Nintendo gets a lot of hate for various reasons, but......

I recently came across this article that was pretty fascinating.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ign.com/articles/2019/11/15/mario-sales-competition-infographic%3famp=1

And that’s JUST MARIO!

I love Nintendo; I have since growing up with the NES. I’ve owned most Nintendo systems since then and when looking at my collection of close to 100 games across those consoles, they are almost ALL exclusives. In addition, since the PSX, I’ve owned a PlayStation console for the other stuff. There is a method behind Nintendo’s madness I suppose, especially looking at them for what they are - a large corporation in the business of making profits.

Nintendo is overrated by Nintendo fanboys and fanboy reviewers. Anyone with logic can see this.

Every time a Zelda or Mario comes out the fanboy sheep drop 11/10 reviews give them ridiculous metacritic scores of 97-99%. It’s dumb as hell and I am sick of it.

You are pushing this myth that Mario and other Nintendo games are somehow amazing and deserve these scores when they don’t.

The truth is, if Mario and Zelda were held to the higher standards of PlayStation/Xbox, they would be 7/10 games at best.

Its just insane and I am sick of these pro Nintendo articles. Nintendo sucks and everyone knows it. You get what you pay for. Low quality, low effort, rushed cheap games sold at a premium.

The Nintendo tax.

Yeah, Mario games have definitely had a big influence on my gaming life for sure. The way Nintendo have been able to reinvent the Mario games over the years is pretty amazing.

And yeah, I guess there is a method behind the madness... although sometimes the madness is completely off the charts. But then they always seem to bounce back strong.

Try harder, dumb-dumb.

The Mario series has, by-and-large, some of the most top-notch titles in terms of gameplay. It's not surprising the series floors some of the more casual game series.

Nintendo is easily one of my most favourite companies. They have made many of the greatest games of all time and continue to do so especially in the Mario and Zelda franchises.

@ajstyles:

The point of this post is not to support the quality of Nintendo product, rather, to bring up topics on why Nintendo is the way it is. Like I said, almost all the games I’ve owned on Nintendo consoles over the past 30+ years are exclusive to Nintendo consoles. Is this an accident by Nintendo? Do I think they are the be-all-end-all of gaming? Absolutely not. This is why I have other consoles for everything else (preferring PlayStation generally).

There is a method to their business model. There was an article I read a year or so ago when their stock was worth more than Sony’s regarding what possibly drives the price for their shareholders. Knowing they focus on in-house software development and hardware geared toward that, stockholders are emotionally driven by Nintendo’s short-term “now” plan, rather than say Sony as a company with many more divisions other than gaming long-term.

We can see this in the long-term pricing and release of their product. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a good example. It will approach 20 million copies sold soon and continues to top the sales charts. As a business, if your product had such a demand at a price point, would you feel the need to lower that price? Would you feel the need to come out with Mario Kart 9 yet? I am talking business model-only like supply and demand curves, equilibrium price, etc.

As far as hardware it is probably similar. They develop hardware to optimally run THEIR IP, because that is what will make them money. I am curious actually to know the development and production costs and profit margins on their consoles now. Have they sold hardware at a loss for long if ever (besides WiiU)?

Dumb-dumb is an understatement.

Nintendo delivers great 1st party exclusives, always have. I think another reason thier games sell so well is because of longevity, the games age well, go back and play Nintendo snes games, or gamecube, Nintendo never really went for a "realistic" setting in thier games, always kept it fiction/cartoon/bright and colorful with solid gameplay. I think because of this the games just end up being timeless, where playstation and Xbox and and even sega many times made more serious and realistic titles, tho good at the time usually age like shit 10 years down the road.

Mario games are just pure fun. It’s no surprise the franchise has sold so much.

Odyssey was the last game in a while that made me smile really hard lol. I’m hoping there is a more challenging sequel in the works!

@Ghost120x: Nah the challenge was just right... not every game has to be hard.

Maybe have an option for more challenge 👍

Not a fan of Nintendo's first party especially Mario, I consider Mario to be in the top 10 worst video game characters of all time, maybe its just me as I don't get the appeal.

The only franchise I like is Zelda, but not even Zelda is enough for me to buy another Nintendo device.

Glad I didnt spend much money on mario. Recycled garbage.

Nintendo is pretty overrated, and still (rightfully so) in the conversation for greatest game dev/company of all time. The worst group of mouth breathers for a fanbase tho. By far.

I'm guessing you're new to System Wars, and haven't read any of the inane nonsense constantly spouted by the Sony fanboys?

I mean, you don't see many Nintendo fans who outright refuse to play games from other consoles, or who outright dismiss entire libraries of games for extremely pretty reasons - whereas you see that all the time with Sony fans.

