The biggest game phenom in 20+ years: World of Warcraft [update 1]
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Sep 5th 2006 at 9:37AM }
Today's New York Times examines the success of World of Warcraft from a global perspective, concluding that "World of Warcraft has become the first truly global video-game hit since Pac-Man in the early 1980's."
In addition to the new angle, this piece provides a nice benchmark for mainstream media coverage of MMOGs. Just a few years ago, media were wont to "report" on the gameplay habits of Everquest and Asheron's Call players with a sensational "watch these people ruin their lives playing games!" tone that just wasn't fair. Often, introversion, depression, and suicidal tendencies were ascribed to people who choose to play games for hours at a time. The Times's coverage is much more balanced, finally allowing an eloquent gamer (Jason Pinsky) the opportunity to defend his hobby:
"I play this game six nights a week from 8 p.m. to midnight.... most people watch TV at least that much, and television is a totally mindless experience."
Word.
[Update 1: fixed a clumsy headline and formatting in body of post.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
devian @ Sep 5th 2006 9:43AM
But getting to 60 just to raid the X dungeon over and over isn't a mindless experience?
vc @ Sep 5th 2006 9:48AM
Devian: no matter how mundane it may become, gaming will always be more interactive than traditional television. TV is truly mindless. Doctors studied this for years. Search the net for brain activity scans of a gamer vs. a TV watcher. There's a world of difference in the level of activity.
benjamin @ Sep 5th 2006 9:47AM
You mean to tell me that Super Mario Brothers, which came out in 1985, had less of an impact than World of Warcraft?
I've got news for the Gray Lady: ask people of all ages who Mario is. Then do the same for, I dunno, WoW character classes.
Yeah.
vc @ Sep 5th 2006 10:12AM
Ben: Mario isn't a $1 billion a year business. It's also never had the same level of customer mindshare and engagement. In the last two years, WoW has probably amassed more total playtime (in terms of man hours) than Mario has amassed in the last 20 years.
Pip @ Sep 5th 2006 9:52AM
No offense, but compared to the other MMORPGs out there, it is just as much as a "totally mindless experience."
Seriously, it's like the Mario Brothers of the MMORPG world. Great gameplay but no substance.
boots @ Sep 5th 2006 9:54AM
I wouldn't consider this a hit like Pac-Man and Street Fighter. If you asked anyone in the 80's what is PacMan, they would have known. If you asked anyone in the 90's what is Street Fighter, they would have known (and I find it odd that the writer says "since Pac-man", when Street Figher broke the arcade records set by Pac-Man). If you ask a random person on the street "What is WoW?", would they know? Most likely: Fuck no.
WoW is a PC game, and if it is not ported to consoles, they can kiss goodbye mainstream pop culture and keep being regarded as an underground hobby at best.
Tiago @ Sep 5th 2006 10:02AM
I can't see the point of playing a game where there is no ending... =P
zsavior @ Sep 5th 2006 9:56AM
One it really isn't a mindless experience, if you have ever raided an endgame dungeon, and think you are going to sit there and go into automatica pilot you are saddly mistaken.
Two I have a huge horrible rant I am, holding myself back from, because I know it is not the time, or right post. Lets just say I feel it is easy to make money off of something like WOW rather than it is to keep it going as a success. All WOW really did was ignore the hardcore gamer when creating an MMO, it then added interesting characters and lore, beyond that I don't see wow doing that well when the expansion hits, because in the end when your product does this well, you start catoring to the all mighty dollar. Rather than making something, that lived up to the orginal creativity, innovation, and drive you first had when you put out the game, you continue something that you hope will just keep your install base happy rather than creating something interesting to keep them, intrigued. You forget about growing the gaming experience of wow and focus more on farming the people for their 15 bucks a month, and that is the future I see from blizz when that expansion drops.
Like I said, I am holding my rant back, but the WOW expansion just seems to make BLizz look like one hit wonders the more I look at it. WoW is begining to look like the same cookie cutter MMORPG like rest stealing slowly from EQ.
Paul P. @ Sep 5th 2006 9:56AM
I'd have to say WoW is definitely more mindless than television... depending on what show you're watching. The traditional 30-minute laugh track or live studio audience sitcom is all but dead, and that made up most of TV's mindlessness.
