I've said three times in this thread that 3D Mario games don't sell as well as 2D Mario games and that's why Mario Galaxy isn't selling as high as some people think it should.  It has nothing to do with 'cutscenes' or 'flow' or etc.  3D Mario games cater to a different crowd than the 2D games.  Those who like more detail in the visuals, a little more emphasis in fighting and more exploration.  And many of the points made in this thread hint at people wanting a 3D Mario to play and cater to those things that a 2D mario does, such as 'getting right to the gameplay' and 'less story and cutscenes'.

In other words, you want all Mario games to do the same thing.  That's not smart on Nintendos part, as the reason Mario has been so successful is he has hit nearly every type of platform, genre and style of gaming out there.  If all the Mario games were the same, people would be complaining.  Much like some others in this thread are complaining that Mario Galaxy didn't cater to their tastes.  There's a remedy for that...go play a different Mario game.  There's only 120+ Mario games out there.

I'm not talking about comparing Galaxy to the 2D Mario games.  Games that are 2D will pretty much always be more accessible than a similar 3D game.

I'm talking about comparing Galaxy to 64 and Sunshine.  I think that the sales of Galaxy are a bit disappointing compared to the sales of those two games.  Do you agree with that?  If so, what is your reasoning why it did not perform since you do not agree with Rol?

I already addressed that too...  As its been stated, Mario 64 was bundled with the N64.  Overlooking this, 3D Mario titles since Mario 64 hasn't sold as well in regions outside of America.  So comparing 3D Mario titles to Mario 64 isn't really practical, since none of them have been bundled with the system and they've mostly been popular in America.  Once again, pointing to my example of how the 3D Mario games are being made more for those who like action games with a detail for graphics (sounds exactly like the American market to me).

Also there's the simple fact that Mario Galaxy still isn't finished selling and despite the doom and gloom people keep dishing out in this thread, 8.2 million is a LOT for a game to sell.  That's only 3.5 million away from Mario 64 (again, which was bundled with the 64).  Calling Mario Galaxy a failure is about as innaccurate as calling a Final Fantasy game a Failure.  Mario Galaxy sold more than Final Fantasy X, XI and XII just as an example.  And I bet Mario Galaxy had 1/100 the production cost of each of those games.

http://www.vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=2279&region=All

Well.... Super Mario 64 DS only got about ~45% of its sales in the states and continues to sell remarkably well - it'll probably end up breaking 8 or 9 million itself, eventually.

I already addressed that too...  As its been stated, Mario 64 was bundled with the N64.  Overlooking this, 3D Mario titles since Mario 64 hasn't sold as well in regions outside of America.  So comparing 3D Mario titles to Mario 64 isn't really practical, since none of them have been bundled with the system and they've mostly been popular in America.  Once again, pointing to my example of how the 3D Mario games are being made more for those who like action games with a detail for graphics (sounds exactly like the American market to me).

Also there's the simple fact that Mario Galaxy still isn't finished selling and despite the doom and gloom people keep dishing out in this thread, 8.2 million is a LOT for a game to sell.  That's only 3.5 million away from Mario 64 (again, which was bundled with the 64).  Calling Mario Galaxy a failure is about as innaccurate as calling a Final Fantasy game a Failure.  Mario Galaxy sold more than Final Fantasy X, XI and XII just as an example.  And I bet Mario Galaxy had 1/100 the production cost of each of those games.

It's still selling 12-20k a week, too. Its yearly sale rates are almost identical, except that, outside of tthe first, holiday spikes are actually getting larger.