@jeezers: I think that's a really important point. Even realistic games that visually hold up (for now) tend to show painful mechanical or immersion-breaking limitations in other areas with age. Stylized games that emphasize gameplay basically never age. Super Mario World will never be unworthy of a play - and I say this as a Sega fan

Are you kidding me? @jg4xchamp is the same exact pompous douchebag he's always been since he's been on these forums since 2006.

He will literally talk down on any game (and people that enjoy them) if they don't make him feel hardcore/manly enough. He only likes manly games because video games helps him feel that way.

The only difference between @jg4xchamp now versus back then is he no longer gets to post rampant hot girl blog posts of fake boobs to validate his taste in women on a site of people who never really cared, because he no longer has that audience here since Gamespot chastised the community. LOL

I don't think Nintendo is getting a lot of hate these days, not since the Wii U days, at least. Sure every console will have its set of haters and they'll never go away, but it's overall pretty balanced between the console giants. Every console-maker has its set of haters and that's just a fact.

Some criticisms towards Nintendo are legitimate as well and should not just be passed-off.

I don't hate Nintendo, I just don't care for them either. They aim their consoles and first party games at a market which I am not part of and never will be.

I don't understand how they sell as much as they do, but good luck to them. People seem to love Mario so who am I to tell people they are degenerates the same as people who watch anime :) .

Nintendo does their own thing. While I may be incredibly critical of their hardware design, I'm kind of happy they decided to combine their home console and handheld game offerings into one system. At least now I won't miss out on anything because I'm not into handheld gaming.

I just wish it worked better in oh so many ways.

Also I want another Mario game with a central hub with secrets and stuff! Mario 64 has yet to receive a true sequel IMO.

better call the wahmbulance, dude.

@Planeforger: yeah but they likely shower, plus immediately look at the post that followed you. That’s the type of shills you making excuses for.

Nintendo's success is heavily(not solely) rooted in nostalgia. What annoys me the most is when its fanbase (grown as men and women) pretends their isn't a favorable bias towards the company. When I read reviews and comments on their games is I am astounded by the level of spinning and pretentiousness that typically included. This is not me saying they suck and making games. On the contrary. However, Nintendo games have a tendency of being revered in a bubble and compared against itself.

Mario games like Odyssey and 3D World are fantastic but then when uninspired games like the New Super Mario Bros come out and get rave reviews I find it very questionable.

Yes exactly.

The majority of the time Nintendo exclusives are some of the best games you can play, but every now and then Nintendo releases a game that just isn't up to par.

Case in point, New Super Mario Bros AND Zelda Skyward sword.

While those two games aren't broken, buggy trash; they are not good.....but somehow these games still got 9's and 10's.

come on

Skyward Sword was definitely buggy trash to me with its contrived, bullshit controls.

@jaydan: Skyward Sword was trash but I’m not a fan of BotW either. Both of them have awful game mechanics

@Star67: 2019 Nintendo has been a split for me....I bought Yoshi and Fire Emblem, both of them are good games. Currently renting MUA3 and it seems low budget so far. Rented and beat Links Awakening and it was great but it is definitely not worth $60. Debating on getting Pokemon Sword and Luigi’s Mansion 3 but not dying to play either one really and don’t think either is worth $60. And absolutely zero interest in Astral Chain.

I think Nintendo games just anymore lack what other games can offer when it comes to content, don’t get me wrong they’re mostly good games but I find it hard to justify spending $60 on something like Pokemon or Luigi’s Mansion in a world where games like God of War, Red Dead 2, Last of Us Part II exist also for $60

I think BotW is far superior because the game itself is not broken, it merely had divisive mechanic design - particularly the weapons breaking stuff. Some people loved that design choice because it added a survivalist aspect to the game and priority over when to use certain weapons - while others loathed it.

Skyward Sword was just stupid with its controls. Very similarly why Starfox Zero bombed hard because of its bad controls. It is not good game design if a game MUST be played a very specific way, otherwise it will be a janky mess.

I say get Luigi's Mansion 3 over Pokemon Sword. You are essentially going to be playing the same damn Pokemon game that's always been coming out. Luigi's Mansion 3 was a surprising and genuine delight to most of us that played the game, we weren't even expecting. Love was actually stitched in Luigi's Mansion 3's development, and it's that kind of love you can tell the devs must have had a blast making the game.

It is unfortunate you are not interested in Astral Chain because it is another one of the Switch's best games released this year. I can't forecast whether one will love the game - it might be a wild card thrown your way - but I think it's worth checking out if you ever find that impulse to try something you're unsure about.

@jaydan: I don’t generally care for their games. Last one I played was Nier Automata and I played it for maybe 5 or 6 hours then never turned it on again

@jcrame10: I dunno. Some people are not into PlatinumGames, and others say they're among the best devs out there currently making games.

