New Super Mario Bros. First to Top Six Million in Japan

[John Funk]

New Super Mario Bros. First to Top Six Million in Japan

The best-selling DS game in Japan isn't Pokemon or Dragon Quest - instead, it stars a familiar plumber.

Let's be honest here: Mario is the most recognizable videogame icon in the world. Nintendo could slap his mustachioed face on a pile of poo and rebrand it as Super Mario Poo for the DS, and it'd sell a million copies easily. Yet it's easy to forget that the reason Mario is so popular is because his games are almost always really, really good.

Like New Super Mario Bros., for instance - the 2006 platformer was actually pretty great, reinventing the Mario sidescroller for a new generation. It turns out that the population of Japan collectively really loves NSMB, as the game has become the first DS title to break six million units sold: As of December 26, the platformer has sold 6.01 million copies in the land of the Rising Sun.

Of course, while uber-popular games like Dragon Quest IX and Pokemon Black & White [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103662-Japan-Goes-Gaga-for-Pokemon-Black-White] will almost certainly reach that mark, NSMB has a few years' head start on its fellows.

There are 127 million people living in Japan. This means that in the entire country, one out of every 21.66 people owns a copy of New Super Mario Bros.

(Kotaku [http://www.famitsu.com/news/201012/28037439.html])

Permalink

 

[vrbtny]

For some reason this doesn't surprise me.

Only 1 in 22 people in Japan own it?.... I thought it would be more.

 

[Count Igor]

For some reason this doesn't surprise me.

Only 1 in 26 people in Japan own it?.... I thought it would be more.

22, not 26 you silly pumpkin :3

 

[Baldr]

It is a brilliantly designed game. I wrote an academic paper on the item placement in the game only finding a couple flaws, meaning they have overlapping function with a different item. The only other fault is that it might be a little to easy.

 

[vrbtny]

For some reason this doesn't surprise me.

Only 1 in 26 people in Japan own it?.... I thought it would be more.

22, not 26 you silly pumpkin :3

Ignore my appalling maths....Time for a edit.

 

[Terramax]

This is depressing.

 

[LeonLethality]

That's awesome, Kind of surprised that it's the best selling out of other really great DS titles (especially Pokemon D/P/Pl) but at the same time I am not surprised as it is a damn good game.

This is depressing.

Depressing?

 

[Super Toast]

Unsurprising news is unsurprising.

 

[Aura Guardian]

That's awesome, Kind of surprised that it's the best selling out of other really great DS titles (especially Pokemon D/P/Pl) but at the same time I am not surprised as it is a damn good game.

This is depressing.

Depressing?

I agree with you miss. This is awesome news.

This is depressing.

How is this depressing?

 

[Jumplion]

You know, I always imagined that games in general in Japan would sell much more than they usually do as they have over 127 million people, but that's still impressive.

 

[Terramax]

That's awesome, Kind of surprised that it's the best selling out of other really great DS titles (especially Pokemon D/P/Pl) but at the same time I am not surprised as it is a damn good game.

This is depressing.

Depressing?

I agree with you miss. This is awesome news.

This is depressing.

How is this depressing?

So many great games sell next to nothing, a rehash with near zero creativity and mediocre gameplay sells around 6 million.

I'm more depressed I have to explain myself.

 

[LeonLethality]

So many great games sell next to nothing, a rehash with near zero creativity and mediocre gameplay sells around 6 million.

I'm more depressed I have to explain myself.

Explain (even if it is depressing) how it is a rehash? The level design was great and the gameplay is the fantastic Mario gameplay that has pretty much been perfected. I think you are just bitter and hating on Mario/Nintendo since it is the cool thing to do or whatever.

Even if you dislike the game you can't deny that it is good, it sells for a reason.

 

[Aura Guardian]

That's awesome, Kind of surprised that it's the best selling out of other really great DS titles (especially Pokemon D/P/Pl) but at the same time I am not surprised as it is a damn good game.

This is depressing.

Depressing?

I agree with you miss. This is awesome news.

This is depressing.

How is this depressing?

So many great games sell next to nothing, a rehash with near zero creativity and mediocre gameplay sells around 6 million.

I'm more depressed I have to explain myself.

Mediocre gameplay? It's a Mario Platformer. It's never mediocre. Zero Creativity? You mean that the levels in that game aren't creative. Also...if the games you claim are great...they would have sold instead of being either crap or cult classics.

