+1

you sir deserve a hug. 

Yes, everyone noticed this right away.  The author obviously didn't do his research when considering Japan.

I think it's fairly reasonable to say that MK:Wii will have longer legs than GTA 4.  Whether that means selling better next year or later this year is the question, as it is clear that GTA 4 will have taken a significant lead over MK: Wii. 

Not quite as large of a lead as the Xbox 360 took over the Wii when it launched.

The OP needs to get off his high horse and realize that the Wii sold more units than the HD consoles. Did GTAIV move the Wii instead? No, I guess it was Mario Kart Wii, so get your facts straight. Obviously Mario Kart Wii sold more systems than the crummy and gangsterific gangbang fest of GTAIV. If you want experience that game, go to the damn NYC. I'm sure the United Blood Nation will beat you down for a warm welcoming.

The topic is about software, not hardware, but whatever.

If they were so confident about doing that then they could have tried it on without launching the biggest game they have on their hands right now at the same time, only they didn't, and they went head to head with everything they had.  You say MK Wii was just the icing on the cake as if it was an insignificant factor.

Also, any such 'victory' in terms of hardware sales would look a whole lot better if Nintendo hadn't deliberately dried up the Wii hardware supply in the run up to the launch of Mario Kart Wii.  Look at the previous week's figures for Wii sales in NA:

Wii - 76,608 (-59%)

First of all, that was about the current dollar value.

Second, MK Wii, in the US, still opened just 150k behind the PS3 version of GTA IV in the US. If you call that ownage, I'll call you a liar.  

1) Fair enough, and the fact is Mario Kart Wii had a spetacular opening despite GTAIV. Ownage would have meant that the people who wanted to buy Mario Kart decided to buy GTAIV instead. Since that didn't happen, no ownage occurs. FAIL.

2) The Wiis Nintendo are shipping are constantly being bought up whether or not Nintendo releases their major hitters on it. So your entire argument lies around the fact that Nintendo chose to release MK in the same week as GTAIV. So what? Are you so delusional that you would actually think Nintendo did that to steal sales from the people excited about GTAIV, as if MK would convince GTA fanatics to purchase a Wii instead? That's your entire point, isn't it? That Nintendo release MK in that same week as GTAIV, so therefore Nintendo wanted to compete with Take-Two not realizing that MK and GTAIV cater to exactly different audiences. The majority of those who bought MK probably didn't buy GTAIV and vice versa.

The fact remains that worldwide, the Wii keeps beating the PS3/360 week after week so no, I don't think this particularly victory is important because the Wii will win this week, too, and the week after that. The fact remains that GTAIV did not kill the Wii and you're trying to compensate by suggesting that it instead owned Mario Kart. GTAIV didn't have an effect on Nintendo. Get over it.

Next time we should compare Little big planet with Wii fit,that would be fun.

OP: Youre avatar pretty much describes my thoughts of this topic.

As soon as I saw the beginning of this joint, I had to laugh. MKWii wasn't multi-platform dude. It only sold 150k less than the PS3 version of GTA, which is still amazing nonetheless.

I could roast this thread all day, but I'll just say this, before you say GTA4 completely pawned Mario Kart and whatever, lets see the legs both these games have (PS3 version) They will both have great legs, but what would you say if MKWii sales surpassed that of the PS3 GTA4?

Oh yeah, the week GTA4 dropped, the Wii outsold both systems hardware sales combined "woorldwiide" with 675k systems sold in a week. That could be just the shipments talking, but the demand didn't affect those Wii sales one bit now did they?

"Could" is not the same as "reasonable in the slightest bit".

There's absolutely zero chance that Guitar Hero 3 will sell more than San Andreas on all platforms, let alone the 17 million for the PS2 version.