Topic: New Super Mario Bros. Wii Sets Sales Record in Japan

[NWR_DrewMG]

The flagship title is the fastest Wii game to reach 3 million in sales.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=20797

 New Super Mario Bros. Wii has sold over three million copies in Japan in just seven weeks, making it the fastest selling Wii title yet released in the region.      

Famtisu.com reported sales figures of 3,002,753 as of the week ending January 17, just seven weeks after the game was released on December 3.      

The other Wii titles that have sold more than three million copies are Wii Sports and Wii Fit.    

Thanks to NWR Forum member BlackNMild2k1 for the news tip!

[Caterkiller]

News of Mario doing really well again? We should place bets on when the latest article of "Nintendo is crap and Mario shouldn't be performing well" will be coming out.

It's nice to see that this game which is very traditional is selling faster than Wii Fit and Wii Sports, if only to shut people up. And this also ensures that 3D and 2D Mario can coexist for a lifetime. I honestly think this game can surpase the 6 million mark made by Super Mario Bros.

[Mop it up]

I just hope this stirs interest in more 2D games, as it would seem that Mario Brothers is the only 2D game that can sell well on a home system.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

For the sake of curiosity, I'd kind of like to know exactly what it is that makes Japan take to this when they didn't to Super Mario Galaxy. Is navigation in 3D really that daunting to them?

Good news for NSMB Wii. I assume this would have given hardware sales a big leg-up over there.

[Caterkiller]

For the sake of curiosity, I'd kind of like to know exactly what it is that makes Japan take to this when they didn't to Super Mario Galaxy. Is navigation in 3D really that daunting to them?

Good news for NSMB Wii. I assume this would have given hardware sales a big leg-up over there.

I'm actually really interested in that myself. But I think the mulitplayer is a HUGE part of it.  And sooner or later co-op 3D Mario and Zelda will be the standard. When I think back to WW and Galaxy's shoe horned multiplayer I can't help but think Nintendo is really really trying to go in that direction. But until everyone feels important in co-op like in NSMBW, no Tingle Tuners or Star Bit shooters are going to make up for it.

[NWR_pap64]

What I am loving the most about these news is that people claimed that NSMB Wii wouldn't sell as well as the DS version because "only one copy will be bought per household, unlike the DS version". At this rate, it might surpass the DS version.

I am getting ready to serve insane amounts of crow right now...

[NWR_DrewMG]

  And sooner or later co-op 3D Mario and Zelda will be the standard.

I hope not.  While I appreciate the multiplayer component of NSMBW, full co-op in Zelda should never be the "standard".  Zelda is a solo experience.  Make a spinoff for multiplayer if you want, but I would never want to see the single player Zelda experience go away.   I just don't think it's a good idea to take a single player adventure game and make it into a co-op game.  It's why I never played RE5. 

[King of Twitch]

Come on.. they can't even make customized soundtracks a recurring standard.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"Red Steel 2 is a solo experience.  Make a spinoff for multiplayer if you want."

[Chozo Ghost]

Nintendo seems to be setting records left and right. The sad thing is, we are probably getting desensitized to it. When Nintendo first because a huge success it was a huge deal, but now they're just breaking their own records and its kinda like "meh".

[BlackNMild2k1]

It's all downhill from here. Sucks to be Nintendo.

This is why 3rd parties are supporting the HD consoles. Compared to the Wii there is only room for growth.

[Chozo Ghost]

It's all downhill from here. Sucks to be Nintendo.

Until next year when Nintendo smashes more records.

[KDR_11k]

For the sake of curiosity, I'd kind of like to know exactly what it is that makes Japan take to this when they didn't to Super Mario Galaxy. Is navigation in 3D really that daunting to them?

In short, 2D Mario and 3D Mario are entirely dissimilar games. 3D Mario has exploration, puzzle solving and whatnot while 2D Mario is about getting to the end of the level. 2D Mario never had you replay the same level over and over to find all the stars. 3D Mario makes powerups level specific temporary effects while 2D Mario makes powerups regular equipment that you carry around. 3D Mario just sits back and tells you to play whatever you feel like, 2D Mario tells you to beat the levels in front of you or you can forget about progression. 3D Mario happily throws minigames and whatnot into the levels, 2D Mario stays 2D Mario. 3D Mario has tons of maneuvers for very specific situations, 2D Mario has jumping, running and shooting. 3D Mario had a bunch of games recently but there hasn't been a proper SMB game on consoles for 18 years. 2D Mario revived a dead game market, 3D Mario just continued Nintendo's decline into irrelevance.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

"3D Mario just continued Nintendo's decline into irrelevance."
It still boggles my mind that Super Mario Galaxy selling over 8 million copies worldwide could be thought of as a failing. Apart from in Japan, SMG did very well commercially.

While I don't think the differences between 2D Mario and 3D Mario are as bipolar as you're making them out to be, 2D Mario is fundamentally easier to grasp for sure. All I'm curious about is why Japan was the only region where Galaxy was not so successful. Must be a cultural thing.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Galaxy failed to be a killer app.  Notice how the term "killer app" isn't being thrown around so much anymore; it couldn't be associated with this cycle's high-profile HD games.  PS3/360 killer apps failed to propel their consoles to the levels people hoped for, while Nintendo redefined what REAL killer apps do via Sports/Fit/Kart.  3D Mario did not propel Wii to success, Wii simply provided a habitat for 3D Mario.  On the contrary, 2D Mario does propel Wii (and captures the attention of Japan).  Thus, 3D Mario can be deemed irrelevant, like a pretty successful 3rd party game -- certainly not important enough to truly push sales of the machine.