If you're not a fan of previous PlatinumGames games, I can't guarantee Astral Chain would change your mind; but hey, it gets my stamp of approval. If some odd years down the road the game goes down in price or found in a sale, maybe it's worth your consideration if there's nothing else jogging your interest.

@jaydan: might rent it from Family Video when I take Ultimate Alliance 3 back.

@jcrame10: I cannot recommend Luigi's Mansion 3 for $60. That is a hard sell.

Not only does Nintendo own the most successful video game franchise in the world (Mario), but they also partially own the most successful media franchise in the world (Pokemon).

The 25 Highest-Grossing Media Franchises of All Time

The only video game franchises to crack the top 25 biggest media franchises are Mario, within the top ten, and Pokemon, right at the top spot. That's the power of Nintendo's IPs, which is where the company's real value lies.

@jcrame10: I differ, I can get much more content out of games like pokemon or smash bros than the SP games sony has offered (red dead i agree has more content, but thats rockstar)

I beat GOW in 3 days and traded it in after beating, Spiderman same thing happened, good game, bought at launch for 60, after beating it i traded it in towards smash at gamestop got 35 bucks credit, I'm not trading smash in for nothing, gow spiderman and last of us were all dust collectors after I beat the story. Ive put over 300h into smash,

To each thier own tho

@jeezers: I have like 60 real days sunk into Last of Us MP, and I don’t beat single player games that quickly lol God of War and Spider-Man both took me months to finish, including DLC

@jcrame10: Fair Enough, genuinely impressed with you last of us play time. Are you a gears fan? i prefer its MP to last of us, i feel like you would like it.

@jeezers: I like Gears but I prefer the tactical strategy of TLOU to it. Gears to me has always been about bouncing around the map with the Gnasher. I also like the weapon variety in TLOU and the skills

I'm not really anti-Nintendo, but one thing I am really sick of is Nintendo fans going "oh man, Nintendo sold a lot of systems/games, that proves how superior they are," and that's really what this link boils down to. Yes, they've sold a lot of games, but you're also comparing a franchise that's been around since like 85 to ones that have only been around less than a decade. Yes, Mario's been around for a long time, but the fact that it outsold Minecraft in itself isn't all that impressive.

Also, all of that. I'm tired of complaining about something kind of minor and having Nintendo fans accuse me of hating Nintendo and trying to ruin their happiness. Pointing out something I wish Nintendo would change is not hating on them. I will say I find it kind of interesting how Nintendo learned certain lessons from the gaming crash of the late seventies and is still kind of sticking by those lessons, like how they wouldn't adopt Android because they wanted the final say over which games would be released on their system. I think it's a stupid move based on outdated thinking, but I do think it's neat to see how it did come from other console manufacturers crashing in part because their systems were flooded by low quality releases and Nintendo outlasting them by only allowing quality games on the NES.

The only part of the OP article that mentions Minecraft is this part:

How Mario Outsells Every Other Game Franchise

It’s estimated that as of 2018, the Mario franchise has grossed over $30 Billion in revenue. That’s almost as much as Call of Duty, Halo, The Legend of Zelda, Minecraft and Fortnite have generated combined. If Mario were a country, he’d be one of the Top 100 most-valuable countries in the world.

Mario has grossed about 15 times as much revenue as Minecraft. Even if we divide by the number of years they've been around...

• Mario - $910 million per year
• Minecraft - $280 million per year

...Mario still grosses over three times as much annual revenue as Minecraft.

@Jag85: Thanks for proving my point, dude.

Had no idea mario was THIS huge.

Holy jeebus.

@theone86: You still don't get it. Okay, let's put this another way...

Gross revenue of individual Mario games

• Mario Kart Wii - $2.8 billion
• Super Mario Bros - $2.7 billion
• Super Mario Bros 3 - $2.4 billion
• New Super Mario Bros Wii - $2.3 billion
• Super Mario World - $2.1 billion

Minecraft - $2 billion

These are five individual Mario games that each out-grossed Minecraft.

I am seeing these numbers per game but no links. What's up with that?

@Jag85: Proving my point again. LOL, I wonder how long this will go on?

Fixed it.

It's done.

I do get tired when other people's opinions don't match my own! It angers me to no end. I feel like we are so alike, you and I. We are both inane people babbling on an internet forum about these angering issues. We should start a protest or something, like not buying their products.

@ajstyles: like neither of these “sides” presented is right.

Nintendo makes a lot of fantastic stuff that’s worthy of praise. They also make some stuff that’s meh or way too hard.

You also can’t legitimately criticize them in reviews without mindless hoards attacking, which sucks.