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Why 10 Million Copies of NSMBW Sold is Great for the Future of Video Games
Editorial by 
(Editor)
January 16, 2010, 01:08
 
New Super Mario Bros. Wii has caused its fair share of controversy in its two months since release. Some would point to IGN's criticism of the game leading to the site's Doomsday (and Negative World rising from its ashes). In the end, some think the game is lazy, some think the game is brilliant, some think it's both. But as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't really matter.

What does matter is this game is now in 10 million hands across the world and that number will certainly grow and grow. Who those hands are attached to is another point of contention. Some say the game is for "casual gamers", no doubt making heavy use of the Super Guide and shamefully escaping to their bubble at the sight of trouble. Others say "core gamers" can play to remember what a real challenge was like with actual consequences for death.

However, these debates seem to exclude an important group: Future gamers. The Wii had ridiculous sales this holiday season, and holidays are all about the kiddies. Let's imagine a young child, maybe 6 years old unwrapping his Wii on Christmas Day. Sure, he'll enjoy some Wii Sports with Mom and Dad, but before long he wants to get into his first full game, so he peels the plastic off his red NSMBW case.

What he gets is not a game that teaches him to sit down in front of the TV and watch long drawn out cutscenes. It doesn't teach him to pick up from a checkpoint 5 seconds back when he dies. It teaches him to play a video game. To learn the levels and master them. To go for the challenge of star coins and be rewarded with crazy bonus levels. Sure, he might use the Super Guide sometimes. After all he's a novice. But chances are he'll go back and do it himself eventually. And his skills will grow.

You can say the game is lazy, uninspired, a rehash, but there is no denying that it is Mario. And just like Mario taught me and probably you and so many other gamers out there how to play (and WHY to play), it's going to be teaching thousands and thousands and likely millions of youngsters how to game in the 2010s. And eventually, those youngsters will be an audience that developers will have to cater to, which means for at least the near future there'll still be games like Mario to come. So when I see NSMBW in the NPD Top 10 for the next several months, I might be crying semen tears, but they'll be semen tears of joy.

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Posted: 01/16/10, 01:08  - Edit:  02/24/11, 23:05
 
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Good rant, Slakov. Personally, I'm finding that New Super Mario Bros Wii is NOT casual, at least not on single-player. It's mopping the floor with me. Yes, it certainly teaches one to be a gamer, and if you endure it, at the end you'll be a hardcore gamer if you weren't before. But I'll be willing to bet that the majority of the copies of this game sold will never be finished. It's a hard game and it'll take a special kind of new gamer to see it through.

David V

Posted by 
 on: 01/17/10, 18:17
Im actually surprised how well the game is selling. I knew it would sell well. I figured it would be around the 2-3 million mark by now, but never figured the game would be at or almost at 10 million. So, its really hard to tell how many copies the game willend up selling. I would have to estimate at least somewhere in the 20-30 million when all is said and done based on the #s and its only been 2 months.

Posted by 
 on: 01/17/10, 21:10
But imagine if it had HD retro Mario Bros. graphics, and broken online multiplayer, and was made by 11 noob Austinites instead of the world's most experienced and inventive platform game designers? Imagine how much MOAR it would have sold then!!!

Posted by 
 on: 01/17/10, 22:15
I didn't find NSMBW all that challenging overall, but then again, I didn't find Mega Man 9 or Henry Hatsworth all that challenging. And certain stages were pretty rough, for instance, getting all 3 stars on 9-7 took me an hour or two. But I guess "challenging" to me means "am I even going to be able to do this?" Most parts of most games, even when they get rough, at least seem like something that I just have to stick at and will get through soon enough.

The weird thing is I never seem to have much trouble with single player games people complain about, but I blow at multiplayer games.

Posted by 
 on: 01/18/10, 01:32
How many "continues" do you have, on the record?

I think I'm somewhere up around 13, but that doesn't count the times I simply got nowhere and turned it off. With those, I probably have something like 30 continues, and I'm just on the 2nd half of World 3.

David V

Posted by 
 on: 01/18/10, 03:04
@Zero

as far as I'm concerned if a game doesn't seem like I can be able to beat it eventually with enough effort, its doing something wrong. The whole thing about video games, at least single player, is that you can keep getting better as you replay by learning the challenges. It's more about commitment than skill a lot of times. So, in that sense, I think what you consider "challenging" is "poor design." Even like Battletoads I think if I really wanted to beat it, I could and I assume most old school gamers as well.

Posted by 
 on: 01/18/10, 20:53
Simbabbad said:
Yes, I think the players that know Mario by heart since 1985 grossly underestimate the challenge of the game.

You know, this is actually a great point and something that I've been thinking about a lot, lately.