2D gaming has its charm.  It's honest-to-goodness classic feel-good video-gaming that doesn't require so much extra brainpower to grasp, and gameplay easily accommodates display monitors of nearly any size (particular small, personal screens).  Decades of gaming were played on tiny, yet personal TV sets (and PC monitors were even smaller).

[broodwars]

Well, at least it's not another Wii______ game setting records this time.  That's something, anyway.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

'Wii New Super Mario Bros.'
'Wii Mario Kart'

=O

[NWR_pap64]

I find that the whole "2D Mario vs. 3D Mario" debate is both sad and frustrating.

Yes, 2D Mario is more popular. Yes, 2D Mario is easier to get into. Yes, 3D Mario is more complex and more core gamer oriented. But is one of them better than the other? Definitely not.

It's a matter of personal preferences. Yes, at this moment people prefer 2D Mario more. But last I heard, people still liked 3D Mario. And best of all, BOTH Marios excel in brilliance. Both games represent the best thing about Nintendo: incredible game design that remains influential to this day.

2D Mario revolutionized 2D gaming, platforming and level design. 3D Mario laid the ground for 3D gaming and exploration. Without any of them, the industry would be different today.

[Ian Sane]

For the sake of curiosity, I'd kind of like to know exactly what it is that makes Japan take to this when they didn't to Super Mario Galaxy. Is navigation in 3D really that daunting to them?

Japan seems to be a country of groupthink.  I don't mean that as an insult, I've just noticed that individual tastes seem to be less common then what I'm used to here.  The market seems to be very trend based.  Something seems to either a runaway success or a big ol' DUD.
 
Don't think of NSMB Wii as 2D Mario think of it as the sequel to the incredibly popular DS game.  The DS is where it's at in Japan.  Super Mario Galaxy however is a sequel to Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64.  Here in the West Super Mario 64 is a legendary game.  But what sort of status does it have in Japan?  The N64 was the last place console there.  I think even the Saturn was beating it.  The Gamecube also wasn't successful.  At least here the N64 was a reasonably successful alternate console to the Playstation.  If Japan has less of a connection to Super Mario 64 because nobody played the damn thing then Super Mario Galaxy would be unfamiliar.  Meanwhile the market leading NES, SNES and now the DS all have 2D Mario games.  2D Mario is the style of Mario that was on trendy videogame systems so trend-happy Japan knows and loves 2D Mario.
 

 I find that the whole "2D Mario vs. 3D Mario" debate is both sad and frustrating.

I don't mind it as a topic of discussion.  I think it's a good topic actually.  I don't like the idea that it was to be one or the other.  Zelda and Metroid also have a 2D and 3D style and at one point Nintendo seemed to embrace both but not so much now.  I suppose the DS Zeldas could be considered 2D but they don't feel right to me.  2D Metroid has been gone for years but the new Wii Metroid might be more like that.  But because of that Metroid Prime is probably gone.  The fact that Nintendo doesn't just keep both going is annoying.  I don't want to pick one, I want both.
 
Now here we are with Mario.  Fans talking about they prefer is just pointless fun discussion.  But I don't want Nintendo to be thinking that only one should exist.
 
Personally I think both of them are great.  Sunshine was kind of weak but then I found NSMB on the DS weak as well.  Sometimes these games just don't quite hit the mark.

[TJ Spyke]

The N64 was the last place console there.  I think even the Saturn was beating it.

I personally doubt it. Saturn only did 9 million worldwide, N64 sold 5.6 million in Japan. So it's possible, but that means Saturn would have had to only sell about 3 .5 million combined outside of Japan.

[Ian Sane]

I personally doubt it. Saturn only did 9 million worldwide, N64 sold 5.6 million in Japan. So it's possible, but that means Saturn would have had to only sell about 3 .5 million combined outside of Japan.

The Saturn pulled out early though.  You're comparing 5 years of N64 sales to like 3 years for the Saturn.  When both consoles were current the sales may have been in the Saturn's favour.  But I'll admit I've got no proof.  I just remember reading that at some point.  Still the N64 was not the market leader and Japan loved the Playstation.  Just makes me wonder if the bazillion Japanese Wii owners eating up NSMB Wii have no attachment to 3D Mario, which prior to Galaxy, was exclusively on "unsuccessful" consoles.

[Urkel]

That may be why 3D Mario isn't very popular in Japan, but 2D Mario is still more popular than 3D Mario, even in the west, as you'll see over the next few years as NSMB Wii hangs around the top 10 sales. There simply haven't BEEN any 2D Marios released on consoles for nearly two decades to prove that point.
 
I'm don't think anybody is really saying one is inherently better than the other, just that they are very different games that both happen to have Mario in them. Just because you like 2D Mario doesn't necessarily mean you'll like 3D mario and vice-versa, because they aren't the same.

[Caterkiller]

Once Miyamoto get's his 3D Mario and Luigi co-op engine running just you wait. Remember the old interview about Mario and Luigi running around in 3D space together for Mario 64 2? It's multiplayer party type games that seem to sell like crazy in Japan. Now add in a classic formula with the ability to play through the entire adventure with 3 of your buddies? Of course it was going to sell, I had no doubt at all.
And for 3D Mario to hit that it is going to need co-op as well. And with the ideas shown in NSMBW, I am certain many of the core ideas can be applied to 3D Mario as well to actually make it work.
 
For the life of me I could not understand how they kept buying Mario Party year after year.

[NWR_insanolord]

There is absolutely no reason to not continue making Mario games in both 2D and 3D.

[KDR_11k]

IGN seems pretty angry about NSMBW being successful, their latest report on it makes a point citing all the critical response and whatnot.Yahtzee (Zero Punctuation) also seemed strangely angry about it for no reason though by now he seems to have turned hating the Wii into one of his trademark features.