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New Super Mario Bros. Wii Tops 10 Million Sales
According to a report from Japanese publication Nikkei Net, Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. Wii has now sold 10 million copies worldwide. The game needed only 45 days to pass the already impressive sales numbers of Super Mario Galaxy. Quoting Gamasutra:
"NSMB Wii has sold 3 million units in Japan, where it launched on December 3; 3 million copies in Europe, where it launched November 20, and 4.5 million units in North America, where it launched November 15. Super Mario Galaxy has sold 4.1 million units in North America since 2007. The game's design hearkens back to the two-dimensional, side-scrolling style of earlier Mario titles ... The numbers would seem to suggest that these traits successfully generated more mass appeal for NSMB Wii than for the three-dimensional and far less familiar Super Mario Galaxy, which sent the plumber navigating more innovative spherical space environments."
It is very similar to Mario World and is a lot of fun.
A cool thing is that you can play two player where you both navigate through map together.
One of the few side strollers I really enjoyed.
If you're going to rehash old franchises, this game is the way to do it.
Now I hope they'll give us a high-resolution, all-new, top-down Zelda game in the caliber of Link to the Past and Link's Awakening.
Not overly milking the core Mario franchise like Sega did with a certain hedgehog. In four or so years Sega puked out 7 similar Sonic games while Nintendo now have 8 since 1985 (Mario 1,2,3, World, Land, Land 2, New SMB and new SMB Wii)
There has been a few misses (like Mario is missing) but overall Mario is a quality stamp and I think that's the reason why Mario Wii can see this well now.
For anyone trying to grasp just where 10mil would fit in, here's how it would compared to some other games based on VGChartz' data:
Ahead of: Halo (any of them), Xbox 360 versions of Call of Duty (any of them), Myst, GTA4 (360), Gears of War (any of them), Final Fantasy 7, Gran Turismo 4
Some games it's behind: Starcraft (11mil), Gran Turismo 3 (15mil), The Sims (16mil), Super Mario Bros. 3 (17mil), GTA: San Andreas (PS2, 18mil), Mario Kart Wii (20mil), a massive number of handheld games (which sell well because they're cheap), and several pack-in titles such as Wii Sports (60mil), Super Mario Bros. 1 (40mil), and Super Mario World (20mil).
It's a good seller, but it's not close to being the best-selling game of even this generation of consoles (that would be Mario Kart). Unless it has long legs (which is entirely likely), it's not likely to cross any of the original Mario games other than SMB2, since it still needs another 7mil units to catch up to SMB3.
NSMB Wii has sold 3 million units in Japan, where it launched on December 3; 3 million copies in Europe, where it launched November 20, and 4.5 million units in North America, where it launched November 15
Launching first in North America on Nov 15th, 5 days later released in Europe on Nov 20th and then 2 weeks later released in Japan on Dec 3rd. While it's normal for a japanese game to be released in North America first then followed by Europe, I'm surprised that it was released almost 3 weeks before being released in Japan. Or is this new Mario not made in Japan?
Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
While I applaud Nintendo for their financial success, I can't help but worry that this will simply encourage developers to skimp on innovation in future games. After all, if you can make an inexpensive game that sells millions to casual gamers, why bother spending time and money to create an innovative new experience? Still, I must admit 2D Mario has always had great appeal to me. It really is a fun game.
The multiplayer absolutely makes this game. Sure, you end up killing one another a lot. That's part of the fun. Literally, by the third or fourth level you'll be dying because you're laughing too hard to make the next jump off that blue toad's head. Well worth the purchase price if you have 2-3 other people around to play with...
Boopity boopi?
Especially Super Metroid.
Though, there would be something to be said for a well-rendered 3D Samus Aran sans armor....
The reason that developers stopped making side scrollers wasn't because that 3d games were better. In some cases (sony) they pushed the 3d gaming capabilities of the PSX so hard that if I remember correctly, they forbid the publication of 2d games on it. The fact is that 2d games are still fun and can still be fun. Just because a particular console has a feature doesn't mean it's needed, and that goes for wii too, with too many games adding motion sensor to it even though it's not necessary. It's good to see some good old arcade action come back full circle.
Nintendo Stole My Bike?
Its a really good game with excellent levels and layout. The real fun starts when you play it with a couple of friends. I really hope there will be more games like this coming out.
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Am I the only one that found the game frustrating? It seems like they wanted to make jumping "smooth" and thus added a bit of animation between you hitting the button and the actual jump motion happening, which means there is a small yet very noticeable delay in jumping, something that completely threw me off coming from the old traditional Mario titles.
It's funny, really, because I can remember some magazine back in the old days complaining about games doing exactly that and saying that when one hits the jump button, the game should *jump*.
We've basically abandoned many traditional, simple gaming controls for some ridiculous notion of making games "look right", essentially putting graphics over gameplay, even when the graphics aren't exactly of the highest quality that can be achieved (not that there's a problem with that -- graphics shouldn't matter at all, regardless of how "advanced" or "primitive" they may look, it's still about gameplay, remember). I seriously believe people need to play a lot of the top tier games of the olden days to get a feel for how games are supposed to play before we press forward with modern games with poor controls and bad ideas about gameplay.