FooAtari @ Sep 5th 2006 10:01AM
Right, thats it, I have to try this game out, see what all the fuss is about. It looks like it can be played hardcore or casually, at the moment I dont have time to play 4 hours every night :) I just hope it doesnt take over my life.
Benjamin, when SMB on the NES was released it wasn't nearly as popular in Europe as it was in Japan and America (I dont think) So it wasnt a truely global phenomenom. Also SMB was maninly popular with kids at the time, not kids and adults as WOW seems to be.
What they are saying is no game since Pac-man as appealed to such a broad spectrum of people across the globe.
Adam @ Sep 5th 2006 10:10AM
Regarding Mario: 2006-1985 = 21 years just for the record. . .
FooAtari @ Sep 5th 2006 10:03AM
@ boots.
I'm pretty sure your average joe had no idea what Street Fighter was :)
Just about everyone with a remote interest in games new what it was, but most people with no interest games what's so ever didn't.
DK @ Sep 5th 2006 10:12AM
Just food for thought: some places didn't experience the boom of 1980s and 90s videogames. I'm in South Korea right now, and damned if anyone would recognize Mario or know what Street Fighter is (I've yet to see anything resembling Nintendo here, except an imported DS lite). PC games dominate this country, and the kids I teach talk about Starcraft and Warcraft all the time. When I go to a PC room, I can see at least 3 people playing World of Warcraft. I don't play the game (might someday) but it certainly seems like a force to be reckoned with... though I do find one game being so exceedingly popular to be worrying.
Tom @ Sep 5th 2006 10:09AM
Saying "World of Warcraft has become the first truly global video-game hit since Pac-Man in the early 1980's."
Makes it sound as though all other games have say done well in America and Europe but then failed in Japan. Thats just plain wrong and also ignoring things such as pokemon. Pokemon red and blue sold 31.3million copies worldwide. Selling around 10million in Japan, America and Europe. So apparently that isn't a global video game hit but WoW is. I had a look at vgcharts and it said WoW has
5.39million in America
1.17million in Europe
0 in Japan
How exactly is this a truly global video game hit?
WoW is 39th in terms of sales and im fairly sure all the games above it came out after pac-man.
KilgoreTrout XL @ Sep 5th 2006 10:08AM
Anyone else consider themselves avid gamers, but still haven't even seen this game running (excepting the Leeroy Jenkins vid)?
8 minute games of Halo and Ghost Recon are just more appealing to me. Hop in, play, hop out. I don't know that you can get a great experience in an mmorpg without devoting hours- in a row- to it.
saboola @ Sep 5th 2006 10:11AM
When we have WoW cereal, the WoW Super Show with Stone Cold Steve Austin, and kids bedrooms decked out with WoW comforters and curtains, then you can truly say it is the next big hit since.. wait a second Pac-Man? This article totally disregards Mario Mania from like 88 - 91. I loved Mario Mania. It's so bad.
Devwar @ Sep 5th 2006 10:25AM
Being a rogue in a 40 man raid pretty much IS a mindless experience.
Loubear @ Sep 5th 2006 10:16AM
And most of the "level 60 raiding is mindless and retarded!" come from people who don't even play the game. If you ever set foot into an instance in WoW, you'd know that you have to actually be alert and carefully plan out your course of action. Running around and pressing the "attack" button gets you nowhere. And at level 60, with the careful strategems set out by your guild leader for you to follow, teamwork is crucial.
s00pcan @ Sep 5th 2006 10:18AM
5.39million in America
1.17million in Europe
0 in Japan
The japanese obivously don't play good games that were created outside of their country.
2slick @ Sep 5th 2006 2:51PM
halo ftw!
Buckshot @ Sep 5th 2006 10:23AM
Pac-man pwnz WoW in history. WoW still seems to most like a kids, or entry level mmo. Just basic clicking and grinding. For the $$, CoV/Coh plays better, has much better PvP, and a lot more diversity, and creativity. EQ2 was beautiful, but Sony online will not see another dime from me after what they did to Galaxies.
Pal @ Sep 5th 2006 10:30AM
Can't we just admit that we just like to kill time, and this is one of the more popular options these days? I love life because there's so much time to kill.
