Report: 'Nintendo, Mario in the world 1000 million for the new Wii'

by David Hinkle on Jan 25th 2010 1:00PM

Today's most confusing headline is brought to you by the Google translation of a Nikkei Net report that New Super Mario Bros. Wii has topped ten million (not one-thousand million) units sold worldwide since its release in mid-November (and early December in Japan). Frankly, we're downright shocked that this kind of game -- with such an unsavory cast of characters -- could sell like gangbusters. C'mon, all they ever do is kill each other!

The figure Nintendo is not sharing is the number of relationships that New Super Mario Bros. Wii has destroyed. Three and counting for me -- making it at least 30 million worldwide! Let's just say, Mom and Dad and a certain someone who is dead to me aren't allowed to visit again until they learn proper Propeller Suit etiquette.

Source

Tags: New-Super-Mario-Bros-Wii, Nintendo, Platform, Worldwide-Invitational

Reader Comments (53)

The Jay Leno of video games keeps chugging along!

That's a terrible analogy. I have laughed while playing a Mario game before.

New Mario Bros is actually pretty fun, and people for the most part love Mario. Sorry, I guess you're insane.

So if Mario Bros is the Jay Leno, that must make Braid the Wayne 'Braidy', amirite?

Best comment of the week.

Now, who would be Conan here? Letterman?

I'm leaning towards Street Fighter as Letterman - appealed to a "new audience" and really took off after Mario had been around for a while, but at this point is getting kind of old as well.

Conan I'm not sure on. Something that has just gotten popular in the last 10-15 years that all the kids like...GTA? Halo?

:head 'splodes from reading headline over and over again:

well...people don't like change

Which is why Barack Obama totally bombed the elections. Poor guy never had a chance with all that "change" stuff.

Is it possible that people can enjoy both new experiences and experiences which have proven enjoyable in the past?

That's not true.

I LOVE Arby's!

Probably a PS3 fanboy whose idea of "change" is Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus-XIII, Final Fantasy XIV, Uncharted 2, Grand Turismo 5, two Metal Gear spin-offs and a slew of overpriced LittleBigPlanet costumes.

It has nothing to do with change, and everything to do with solid fun gameplay.

why did you guys take that as a bad thing? you're all so negative.

I don't think it's bad that 10 million people bought it. but It's true, people don't like change, I myself am looking forward to a few more installments of god of war. people like routine, and safety and that's exactly what nintendo provided. It's the same reason I bought call of duty 19 or whatever the last one was.

there is nothing wrong with what I said. it's just an observation.

a book for you guys:
http://www.amazon.com/Who-Moved-My-Cheese-Amazing/dp/0399144463

Yea, Space is right. Even though people talk about innovation and all that people still buy the games they're familiar with. If it ain't broke don't fix it. This is why the FPS genre is over-saturated with clone after clone, and why Nintendo generally (though not always) just makes new versions of old games and people love it. Remember when nintendo really changed the mario formula with SM Sunshine? A lot of people HATED sunshine. It was actually a really good game, but it was so different from the mario gameplay they knew that they didn't like it.

because of this game, new mario galaxy, supposed new zelda, and metroid, i'm thinking about grabbing a wii again. but alas, as soon as i do, NEW HD WII 2!!!

but?

but.... You're right! Because of your post you make the last one bajillion people to want it!

So Nintendo's ridiculously large focus group is done. They're gonna do it!

Mario is the Jay Leno of video games. I will repeat this incessantly no matter how much it is downvoted, because it is the truth.

"because it is the truth."
Or not really. And you will be constantly downvoted because it's a stupid analogy.

Just accept the fact that people like a game you don't, and quit being a whiny baby about it.

And that is the Jay Leno of comments.

Really? Incessantly?

Kill yourself.

I don't even know what the hell that's suppose to mean.

Is it because "it's cool" you said that?

I don't actually 'get it' either. How is Mario like Jay Leno? Seriously, explain it to me. It makes less sense than the headline.

It was foggy morning. The bed was cold on both sides of me. What would normally be an excuse to sleep in actually was not, there was another... the Tonight Show fiasco.

I was lethargic, and could barley move. My lack of analogies on Joystiq also ailed my mind as the blinking light on my desktop seemed to paralyzed me from leaving my bed. "There's got to be an unrelated meaning to all this," I said to myself, as I reached to turn off the jarring sound to my alarm clock.