 

[FernandoV]

That's awesome, Kind of surprised that it's the best selling out of other really great DS titles (especially Pokemon D/P/Pl) but at the same time I am not surprised as it is a damn good game.

This is depressing.

Depressing?

I agree with you miss. This is awesome news.

This is depressing.

How is this depressing?

So many great games sell next to nothing, a rehash with near zero creativity and mediocre gameplay sells around 6 million.

I'm more depressed I have to explain myself.

Mediocre gameplay? It's a Mario Platformer. It's never mediocre. Zero Creativity? You mean that the levels in that game aren't creative. Also...if the games you claim are great...they would have sold instead of being either crap or cult classics.

That's like saying that just because a band isn't in the top 10 it isn't good. FFS, I don't know when it became acceptable to rate the quality of a game on its sales.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

That's awesome, Kind of surprised that it's the best selling out of other really great DS titles (especially Pokemon D/P/Pl) but at the same time I am not surprised as it is a damn good game.

This is depressing.

Depressing?

I agree with you miss. This is awesome news.

This is depressing.

How is this depressing?

So many great games sell next to nothing, a rehash with near zero creativity and mediocre gameplay sells around 6 million.

I'm more depressed I have to explain myself.

Mediocre gameplay? It's a Mario Platformer. It's never mediocre. Zero Creativity? You mean that the levels in that game aren't creative. Also...if the games you claim are great...they would have sold instead of being either crap or cult classics.

That's like saying that just because a band isn't in the top 10 it isn't good. FFS, I don't know when it became acceptable to rate the quality of a game on its sales.

I think it came around the time everyone bought Modern Warfare 2.

 

[FernandoV]

That's awesome, Kind of surprised that it's the best selling out of other really great DS titles (especially Pokemon D/P/Pl) but at the same time I am not surprised as it is a damn good game.

This is depressing.

Depressing?

I agree with you miss. This is awesome news.

This is depressing.

How is this depressing?

So many great games sell next to nothing, a rehash with near zero creativity and mediocre gameplay sells around 6 million.

I'm more depressed I have to explain myself.

Mediocre gameplay? It's a Mario Platformer. It's never mediocre. Zero Creativity? You mean that the levels in that game aren't creative. Also...if the games you claim are great...they would have sold instead of being either crap or cult classics.

That's like saying that just because a band isn't in the top 10 it isn't good. FFS, I don't know when it became acceptable to rate the quality of a game on its sales.

I think it came around the time everyone bought Modern Warfare 2.

After the new game smell wears off is when everyone wants to criticize a popular game; goes to show how little game sales mean to game quality. >___>

 

[Macrobstar]

So many great games sell next to nothing, a rehash with near zero creativity and mediocre gameplay sells around 6 million.

I'm more depressed I have to explain myself.

Explain (even if it is depressing) how it is a rehash? The level design was great and the gameplay is the fantastic Mario gameplay that has pretty much been perfected. I think you are just bitter and hating on Mario/Nintendo since it is the cool thing to do or whatever.

Even if you dislike the game you can't deny that it is good, it sells for a reason.

dude you do know its like an exact copy of the first mario game with better graphics?

 

[LeonLethality]

So many great games sell next to nothing, a rehash with near zero creativity and mediocre gameplay sells around 6 million.

I'm more depressed I have to explain myself.

Explain (even if it is depressing) how it is a rehash? The level design was great and the gameplay is the fantastic Mario gameplay that has pretty much been perfected. I think you are just bitter and hating on Mario/Nintendo since it is the cool thing to do or whatever.

Even if you dislike the game you can't deny that it is good, it sells for a reason.

dude you do know its like an exact copy of the first mario game with better graphics?

A copy with different levels, powerups and music. Yup.

 

[Macrobstar]

So many great games sell next to nothing, a rehash with near zero creativity and mediocre gameplay sells around 6 million.

I'm more depressed I have to explain myself.

Explain (even if it is depressing) how it is a rehash? The level design was great and the gameplay is the fantastic Mario gameplay that has pretty much been perfected. I think you are just bitter and hating on Mario/Nintendo since it is the cool thing to do or whatever.

Even if you dislike the game you can't deny that it is good, it sells for a reason.

dude you do know its like an exact copy of the first mario game with better graphics?

A copy with different levels, powerups and music. Yup.

yep a completely different background and soundtrack to jump over blocks to, seriously nintendo is the only company that gets away with this, there games have absoluteky no originality and they even make the worst consoles