Retrofied @ Sep 5th 2006 10:32AM
It's the biggest video game phenom in PC to those who are PC gamers in over 20 years. Ask a casual console gamer and ask if they know what "WoW" is. I bet you they won't know or if they do not much about it. PC gamers whether they play WoW or not surely know what it is without a doubt, but I cannot call this the biggest global video game phenom when not even the casual gamer know what it is or rather what the whole game is about.
And #13, it's in OVER 20 years but they still stated Pac-Man. :
32_Footsteps @ Sep 5th 2006 10:32AM
Let's tick down some video games...
Pokemon - 11 years old, and practically everyone has heard of it. It moves billions of merch a year, and everyone can name at least a couple of them.
Street Fighter II - 15 years old, broke Pac-Man's arcade records, created an entire genre of video games, resulted in a line of toys and was so successful that the game's received at least 5 major rereleases.
Mortal Kombat - 14 years old, became the first video game to introduce adult themes that was successful, drove up sales of the Genesis just because that version had blood, resulted in the creation of the ESRB.
Madden franchise - 17 years old, release date results in massive lost work as people skip work to pick it up/play, is practically a part of sports culture
Tetris - 21 years old (but not available outside of Soviet Russia until at earliest 20 years ago), possibly the most popular video game of all time, actually has a psychological condition (the Tetris effect, which talks about how an activity can come to dominate someone's thoughts) named after it.
I'm not saying WoW isn't big. It's just not nearly as huge as the ones I just mentioned.
hey alex @ Sep 5th 2006 10:33AM
I've never played this game nor known anyone who plays this game. I've certainly heard about it, but have never taken the time to pursue it further. I guess you have to be a PC gamer, of which I have abandoned for consoles, long long ago.
Oddly, of all the articles on Joystiq, the one that consistently receives the least of amount of comments is the (formerly) weekly WOW articles (or so is seems). This one, I'm sure will receive more though.
I'm sure it's a movement, but a phenomenon? To me a phenomenon would be the DS
Tom @ Sep 5th 2006 10:37AM
Oops sorry in my post europe should actually be others. I just assumed europe probably accounted for like 90% of the sales there anyway though.
DK South Korea is a very big exception to the rule. I mean don't they still have starcraft tournments running on tv? I have certainly seen videos of it on youtube that look pretty recent.
Oh and s00pcan im fairly certain WoW hasn't even been released in Japan. Wikipedia doesn't have any mention of it or a release. Plus im pretty sure mmorpgs aren't very big in Japan. I may be wrong but im sure I remember reading an article about it.
ninja @ Sep 5th 2006 10:39AM
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!now I have your attention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see where this guy can maybe slide by with the statement:
********************************************************
"the first truly global video-game hit since Pac-Man in the early 1980's"
********************************************************
Why is this? It is the first MMORPG that is not only available but is played around the world. Does this make the game "The FIRST truly Global Video-Game Hit"?
No, not exactly. This would mean to leave out some of the best selling highest proclaimed series;
Mario, Final Fantasy (pick one; 3, 7, 10, 11), Zelda and this is just naming Console games.
Lets step into the same territory as Pac-Man; Arcades. The next biggest thing since Pac-Man was, what?
2D Fighters - pick your flavor; Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat. I think there was a bigger wave of fans with these Arcade classics that actually sprung a whole new genre of their own.
Sorry WoW - in true gamers hearts, you are not that "The FIRST truly Global Video-Game Hit". I think that should be decided by the gaming community, not some guy on WallStreet.
32_Footsteps @ Sep 5th 2006 10:42AM
"Mario isn't a $1 billion a year business. It's also never had the same level of customer mindshare and engagement. In the last two years, WoW has probably amassed more total playtime (in terms of man hours) than Mario has amassed in the last 20 years."
Vlad... look, I know you're the one in business school, but I've got to call you on that. How many millions of Mario games have been sold? How much Mario-related merch gets sold every year? Heck, I note that McDonald's Happy Meals are coming with Mario toys at the moment - how much is Mario bringing Nintendo because of that?
As for how much mindshare Mario has - during some years (1990, for example), Mario was more recognizeable than Mickey Mouse.
It might be in style to mock the plumber, but never underestimate how much Mario brings to the table.
Jay @ Sep 5th 2006 10:48AM
Whoa, just a little correction there.
