I think Marble Mania is much better than Mercury Meltdown, but Marble Mania was way too pricey (full retail). It should have been $29.99 and it would have been huge. That would apply to Boom Blox as well.

Mercury Meltdown is a great game, and should have sold way better than it did, the graphics are just way too cartooney compared to Marble Mania.

@Oyv sorry I applied my own defintions.

1 Unit X Demand (or purchases) = Sales.

But then that doesn't make any sense does it lol.

Ignore me.

Fatal Frame IV.

Havn't played KMM but I hear it was great.  If I could ever find it used (or even new for $19.99) I'll be sure to pick it up but it sold well enough for a sequel so we can look forward to that.

Re: Mercury Meltdown - In the screen shots it looked very cartoony but in motion not so much, just stylized.  Really nice reflection off the mercury and the sensitivity of the wiimote tilting was amazing.   The slightest tilt registers just right.  Totally made that game.

As for why:

Okami - main character is a dog. Okay, a wolf. Also too stylized for mainstream tastes.

Zack & Wiki - Niche genre, cartoony style probably didn't help but it works for Sam & Max and Strongbad...

No More Heroes - Art direction made this niche. Overworld like GTA but kinda amatuerish in comparison. But great game.

Marble Mania - Too expensive, too short

Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2008 (Release months after the other versions, same for the upcoming 2009)

de Blob - New IP, new genre, too cutesy, can't save mid-level. No co-op.

Boom Blox - Might make 1m when price drops to $20. Getting a sequel.

Medal of Honor : Heroes 2 - Broken people in online multiplayer really hurt (everyone walks around like an old man with a broken waist), meh graphics but good shooter. Best shooter until CoDWaW

Godfather Blackhand edition - Gameplay as kinda flat aside from shooting and beating people up. Really should have sold 1m. Doesn't appeal to kids, women.

Bully Scholorship Edition - As above

Pinball's Greatest Hits The Williams Collection - Niche but amazing. Might hit 1m

Madden NFL 2009 All Play - Too kiddified??

Lego Indiana Jones (will hit a million)

Tiger Wood PGA 09 (Came out right as Wii Motion Plus was announced, which I'm sure will be used in next years version. That didn't help sales)

There are a few games I can think of and they have been mentioned such as Godfather, Madden and a couple others. There are more if I looked through their list of games. I think the problem is that many longtime Nintendo fans mostly stick to Nintendo franchises or other big companies big games such as Capcom's Resident Evil or Sega's Sonic. So even traditional hardcore fans might not be experimenting much by going outside the Nintendo lineup.

As much as I can expect quality usually from Nintendo's lineup, I'm sometimes hesitant with other games. Despite that, I've picked up quite a few 3rd party games such as Godfather, Zack and Wiki, Trauma Center Second Opinion, Ghost Squad to name a few. Since I do think that some people feel the same and are hesitant to get games from other publishers and why there are numerous games that haven't or won't hit the million mark that probably should.

How many of those games that 'deserved to sell a million' did people here actually buy. I mean, we all sit here on the inside circle of games, looking at charts and sales and talk about how 'people' should have bought this or that, but we are included in that, perhaps more so as those with the passionate interest.

Of that list, I bought:
-Godfather: Blackhand Edition
-Okami
-Bully
-Pro Evo 2008
-Lego Indiana Jones

Fire Emblem and Okami. NMH is godawfully overrated here and so is Soda 500 or whatever the director is.

No More Heroes deserved to sell a million, because of how incredibly different it was compared to other games.

I know NMH 2 will sell a million. Quote me on that.

No More Heroes looks to be the only game worthy enough to sell a million. It will definitely sell a million by mid 2009 the latest.