Topic: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games: Five Million Worldwide

[Kairon]

Sega proves the naysayers wrong: the Wii and DS game experienced gangbuster sales in all three major markets.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=15463

 MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES™ HITS 5 million in Global Sales    

Founding Fathers of Video Games, SEGA and Nintendo, Find Winning Formula with First-Ever Pairing of Famous Mascots    

TOKYO (MARCH 5, 2008) – SEGA® Corporation today announced that its history-making video game title, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games™, has sold five million copies worldwide in just over three months.  Developed by SEGA for the Wii™ video game system and the Nintendo DS™ system, with creative input and executive milestone approvals by Nintendo’s developers, the title brought together for the first time the two most beloved icons in the entertainment industry.  In the spirit of the Olympic Games, the legendary mascots also brought friends from their storied franchises along, including Luigi™, Knuckles™, Yoshi® and Tails™, to compete in a variety of Olympic events.    

"With adored icons and fun game play, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games has shot to the top of the sales charts and is clearly resonating with the growing audience of casual gamers that want an engaging and accessible gaming experience," said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America.    

Published by SEGA across Europe and North America, and by Nintendo in Japan, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games made its worldwide debut on November 6, 2007, when the Wii version hit store shelves in the United States. According to the NPD Group, which tracks sales data in the United States, the game was one of the top-ten best-sellers in the United States – across all platforms – in the critical holiday sales month of December.    

When Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games launched in Europe just days later, it was an immediate hit, rising rapidly to the top of sales charts. Mario & Sonic became the best-ever performing Wii game over the seven-day period that ended on December 11, 2007.  In January, Mario & Sonic was the best-selling video game in England across all formats.    

"The market for entertaining games that everyone can enjoy is growing faster than any other segment in the industry, thanks in part to the explosive popularity of Wii and Nintendo DS," continued Jeffery. "A key element of our growth strategy at SEGA is to develop and publish games that appeal to this expanding market."    

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is licensed through a worldwide partnership with International Sports Multimedia (ISM), the exclusive Interactive Entertainment Software licensee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

[Kairon]

Wow. I mean, geez. I mean, WOW. I mean, GEEZ.

I remember sniggering at Sega when they predicted 4 million for both versions combined... but now they've even exceeded that number!

And this title is likely to continue selling, since casual titles have legs and the Olympics haven't even hit yet!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

real gaming is dead.

[NWR_pap64]

I'm honestly very happy for them. While I thought the cross-over hype would help it sell some copies I never expected it to become a smash hit. In fact, the game looked like it was going to flop because the game debuted so poorly in both Japan and the US.

The game is rock solid and again, its great to hear its doing great.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Europe is saving our industry.

Nintendo rewards Europe by never announcing a Brawl release date?

[that Baby guy]

Decent games on this gen's Nintendo consoles have legs when it comes to sales.

[UncleBob]

Dear SEGA:
I never doubted it for a moment.

Now, will you send me a free copy?  I don't want to spend money on it...

[Ian Sane]

Deep down SSB Brawl is still the "real" Mario-Sonic crossover.

Hell while 5 mil is no small number Brawl probably has a chance of beating it.

It is interesting though that well over ten years after Sonic and Mario were the most important franchises in gaming the crossover still has enough "dream match" appeal to be a big hit.  Hell most kids playing this game weren't even born yet when the 16-bit system wars were on.  What an odd thing to think about - knowning Sonic only from his 3D games.  That's like knowing Paul McCartney purely as a member of Wings.

Makes you wonder how well something like this would have sold back in 1995.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

The world would've imploded.

[Shift Key]

Hell while 5 mil is no small number Brawl probably has a chance of beating it.

Sega can actually release their games worldwide in a timely manner.

[Kairon]

Hell while 5 mil is no small number Brawl probably has a chance of beating it.

Sega can actually release their games worldwide in a timely manner.

Shocking, but true!

[Mario323]

Uh yeah, Brawl is gonna EASILY beat 5 million.

[Kairon]

Uh yeah, Brawl is gonna EASILY beat 5 million.

Yeah, but still, you gotta wonder if this Mario & Sonic @ the Olympic Games is going to be Sega's biggest seller for...like... the past 15 years?

[Shift Key]

Uh yeah, Brawl is gonna EASILY beat 5 million.

Saving this quote for posterity. Thanks, random internet goon.

