The first pairing of two icons, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, sold five million units worldwide on the DS and Wii. GameDaily reports the joint Sega/Nintendo published title -- which met to less-than-stellar reviews -- reached the milestone in a little over three months, beating Sega's own expectations. Simon Jeffery, Sega of America's prez. and COO stated in a release that the game is "clearly resonating with the growing audience of casual gamers that want an engaging and accessible gaming experience."
Jeffery goes on to say that the Olympics are still four months away, so he expects M&S at the OG to be sellin' with the quickness for a while. Also, in an amazing moment of restraint for an executive, Jefferey says he doesn't want to "dilute" the idea of Mario and Sonic teaming up by throwing them together all the time, he doesn't think it would be "the right thing to do." And which territory is to blame for this game selling well? Turns out the sales have "been pretty even, almost remarkably so" globally. Time to confess and repent, who bought this mini-game cash-in?
Reader Comments (110)
Posted: Mar 5th 2008 4:13PM (Unverified) said
I can't believe people are actually defending this game...
If you like casual games, that's great. I have nothing wrong with GOOD casual games. But Mario and Sonic isn't good, it's quite bad. I would be equally disturbed if an equally terrible "hardcore" title like Turok sold five million units.
This isn't about a casual game selling five million units. This is about a bad game selling five million units simply based on the characters involved, rather than the quality of gameplay.
If you like casual games, that's great. I have nothing wrong with GOOD casual games. But Mario and Sonic isn't good, it's quite bad. I would be equally disturbed if an equally terrible "hardcore" title like Turok sold five million units.
This isn't about a casual game selling five million units. This is about a bad game selling five million units simply based on the characters involved, rather than the quality of gameplay.
Posted: Mar 5th 2008 5:11PM (Unverified) said
I keep hearing about how "bad" this game is, but no one has yet to explain to me why this game is "bad"... just curious... I feel like we hear a lot of things, but we all know "ya can't believe everything ya hear"...
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Posted: Mar 5th 2008 5:30PM Batzarro The worlds WOrst Detect said
I CONFESS! I wanted to live my dreams of Shadow racing Wario for the Gold! And I would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for you meddling bloggers and your LOLcats!
Posted: Mar 5th 2008 6:54PM CaramelZappa said
I remember when casual gamer meant someone who played games every once in a while and didn't shell out money for games very often instead of someone willing to throw away piles of money on pointless minigames with no depth.
Posted: Mar 6th 2008 12:24AM HTCEVO said
I actually liked the game a lot. Theres nothing wrong with party games, just only when people don't put any effort into it. This defiantly had a lot more polish and variety in gameplay than Mario Party 8 or Carnival Games, so what's the big hubbub?
I'd rather see a game like this come out and show what other devs should do to make a good party game, then see the typical cash in that has only a few unique games on it and is a waist of 40 bucks.
I'd rather see a game like this come out and show what other devs should do to make a good party game, then see the typical cash in that has only a few unique games on it and is a waist of 40 bucks.
Posted: Mar 6th 2008 5:27AM (Unverified) said
Its not aimed at us. This is why we will become irrelevant.
Well, more irrelevant than we are already.. spending all our time posting on a video game blog...
Well, more irrelevant than we are already.. spending all our time posting on a video game blog...
Posted: Mar 9th 2008 10:16PM hvnlysoldr said
I find it delicious irony and karma that the best Sonics are on Nintendo platforms.
Posted: Mar 20th 2008 8:06PM Nick the Hero of Canton said
The game was NOT that bad, people.
You let IGN's reviews think for you?
You let IGN's reviews think for you?
Posted: Apr 22nd 2008 8:57AM (Unverified) said
I have it - and I enjoy playing it, not by myself ( I did that once to unlock all the events, single player doesn't have much sticking power ) , but when my friends come round, and we get four player races going, it is good fun. It's even funnier when the 1st place player has to drink 3 fingers, 2nd 2 and 3rd one, levels the playing field out after a while.
It may not be the hardcore gamers game, but the reason it sold ~ 5million copies is because ~ 4 million people don't like hardcore games, and think gta4, halo3,gt5, etc are rubbish, and for some people this is the sort of gaming experience they want. Personally i enjoy both types and for satisfying gaming experience with people who don't like gaming, mario and sonic is great.
It may not be the hardcore gamers game, but the reason it sold ~ 5million copies is because ~ 4 million people don't like hardcore games, and think gta4, halo3,gt5, etc are rubbish, and for some people this is the sort of gaming experience they want. Personally i enjoy both types and for satisfying gaming experience with people who don't like gaming, mario and sonic is great.
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