Going back and looking at NES games like Super Mario Bros series, the first 2 Zelda games... those games were HARD. Now with 20+ years of practice I can rip through them and things like them, which I'm sure is why I find stuff like NSMB Wii to be really easy games. I think what makes a game simple to play is, most often, how easy it is to play regardless of how easy the game is, if that makes any sense. Obviously there are some exceptions (Ghosts 'n Goblins is easy to play but it's damn hard) but I don't think I'm totally off the mark.

I can play something like NSMB Wii with my girlfriend no problem. But stuff like Galaxy and Twilight Princess... I really don't think these are particularly accessible games for new gamers. In the grand scheme of things, I DO feel that something like a well made FPS is simpler to handle. You point at things, you shoot, your perspective emulates real life and most importantly, you don't need to manipulate the camera. I don't know if it's just me, but in my experience, anytime you give a novice, adult gamer a game in which they have to move a character in 3D space AND control the camera, frustration is inevitable. Even though FPS games are 3D, you're really only controlling one thing at any given time.

I'm sure this is part of the reason that games like Mario Kart, NSMB Wii, etc., are so successful. They're not the easiest games to novice or new players, but they can be played, if that makes any sense. I think the same applies to a lot of popular game types. In college I know a lot of people who only played Bond and Mario Kart, for example, and gave up within a couple temples in Ocarina of Time; there was just too much to manage.

Anyway, I've written a lot without saying much, as usual. Hopefully someone got something out of that. :p

Posted by 
 on: 01/18/10, 21:27
@Simbabbad @JSlakov I can see where you guys are coming from and I definitely kind of agree "overall" but I still sort of feel like most games nowadays I barely have to get out of autopilot, and I can just sort of lazily keep hacking away at it until I get through. And even the parts that really challenge you in games tend to be so brief in between checkpoints / stages / etc. that if you do get stuck for a bit, you're not really stuck because you can just keep throwing yourself at it until you get a bit of luck and get through. It'd be like if someone told me to go out and win a basketball game (which I suck at), that'd be a challenge. If someone told me to make a half court shot, that'd be another type of challenge... but it wouldn't actually require me to better myself, I could still do it with my weak ass skills, I'd just keep throwing the ball until it eventually went in. That's how a lot of modern games feel like, since there are check points / save points / etc. everywhere so even when something is tough, it's a one time deal and you're past it.

But I'm not exactly sure what I want from games. Demon's Souls is a good example of the opposite side of things, you try to play in anything close to auto-pilot and you get owned, bad. And though it is a bit refreshing, it is also somewhat annoying. I think if I had a lot of time I'd love this game, but between work and grad school and a music project and this site well... I game in hour or two spurts nowadays, and in Demon's Souls it is very, very easy to sit down for an hour or two and make no real progress in the game. Plus it is a game that as much as it gets called hard, isn't necessarily very hard from the core gameplay, it's just unforgiving in a lot of ways.

So, something in between that and most modern games?

Actually I think New Super Mario Brothers Wii would be a pretty good challenge level for a normal mode if they could somehow include a hard mode as well. But that is tough for a platformer since you can't just up the amount of damage enemies do and call it a day. It'd require an entire second quest or something.

OR... I have thought about this too, though of course it would never sell much, but how cool would it be if Nintendo for a game like this would do a DLC with like 5 or so UBER challenging stages? You know, stages that start where 9-7 ended?

Posted by 
 on: 01/18/10, 21:30
@Kal-El814
I dunno about FPSes. In my experience, teaching someone how to use dual analogs is like teaching them how to fly a helicopter. I might just be a shitty teacher, though.

I think Doom was pretty pick-up-and-play, though. I bet a huge portion of the FPS audience was lost when Quake came out.

My sister's favorite game is Adventure on the 2600. I always tried to steer her towards Zelda, as the next logical step in the progression. Utter failure.

Posted by 
 on: 01/18/10, 21:37  - Edit:  01/18/10, 21:38
anandxxx said:
@Kal-El814
I dunno about FPSes. In my experience, teaching someone how to use dual analogs is like teaching them how to fly a helicopter. I might just be a shitty teacher, though.

I think Doom was pretty pick-up-and-play, though. I bet a huge portion of the FPS audience was lost when Quake came out.

My sister's favorite game is Adventure on the 2600. I always tried to steer her towards Zelda, as the next logical step in the progression. Utter failure.

I LOVE Adventure on the 2600. God, so many memories. That said, it's no wonder that Zelda blew my mind, I think I played those games almost back to back when I was a kid.

Anyway, yeah, I don't think that dual analog is a terribly natural control scheme either, in the grand scheme of things. The only evidence that I have to indicate it's easier to learn than 3rd person camera manipulation is purely anecdotal, your mileage will likely vary.

