I probably have incomplete save files in dozens of games, and don't even remember what half of them are! My backlog is so big that sometimes I feel like going back and finishing a game or 2 is homework.

And don't get me started on that Virtual Console thing!

Looking it from that perspective I agree too lol. I still haven't finished Punch Out in every possible way and still have a lot of games like new. I'd had liked more characters in Punch Out, but on the other hand I'm glad the game is short :p

Off Topic, have you played Order Up! ? I just played it for the first time, bought it last year because it looked fun, and well it's surprisingly addictive :D

LOL VC games, I still have to buy a bunch of VC and Wii ware games, seriously Reggie is right, the people who complain about a lack of Wii content just need to open up their wallets

I'm in the same shape but I also have Wii and Gamecube games that I need to finish. I also have PC games that I need to finish but that is another Dragon that I have slay some other time. Crap, I also have a back log of DS and GBA games. I just have too many Dragons to slay.

OK, there are 12 fighters in the game -- and then you have to beat them in a harder mode -- and there are challenges to complete -- and there is local multiplayer.

I sometimes wonder what more people want. It would have been tough for the game to have gotten better review scores (it is 87.96 on GameRankings, making it the 14th highest-rated Wii game). Its sales of 0.66M were predominantly in the American market (0.52M) and almost non-existent in Japan 0.02M). Not bad for a sequel to a franchise that has not had anything new in 15 years and for a game without much fanfare.


Mike from Morgantown

You might very well be right. Trying to figure out whether more content or features is worth funding or not is some kind of alchemy, and Nintendo has their own arcanists doing the best they can.

Personally, I don't think that more content would have been worth it for Punch-Out!!. I love the game, and I would love more fights, but I just don't think the game has a very broad appeal. I consider myself lucky that the franchise got revived at all. I wouldn't have minded if the multiplayer got replaced with an extra fighter or two, though.

NSMBW, on the other hand, should have gotten the online treatment, IMO. I think a good online mode contributed to Mario Kart Wii's incredible sales, and a similar mode in NSMBW would have yielded substantially more sales, even beyond the 10+ million it's sure to sell.

I am a little late but I somewhat agree. Nintendo has this habit of creating these really cool ideas for their games then changing the formula for future titles. Couple of examples Mario Party and Mario Kart. Mario Kart 64's battle mode was awesome, then comes the Wii version and you're stuck on teams wth?

If only Nintendo believed in download content . . .

Sorry for my late answer...

Yeah, i used the TP example at purpose, because that's the kind of games that many other big teams are doin' these days, if you try to compare Nintendo with everyone else: each team focus on one game only... and if i use this example, it's because the Zelda team (EAD 3) is i think around 200/300 people... it's already 1/10 of Nintendo's manpower... for one game every couple of years when we're lucky...

Same thing for Metroid Prime: one dedicated team, Retro Studios... and a serie of games full of content... 3 in 7 years...

Same thing for Smash Bros, with HAL this time: many people focused on one game only, a lot of time and money invested... 3 in 10 years...

My point: if they want to do the same with each of their game, they have to be sure that these will sell at least 2 million copies, if not way way more, like Zelda or Smash or Mario Kart... i guess their profits on Prime 3 were not that great: maybe they have even lost money on it, and if they still release such games, it's for the "prestige" and to "please the fans", rather than for the profits only...

But they can't do the same with each and every game, cos then, they'd see their profits disappear... each game would take 6 months, 1 year more... and would maybe need 10, 20 more employees...

To use your example: Punch-Out will maybe become a million seller, but for "just" one million of copies sold (and it's never a guarantee), you have to know what's a decent budget, and where's the good balance between attractive content and profitability...

Now of course, they may be a little bit too "cheap" from time to time: by example, i still don't get why NSMBWii doesn't have way more playable characters... Mario, Luigi, 2 Toads? Why not at least Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi as well?

In this case, maybe it would have taken one or two more months to program and test everything: but then, they'd not even have ONE REALLY BIG BLOCKBUSTER ready for holidays 2009... and people would be mad at them, just like at the end of 2008... see what i mean?

Regarding Punch out, that was pure fanservice and all the commercal I saw were also fan service.
for fanservice the diminishing returns should not be taken into account as you basically do it to please the faithfull customer... so the more the happier.

But like many, I'm just glad they did released a punch out whatever the number of fighters there are =)

now if only they could find a way to bring pit in his own game (and make it work after 20 years) that would be awsome fanservice :p

i feel the same way, lol.