TV isn't entirely mindless, unless you only watch mindless crap I suppose. I watch documentaries and learn new things from TV, granted I don't want much, about 4 hours a week. but that is just a very stupid thing to say.
I think Vlad has a point but has bludgeoned it with bad wording. This isn't the first global game etc as many above have pointed out. WoW is just the peak of MMORPGs, not the peak in gameplay, the peak in platformers, horror survival, arcade games etc.
WoW Expert @ Sep 5th 2006 10:52AM
This game is like CRACK! In addition, if you play with a set of real life video-gamer friends you will inevitably find yourself asking for a "WoW-fix" more than several times a week!
If you do not play this game or ever plan on it, you will NEVER EVER understand what makes people enjoy playing or discover for yourself what's so "interesting" and addicting about this game.
So yes, if you or the ones you love do not play this game yet, DO NOT EVER let them! Get your kids a new hobby! Don't let your boyfriends, girlfriends, wives, husbands, or fiances goto best buy! Unless of course you play, then it's okay because you will want new in-game friends...
If you do play this game, God help you! Try to get a life. It might already be too late...
vc @ Sep 5th 2006 10:54AM
"Vlad... look, I know you're the one in business school, but I've got to call you on that. How many millions of Mario games have been sold? How much Mario-related merch gets sold every year? Heck, I note that McDonald's Happy Meals are coming with Mario toys at the moment - how much is Mario bringing Nintendo because of that?"
Nobody (and I do mean not a single soul) plays Mario 20 hours per week for months on end. That sort of behavior is TYPICAL for World of Warcraft. Mario games are shallower, less engaging experiences. That's not a quality assessment. They're just different types of games entirely.
Nintendo doesn't release enough public information for me to quickly assess the source and quality of their earnings. Intuitively, it seems unlikely that gross WoW revenues have exceeded gross Mario revenues.
But I'm feeling pretty confident that gross customer man-hours spent experiencing WoW far exceed hours spent experiencing Mario.
Jay @ Sep 5th 2006 1:30PM
8# FooAtari -
It was huge here. Everyone on my street gave up Commodore 64s for the NES and Mario. Graffiti appeared with Mario and reported in the paper with reporters talking about the "storming Nintendo game". The whole knew back then, the world knows more now. So yea, Europe is included. the world knew.
KR @ Sep 5th 2006 11:05AM
The game is a waste of both money and time, and they've got millions of suckers paying up every month. WoW has nowhere near the social consciousness penetration of Pac-Man or Mario...or even 2nd tier icons like Master Chief or Sonic.
32_Footsteps @ Sep 5th 2006 11:05AM
I personally don't spend 20+ hours on Mario games per week (Pokemon, that's another story entirely). I don't know anyone who does. But I'm not going to stick my neck out and say that nobody does. There's some really huge Mario fans out there, and I'm not putting anything past them.
Also, in terms of gross customer man-hours, I actually think that Mario will still come out on top. Even if the 6.5 million active players (according to Wikipedia) are amassing that much time per week, I don't think that compares to the tens of millions that own at least one Mario game (Wikipedia puts the sales of Mario games at 275 million worldwide, and I don't know whether or not that includes games like Mario Kart or Smash Brothers). Maybe you don't have a single person playing that much Mario. But when you've got about a dozen Mario players per WoW player, I've got to assume that the Mario players are going to amass much more gross man-hours per week.
Neither of us have hard figures and we won't be able to adequately prove either one of us right or wrong. But on sheer quantity of titles and players alone, I think it has to be Mario.
KR @ Sep 6th 2006 8:53AM
"But I'm feeling pretty confident that gross customer man-hours spent experiencing WoW far exceed hours spent experiencing Mario."
All of the Warcraft games combined vs. all the Mario games combined in a battle of hours invested playing = Mario in a rout. Unless you're retarded, you'll agree.
LaughingTarget @ Sep 5th 2006 11:15AM
vc -
While no one plays Mario 20 hours a week over the past two years, saying World of Warcraft has amassed more playtime than all Mario games put together is a bit of a stretch.
Mario games have sold around 275 million copies.
Now, time for some math. Saying that all 8 million customers have average 20 hours a week over the past 2 years is a huge stretch. WoW didn't always have that many customers nor do all of them play even that much. By taking averages and such, lets assume when you stretch it all out, those 8 million people have averaged 8 hours a week in total playtime. Playing 20 hours a week over the past three months really cuts down the playtime when averaged with 101 weeks of 0 hours.