[NWR_insanolord]

Melee sold over 6 million and that was on the GameCube. I don't think there's much chance of Brawl selling less than 5 million.

[Shift Key]

Melee sold over 6 million and that was on the GameCube. I don't think there's much chance of Brawl selling less than 5 million.

I'm skeptical about the Wii userbase getting behind Brawl. It started out as a fighting game and, despite the efforts to make it more accessible, remains a fighting game.

Sure, every hardcore gamer and his dog are talking about it, but I see Mario Kart selling better than Brawl. I just don't think it's going to sell well with the casual gamers.

[NWR_insanolord]

All the die-hard Nintendo fans will buy it, like they did last time. I see the Wii, over the course of its life, attracting a lot more core gamers outside the Nintendo die-hards than the Cube did, and almost all of them will buy. I also see a decent amount of sales from the casual market, mostly with the section of them that used to be what we would now consider core gamers, got out of it, and bought a Wii. I think there's a good chance that Mario Kart will outsell Brawl, but I don't think that and Brawl outselling Melee are mutually exclusive.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Melee sold over 6 million and that was on the GameCube. I don't think there's much chance of Brawl selling less than 5 million.

I'm skeptical about the Wii userbase getting behind Brawl. It started out as a fighting game and, despite the efforts to make it more accessible, remains a fighting game.

Sure, every hardcore gamer and his dog are talking about it, but I see Mario Kart selling better than Brawl. I just don't think it's going to sell well with the casual gamers.

Yeah the Japanese userbase has rejected it, I mean only 1.2 million units? Give me a break!

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, the Japanese sales so far mean it's a quarter of the way to 5 million in the first month.

[Luigi Dude]

I'm skeptical about the Wii userbase getting behind Brawl. It started out as a fighting game and, despite the efforts to make it more accessible, remains a fighting game.

Sure, every hardcore gamer and his dog are talking about it, but I see Mario Kart selling better than Brawl. I just don't think it's going to sell well with the casual gamers.

I hope your joking, I seriously hope your joking.  The Smash Bros serious is popular because it's the only fighting series casuals can get into.  The reason fighters like Street Fighter died out is because with each new installment the companies focused only on the hardcore fans and as a result the average arcade goer had no idea how to play the games anymore because of how complicated they became and got killed by the hardcore.

With Smash Bros, Nintendo created a fighter that did what Street Fighter 2 originally did, made fighting games accessible to the masses again.  But unlike Street Fighter, the Smash Bros series has remained playable for the average person, while still having enough depth for hardcore fans to enjoy.

So I'll give you something else to quote.  Not only am I confident that Brawl will sell over 5 million worldwide, I say it'll sell over 5 million copies worldwide by this time next year.  And I'm so confident, I request I be banned if it's not.  Hear that staff, if Brawl hasn't sold 5 million copies worldwide by March 8th, 2009, ban me. 

[Kairon]

Luigi dude... Mario & Sonic sold 5 million worldwide in just THREE MONTHS of release. You're giving Smash Brothers Brawl more than one year to do the same thing?

[Shift Key]

Yeah the Japanese userbase has rejected it, I mean only 1.2 million units? Give me a break!

Right now its behind Wii Fit in terms of total sales in Japan, and they're both selling about the same rate right now. Are you sure the casuals are playing it?

I hope your joking, I seriously hope your joking.  The Smash Bros serious is popular because it's the only fighting series casuals can get into.  The reason fighters like Street Fighter died out is because with each new installment the companies focused only on the hardcore fans and as a result the average arcade goer had no idea how to play the games anymore because of how complicated they became and got killed by the hardcore.

Lets not turn this into an argument about fighting games, because I don't really care about the past. Street Fighter 2 was the best arcade fighting game of all time. Anyone who disagrees can take it to another thread for me to troll.

Not only am I confident that Brawl will sell over 5 million worldwide, I say it'll sell over 5 million copies worldwide by this time next year. 

Somebody didn't read the original article. Why not show some chutzpah and say how it'll go over three months? There's a good chance Brawl won't be available worldwide in the three months since it was released in Japan. Still so sure?

[Kairon]

Does this mean that Sega Localization > Nintendo localization?

[NWR_insanolord]

Faster doesn't mean better.

[Shift Key]

Faster doesn't mean better.

When it comes to sales momentum, it does.