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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Donkey Kong Bananza, a new 3D DK game, releases on Switch 2 July 17th

JackHandy on 09 April 2025
curl-6 said:
JackHandy said:

Yes it is, but I just don't see the point in comparing it to OOT sales wise. Too many variables for it to mean anything. Now, if you want to compare the Switch sales to the N64's, that's a bit more logical, but even then, the industry was smaller then so, yeah. Still not all that meaningful.

Best selling is still best selling; context is worth discussing, but it doesn't discount the end result. BOTW being the best selling Zelda game isn't suddenly null and void just because the Switch outsold the N64.

It's not a sure thing that Bananza will set a new series record, but it's still worth mentioning; this is a sales website after all.

150+ million install base vs 32 million? Yeah, it's pretty null and void lol. And if you look at the tie-in, OOT was purchased by a higher percentage of Nintendo console owners than BOTW was. Not by much, but it was. There's just too many variables.



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firebush03 on 09 April 2025
JackHandy said:
curl-6 said:

Currently the highest selling DK release is the original Donkey Kong Country on SNES at 9.3 million; this looks like it has the potential to top that and set a new sales record for the series, the same way that BOTW and Mario Odyssey did for Zelda/Mario.

Yeah but it's kind of unfair to compare 2D and 3D. And it's especially unfair to judge raw numbers due to install base difference. A better metric would be tie-in ratios.

BotW & SMOdyssey smashed their respective series records when NSW still had a rather small install-base. It’s not the “smoking gun” that you think it is to say, “Well, NSW has sold 150mil.”



zorg1000 on 09 April 2025
firebush03 said:
JackHandy said:

Yeah but it's kind of unfair to compare 2D and 3D. And it's especially unfair to judge raw numbers due to install base difference. A better metric would be tie-in ratios.

BotW & SMOdyssey smashed their respective series records when NSW still had a rather small install-base. It’s not the “smoking gun” that you think it is to say, “Well, NSW has sold 150mil.”

Yeah, some times an entry in a franchise will sell more despite being on a lower selling console.

Zelda sold more on N64 than it did on NES, SNES, GB.

Smash Bros sold more on GC than it did on N64

Pokemon sold more on GB than it did on DS

Prime was the highest selling Metroid for a long time despite being on GC

Or look how 3D Mario, 3D Zelda & Animal Crossing only sold a little bit more on Wii than they did on N64/GC despite having 3-5x the install base

Higher install base gives a game the potential to sell more but it won’t make a game sell better on its own.



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

curl-6 on 09 April 2025
JackHandy said:
curl-6 said:

Best selling is still best selling; context is worth discussing, but it doesn't discount the end result. BOTW being the best selling Zelda game isn't suddenly null and void just because the Switch outsold the N64.

It's not a sure thing that Bananza will set a new series record, but it's still worth mentioning; this is a sales website after all.

150+ million install base vs 32 million? Yeah, it's pretty null and void lol. And if you look at the tie-in, OOT was purchased by a higher percentage of Nintendo console owners than BOTW was. Not by much, but it was. There's just too many variables.

Again though, context doesn't change the end result.

At the end of the day, BOTW is the best selling Zelda game. The factors involved in why don't change that.



RolStoppable on 09 April 2025
curl-6 said:
JackHandy said:

150+ million install base vs 32 million? Yeah, it's pretty null and void lol. And if you look at the tie-in, OOT was purchased by a higher percentage of Nintendo console owners than BOTW was. Not by much, but it was. There's just too many variables.

Again though, context doesn't change the end result.

At the end of the day, BOTW is the best selling Zelda game. The factors involved in why don't change that.

That's a dishonest way to go about it, curl. Let's look at the data here. Specifically, the line for the quarter ending December 2018.

You can see that at that point in time Switch LTD shipments under "Switch Family" had reached 32.27m, a figure that is only slightly lower than the Nintendo 64's lifetime shipments, making it the perfect comparison. Ocarina of Time for the N64 shipped about 7.6m copies on that level of an installed base and we can easily verify that Breath of the Wild does not match this number when we scroll to the right while we keep our focus on the line for December 2018. The games in the spreadsheet are alphabetical order and BotW is at L for Legend of Zelda.

Breath of the Wild had reached 11.68m at that point.



Legend11 correctly predicted that GTA IV will outsell Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I was wrong.

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BasilZero on 09 April 2025
curl-6 said:

Currently the highest selling DK release is the original Donkey Kong Country on SNES at 9.3 million; this looks like it has the potential to top that and set a new sales record for the series, the same way that BOTW and Mario Odyssey did for Zelda/Mario.

Damn, not even Tropical Freeze topped OG DKC?



curl-6 on 09 April 2025
BasilZero said:
curl-6 said:

Currently the highest selling DK release is the original Donkey Kong Country on SNES at 9.3 million; this looks like it has the potential to top that and set a new sales record for the series, the same way that BOTW and Mario Odyssey did for Zelda/Mario.

Damn, not even Tropical Freeze topped OG DKC?

Nah Tropical Freeze as of the last update sold 2 million on Wii U, and 4.6 million on Switch. (As of December 2022)

So 6.6 million total, up against 9.3 million for DKC1 on SNES.



CaptainExplosion on 09 April 2025
curl-6 said:
BasilZero said:

Damn, not even Tropical Freeze topped OG DKC?

Nah Tropical Freeze as of the last update sold 2 million on Wii U, and 4.6 million on Switch. (As of December 2022)

So 6.6 million total, up against 9.3 million for DKC1 on SNES.

That's still pretty good. :) 



BasilZero on 09 April 2025
curl-6 said:

Nah Tropical Freeze as of the last update sold 2 million on Wii U, and 4.6 million on Switch. (As of December 2022)

So 6.6 million total, up against 9.3 million for DKC1 on SNES.

Pretty crazy.

Looking at the charts on this site - DKC Returns for Wii is 2nd at 6.5 mil and DKC2 for SNES is at third with 5.15 mil

DKC2 being my most favorite - surprised that DKC1 sold so much in comparison.

DKCR being that high is kinda criminal...considering Tropical Freeze is superior in all ways.



CaptainExplosion on 09 April 2025
BasilZero said:
curl-6 said:

Nah Tropical Freeze as of the last update sold 2 million on Wii U, and 4.6 million on Switch. (As of December 2022)

So 6.6 million total, up against 9.3 million for DKC1 on SNES.

Pretty crazy.

Looking at the charts on this site - DKC Returns for Wii is 2nd at 6.5 mil and DKC2 for SNES is at third with 5.15 mil

DKC2 being my most favorite - surprised that DKC1 sold so much in comparison.

DKCR being that high is kinda criminal...considering Tropical Freeze is superior in all ways.

Keep in mind the install base for the Wii when Returns released.