WoW probably has around 3.328 billion hours of total playtime, and this is probably being to generous on the high end.
Now, lets take Mario games. Given tons of Mario games are sports titles, RPG, educational, etc, on top of the traditional platform, lets use 20 hours per game average (conservative because I've personally played Super Mario RPG through 5 times at 25 hours a play). That comes to 5.5 billion hours. This is being a bit too conservative given there are a ton of countries out there that aren't exactly wealthy and probably STILL play the original SMB to this day and I'm assuming gamers only touched it once or twice.
What I can give World of Warcraft, however, is the title for single most profitable game. Without a doubt, no single game in existence has been able to pull in the kind of cash World of Warcraft is pulling now.
Jdoki @ Sep 5th 2006 11:14AM
I think mindless is the wrong word to apply to either activity.
Personally I find TV far too passive, so I play games rather than watch what I consider mundane crap aimed at the lowest common demonenator.
I feel games keep my mind active - regardless of the grind in WoW and other MMORPG's at least the player is making decisions, calculations, in other words it's an active past-time. The most brain activity your average TV addict exhibits is when they need to change the channel to watch their next sitcom/soap/reality show.
I'm not knocking people who watch TV, it's just my opinion they both have equal places in modern society and to berate one is to berate the other.
It kinda makes me laugh when I think back to when I was a kid and my parents bemaoned that I was 'always on the compauter', yet they were watching just as much TV'!
Dirk Dorkelson @ Sep 5th 2006 11:22AM
Tom says:
"Makes it sound as though all other games have say done well in America and Europe but then failed in Japan. Thats just plain wrong and also ignoring things such as pokemon. Pokemon red and blue sold 31.3million copies worldwide. Selling around 10million in Japan, America and Europe. So apparently that isn't a global video game hit but WoW is. I had a look at vgcharts and it said WoW has
5.39million in America
1.17million in Europe
0 in Japan
How exactly is this a truly global video game hit?"
Well, Tom, when you read the article, it says this:
"The game has more players in China, where it has engaged in co-promotions with major brands like Coca-Cola, than in the United States. (There are more than three million players in China, and slightly fewer than two million in the United States. And as with most video games, a clear majority of players worldwide are male.)
There is a rabid legion of fans here in South Korea, which has the world’s most fervent gaming culture, and more than a million people play in Europe. Most World of Warcraft players pay around $14 a month for access."
So I guess he was going by the China and South Korea thing. Just because the game doesn't sell in Japan doesn't mean it's not a global hit. Japan is one country, with, I should point out, way fewer people than China.
dsub @ Sep 5th 2006 11:29AM
Just think of how much money Blizzard is taking to the bank from the "Global Phenom".
5 Million Subcribers @ $15/month= $75,000,000/month in subscription fees alone...and EA thinks Madden is a cash cow? HAHAHA
Blizzard has got to be so rich it's not even funny, and this doesn't even include the sale of the initial game. Assuming people paid on average $40 a piece for the game, that's another $200,000,000 dollars.
32_Footsteps @ Sep 5th 2006 11:31AM
Actually, one thing to revise the man-hours devoted to Mario upwards - piracy.
Granted, nobody makes money off of that. But while I haven't heard of anyone pirating WoW, emulation and piracy have gone after Mario games for years. The 275 million cited before is just how many people have paid for Mario. Many more people are playing it for free illegally.
vc @ Sep 5th 2006 11:35AM
32: You're lumping a huge variety of disparate games (and genres) into a single category simply because Mario (the character) has been placed in those games. I think that's a mistake.
Pick a game. A single game. Mario as a character is well merchandised, well represented, and very well exposed. But only SMB (the original) has any real chance at giving WoW any competition by the influence metric.
Pikachelsea @ Sep 5th 2006 12:03PM
"I play this game six nights a week from 8 p.m. to midnight.... most people watch TV at least that much, and television is a totally mindless experience."
Golly gee, I sure do love anecdotal evidence. "If I do it then it must be the norm!" This guy can speak for himself. "Most people" probably have better things to do than sit around watching TV for hours on end every single night, like, I don't know... going outside and doing things with actual people.
