The plumber is at it again. Super Mario Sunshine has sold an amazing amount in just ten short days.
Super Mario Sunshine Launches At Record Pace, Boosts Hardware Sales
REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 5, 2002 – The world’s favorite plumber has returned with a bang! During its first 10 days of availability, Super Mario Sunshine for Nintendo GameCube is already a smash hit, selling through more than 350,000 games. This is a total not achieved by any competitor, including Xbox’s popular Halo or Playstation 2’s Grand Theft Auto 3 until a month or more on store shelves.
The immediate popularity of Super Mario Sunshine, which chronicles the chubby plumber’s attempts to clean up a lush tropical island, is also creating a significant demand for its host system. During its first week, Nintendo’s retail partners cited jumps in Nintendo GameCube hardware sales averaging 50 percent, with some accounts reporting that system sales had more than doubled.
“This launch is historic—promising to break longstanding records,” says Peter MacDougall, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America Inc. “So far, sales rates for Super Mario Sunshine are running 36 percent ahead of even Super Mario 64 six years ago—and that game went on to sell more than 10 million units worldwide.”
Super Mario Sunshine is already one of the 15 top selling console games for all of 2002, but will face stiff competition from other eagerly anticipated Nintendo GameCube titles through the remainder of 2002. While Mario’s record of more than $7 billion in worldwide game sales knows no limitations in demographic or national appeal, older Nintendo GameCube fans will have a particular feast of choices throughout the fall.
In the first half of November, both Resident Evil Zero and Metroid Prime arrive exclusively for the console, along with Star Fox Adventures later this month. These will be accompanied by a host of companion teen- and mature-rated titles before the holidays, including: Medal of Honor: Frontline and James Bond 007: Nightfire from Electronic Arts; Turok Evolution and BMX XXX from Acclaim; Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee from Infogrames; Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 from Activision; Bloodrayne from Majesco; Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance from Midway; and a long list of sports, racing and other extreme sports titles.
As the worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co. Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home video game systems. The systems include Game Boy®, Nintendo® 64, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 1.6 billion video games worldwide, creating enduring industry icons such as Mario™ and Donkey Kong® and launching such franchises as Zelda™ and Pokémon®. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.
For more information about Nintendo GameCube or any other Nintendo product visit the company’s Web sites, www.nintendo.com or www.supermariosunshine.com
