Cooking Mama serves up 1 million

Quirky cooking game feeds over a million hungry gamers in Europe alone.

First released in September 2006, Cooking Mama on the Nintendo DS lets gamers virtually prepare recipes by using the stylus to do cooking tasks such as chopping vegetables, tenderising steak, and stirring soup. A Wii version, Cooking Mama: Cook Off, followed in May 2007 and added a multiplayer mode. Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends is due to be released in early 2008.

Originally the game was not set for release outside of Japan, but since being launched in North America and Europe, it seems to be one of those quirky Japanese games that successfully make it overseas.

In August, the franchise scored 500,000 copies, and now--months later--505 Games has announced that it has sold over one million units in Europe alone. 505 Games marketing director Ian Howe comments, "Now we're all keen to see how quickly we can get Cooking Mama 2 to one million!"

51 Comments

  • greater_bird

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 10:55 pm PT

    Only kids and nerds worry about other people thinking gaming is for kids and nerds... :-)

    And frankly, games like this, which appeal strongly to those outside the standard gaming demographic, are exactly the sorts of games which make "real people" believe that gaming is for everyone, not just spotty-faced losers. So please get over the idea that any game that isn't a hardcore FPS is somehow "bringing down gaming".

    Personally, I hope the success of this game will encourage publishers to bring across other weirdo titles that they're not sure will succeed outside of Japan. It's always fun to see some of the oddities that don't fall into the standard categories, and sometimes they open up entirely new play mechanics, like rhythm games or katamari-rolling.

  • mikewalsh69

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 10:57 am PT

    to nintendo

    stop bringing down gaming. gaming finally moved from being considered kiddies toys but you are pushing it back into that catagory. please dont make gaming look like it did years ago ie it was for kids and nerds only

  • yoyoman10

    Posted Dec 9, 2007 6:36 am PT

    people will buy anything these days i guess. i myself dont like "gimmick" games, but whatever

  • matty_sen

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 9:01 am PT

    itsnt it funny how nintendo still things were all 10yrs old

  • sgadvani

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 8:35 pm PT

    I'm hoping the second helping of Cooking Mama is "good, good"!

  • AhBlurKing

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 10:02 pm PT

    japanese mama love this game!

  • Ungdi

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 5:45 pm PT

    I thought this game was gonna be one of those games that nobody cares about! Maybe its worth checking out, after all the mario galaxy and mass effect I've been playing, it's time to relax and do some cooking!

  • JangoWuzHere

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 4:17 pm PT

    ppl in europe might wanna cook in the fun way i guess...

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 2:27 pm PT

    Y'know, I really thought, despite all odds, I'd like this game... but I just couldn't. I ended up trading it in a month or so after purchase. It's just the same repetitive tasks via unresponsive controls.

  • natt39

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 2:02 pm PT

    Nintendo seems to be in to games like this.... I really thought that this game wouldn't sell at all....

  • -Ronin-_basic

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 1:58 pm PT

    I've gotta say, that's very surprising. Impressive, but still surprising.

    I figured that at best, it would have a small cult following; there's always a market - even a small one - for the unusual stuff. But a million in Europe alone? Love or hate casual gaming, that's not bad at all.

    I probably wouldn't pick this one up, but it's nice to see that gaming isn't just an elitist hobby filled with multi-million dollar budgeted games; there's something for everyone.

  • gifteddie

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 1:52 pm PT

    this reached one million?!!!?? Wow I thought it was one of those games that nbody buys it justs sits on the shelf

  • smfes

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 1:24 pm PT

    I want that game for my DS now, i love my ds and Zelda! Go Nintendo and Microsoft!

  • prioritymail

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 12:40 pm PT

    I guess nintendo is doing their part to enlarge the alternative game genre

  • diablusx

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 12:07 pm PT

    This is a neat game that fills a gap in what game consumers buy. There will always be a demand for quarkey games as long as people buy them.

  • Gaara79

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 12:00 pm PT

    One of those million is mine. I got this game for my mom and she loves it.

  • mashom

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 11:48 am PT

    Cooking MAMA is gone, not bring COOKING BABY.

  • BadSushi

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 11:25 am PT

    Does it count if someone sells a game back, and then its bought by somebody, thats technically only 1 game sold... cause I sold mine after a few months, don't get me wrong it was an okay game... just one that I won't play again...

  • kori911

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 11:23 am PT

    It's a neat little game, really user friendly, and fun to play. Expect it it sell much more than 1 million.

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 11:18 am PT

    MacDonald's serves over 1 billion. You don't see me praising them.

  • longhair72

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 11:13 am PT

    Godd God....please save us from the crap casual gaming is going to bring to this community

  • TheDarkDisciple

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 11:08 am PT

    *facepalm*

  • teknicz

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 10:53 am PT

    This is a mixed bag. The game was fun and even useful, in a way, but it's so short and the gameplay is so limited that I can't imagine this selling over a million copies.

