Soundwave said:
2D Mario is a far bigger brand than Zelda and Smash Bros. (NSMB Wii outsold both Wii Zelda games and Smash Bros. Brawl combined) ... so why isn't that at least pushing Wii U sales to even GameCube levels? Shouldn't it be enjoying that post-Wii surge in popularity that you're banking on applying to other franchises? Perhaps the Wii formula really was driven more by the popularity of Wii Sports/"get off the couch" gaming.
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You keep falling back on this argument, as have others, even though it's been talked to death and sifted through endlessly. You point out that 2D Mario is a "far bigger brand", which is a fair point to argue. However, you and others keep trying to imply "Well if 2D Mario is so huge, then why hasn't Wii U sold more?", as if that's all there is to it. And the reasons why have been pointed out again and again and again by several people, myself included, but just for shits and giggles, since apparently no one pays attention to answers anymore, here goes:
1. Nintendo fucked up by releasing NSMB2 on 3DS FAR too close to Wii U launch. That game coming out seriously ate away at a good chunk of enthusiasm that NSMBU otherwise likely would have garnered. If there had been no NSMB2, or it had been released later, there would have been a roughly 3 year gap between NSMBWii and U. Plenty of time for a sequel to feel fresh and for people to be excited for it. But releasing two entries in the series so close together felt like overkill to a lot of folks, and thus the effect NSMBU might have had right out of the gate was slightly (but NOT fully) negated.
2. Having said that, if you go bother looking at the numbers yourself, as of June 2013, the Wii U had sold (according to Nintendo) about 3.6 million units worldwide. Around that time, NSMBU had also sold around 2 million copies worldwide. That is an attachment rate of over 50%, for a game that was not a pack-in like Nintendo Land was. If you don't call that good sales, and "helping sell the console", then I don't know what is.
3. The final, and most important point that those of you repeatedly bring this "Why hasn't NSMB sold more Wii U's" argument up seem to ignore, is that NO single game can sell a console all by itself. Not indefinitely. There needs to be other software, there needs to be complimentary games that people know exist and want to also entice them to buy a system. The Wii did not succeed MERELY on the back of Wii Sports. It also had Zelda, it had Mario Galaxy, it had Metroid Prime 3, it had Mario Kart, and Smash Bros., and Wii Fit, and NSMBWii, etc. etc. etc. etc. It had a lot of other titles that as a whole package, made buying the console a more attractive prospect to many potential buyers.
It also helped that after Wii's Fall 2006 launch, during 2007, the console LITERALLY had at least one Nintendo published title released, almost every single month of the year, from Jan. through Dec. That is called driving momentum. AND there were also great third party titles made available that year, such as Zack and Wiki, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Godzilla Unleashed, Alien Syndrome, Bomberman Land, Geometry Wars, Dragon Quest Swords, Chocobo's Dungeon, Guitar Hero III, Soul Calibur Legends, Manhunt 2, MySims, Puzzle Quest, RE4: Wii Edition, RE: Umbrella Chronicles, Tiger Woods, etc. etc. etc.
When you look at it, the Wii actually had a very good first year, support-wise, both from Nintendo and third parties. And that support remained fairly strong in 2008. In other words, the momentum created by the lauch of Wii and the popularity of Wii Sports, was carried on by a healthy amount of OTHER software. Wii U has not had that, and you can't even begin to argue that it has. Wii U had a fairly strong launch, with a solid lineup of titles, and sold around 3 million units just in that month and a half or so at the end of 2012. It did well then, it had a successful launch. It was AFTER that, from Jan. 2012 onward, when it faltered. Why? Because Jan. and Feb. both literally saw ZERO Wii U retail releases. March had a handful of titles, including fairly successful games like Lego City and MH3. April and May were sparse, as was most of the summer. It wasn't until September that a real steady flow of games have started to come out. Wii had nothing like that. Neither did GC, or even N64. They all had SOMETHING coming out, enough notable titles coming out on a somewhat steady basis, to carry momentum. Wii U's momentum was killed dead by that long stretch of nothing. People who are sitting on the fence of whether to buy a console, are more than likely NOT going to choose to buy one if they perceive that it "has nothing coming out for it". Which for awhile, it almost didn't.
THUS, in closing, New Super Mario Bros. U did and has actually done it's job as a marque title rather well, when you look at the attach rate. It's the fact that there was SO LITTLE ELSE coming out for the system, nothing to really help carry and build that momentum from launch onward. That's why the system sales faltered. So bringing up "Why hasn't NSMBU done better".....well, look at the system sales. Guaranteed more people will buy that game as they finally get around to purchasing the system. That game will continue to have legs, and it will be one reason people get the console. But one reason usually isn't enough for anyone, myself included, to justify spending hundreds of dollars. BUT, as stated, with games like DKCR and Mario Kart and Smash Bros. and Zelda, etc. etc. coming, that will change.