Of course, /. mods are going to see this as one big troll because "oh, I didn't see any problem with the game," which only means you've become accustomed to poor-quality gameplay. Go back and play Mario 3, then play NSMBWii and tell me the controls and gameplay are better on the new game. You can't, because they're not. Regardless, I'm forced to be Anonymous Coward, as I am many times to avoid being modded down to Hell by knee-jerk reactions from mods that can't tell a valid, well-thought out, correct opinion from a troll.
Yes, please.
I, for one, will buy almost any and all games that return to the Super Nintendo style, and then are "refreshed" without making them 3D.
For the record, my favorite Wii game so far has been the WiiWare title Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.
While all the details aren't known, they are working on another Metroid. While part of the development team is Team Ninja, the other part is the same guys who worked on Metroid Fusion, which is the department which descended from the department which made Super Metroid.
/me holds up glass
He's to a true sequel to Super Metroid that isn't a clone and doesn't withhold gameplay elements (eg: single-column wall jumps)
"A witty saying proves nothing." - Voltaire
I like how they mapped it like the old style Nintendo controller as well.
Indeed! The Wiimote was laid out the way it is specifically to accommodate that kind of controller layout, which is quite handy. Honestly though, I think it was done so, though, to allow play of $5-a-pop virtual console (read: buy me again :-P) titles.
Never underestimate the power of sales.
Boot Windows, Linux, and ESX over the network for free.
TVs have PC inputs nowadays.
The average TV is much bigger then the average monitor.
I am aware of that. But TVs display PC video just as easily as console video, as long as the right cable is between the two. A VGA-to-composite adapter for a PC is no more expensive than an official component cable for a console. If the problem is that the TV and the PC are in separate rooms, Acer Aspire Revo and other nettop PCs with an NVIDIA chipset solve that handily. So why aren't PC games designed to use TVs?
It is a fucking game, I am supposed to enjoy my time while playing it.
If only there were more people like you in game development and design.
I simply don't buy games anymore for several reasons, aside from the asinine price tags, but one sticks out most above all: I shouldn't be punished because I suck.
A very large number of games that I've tried lately have punished me for failure. I won't go deep into details about this one or that one, but the latest Wolfenstein title comes to mind as the last one I played for about an hour and then quit. My "allies" and I were sieging a train station, and, just as in the opening cut scene I had just watched, I tried to sprint around and go Rambo on all of the Nazis behind the door. I must've reloaded the game fifteen times and tried a different approach every time I got through this door, but alas, I kept dying. Hiding under cover to reload and recharge my "stamina" just aren't my kind of thing.
At the very least, in NSMB, when you fail too many times--and yes, even if it's because you're trying to play in a manner that's just too cavalier for your skill level for you to pull off correctly--you at least have the option to skip the level by watching Luigi one-up your ass and breeze through it. Ironically, even if you can't win it the way the developers intended you to, you can still play, have some fun, and at the very least, feel like the game was worth your money by beating the damned thing.
....I'm gonna go play some DotA and kindly get back off the hardcore gamers' lawns.
Boot Windows, Linux, and ESX over the network for free.
On the latest Iwata Asks (where the president of Nintendo interviews his staff) there's a lot of interesting info about how Miyamoto came up with the sound effect for the propeller mario, why mario wears overalls, why use a mushroom as a powerup, why turtles as opponents and other interesting info.
http://us.wii.com/iwata_asks/nsmb/vol1_page1.jsp
PCs [...] don't come with any controllers or other gaming niceties, so typically gamers customize them in very one-player-specific ways.
Wii consoles don't come with multiple controllers either. In fact, PC-compatible USB gamepads for players 1 through 4 often cost less than Wii Remote + Nunchuk for players 2 through 4 or Dual Shock 3 controllers for players 2 through 4.
Consoles fit in with the "entertainment area" of homes where there's a lot of seating so everyone can view the television.
As does a suitably installed Acer Aspire Revo or any of several home theater PCs. So why aren't video games designed to take advantage of home theater PCs?
I'm very worried that Other M will be so busy forcing you to play through Samus' backstory that it won't let you do anything on your own, it'll be one of those stupid linear Metroids like Fusion that completely lose what makes Metroid good. Zero Mission was nice but the level design was a bit lacking, the stealth section total bullshit and the item distribution completely questionable (Power Bombs only when you can just go for the final boss instead?).
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Target had none.
Kmart had none.
Walmart had none.
Blockbuster had boxes on the "Buy this stuff" shelf. I picked one up, went to the counter, and told the clerk I'd like to buy it. She looked behind the counter for a while, then went to the back. Returning, she placed the empty box back on the "Buy this stuff" shelf and said "Sorry, we don't have any of these."
Lack of immediate gratification seriously made me consider dusting off my pegleg and eyepatch.