Sure sign of a weak argument -- the classic "Well yeah but all these other people are doing (fill in somewhat similar activity X here) too!!" Who gives a rip what other people are doing (or more precisely, what you'd like to think they're doing so you don't look so lame in comparison)? That doesn't justify what YOU are doing one bit.
I don't think it's exactly honorable to be defending people like this who spend an ENTIRE DAY out of their week playing videogames (4 hours a day X 6 days a week = 24 hours). Can you seriously find nothing else to do with your evenings? Good grief...
I love games too but some people could really do with a lesson in moderation.
32_Footsteps @ Sep 5th 2006 12:09PM
Actually, Vlad, I'm not the one who simply included all Mario games. I'm just countering the statement as you originally made it. After all, a Mario game is simply one in which the plumber makes a signifigant appearance (preferrably as a playable character). If you meant something besides that, you should have been much more specific.
Now, if we're going to refine this to strictly be about the main platform games, I suppose we're restricting it to the following games (and the rereleases, to explain why I'm not listing, among others, Super Mario All-Stars):
Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2 Japanese
Super Mario Bros. 2 US
Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario World
Super Mario World 2
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
New Super Mario Bros.
This is leaving out all rereleases and games where you could arguably call them classic Mario platformers (like Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 and Luigi's Mansion). This is also throwing out the various Mario RPGs, despite them having quite a few elements of the platformer classics. And by all rights, I probably should include Donkey Kong as well.
But since you're wanting to narrow it down to a single game now, I'll give that a go. I'll pick Super Mario Bros. 3.
First off, let's look at how huge that game was. Anyone else remember the huge lines and the fights breaking out at retailers during that game's first week of release? I was one of the lucky few that had it when it first came out. It was scarce for months. WoW never set off a craze like that.
We could look at popularity. Super Mario 3 is one of the top three most popular NES games (along with the first Zelda and the first Final Fantasy) ever made. It's had two different remakes (Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Advance 4) that were extremely successful. People still push themselves to do amazing speed runs of the game.
People still obsess over little things. I remember playing that game repeatedly just to do the Stone Hammer suit (which you can only do in World 7, pretty much requiring a stop-off in World 5 unless you're really lucky, so you can't just warp there immediately). The amount of play that resulted in the number of found secrets for the game is immense. People have obsessed over that game for over a decade.
Let's also look at what it did for publishing. We often forget this now, but one of the very first strategy guides for a video game was the Nintendo Power-branded guide for Super Mario 3. That game was complex enough to encourage a guide, which influenced both future game design as well as setting up a new market for book publishers.
And people still play it in all sorts of situations. You can always get people up for playing it. Everyone knows it. People might not play it obsessively, but someone, somewhere is always playing it, hands down.
But here's the thing - part of the reason Mario can blow WoW out of the water is because he's not defined by a single game. He's a franchise. He's a beloved cartoon. He's a merchandising icon on the level of Mickey and Bugs. He's influenced game design and the common person - Mario's theme is the defining song of my generation.
However, pretty much everything about WoW is contained in that one game. It just doesn't have the footprint one plumber's boots have made. Fair or not, it's simply the truth.
Fantastik @ Sep 5th 2006 12:17PM
Just to note, the NY Times writer is also a WoW player. That may have something to do with the different perspective you mention.
Franky Digital @ Sep 5th 2006 12:22PM
@Pika:
"I don't think it's exactly honorable to be defending people like this who spend an ENTIRE DAY out of their week playing videogames (4 hours a day X 6 days a week = 24 hours). Can you seriously find nothing else to do with your evenings? Good grief...
I love games too but some people could really do with a lesson in moderation."
Do you work? Or are your parents paying your way through life?
When you work 8-12 hours a day during the week with a family or girlfriend to support, coming home to relax is of paramount importance. Going to the bar or out on the town is something you might do once a week or on the weekends, but there's tons of time spent just relaxing. If you think for one minute that "most people" are not coming home to watch TV after work, then you have a serious problem with understanding the world around you. Look at TV ratings where you live. Those numbers don't get exaggerated like the American Idol or GameFAQ poll counts. Those are real people all watching TV.
Now for some people, myself included, video games is a more enjoyable relaxation tool. It is equivalent, at the very least, to watching TV. All the comments about the slim difference between the two activities and the hypocrisy of saying a gamer who plays WOW for 6 hours after work is worse than a couch potato are unfounded and just plain stupid.
