a historical look at Mario series sales figures

http://gamingtrend.com/2013/12/14/super-mario-3d-world-wii-u-trending-poorest-selling-mario-game-date-historical-look-mario-sales-figures/

It’s not shocking that Super Mario 3D World is performing below expecations given the meager install base of the Wii U, plus new consoles from Microsoft and Sony releasing in the same time frame. Despite the doom and gloom that’s been surrounding Nintendo in the media, Nintendo is not in bad shape as whole. The 3DS is performing well and 2013 has proved to be one of the best years ever for a Nintendo platform. All in all, Nintendo is still a profitable company.

Still, to see a flagship Mario title end up a commercial flop is hard to stomach. It’s never happened before, at least not in terms of traditional releases (I’ve not accounted for re-releases). Take a look at the sales chart below which tracks sales of every core game in the Mario series starting from the original game on the NES:

Thanks to hardware bundles, Super Mario Bros. U managed to garner over two million in sales. Standing on its own, 3D World has moved less than half a million units worldwide since its release nearly a month ago. It’s very possible that Nintendo could announce a significant price drop on the Wii U and include 3D World as part of a bundle, which would undoubtedly generate a spike in sales. As it stands, and as someone who has been playing Mario games since the days of the NES, it’s a bit alarming to see a Mario game going mostly unnoticed within the wider community.

There are plenty of people calling for Nintendo to exit the hardware business (at least console hardware, not necessarily portables) and focus solely on developing games. Even though I hated the Wii last generation, I was never behind the “exit” argument because I still felt that there was a place in the world for a Nintendo console. I love that Nintendo’s underlying philosophy is about making games that anyone, regardless of what demographic they’re a part of, can enjoy and have fun with.

But looking at the numbers, it’s plain to see that things are different now. Even though the Nintendo 64 got its ass kicked by the PlayStation, and the GameCube got trounced by the Xbox and PS2, people still flocked to the new Mario games in droves. In the case of Super Mario 3D World, the industry is the largest its ever been, with millions of new people playing video games compared to just five years ago, and yet it’s the worst selling game in the series (again, things may pick up if Nintendo uses a hardware price drop/bundle strategy).

I want more people to play Super Mario 3D World. It’s a brilliant, imaginative game that deserves to be experienced by the masses. The question is, what will it take to make that happen?

Damn.

i am more surprised that Super Mario Galaxy 2 sold only 6 million (compared to Galaxy 1)

I am not too surprised about the other numbers given the install base.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is certainly an anomaly; it sold only half of what its predecessor did. Maybe it didn't get as much marketing.

And as for Super Mario 3D World, I don't think it's fair to compare it to past Mario games. The game hasn't been out very long, and it has a way smaller install base than most of the other Mario games did at the time of their release.

you can only rehash something so many times

I hate all you assholes that made Yoshi's Island sell so little. Masterpiece. ONLY 4 million is a shame.

Give it some time, Jesus Christ. Nintendo titles outside of Pokemon are never front loaded, they sell over months.

I expect this to be the lowest selling mainline game, but can we at least wait for more than three weeks before we go all doom and gloom up its ass?

Super Mario World is the best game on that list.. was such a great game for the time

They're fun. I couldn't care less about sales.

K.

Super Mario Bros 2 should be where Super Mario Bros 1 is

Not surprising sales have gone down, 2 very aspirious competitors have entered the picture since Mario made his debut.

The "front loaded" arguement? Every single game on that chart sold less that its predecessor. Its a perfect downward slope.

I find it odd that Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is considered a Mario platform game eventhough it is the Yoshis that are in control, not Baby Mario.

Now look at the sales of New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario 3D Land! They are very close to each other.

You realize, I hope, the chart is not chronologically arranged? It's arranged in decreasing order of sales, from highest selling game to lowest selling game. Unless you are trying to tell me that the Wii and DS followed the NES, and that the SNES came after the Gamecube.

So of course it's a perfectly downward slope,the numbers are arranged in decreasing order.

For a 4 million unit install base, that isn't terrible. But given the apparent quality of the game, it's quite the shame.

Did you really not look at the graph you posted?

My mistake. I take full responsibility, and retract my statement.

Still, lol Nintengodno.

I wonder how many people realize that the graph doesn't indicate a downward trend in any way. It was just arranged in descending order in terms of sales figures. The top 3 Mario sellers belong to NES, DS and Wii, 2 of which were only last gen, with the other some 20 years ago. The sales are tied to the console sales., nothing more.

Dat decline......

No worries lol, people have made worse mistakes on this board and then refused to acknowledge them.

Like I said, I fully expect this to be the lowest selling Mario game to date (which is a shame- but that's a different argument). Having said that, I expect it to post reasonable and respectable numbers all the same.

There is no decline.

It's all good. At least you acknowledge your mistakes.

Did you notice that NSMB is second on the list at over 30 million units? There is no decline. It's a chart laying out the total sales of the Mario franchise from most to least.

God, people are dumb.

I used the sales list to make sure I played all these great Mario titles.

Yep, I'm good. Good list of fun games up there.

Here is a chronological graph of the top-10 selling Mario games.

@foxhound_fox: Why so serious fox? Its just sales. In my opinion, Mario will never sell as much as it did in 1985.

Serious because some people thought the graph was a downward slope over the course of Mario's history. I was merely correcting an error.

Might have based it off the first week of sales in NPD.

Pretty much, not like a less than stellar selling Mario title will discourage Nintendo from releasing another one down the line.

@foxhound_fox: Well that is good and all, but you don't have to worry. Like I said its just sales. It is impressive that Mario can still hold up over such a long period of time with both recent and previous iterations.

Two crimes against gaming have occurred in the last month:

1. Knack outselling Super Mario 3D World

2. Tearaway bombing at retail

It's enough to drive me to depression

Exactly Brother Wingman.

Ahhhh Super Mario Sunshine... Good times back on the GC. Too bad it didn't sell that great :(

Good god, what a horrible op. Get a better chart to support your doomsday shrieks.

It's ah me, Mario. I blame the console they are released on, not the quality of the games. Just ask Luigi.

I'm sure sales will increase when it becomes cheaper.

Oh a Nintendo game? Guess that theory is out the window.

Why did they list them out of order?

Game hasn't even been out for a month and the graph is not in chronological order. This thread fails on all counts.

lol the misdirection is wonderful

enjoyed

Technically it is in *an* order, just not the usual one.

Yes, yes. The game is the lowest selling Mario in recent memory. I can acknowledge that (in fact, I acknowledged that by the first Japanese sales).

@foxhound_fox said:

Here is a chronological graph of the top-10 selling Mario games.

I mean, I hate Sunshine, but damn, excluding it altogether is a bit harsh, don't you think?

According to nintendo... they aren't doing it enough.

What the hell is that chart? XD

Super Mario 3D World has a higher LTD than Knack. Knack has only beaten that game in the UK.

I love how this chart compares life time sales from other mario games to the sales of Super Mario 3D World that has been out less than a month.

Jesus Christ some people in SW are stupid. Of course a game that has been out for decades sold more than a game that released only a few weeks ago -_-

Say what you like about the OP being misleading but the sales of the latest one are alarming so far. And that could be because there have been three mario platformers released within one year. And that's only on one console.

Only two have been released technically. The other one was an add-on or expansion pack to New Super Mario Bros U.

@super600: False. It was a retail game which did not require any other game to play it. And my point stands either way.

ETA: Which just strengthens my argument! This game is so indifferent from the previous one people wrongly assume it is an expansion! They are copying and pasting platform games over and over.

they're really not presented in any chronological order, it's also worth considering the original NES and SNES games came with the systems