Posted by 
 on: 01/18/10, 21:50
I think Adventure is free on the website now. I should e-mail her.

Did you ever find the first gaming Easter Egg ever? I believe my brother did, but I can't trust my memory.

Posted by 
 on: 01/18/10, 21:57
No, I'd only heard about it a few years ago, actually. Pretty cool though. :)

Posted by 
 on: 01/18/10, 22:02
@Simbabbad I only got the Super Guide twice though, if I recall correctly... some early stage where I was playing lazy (autopilot) and 9-7 coin collecting. And I did get all 3 coins for every stage.

Posted by 
 on: 01/19/10, 05:42
I finally got the Super Guide on one of the World 2 stages, of all places, going after Star Coins. * grumble *

Posted by 
 on: 01/19/10, 05:47
Simbabbad said:
To me "challenging" means I have to get out of autopilot.
Yeah, that's an excellent way to put it. For instance playing Braid I definitely wasn't on autopilot. It was one of the most challenging puzzles games I had played in probably a decade.

Posted by 
 on: 01/19/10, 05:49
Pandareus said:
Simbabbad said:
To me "challenging" means I have to get out of autopilot.
Yeah, that's an excellent way to put it. For instance playing Braid I definitely wasn't on autopilot. It was one of the most challenging puzzles games I had played in probably a decade.

Challenging is putting it mildly, either that or I'm not as smart as I once was. I had to use a guide to get through it, some of the puzzles I just flat out couldn't figure out.

The game however is brilliant, I agree. Incredible design.

Posted by 
 on: 01/19/10, 07:33
How many worlds are in Braid? I got all but 2 of the puzzle pieces in the first 4? worlds, does a new world open if I finish the last two?

I definitely love Braid, and those 2 puzzles are stumping me, but most of the others didn't stump me for THAT long. Don't get me wrong, they still stumped me more than most games by far, but not like... the last stage of Lemmings did. Then again Braid is a quicker paced game, and it has the rewind... Lemmings kind of requires you to spend minutes at a time trying stuff out just to click on the wrong lemming and not even know if what you were trying to trying would have worked because you failed the execution...

Oh, another good one is Tetrisphere puzzle mode! I don't think I ever finished it, it had some incredibly stumping puzzles.

Posted by 
 on: 01/19/10, 07:47  - Edit:  01/19/10, 07:49
I doff my fedora to you guys as gamers. Perhaps it's because you've been at this longer than I have, in spite of my advanced age. My first 2D Mario game was Super Paper Mario. But I've never been in "autopilot" for most games. I really do have to work at it. I'm very proud of myself every time I finish a game. When a reviewer says that there's about X number of hours in a game, it usually takes me closer to 2X hours.

Or perhaps I'm the only one admitting it.

David V

Posted by 
 on: 01/19/10, 19:07
Old school game aesthetics have been coming back for a while. From downloadable games like Super Meat Boy and Shadow Complex, to the rebuilds of classic games like Bionic Commando: Rearmed, and the dozens of Live Arcade emulated games. And while not as huge, but still successful, Little Big Planet does the 4 player coop platforming very well, and in a similar pushy way as NSMBW. Even Braid catered to much more old school sensibilities than anything else (though it's main tricks were all new).

Look at PSN, XBLA, and Wiiware and you will see Space Invaders, Side scroll sh'mups, platformers, and pong remakes all looking like jazzed up NES games.

And while NSMBW is the first to really take the leap and put out a AAA title with those sensibilities, it's really following in the path of many smaller developers over the last couple years.

And I do take a little bit of issue with considering 'new school' to be cinematic. Cinematics used to be a massive part of old PC games. The Wing Commanders, the old C & C games both used extensive cinematics in FMV, and it was FMV cinematics that pushed the change from floppy discs to CDs(and then multiple CDs for a while). All the SNES rpgs had extensive storytelling and cinematic sequences. The only reason FMV cinematics didn't make it to console was due to the extremely small cartridge sizes.

And in the past few years, with the exception of the rpg genre, which seems to be glued to cinematic sequences, more and more games have realized that the best thing to do when telling a story is to let the player play, thereby removing the cinematics. Storytelling in games has become much more passive over the years rather then active. Cinematics are more a thing of the past then a thing of the now.

Posted by 
 on: 01/25/10, 02:29
Pretty much none of the games you mentionned with the exception of Little Big Planet is a bridge game though. Shadow Complex, Bionic Commando are squarely aimed at the usual 18-30 male demographic, and the rest are downloadables and therefore only reach that same demographic. They do nothing for future gamers, which was Slakov's whole point.

No one is saying coming up with an old-school game is a bold and unique move from Nintendo, that was never the discussion.

Posted by 
 on: 01/25/10, 03:51  - Edit:  01/25/10, 03:54
 
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