Could Mario do for the Wii what he did for the DS?

There's an interesting article up over at Yahoo where the debate as to whether Mario can work his magic for the Wii, as he did on the DS. The fact is yes, while maybe not to the extent that New Super Mario Bros. has done wonders for the DS, on the Wii the Mario brand is a guaranteed way to push units.

While Super Mario Galaxy not being available at launch, or during the battle to come this Christmas when all 3 consoles are available on retail shelves, is sure to be a fairly-sized detriment to Nintendo, other first-party titles such as Metroid Prime 3 Corruption and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess should help to carry that load.

Honestly, who doesn't like Mario?

[Via Joystiq]

Reader Comments (13)

Well, I believe many people said that Super Mario Galaxy was probably the best game at E3. If it's really that much fun to play, then it could very well do wonders for the Wii.

Super Mario Galaxy will sell ridiculous amounts of copies, and help to sell tons and tons of Wiis, period.

Its a real shame it wont be available at Christmas - that will cause much detriment.

Nintendo is walking a fine line here. I defenintley get the feeling everyone WANTS Nintendo to come back - but they had better watch it. They've fallen through that thin ice they walk on a few too many times.

Nevertheless, the Wii is wtfawesome, and I get the feeling will annihilate.

-Red

Mario is certainly a system-seller, but launching with not only a Zelda title AND a Metroid title, along with about 20 other titles is a great launch. I remembering bringing home my Gamecube with.... Wave Race and Luigi's Mansion.... this time is very, very different. I'm thinking the Wii is going to fly off the shelves.

Is it just me, or is the Wii going to be the first Nintendo console ever without a Mario title at launch?

It's just you... the GameCube only had Luigi's Mansion... which was not really a Mario game.

It's also important to have an awesome second wave of games available after launch. Mario Galaxy will fill this role nicely for Nintendo, like Oblivion did for the 360. If they can space out their AAA titles like that, the Wii will never have a lull in sales. And if they can follow it up with a big Pokemon game in Q4 '07, there's going to be a Wii in every home that doesn't already have one.

Dracula, they've got Smash Brothers controlling the 07 :).

But aye, Nintendo seems to be playing it smart by delivering their titles in waves.

What I'm curious about is, can nintendo do for the wii what they've done for the DS? With the DS, nintendo has largely driven its success with a massive pool of first party games. However, Wii games will typically require greater development than a handheld game would. Can nintendo manage this? In addition, can they keep a steady supply for BOTH the DS AND the Wii?

Student, from everything that I've read and heard, development on the Wii is essentially the same as on the Cube except for the obvious changes to accommodate the controller. Most studios have at least a game's worth of GC development experience, and Nintendo studios probably know it like the back of their hand. They should be able to crank them out... well, in theory, at least.

hey dude watch this video is cool i think u gonna like it haha lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZJw9sbOTsc

I had some people come into Target today and ask me what the Mario game for the GameCube was... with an apologetic grin I had to point at Super Mario Sunshine and shrug (though I did plug Super Paper Mario).

When the lady asked if it was the Gamecube that could play every game, though, then I knew these people were getting their news mixed up. ("No, but the Wii will play Gamecube, Nintendo, Super Nintendo...")

Believe it or not, some kid told me he didn't like Mario because Mario is "the stereotypical Italian" (that's how he said it, pretty sure it's not worded correctly).

Any Italians that find Mario offensive? I know I don't.

No, Mario is not a stereotype, I believe a lot of Italians do wear red shirts with blue overalls.

(sar)

Could Mario do for the Wii what he did for the DS?

Reader Comments (13)

Posted: Jul 20th 2006 3:39PM (Unverified) said

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Posted: Jul 20th 2006 6:02PM Dracula Jones said

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