Evan @ Sep 5th 2006 12:21PM
FYI: Neopets has more players than WoW! (Over 120 million registered accounts, although some individuals may have multiple accounts, or abandoned accounts that have not yet been purged. The number of unique active players is certainly more than WoW's 6-7 million).
socrates @ Sep 5th 2006 12:23PM
"Pick a game. A single game. Mario as a character is well merchandised, well represented, and very well exposed. But only SMB (the original) has any real chance at giving WoW any competition by the influence metric"
VC is right - although a huge number of people have bought and played Mario games, Mario hasn't really been interesting from a gaming breakthrough standpoint since the mid-90s! Admit it: If you took Mario's face of any of the games he is in, and tried to market any of them on gameplay alone...they would not do well at all (if you took the Mario out of Mario Kart, that game would sell, what, 8 copies total?). Nostalgia does not new, global phenomenon make.
While Pac-Man served to introduce and familiarize the concepts of video games to everyone, World of Warcraft is the very first time that developers have gotten it right in terms of making gameplay an ongoing, immersive, social atmosphere. Those 6.5 million people are re-buying the same game EACH MONTH. (32_footsteps, your attempt to do number crunching is admirable, but do you really think you can compare someone pirating a game to someone who is making a long term financial commitment?). PC game sales have been devestated by its success, and WoW will do more than any other existing game to shape the boundaries and possibilities of how gaming and online worlds interact in the future. Of course Mario has had a bigger historical influence thus far - that franchise has had over 20 years to make its impact felt. Mario's at a dead end, though...only so far that Koopa stomping can take you.
jojo29 @ Sep 5th 2006 12:55PM
@zsavior
obivously you dont play the pc games much because if you did you would know that Blizzard is not a one hit wonder company. In fact they are a genre defining company, one which other games try to measure up to. Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft and now WoW are shining gems in their genres. They set the standards. Again please do your research before you open up your silly mouth. Its funny, in one hand we have the Sony fanboys vs the Microsoft bitches. Now we have Console vs PC as well.
To me i love both formats. PC for their shooters(which is why i dont find the 360 too appealing) and RTS' and MMORPG's and the consoles for the RPG's, the sports games, platformers, action/sdventure etc..
Should WoW be compared to SF and Mario?? I think not because they are on different formats. But WoW can be the SF and Mario equivalents on the PC end. Remember WoW has more than 6 million subscribers worldwide, of ALL ages, around the world, that in itself is an achievement. As for your "i dont think itll last past the expansion" again do your research. The expansion is gonna be the shit. Revised pvp, more pve events, new races, new professiona and more of Blizzard's great lore?? I cant wait..
Psaakyrn @ Sep 5th 2006 12:57PM
I don't think you all get it. Yes, Mario had mindshare. But what did Mario do to influence society on gaming, that Pac-Man did not?
Now, World of Warcraft is a different beast entirely from traditional games. Firstly, it's the largest social game at the current point in time. Players range from casual to hardcore. Public awareness to online gaming has been heightened since WoW came out. And most importantly, it is the most successful game created as a service, instead of a product. No other subscription-based game has even come close to the success that WoW is enjoying right now. Just as Mario influences many generations of games, WoW is poised to to exactly the same.
32_Footsteps @ Sep 5th 2006 1:54PM
Psaakyrn - First off, Mario is the face that helped the console industry rebound from the Crash of 1983. Pac-Man helped build the industry from a neutral point. Mario helped rebuild it from a hostile point.
Moreover, maybe WoW will be that influential one day. But it hasn't gotten there yet. In 25 years, maybe you'll be able to make that claim, but you can't yet. Socrates, you're also guilty of automatically assuming that WoW will pull off that level of mindshare. 5 years ago, EQ or UO would have made the same claims, but those have fallen by the wayside comparatively. It might yet happen with WoW as well.
I think people are too eager to mistake the tremor for the earthquake. 6.5 million is nothing to sneeze at, but it's still dwarfed by what other games (not just Mario) that have been mentioned here. Mario isn't even what I'd call the most influential mentioned here (I'd probably say Tetris, with Pokemon following up close behind). It's just one of several that currently have WoW trumped.