November 2009 brings with it the release of not one, but two of the year's most highly-anticipated titles; Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. But only one of them will have their respective console platform all to itself, and it looks like its not only sales-chart fantatics who will be watching the two compete throughout the holiday season. Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime isn't being quiet on where he's placing his bets - literally.
During an interview to promote Nintendo's upcoming holiday line-up, Fils-Ame claimed to GameTrailers host Geoff Keighley that New Super Mario Bros. Wii will outsell Modern Warfare 2...but only under very specific conditions. Asked whether players will pick up more copies of Mario throughout the season, Fils-Aime was quite confident "Absolutely. I say that unequivically."
To read the full exchange, keep reading!
Geoff: "You're on a single platform."Reggie: "Absolutely. I say that unequivically."
Geoff: "You're going to sell more copies of New Super Mario Bros. Wii then Modern Warfare will on the 360. Just on the 360?"
Reggie: "On one particular platform,"
Geoff: "Just on the 360?"
Reggie: "I do believe so. Now, you have to give me the entire holiday selling season. So lets take it all the way trough the January NPD data. I'll take that bet."
A curious follow-up question regarding the Wii's upcoming Modern Warfare: Reflex (a remake of the original Modern Warfare) was a missed sales opportunity from Fils-Aime, as he failed to take the opportunity to talk up his platform's own Modern Warfare experience this holiday season. Instead, he continued to praise Modern Warfare 2, politely saying "Sure, its going to be close. Modern Warfare [2] is a great title. As a gamer, I look forward to it. But you know, the new Modern Warfare [2], I think, is going to be a fantastic title, so not to discount it, it will sell well."
With nearly 20 million copies of New Super Mario Bros. sold on Nintendo's handheld DS and nearly 9 million copies for Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii itself (to say nothing of the 18 million copies of Mario Kart Wii), Reggie's prediction seems more based on solid numbers than pure fanboy/presidential flame-baiting. Of course, for those who will judge both games on the actual experience and less on their sales performance, its certainly looking to be one high-quality filled holiday shopping season for fans...of all platforms.
Thanks to GameTrailers TV!
Comments
November 08, 2009, 18:08:08 J Steez wrote:
Who ever thinks Super Mario Bros will sell more than Modern Warfare 2 is on crack.
November 08, 2009, 19:58:28 spiffy wrote:
@ J Steez
As stated in the article, Reggie does the stats and data to make the claim...in the long-term, anyway. In the short, there's little doubt that MW2 will be the bigger seller.
Not that any of it matters, however, just as long as both games are good and live up to their respective fans' hopes and dreams. They really are apples and oranges, and I'm not quite sure I like this newer, more boisterous Reggie talking sales-smack like this.
The industry all too often focuses on 'sales' as a measurement of success, often neglecting quality and fun-factor altogether. Watch the stories when/if Modern Warfare 2 becomes the biggest selling debut ever, most profitable debut ever, sells more copies than ever in the first week, or whatever superlative they'll attach it to. New Super Mario Bros. Wii will likely have none of these, as Mario titles are seldom big starters.
But hey, they're still selling the original Super Mario Bros. They sure do have long legs, though!
November 09, 2009, 14:03:07 BIG B WOLF wrote:
LOLOLOLOLOL. Need i say more?
November 10, 2009, 07:37:40 johnlucas wrote:
Surprising comments from Iwata. I thought he was the type to stay above the fray.
He's right though...but only in the long-term as someone earlier said. Short-term Modern Warfare 2 will stomp NSMBWii into the ground saleswise.
Modern Warfare 2 will most likely break Halo 3's sales record as fastest-selling game in history. I expect its XBox 360 sales alone will break that record nevermind the combined totals from all platforms.
Long-term as always New Super Mario Bros. Wii will sell for the life of the system & eventually as always it will outsell the out-of-the-gate blockbusters.
Still, it's bad form for Iwata to talk like this the way I see it. Just let the sales speak for themselves.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii WILL be big in the Top Ten for November no doubt though.
John Lucas
November 10, 2009, 07:38:49 johnlucas wrote:
Um correction. I meant to say Reggie not Iwata. I wish I can edit my posts after the fact!
John Lucas