JGarret said:
Very interesting what he says here:
NSMB sales are being severely undercut by the lack of new content and the lack of any tech or graphical showcasing. I was hoping that NSMB DS and NSMB Wii would showcase that 2d Mario is viable, and Nintendo would invest more in it. Instead, it has been the opposite. Nintendo is trying to squeeze as much revenue as possible while trying to minimize as much cost as possible. “How can you say that?” Does NSMB 2 DLC ring a bell?
“But shouldn’t all businesses do that?” What is appalling is the hypocrisy coming from Nintendo. 2d Mario, which actually sells and is universally adored, gets this lousy treatment. 3d Mario, which doesn’t sell and is not universally liked, gets an incredible budget that allows orchestrated music, new programming tech, and much money spent on the art. If anything, 3d Mario should be getting the recycled content, the ‘bah bah’ reused music, and replaying Super Mario 64 (which is what most 3d Mario fans want anyway).
Why are these two unequal games in sales, 2d Mario and 3d Mario, being treated as if 3d Mario is the flagship title? It is because there are Nintendo software developers who are more interested in 3d Mario’s success than in Nintendo’s success. If the console sales crashes and burns because of a N64, Gamecube, or 3DS (yes, 3DS is not performing in the West unlike the DS), who cares? So long as they can keep working on their precious 3d Mario, to hell if the company burns. After Mario 64 flopped and delivered the console market to Sony, any professional company would stop making Mario 64 type games. But not Nintendo.
There is a perfect correlation of the Game Industry praising Nintendo’s games when they don’t sell. When they do sell, the games are ‘awful’ or ‘not as good as people think’. And we keep hearing much encouragement from industry developers and journalists for Nintendo to keep making those games that didn’t sell. “Keep making that 3d Mario and Skyward Sword.” “Don’t you dare make more 2d Marios or Mario sports games.” “Make more games like Windwaker.” “Don’t you dare make a game like Classic Zelda.” I’m sure Microsoft and Sony love 3d Mario and hope Nintendo pours as much money as they can into it.
|
I find a lot of things wrong, and indefensible with these statements.
When did Mario 64 flop? It sold just under 12 million copies on the N64. It was the #1 N64 title in sales. It was then re-released on the DS and sold nearly another 10 million putting it in the Top 10 all-time for DS software. That's quite a few copies for a flop. How could Mario 64 have "delivered the console market to Sony" when it's 12 million copies sold are more than any single game ever released on the Sony Play Station (Gran Turismo - 11.15 mil, Final Fantasy Fantasy VII 9.72 mil, Gran Turismo 2 - 9.36 mil)??
"3D Mario doesn't sell and is not universally liked" Super Mario Galaxy sold 10.2 million on Wii, and is Top 10 in all-time Wii software sales. Super Mario Galaxy 2 has sold just under 7 million copies (6.81) since it's 2010 release and is currently Top 15 in Wii software sales. I don't think that's an indicator of titles that don't sell well and aren't universally liked. For comparison, only 2 games in PS3's entire library of games have sold more than Mario Galaxy, and even then, not by much (Call of Duty MW3 - 12.24 mil, COD Black Ops - 11.47 mil). And, only 5 games of XBox 360's library have sold more (Kinnect Adventures, 3 Call of Duty titles, and Halo 3). Mario Galaxy 2's sales would place it in the Top 10 for both PS3 (it would be 6th) and XBox 360 (it would be 9th) software. Something that doesn't sell or is not universally liked wouldn't be a Top 10 seller on it's system (or comparatively to other systems either).
And, Skyward Sword, which just released late last year, has already sold 3.36 million copies already. Compared to PS3 software that puts it just below Batman: Arkahm Assylum, and above titles like Fallout 3, Killzone 2, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Compared to 360, that puts it just below Left 4 Dead 2, and above Battlefield Bad Company 2, Resident Evil 5, Batman Arkahm City, and Left 4 Dead. That's pretty good company for a game that "doesn't sell" or "no one wants". Oh, and Ocarina of Time (N64) and Twilight Princess (Wii) both outsold the original Legend of Zelda, and A Link to the Past.
