Really? BEcause 3d mario outsold NSMB2, among other games.

Second of all, you point out that people like 2d mario more than 3d. While I agree, you're missing the crux of my argument which is the STAGGERING numbers NSMB put up. I'm looking at the raw numbers, and you're looking at the positions. Almost 60m in sales in a single title on 2 systems. It has outsold EVERYTHING else. It's a "reimagining" of the original Mario. It's like all that matters to you is that it's 2D and it's a spot above another game. If that's all you care to look at, fine, discussion over.

I on the other hand, believe that Mario has many many many millions more fans out there than are purchasing the software and hardware. Again, most people I know who talk about mario will go out and buy a used n64 or SNES rather than buy the new system with the new game..unless of course, that NEW game, IS the old game. THAT is my point. Nintendo has millions upon millions of fans, but those fans don't support their new games.

I feel like you're taking different data sets and concluding that they mean the same thing.

However, we are going to disagree about the pokemon data, because I believe that pokemon is one of those games that I'm talking about. A series that has the passion of the gaming community. People who grew up with it are still playing it. Second of all, pokemon is a handheld franchise primarily, which isn't even what we're talking about.

Lastly, I haven't found anything stating where Unity got their numbers for the wiiU demographic, but I do know that the console has to be registered online for purchases. I can't say either way whether the information is valid or not.

I have nielsen telling me that the main user is kids, and I have a possible eshop registration saying males in their thirties (coincidentally, the primary age group of males with children aged 6-10) and you ask me which do I believe, and I'd say nielsen.

So clear this up for me....what information are you trying to draw out of your Nielsen report? And do you acknowledge that information on the Wii's demographics will be highly skewed due to the very nature of the Wii (as a console which had an enormously high appeal to people who were traditionally non gamers)?

I feel like you're not seeing the same trend I'm seeing here:
Mario originally sells a lot
keeps selling
changes to 3d
slowly goes down a bit but still sells really well
Remakes mario 1, outsells every mario by almost double.

Pokemon originally sells a lot
keeps selling
Doesn't change to 3d
continues selling well

People who originally played pokemon were kids and are now in a higher age range 24+
People who originally played mario were kids and are now 30+
Average age on wii is young teens

Am I just seeing things here?
I don't think so.
I think three generations of 2d mario gamers saw NSMB and went out and bought it.
I think pokemon just keeps selling because it hasn't changed.

if this is accurate this answers some questions but bring up a bunch more, why is the female ratio so bad?

In my opinion, and I know people here think I'm talking nonsense, that is the average age and gender of the head of the houshold, ie; the purchasers account.

im curious to know what you are trying to say here. because Zelda went 3d and those games generally do better than the 2d ones

i would be willing to agree with that if the age of the average buyer wasnt so young. A person in that age range most likely would just be starting to have a family so they might be to busy to dedicate themselves to buy a console or the kids they would have are probably to young to even grasp the controller anyway. I think these numbers are accurate and represent the people actually playing

I think actually that zelda is somewhat growing in popularity actually. I'm not saying that 2d is better than 3d. I don't care to be so specific about the reasons why someone prefers a type of game over another to such an extent.

I'm saying that people went out and made NSMB such a gangbuster because the people who grew up with the exact type and style of game went out and bought it, or bought it for their kids to kind of "share" their first game, etc.

I think the main zelda fanbase right now grew up on ocarina type games, and that base is increasing, and kind of revealing when you compare a similar remake- ocarina for 3ds and compare it to say the "link to the past" remake.

ie; I think the majority of the mario fanbase exists since mario 1.
I think the majority of the zelda fanbase exists since ocarina.

Okay, I understand your point even if I somewhat disagree with it.

First of all, 2D Mario Games are much more accessible than 3D Mario Games, even if we as gamers see them as both being simple. People who don't traditionally play games can jump into 2D mario and play it with some level of competence, and jumping in isn't as simple with 3D Mario Games. You also have the fact that NSMB came out after what, 14 years of no 2D mario games? Everybody who wanted that sort of experience got it with these games, which also happened to fall on tremendously popular consoles inviting in a huge audience of non-fans.

3D Mario games have been releasing in a fairly steady stream and they aren't as accessible and they aren't as low supply as 2D mario games. Now with the 3DS and the Wii U, after 2D Mario games have increased in supply, the demand has largely normalized to the point where sales are quite close between the 3D and the 2D Mario games. 

Then you have franchises like Kirby, Metroid, Zelda, Pokemon etc which have all shown fairly consistent sales numbers across the board with games like Metroid, Zelda and Kirby having fairly radical changes while maintaining the user base...I don't think you have enough evidence to support your point here

The more I think about it, the less that makes sense. You are required to give your gender etc when signing up for a NNID which is required to use the eShop. You are not required to input any Credit Card data. Why would they use the data that is less complete and is more difficult to obtain when they have full demographics in front of them?