It would not be bad. But since there is a mario kart, that kind of game would not sell 2,5 million. It would propably sell very poorly. That is why third parties won't copy that kind of games. I really fail to see what is innovative with brawl, kart and galaxy. For me, they are pretty much the same games as n64/cube versions.

I never want to see Nintendo turn into something like gag EA.

Right -- I agree that they would probably sell poorly. (Or, at least, not 2.5 mil. :) They shouldn't be copying anything. They should instead be trying to come up with fresh experiences -- things not even Nintendo has thought of -- that will appeal to a wide expanded audience that is, apparently, hungry for games, and willing to buy them if they're good enough.

@Esa-Petteri: The reason i mentioned the birdmen in the first place was because of the "birds have wings and they can fly, therefore i can fly if i get wings" -logic you are showing.
Nobody is arguing that the minigames didn't sell, or, that certain games wouldn't sell better on one platform that they do on other.
But what is the reason why the games that have sold well, have sold well? Mario & Sonic, Wario Ware and Rayman Raving Rabbids are minigame collections that have sold well, but Mario Kart, Super Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess have sold just as well too and aren't minigames, so they have to have something in common. And besides, there's a number of minigame collections that didn't sell well, so "minigames sell on Wii" can't be the key to success.

In any case, it still doesn't matter was this topic about third parties or not, when we look at what games have had success on Wii and especially why. If Nintendo is topping the best-sellers list, it would imply that Nintendo could have a hunch about "getting Wii".

Well, the yogas in Wii Fit make Battletoads feel like piece of cake, they take some time to learn and the muscle excercises aren't too easy either.

@bdbdbd

Sorry, your maelstrom memes don't work.

I say it once again. Mario kart, tp and smg sold nicely because what they are. They are the same nintendo franchices what sold well on snes,n64 and gamecube. They have nothing in common with those minigames. Except the best selling one, mario&sonic. Wonder why that is the best selling minigame collection out there. ;)

It does matter, since third parties don't have access to nintendo characters.

Just out of curiosity, can you name a minigame collection that did not sell well on wii?

The logic that these games only sell because of their brand is blow apart when you compare their sales to their Gamecube equivalents, and how they are still steaming ahead as fast as they can. If they sold on brand alone, then their sales would not much surpass those of past iterations, whereas they of course already have.

Third parties do not need access to Nintendo characters. The illusion is created by most third parties not being willing to throw their heavy weight behind the Wii - which, incidentally, is exactly what Reggie was saying.

As to minigame collections that didn't sell well? There are quite a few.

http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=25902&region=All
http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=22523&region=All
http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=3729&region=All
http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=24000&region=All
http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=26520&region=All

I can keep going.

Ok. Let's take a look at those 3 titles:

Mario kart:

7,91m on N64

7,81m on GC

9,62m on Wii.

Smash bros:

5,55m on N64

7,08m on GC

7,32m on Wii

Mario (main series?)

11,89m on N64

6,28m on GC

7,28m on Wii

Mario kart has done a lot better than previous iterations. Why is that? Maybe because it has "wii" on the title. ;)  Smash bros does a little better on each new iteration and mario main series has done worse than on N64.

You can always use that excuse that third parties just don't make good enough games to sell. CoD:WaW is a good wii title and look at those sales. Don't bother to make excuses why it bombed, I've read a lot of them already.

Nice, I would not have found those titles. 4 out of those 5 are out only on one region? 2 of them shows only few weeks of sales. I think those are the kind of games which could actually have legs on wii.

Err...Mario Kart keeps selling like mad because well, there really hasn't been any huge title released on the Wii since it was released so  it tends to be the number one title the newcomer to the console pick.....

It's sales are actually similar to the previous iteration if you relate them to the install base...

Basically what you have is every week 40-45% of the new Wii users purchase Mario Kart Wii...

Back in the GC age, 40% of the new people purchasing a GC wasn't really that big of a number.....

If it was selling on brand alone then install base wouldn't matter, Ail, because brand appeal is limited to people already indoctrinated to the brand.

You can come up with all the other reasons you like concerning why Mario Kart Wii, Smash Bros Brawl, and Mario Galaxy are outselling their last iterations, but the heart of the matte is that they are not selling on brand alone, which was the question at hand here.

A game with a total of less than five thousand sales in three weeks is not going to amount to anything, ever.

If Nintendo could sell these huge amounts of games via name alone -- slapping Mario's face & "Wii" on the cover -- as seems to be the consensus, I wonder why they bother spending all that time, money & energy to create quality products.

Galaxy was many people's pick for GOTY last year.

Big name franchises get to be that way due to quality early in a series, but it can go either way from there. If Nintendo phoned in a franchise, then current sales & (more importantly) future games would feel the impact.

Nintendo knows that, for many, Galaxy will be their first-ever Mario game. They want that player coming back for more when they release whatever Mario will be 10-15 years from now.