IP (Intellectual Property) Changes Related to Mario

While I can't deny the Mario license has been instrumental in getting people to look at games that would get no attention otherwise (ie: Picross, Dr. Mario, Super Mario Kart's original concept being "a guy in overrals"), as strange as it is to say coming from the admin of a Mario wiki, I'm increasingly of the opinion that it's becoming a tired crutch that's an obstacle to generating more memorable characters and universes. I'm really glad Splatoon is its own thing, and I doubt it would've got the following it did if it was just another Mario spinoff.

More insulting though is slapping the Mario license on existing third party franchises. I hope the sales failure of Puzzle & Dragons Mario Edition makes Nintendo reconsider this approach.
 
Glowsquid said:
While I can't deny the Mario license has been instrumental in getting people to look at games that would get no attention otherwise (ie: Picross, Dr. Mario, Super Mario Kart's original concept being "a guy in overrals"), as strange as it is to say coming from the admin of a Mario wiki, I'm increasingly of the opinion that it's becoming a tired crutch that's an obstacle to generating more memorable characters and universes. I'm really glad Splatoon is its own thing, and I doubt it would've got the following it did if it was just another Mario spinoff.

More insulting though is slapping the Mario license on existing third party franchises. I hope the sales failure of Puzzle & Dragons Mario Edition makes Nintendo reconsider this approach.
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Does it apply to other Nintendo franchises like The Wonderful 101 instead of being a Nintendo crossover became its own thing?
 
Yes..?

Wonderful 101's commercial performance is a great example of why Nintendo does this shit, though : p.
 
It sucks that the Wonderful 101 tanked in sakes. It really didn't need to :<

How much did Puzzles & Dragons sell anyway...I'm curious.
 
It sold 263.127 in Japan so far and only 32k in NA according to a NeoGaf ~teh insider‹ ~ with access to NPD data. I don't think it charted anywhere in Europe.

Well, I remember it stopping at 150k in Japan, so I guess I should retire my comment about it being an all-out failure failure. I suppose it's still a dissapointment considering the pull of the Puzzle & Dragon license and how much better Puzzle and Dragon Z did (1.5 million), though.
 
But then, there are people saying that Mario needs to be refreshed. I'd like new Mario-related I.P.s and, while he shouldn't be taking over every single time, I do believe Mario every now and then needs something good to mix it up for a while. That's how new Mario series games crop up.
 
Looks like I was beaten to questioning. I was about to question the statement that Puzzle and Dragons Super Mario Edition is a failure, mainly because it seems that the game is fine and the sales were alright. As for the smaller sales in the West, since this game comes with the original Puzzle and Dragons, I think that it might not do as well as when Mario didn't share the spotlight.

One thought that I was thinking is: would it be more welcoming if another character related to Mario takes over a game? I am talking about characters like Birdo, Toad, Waluigi and the like headlining a title. I imagine that developers would rather use new characters than those side characters, but personally, I think it would be nice to see some of the more underused characters get the spotlight since they get to show their potential.

Now that people stop talking about parodies, I declare this topic a general discussion.

Thanks for reading.
 
winstein said:
As for the smaller sales in the West, since this game comes with the original Puzzle and Dragons, I think that it might not do as well as when Mario didn't share the spotlight.
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The Mario banding is still proeminent on the cove. Are you saying the game would've been more successful if it only included one game instead of two?
 
Glowsquid said:
winstein said:
As for the smaller sales in the West, since this game comes with the original Puzzle and Dragons, I think that it might not do as well as when Mario didn't share the spotlight.
Click to expand...

The Mario banding is still proeminent on the cove. Are you saying the game would've been more successful if it only included one game instead of two?
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No, I think it would be less successful if Mario weren't involved. Sorry if that's not clear. Then again, I can't predict alternate scenarios like this, so maybe I might be wrong.

Thanks for reading.
 
winstein said:
One thought that I was thinking is: would it be more welcoming if another character related to Mario takes over a game? I am talking about characters like Birdo, Toad, Waluigi and the like headlining a title. I imagine that developers would rather use new characters than those side characters, but personally, I think it would be nice to see some of the more underused characters get the spotlight since they get to show their potential.
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Toad had a headline'd title recently: Captain Toad.

As for Birdo and Waluigi, they barely did anything outside of spin-offs. If they at least played a good role outside of a Mario spin-off then they MAY have a tangible chance of becoming a main character, and tangible means anything above 0%.
 
Baby Luigi said:
Toad had a headline'd title recently: Captain Toad.

As for Birdo and Waluigi, they barely did anything outside of spin-offs. If they at least played a good role outside of a Mario spin-off then they MAY have a tangible chance of becoming a main character, and tangible means anything above 0%.
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From the perception of outsiders, then yes, Toad technically have a title (mainly through the name). This is a debatable case, I feel, mainly because "the" Toad and Captain Toad are treated as different characters. Even in Super Mario 3D World, there exists "the" Toad (the playable one in the blue-spotted cap, and yes, he's called "Toad") and he exists together with Captain Toad. In this case, Captain Toad is open to further adventures, but not necessarily "the" Toad as a main character and title holder.

I am not sure about Birdo barely doing anything outside spinoffs, mainly because he/she appeared in Super Mario Bros. 2 and every Mario RPG series at least once (unless RPGs are considered spinoffs). If you are talking about being playable, then yes, Birdo barely appeared. Still, I imagine that there is a negative stigma around Birdo that prevented its role further.

I can see to your point that it would require an organic presentation of characters to reasonable put them as the main character. By this, I mean if a character is presented with a good impression, then they could go out there and prove themselves. Wario may have started out as a villain in a Mario game, but people really loved him, and so he could prove what's he made of in the next Super Mario Land game. Even Captain Toad gets the treatment due to being accompanied with Mario's game (Super Mario 3D World). So for Waluigi to be reasonably the star, he should accompany the more popular Wario and provide a good impression. If you think this point is too long to comprehend, I am basically saying that accompaniment from a more famous character is key.

Thanks for reading.
 
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