"Ahead of: Halo (any of them), Xbox 360 versions of Call of Duty (any of them), Myst, GTA4 (360), Gears of War (any of them), Final Fantasy 7, Gran Turismo 4"
:)
Which means it has now also outsold MW2 on every platform, including the 360, _individually_ (not all combined.) Just like Reggie bet that it would. He originally said it would beat Modern Warfare 2 on one platform by the end of January. (The person he was interviewing then specified the 360 and Reggie didn't seem to object. Which led to a lot of controversy amongst fanboys when it seemed like Mario might beat the PS3 sales but not the 360 sales, but that's all moot now.)
After the response to the initial sales of Modern Warfare 2 in November, a lot of people are going to be eating crow over that one
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I concur with just about everything you've said - I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way. Historically, very little story was directly told in the (2D) Metroid Games. What little story there was was shown through the gameplay itself - no text, no talking. There was no need to say "Surpirse! Samus is a woman" or "Surprise! She still has a heart, and saved the young Metroid," or "Surprise! The Metroid came to save her" etc. I'm quite worried the trend will continue as it was in Fusion, with far to much text/speach.
I found the level design in ZM okay. It's nice that the developers purposefully put in creative/indirect/sequence-breaking options (eg: you can beat the entire game without the long beam), but it just worked so well in SM when it was unintentional. And yes, the stealth section was bullshit. I do buy the fact that you got the Power Bombs only *after* defeating the Motherbrain, since Samus never did get them in the original Metroid.
Maaaaybe Yokoi's ghost will haunt Sakamoto in going old-school again, or maybe the Team Ninja folks are actually hardcore SM fans. Maybe.
"A witty saying proves nothing." - Voltaire
It's a really fun game. I'm only in World 7, but I look forward to the rest. My only problem has been when I tried to take it to a relative's house this past weekend. They're in one of the infamous dial-up bubbles all over the country, so they haven't bothered setting up wireless. The disk required a system update before it would play, so we couldn't play it. I scoured the box for a warning, expecting better from Nintendo, but couldn't find it.
This came out the day after I 100% completed NSMBW, It was worth the money, totally.
Im a troll because I disagree with you.
Your concept of "game" is foreign to me. A game is a contest with rules. You play by discovering/learning/developing the ability to win the contest within the rules. An activity that lets you progress without challenge or accomplishment isn't a game.
I am playing through New Super Mario Bros myself and while I appreciate the ease with which I can advance without ever losing, it does detract from the sense of accomplishment.
On the other hand, I do respect your definition of fun. As an amateur game designer (Starcraft maps, mostly) I've learned that players bring a wide variety of goals to each game. Some want to win by the intended rules. Some want to win by breaking rules. Some want to spend time socializing. Some want to give other players grief.
So I accept that NSMB is not a hardcore game. But I'd be sad if all games were as easy and forgiving as NSMB.
I do buy the fact that you got the Power Bombs only *after* defeating the Motherbrain, since Samus never did get them in the original Metroid.
Yeah but I only got them after destroying Mecha Ridley because there's a junction where you can decide to either go for the power bombs or to the final boss which is extremely bad level design IMO. The least they could have done was make getting to Mecha Ridley without the bombs take some serious sequence breaking, not just shooting one block and there you are.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Think of all the people you know that has a PC. Not just your hardcore geek friends but everyone.
I'd limit it to people who own a PC with a discrete video card or non-Intel onboard video, because gamers don't let gamers use Intel GMA.
How many of them have multiple game controllers?
Anyone who has multiple Xbox 360 wired controllers and a PC running Windows XP SP1 or later has multiple PC game controllers.
How many even have one game controller?
That's why.
But why don't they have multiple game controllers? As I understand it, people don't have PCs with multiple controllers because the major labels don't publish PC games that use multiple controllers, and the major labels don't publish PC games that use multiple controllers because people don't have PCs with multiple controllers. This is a chicken and egg situation. Would it be possible for an indie developer not yet big enough to qualify for a WiiWare license to break this Catch-22 by publishing a few offline multiplayer games and linking to online stores that sell extra controllers?
Nintendo does a compromise where kids with lower motivation and skill can still be rewarded while classic gamers can shift their goals slightly.
The collection system since Mario64:
These are NOT your typical collection quest. They cleverly recycle content while adding actual gameplay skill challenges. Sure, they have a few of the typical hidden, timed, or multiple path situations but the majority challenge your skills like a more difficult level would (but without adding 30 levels.) These goals are fun and not condescending drudgery with a carrot.
The NSMB for the 1st time includes VIDEOS encouraging people to try to show off their skills - its a direct response to the YEARS of Mario contests, Speed Runs and YouTube show offs.
Nintendo then keeps BOTH sides happy.
I don't play games much anymore; however, I spent every weekend since it came out playing it with friends and haven't had so much fun with a game in 15 years - including mariokart!
The only thing NSMB could add is online multiplayer, emailing USER gameplay videos, online contests, and more amazing gameplay videos.
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