Yeah, but it also had the following by the first holiday season:
Mario kart
Arms
Mario Odyssey
So the switch got a new Zelda and Mario game for the first year, plus a Mario kart. Switch 2 is just getting a new Donkey Kong and Mario Kart (and I guess Metroid Prime 4 although that’s cross platform). And no I don’t count Kirby Air riders as a big game.
Probably cause I’m a bit biased, but also because it’s not really what I would consider a system mover. The original apparently only sold 1.3 million units - https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Kirby.
Also, we’re already getting Mario kart world, so two racers on release just seems odd.
Keep in mind that’s all relative to the Gamecube, Air Ride was one of the platform’s more successful titles. But more importantly it also went on to become a cult hit long after its release, one that Kirby fans have been clamoring for a sequel to for a very long time.
The fact that Masahiro Sakurai himself is directing the sequel, after not having been involved with Kirby since the original Air Ride, is kind of a big deal. And I fully expect marketing to play up his star power and promote the fact that this is A Masahiro Sakurai Game. Anything Sakurai’s name is attached to is automatically going to be big.
There’s a reason Nintendo saved this one for the end of the Direct with a cinematic teaser trailer. We’ll see more closer to release, but there is no doubt that they are going to market this game very hard as a flagship title, much more heavily than they marketed the original.
You’re right that for the GameCube, that’s puts it as the 25th best selling game, but it had 1/5th the sales of Double Dash (while being released in the opposite ordering, Kirby in July and Double Dash in November).
While I agree that Sakurai directing it is a big deal for some, I don’t think the general consumer cares. I suspect that what will make it sell is that there is little competition from the switch 2 perspective.
I would argue that what counts as a “big game” really just comes down to how much Nintendo invests in it. In terms of budget, Sakurai gets a blank check to do whatever he wants, this will be a much bigger game than the original. In terms of marketing, this was a Direct-closer. Nintendo will make consumers care about this game.
Yeah, but it also had the following by the first holiday season:
So the switch got a new Zelda and Mario game for the first year, plus a Mario kart. Switch 2 is just getting a new Donkey Kong and Mario Kart (and I guess Metroid Prime 4 although that’s cross platform). And no I don’t count Kirby Air riders as a big game.
Why do you not count Kirby Air Riders? Some of us have been waiting 22 years for this sequel, it’s a very big deal.
Probably cause I’m a bit biased, but also because it’s not really what I would consider a system mover. The original apparently only sold 1.3 million units - https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Kirby.
Also, we’re already getting Mario kart world, so two racers on release just seems odd.
Keep in mind that’s all relative to the Gamecube, Air Ride was one of the platform’s more successful titles. But more importantly it also went on to become a cult hit long after its release, one that Kirby fans have been clamoring for a sequel to for a very long time.
The fact that Masahiro Sakurai himself is directing the sequel, after not having been involved with Kirby since the original Air Ride, is kind of a big deal. And I fully expect marketing to play up his star power and promote the fact that this is A Masahiro Sakurai Game. Anything Sakurai’s name is attached to is automatically going to be big.
There’s a reason Nintendo saved this one for the end of the Direct with a cinematic teaser trailer. We’ll see more closer to release, but there is no doubt that they are going to market this game very hard as a flagship title, much more heavily than they marketed the original.
You’re right that for the GameCube, that’s puts it as the 25th best selling game, but it had 1/5th the sales of Double Dash (while being released in the opposite ordering, Kirby in July and Double Dash in November).
While I agree that Sakurai directing it is a big deal for some, I don’t think the general consumer cares. I suspect that what will make it sell is that there is little competition from the switch 2 perspective.
But time will tell in this case.
I would argue that what counts as a “big game” really just comes down to how much Nintendo invests in it. In terms of budget, Sakurai gets a blank check to do whatever he wants, this will be a much bigger game than the original. In terms of marketing, this was a Direct-closer. Nintendo will make consumers care about this game.
That’s fair, I do think there are easier and harder games to hype though.