    I guess it did have that appeal to non-gamers though.

  • teknicz

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 10:52 am PT

    This is a mixed bag. The game was fun and even useful, in a way, but it's so short and the gameplay is so limited that I can't imagine this selling over a million copies.

    I guess it did have that appeal to non-gamers though.

  • jmartinez1983

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 10:36 am PT

    Yay. Why cook in a kitchen when you can just cook on a DS...

    Mostly I'm just upset that Majesco got out of publishing some really great games like Psychonauts and Phantom Dust to concentrate on stuff like this.

  • GawNawRaw

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 10:32 am PT

    @ TongLong: Your statement is made of an epic win.

  • TongLong

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 10:17 am PT

    Awesome! It's so nice to see that a game doesn't need to promise 60+ hours of gameplay with multiple online capabilities, and a 20 million dollar + development budget to be appealing to gamers. Maybe there is hope for us all yet! ^__^

    PS: The game is a blast. I've kind of neglected Halo 3 since I picked this one up.

  • DraginHikari

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 10:10 am PT

    We've actually sold quite a few of this at the store I work at, it's one of thos e games that heavily appeals to the casual as just a goofy little entertaining game, not real deep or epic... but if it makes sales, it's worht it to someone XD

  • Putzwapputzen

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 10:09 am PT

    haha, i have to play this game

  • Thing2

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 9:59 am PT

    Loucetios, Mario Galaxy has been out for all of 24 days, Cooking Mama has been out for 450 days, that probly has something to do with it....

  • LINKloco

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 9:31 am PT

    No surprise here. Mass appeal type game. Good to see all types of games succeed.

  • death_burnout

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 9:30 am PT

    i cant wait for number 2, shame its next year

  • Dr_Corndog

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 9:08 am PT

    Well, congratulations. It looks like a fun game, just not my cup of tea.

  • miiiguel

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 9:07 am PT

    LOL! Halo is talked in about, like... every single thread. Those Bungie/MS PR's do deserve some kinda award, damn! It's crazy!

  • u8nogard

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 9:07 am PT

    Impressive.

  • arc_salvo

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 8:55 am PT

    I'm not too surprised that Cooking Mama sold a million copies. It's a very accessible game with an interesting premise that instantly appeals to a lot of people, even non-gamers. I'm hoping Cooking Mama 2 improves on the formula enough to be more entertaining though. As much fun as the first one was, I found it a bit limited, and found myself wishing that there was more breadth to the game world and more things to do with more characters and recipes.

  • ChickenHounk911

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 8:51 am PT

    How about people learn to cook for real? Or maybe a game that teaches people how to cook for real?

  • jangojay

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 8:50 am PT

    Kinda like halo huh? Supbar game gets lots of sales

  • Serraph105

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 8:47 am PT

    wow is it that good?

  • Loucetios

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 8:43 am PT

    rofl, cooking mama outsold super mario galaxy, aahhh what a world

  • Madmangamer364

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 8:40 am PT

    Don't know why so many people are disappointed with this. I'm actually glad to hear that the series has become this successful. From a quality/critical standpoint, there are obviously worse games/franchises out there that could and probably will sell the same amount of games for some crazy reason or another. I think the Cooking Mama name and Nintendo's two systems, the DS and Wii, are a good fit. Maybe this will prove to developers that their games can sell on those two platforms if they work at it.

    Heck, everytime video games are brought up in my house, this is one of the games my sister mentions in terms of wanting to have. This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it obvioiusly has a place in some people's homes. Therefore, I can't complain about the series reaching this milestone. I can only hope that this is the beginning of something really good.

  • zeke2040

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 8:17 am PT

    wow that's great, but i need a real cook , not a game about it... glad the game is making good cook's out of kids...lol

  • bdbogart

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 8:12 am PT

    To everyone who says it's a stupid game...

    There's 1 million people out there that disagree with you. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it bad.

  • XBASX

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 8:07 am PT

    Many casual gamers in Europe are housewifie's so it makes sence.

  • pandaramaster posted Dec 6, 2007 8:03 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    pandaramaster

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 8:03 am PT (hide)

    I'm European and I haven't played this crap. I have the Orange Box, Okami, you know... PROPER GAMES. Oh well, we European have disgusting taste in crap. Apart from me and a few others.

  • KRYPTON1TE posted Dec 6, 2007 7:46 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    KRYPTON1TE

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 7:46 am PT (hide)

    News like this is depressing. What the hell is up with people? Lets go buy cooking mama instead of good games like Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, and Uncharted!

    I feel like getting rich. I think I'm going to start my own game development studio where we make bad games. It's ok though. People will buy them.

  • waleedarshad posted Dec 6, 2007 7:41 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    waleedarshad

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 7:41 am PT (hide)

    really sad that 1 million people actually bought this game

  • swyg

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 7:30 am PT

    Quirky cooking game feeds over a million hungry gamers in Europe alone.


    Didn't realize they were starving though.

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