart flagship title and 2D Mario would not push hardware any more then Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart have. In fact I know that their is still a shortage of hardware here in Abby. Some of my local stores are actually sold out of 3DS.

7) The 3DS is doing good and all without Mario 2D. The title you insisted was needed. Now in this thread you mention needing Mario you and other users reference 3D Mario. But then back track when I prove it did not help hardware much.

8) I know you believe Nintendo is D00med without 2D Mario. But DS and Wii did fine without 2 D Mario for years in fact the t

I'll go through this, but I probably won't reply to other posts of yours in this thread, because it just isn't worth it.

1) I never said you had no support.

2) I never said that Nintendo should rely entirely on Mario.

3) Super Mario Bros. would not have been bundled with the system, because it can sell on its own. Wii Sports would have been just as big, because it was an amazing game. Demand for the Wii would have been even bigger. It was only in America where the Wii was sold out for over a year. This wasn't the case in Japan and Europe. Mario would obviously have helped in these regions.

4) No. The 3DS is Nintendo's least profitable system to date. Nintendo will post their first annual loss since they make video games. That's how well Nintendo is doing without 2D Mario. The facts still support my point.

5) I don't recall saying that. You will have to provide proof when making such a bold statement.

6) Certainly not. Have you ever looked at the sales of NSMB on the DS? Probably not.

7) The 3DS isn't in good shape. Again, financial report. The rest is misinterpretation on your part, that's something you are known for by now.

8) The DS and Wii both hugely benefitted from the release of their respective NSMB game. The DS finally took off in America when NSMB released and NSMB Wii revitalized the Wii all around the world.

Okay I'd like to jump in here guys if you don't mind.

1) I'd just like to ask you guys to stop the popularity contest, please.

2) Joel, you are advocating for new IPs and core games rather than Mario. You are saying this because you are afraid bigger titles would over-shadow them. Why would Mario 2D overshadow them more than say Wii Sports? Because it targets the core? We all know 2D Mario has now become a flagship for the casual audience, why so afraid that it will overshadow blatantly core IPs such as F-Zero and other new ones?

The only other possibility I see is that you envision a new IP targeted at the casual audience that can be overshadowed by Mario. But the truth of the matter is that's not how it works. Rol claims the DS took off when NSMB came out. That simply isn't true. The DS takeoff was the result of a one-two-three punch release. To demonstrate,

Sales of Japanese DS games 2007:

PosGameWeeksYearlyTotal
1
Pokemon Diamond / Pearl Version (DS)
Nintendo, Role-Playing
15 4,473,692 4,473,692
2
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
Nintendo, Platform
32 3,960,355 3,960,355
3
Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (DS)
Nintendo, Misc
53 3,410,055 3,837,386
4
Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)
Nintendo, Simulation
58 2,412,341 3,814,703

Mario has friends.

Sales of DS games worldwide 2008:

8
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day(DS)
Nintendo, Misc
190 5,408,016 16,485,645
9
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
Nintendo, Platform
138 4,841,639 17,420,795
10
Nintendogs (DS)
Nintendo, Simulation
194 4,614,988 21,623,290
11
Mario Kart DS (DS)
Nintendo, Racing
164 4,580,397 13,689,119
14
Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day(DS)
Nintendo, Misc
158 4,096,651 13,022,246

You catch my drift.

In other words, Mario cannot and no game for that matter can overshadow anything that needs to sell a ton. If it is a hidden evergreen, it will make its own way, like a plant would.

3) See 2, here I agree with Rol.

4) 2D Mario would have propelled an overpriced 3DS into a reasonable measure of profitability. Think of it this way, the tighter the space, the greater the content, the more that content will tend to want to make the container expand. The container in this context is the 3DS userbase. In other words, 2D Mario would've been a sure-hit system seller.

5) What was your argument for 3DS failing to succeed, it didn't have core IPs? Well, we don't know if your scenario would've worked on the 3DS, but it doesn't look rosey for the Vita (which is adopting your strategy), nor was it too amazing for the N64 or for the cube. Of course there were millions of other factors back then, but it's quite clear now that core IPs do not sell a system. The purpose of core IPs is to secure the core userbase and nothing else.

Capturing the Core and refraining from alienating it: Is it worth the sacrifice?:

This is actually what I would like to talk about, and the only area I agree with you in. Though Mario 2D would never overshadow a hidden evergreen, it may overshadow a core game. Also, sales of casual titles affect the perception of the console to the core audience and can cause their alienation. Is their purchase worth the sacrifice? I sure believe so, and MH + RE:R sure say so at the moment. If Nintendo wants to achieve success, it doesn't need the sacrifice. If it aims Nintendomination, it needs to ensure they capture the core. Even then, having said that, would 2D Mario truly alienate? I believe not. 2D Mario is that evergreen that is compatible with the core games. I don't believe the same can be said for the Wii Series.

6) The shortages you mention are likely due to the pricecut (which leads to profit loss), and of course to heavy hitters such as SM3DL. SM3DL's performance is somewhere sweet right between 2D and 3D Mario sales, and still has alot of potential. However, if SM3DL is pushing consoles, you can be certain that 2D Mario would have pushed them even more.

7) Had the 3DS launched at a more profitable and reasonable happy middle, maybe you would be right. As it is, Nintendo is losing money, and Nintendogs failed to sell. Now they need to remarket it sadly; the timing when it launched was wrong.

You continue to support your claim that Mario doesn't sell consoles at launch due to 3D Mario. You need to drop that. 3D Mario and 2D Mario have radically different selling trends.

8) See 2. Though Mario did not propel the DS single-handedly, it sure didn't hurt. Of course Nintendo is not doomed without Mario, BUT one thing we know for sure about mario, is that his 2D offerings (so far) are certain hits. We can't say that about the other evergreens (even Nintendogs).

To be continued folks!



RolStoppable said:

The DS finally took off in America when NSMB released

SNIP

You aren't going to refute my claim by posting Japanese numbers. 

Thanks for not mentioning I offered global numbers which come quite close to US numbers relatively speaking, but you're right I shouldn't have piggyback on my work for step 2. Here they are the USA numbers for 2006 (The year NSMB launched).

PosGameWeeksYearlyTotal
1
Nintendogs (DS)
Nintendo, Simulation
71 2,109,928 3,594,975
2
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
Nintendo, Platform
33 1,913,739 1,913,739
5
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (DS)
Nintendo, Misc
37 1,075,980 1,075,980
8
Mario Kart DS (DS)
Nintendo, Racing
59 874,373 1,720,791

As I said, 2D Mario's got friends.

 

You can go ahead and attribute the rise of the DS in America solely to the DS Lite which was launched not too long after NSMB, but given that NSMB still showed up in the NPD charts in 2011, you should think twice about doing that. 

You were talking about the initial spurt growth of the DS, not the lifetime sales.


Well, it's a good sign when your only retort is that I didn't offer the USA charts. Everything else is good then (other 8 points)?