My feet made its way to the cold floor, only to step on an old NES controller. "Humph, Nintendo," I thought snarlingly, "Who likes them anymore anyway." Kicking the old plastic pad underneath my bed was the only way serve that notion... or was it.

"Wait," my words stopped me. I look over at the black screen that was my computer monitor. "I hate Jay Leno," is said with a pause, "I hate Nintendo." it all seemed to make sense. My mind started to wonder as I knew people were going to agree with me. It just may be the start of the revolution.

My thoughts couldn't keep up with my fingers as I mashed the thick keys down as fast as I could.

-"Mario is the Jay Leno of video games."

I couldn't wait for all the upvotes. The refresh button never looked so good.

-fin-

But Mario has a regular sized chin, is funny and never bumped my favorite talk show host out of his time slot. I fail to see a connection.

@nofriendo

That was...glorious.

No. No more. Nofriendo's post should have ended this. You can't top it. In fact, Joystiq, I beg you to cut all comments after his. Feel the power!

I wonder how many games in total that have Mario in it have sold....

Over 222 million at last count.

That's actually less than I would have thought. With all the games that he's made cameos in.

I think that's just Super Mario games, not the spinoffs.

Ahh, yeah... I'm talking about EVERY game he's made an appearance in. Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Tetris DS, etc. Hell, he even made an appearance in MGS2.

I don't think calculators count that high.

Hell, he even made an appearance in MGS2.

where?

I think he was a statue or something.

Googled it, seems there was a mario statue in mgs twin snakes for gc.

There was a statue of Mario and Yoshi in MGS Twin Snakes on the Gamecube, and I can see how one could mistake Twin Snakes for MGS2...

Anyway, MGS2 was never released on a Nintendo platform, and I doubt Nintendo would allow any Mario cameos in a Playstation or Xbox game.

If that's 1 billion units, then nobody can stop Mario anymore.

Bowser should just give up and find another chick to kidnap.

actually, i kind of like the idea of a new foe for mario. but, i think nostalgia won't let that happen. i would like to see a mario origins. something that would include mario's father fighting bowser's father way back when.

Your age is showing.

Yoshi's Island gave us Mario's retconned "origins." Before that, go play Nintendo's arcade games that take place in Brooklyn (where Donkey Kong kidnapped Mario's girlfriend, then he worked in the sewers with Luigi to battles crabs and turtles).

I was really hoping Donkey Kong would be a mini-boss in Mario Galaxy, or Wario/Waluigi would be the "evil" ones you race against, but then I suddenly realized this is how Sonic the Hedgehog got into the mess he is, and it's probably better that Nintendo keeps them all divided and gives themselves opportunities for new ideas.

I would jizz myself at least 4 times if they made Wort the villain in SMG2.

Real quick; The headline says １０００万 sold. That last character is the japanese character for "10,000" (japanese break their units up at 4 digits, where we do it at 3 with our commas, e.g. we say one million, they say one hundred ten thousands). This means 1,000 * 10,000 units were sold, which is 10 million.

Just to be informative, the correct translation is "1000 ten thousands" which does equal 10 million. Japanese counting groups digits four at a time instead of three at a time, so they would write 10 million as 1000,0000. Therefore Mario has sold 1000 times 1,0000 units, or 1000 ten thousands / 10 million.

Good lord that's a lot. I bet more than a few readers on this site are pissed at the news. I'm happy for the big N - I think the game is pretty good, though I have to admit I wasn't blown away by it at the E3 announcement.

it's a fun game that why. I played with 3 other people and had load's of fun more then when we play a shooter or something, we also managed to beat the game in less then 8hours somehow, we all had around 20 continues because we kept killing each other

Man, I read the headline about a dozen times, fearing I had utterly lost my reading comprehension.

This game almost ruined Christmas. Instead of a happy time with my lil bro and sis , lil sis just couldn't keep up and was the cause of many unnecessary losses. In the end I had to start a new file with just the two us us so we could essentially train he up to standard. You can imagine m,y disgust when I discovered she had secretly become "good" and passed our progress on a new file with her Cantonese friend who doesn't even play games...

A good game in any case.

ten million sold and yet I don't have the game yet.

Just a natural progression. There's less of a reason to ditch what you've got, when you've already got quite a lot to work with.

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Report: 'Nintendo, Mario in the world 1000 million for the new Wii'

Reader Comments (53)

Posted: Jan 25th 2010 1:01PM leobebes said

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