You shouldnt underestimate the fact that for a lot of people, 3D Mario is just too hard. They don't have the patience to master the controls, and unless you do, the game isnt fun. (But very fun when you got it, of course).

My wife is an example. I think she is a typical casual/bridge player. She loves games like Mario Kart (and regularly beats me), she can still fire up Super Mario World or Donkey Kong Country from time to time which she played when she was a kid, and otherwise enjoys strategy/simulation games like Sim City and The Sims. I asked her to try Super Mario Galaxy, but she lost interest after 5 minutes when she struggled with getting the controls, and complained the camera was confusing.

2D Mario games are much more "pick up and play". You got left and right, a run button and a jump button, and that's pretty much it. If you die, the levels are very short compared to 3d platformersso it is easy to retry and get back to where you were.

Even tho we have had real 3D platformers for about 13 years now (since Mario 64) they will never have the broad appeal that the original Super Mario Bros. had, or continues to have today.

You have to remember that Super Mario Bros was the "Wii Sports" of its time, a cultural phenomenon, something for "everyone". No 3D platformers will ever gain a standing even close to that, they are simply too complex, and are for more dedicated players.

8 million are excellent sales, and the game is still selling 50 000 a month, last I checked. But I am pretty sure that New Super Mario Bros Wii will easily pass 10 million, maybe even reach 15-20 million.

Mario Galaxy flopped confirmed!

Have you ever thought that the lowered rated games were rated lower than they deserved?

Kenryoku_Maxis said: nitekrawler1285 said: Because 3D mario is too boring to bring continual enjoyment and engagement to people who haven't been playing them for 13 years. 3D platforming tends to be. The genre isn't that big and never really has been. Have we ever seen a 3D platformer sell over 10 million even with Mario in the title? I like them plenty but that doesn't mean they have ever had great relevance in the market. Compared to any other game in the genre SMG's sales are awesome. That 3rd Dimension just seems to be a barrier for most people in terms of less fluid feeling control, awkward cameras and time it takes to traverse and discover something interesting or new. I can't blame them as most of the time i feel the same way. Do you even know what you're talking about?  The 3D 'barrier' is what newer gamers want and what a lot of them got started on.  And it has overtaken the 2D genre in populairty in the last 2 generations. Yes, there is something to the whole '2D has more accurate controls and plays more fluid/quicker/etc'.  But as for that being the major deviding line keeping people from buying the 3D Mario titles, I doubt it.  At least in America, where 3D games are now WAY more popular than 2D.  In Japan, perhaps this could be the case, with a mixture of nostalgia.

Keep in mind that he's not talking about 3d games in general, only 3d platforming.

Obviously 3d works very well for shooter, sport, and racing games, but for a genre that's basically about jumping and avoiding bottomless pits, adding that extra dimension complicates gameplay. Think about how easy it was to jump on an enemy in a 2d Super Mario Bros, but taken into a 3d world it becomes frustrating because you never quite know where Mario is going to land.

Of course now take into consideration that Super Mario Galaxy has you running upside-down and all around those crazy mini-planets. To me it's quite obvious that, while the game is amazing to me and many other Nintendo fans, to a mainstream audience it can be too confusing and difficult.

Game critics are out of touch with game players.

can you find nowadays a platformer with the quality and the sales of super mario galaxy on home consoles?

First, Galaxy is in the Top 50 all-time videogames sales: 99,99% of all the games ever made will never reach such sales, so that's not a bad thing at all...

Then, as a personnal experience: my kids (now 10 and 9 years old) often play with me, especially Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Boom Blox, Wii Sports...

When i got Galaxy, i was very enthousiastic, and they were really impressed... so impressed in fact that they thought the game was way too hard to play... the gravitation and "multi-directional" gameplay seemed too complex for their age and their "sense of visualisation" (don't know how to say it better in english)...

The only way i could convince them to play was in a two player-way, when i stopped some enemies with my wiimote, and told them all the useful tips along the way...

They never finished the game, but saw me doing it 100% (as with most Zelda's, too), so it was a very enjoyable family experience anyway, but i think the game looks too impressive for a younger or a more inexperienced audience...

The game's not really THAT difficult, except for maybe 10 to 15 stars, but it LOOKS difficult and so, many people will pass, thinkin' it's not for them...

Beacuse the casual market is bigger then the hardcore one.

Compare any game with Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit and Mario Kart and it didn't sell well. Kind of a lame comparison man.

Chrizum said: Compare any game with Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit and Mario Kart and it didn't sell well. Kind of a lame comparison man.

      It's not a lame comparison when the standard of quality says that a 97 out of 100 should sell more than games in the lower 80s and even lower.  Then you look at Zelda Twilight Princess (even though some say it didn't sell as much because it was also on Gamecube) and other higher rated games on Wii versus these games that aren't so highly rated.

     Then if you look at games on 360 it seems that the higher rated games sell the most Halo 3, GTA IV, MGS4 are higher rated games on 360 and PS3 that have the most sales on the systems.  This even seems to be the pattern on DS and most older consoles too.

      So, something must be causing the discrepancy.

MikefromHaddonfield said: Chrizum said: Compare any game with Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit and Mario Kart and it didn't sell well. Kind of a lame comparison man.       It's not a lame comparison when the standard of quality says that a 97 out of 100 should sell more than games in the lower 80s and even lower.  Then you look at Zelda Twilight Princess (even though some say it didn't sell as much because it was also on Gamecube) and other higher rated games on Wii versus these games that aren't so highly rated.      Then if you look at games on 360 it seems that the higher rated games sell the most Halo 3, GTA IV, MGS4 are higher rated games on 360 and PS3 that have the most sales on the systems.  This even seems to be the pattern on DS and most older consoles too.       So, something must be causing the discrepancy.

Wii Sports and Wii Play are bundled, so they aren't a fair comparison at all. Mario Kart Wii is a multiplayer game, so second-hand sales are almost non-existant. It also reaches a bigger demography than Super Mario Galaxy, due to its pick-up and play character.

Wii Fit had the biggest advertizing campaign for a Nintendo game ever. It's even outselling the PS3, and reaches such a huge demography it's insane. I wouldn't call it as much as a game, rather entertainment/fitness software. It's also the only way to get a balance board, which is used for many other Wii games.

It's not a fair comparison to Super Mario Galaxy at all.