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Forums - Sales - Why 2D Mario games sell much better than the 3D ones?

Frogger on 23 August 2014
_crazy_man_ said:
spemanig said:
How many 3D Mario games are bundled?

Big point.

 

2D Mario has a lot more appeal than 3D does to the general audience, my more casual gamer friends are much more willing to to co-op play NSMBU than 3D World.  And even if you do you'd be suprsied how terrible most people are with depth perception.

Tho I prefer 3D myself.


And I think there's a simple reason that you'll sooner see a 2D Mario bundled then a 3D Mario: One is cheaper to develop. They stand to make more profit by bundling the 2D and selling the 3D separaely than vise versa, and they'd never bundle both for obvious reasons.

I genuinely think that if Galaxy was bundled, it would have sold just or almost as much as NSMBW did. I don't think it has anything with 2D appeal, accessability, and ease of play. Parents are the ones buying most of these copies. They don't look and see the difference between 2D and 3D. They see Mario and which is the cheaper way to get it to their kid.



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Cream147 on 23 August 2014

Simple. Both casual and hardcore gamers buy the 2D games. Significantly less casuals buy the 3D ones.



ExplodingBlock on 23 August 2014
RolStoppable said:
That video was rubbish. Taking sales numbers from all over the place without taking surrounding factors into account doesn't lead to a good analysis. Although the point that forum goers say that they want innovation, but actually don't, that holds true.

Anyway, that part in the video where he talks about Mario is pushing a bullshit agenda. You can't say with a straight face that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is an example of innovation. At the same time it's also preposterous to act like every sequel to Super Mario Bros. is devoid of innovation.

Leaving the video aside, people bring up bundles as the reason why 2D Mario games have sold more. That isn't the case though.

2D Mario sells more because it has no stretches of boredom which are all too common in 3D Mario games. In other words, 2D Mario games are higher concentrated fun. If you don't have all day to play a video game, then it's obvious what you are going to pick.

Since the video included Yoshi's Island, I might as well talk about that too. Yoshi's Island is a 2D platformer that adds collectibles and thus puts an increased focus on exploration. That's quite similar to 3D Mario, just in 2D. Get hit and catch the baby before the timer runs out, that's a lot more chances to survive than in the common Super Mario Bros. game. Similarly, in 3D Mario you have a life meter and plenty of coins lying around that refill your health. Slower pace + less risk to die = less excitement during play. Saleswise, Yoshi's Island could not keep up with 2D Mario either.


Wow thanks for explaining all of that!



AZWification on 23 August 2014

Well, the 2D Mario games are much easier to pick up and play! They also get bundled a lot more than the 3D games!



                
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Podings on 23 August 2014

They much easier to play for both smaller kids and adults, and they're the form of Mario that people remember. They're the pure essense of what he's about.

So all in all: ACCESSIBILITY



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Cream147 on 23 August 2014

Incidentally, it's probably good for the quality of 3D Mario games that they don't quite attract as many casual gamers as 2D ones. The fact that a different audience are buying these games allows them to be a richer and deeper experience than the more accessible 2D ones.



Thespiralmatrix on 23 August 2014

2d is released earlier in the life cycle?



AZWification on 23 August 2014
Thespiralmatrix said:
2d is released earlier in the life cycle?

The original Mario Galaxy came out in 2007 and NSMBWii came out in 2009!



                
       ---Member of the official Squeezol Fanclub---