For those of you that follow the fortunes of the Virtual Console service, you’ll know that Mario games regularly top the sales charts. In fact ‘regularly’ is probably the wrong word; ‘always’ is a more accurate term.
Nintendo’s most famous creation has a pulling power that other brands would kill for; putting his face on even the most average of games causes it to sell like cakes that are exceedingly hot. It should therefore come as no surprise to see Dr Mario Online Rx sitting pretty at the top of the chart.
1 - Dr Mario Online Rx
2 - Defend your Castle
3 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
4 - TV Show King
5 - LostWinds
6 - Family Table Tennis
7 - Pop
8 - V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack
9 - Star Soldier R
10 - Critter Round-Up
It’s interesting to see that Defend your Castle is still pulling in impressive business – and to think many doubted the appeal of a WiiWare game that is based on a title you can obtain freely on the Internet.
Recent releases Toki Tori and Protöthea just missed out on being in the top 10, but this is probably down to the fact that they're quite new - expect to see them in next week's chart.
Comments 46
what!!? Lost Winds is #5! Outrageous!!!!!!!!! TV Show King beat it. Ugh
I agree, tv show king looked like a horible game! Lostwinds was a great game a more people should download it
Sweet, Defend Your Castle is #2.
Well in the land of pal ffcc:mlaak is second place followed by Dr Mario
'expect to see them in next week's chart' ...or hopefully not in the case of Protothea.
Damn, two out of the top five titles just should not be there. Mission for next week America: Swap Dr Mario for Lost Winds and TV Show for Pop and finally push Toki Tori in between them. That'd be much nicer.
I just noticed Dr Mario would still be in the top 5 even after the changes so I suggest you all bully Nintendo into releasing Gyrostarr faster....
Unfortunately Dr Mario's high up in our 'top six' because:
a) We only really had a choice of three decent games so far (LostWInds, Toki Tori and FF:MLaaK) Actually, make that four - Star Soldier R was ok.
b) Some dumb-ass at NoE decided we should only get WiiWare every two weeks.
c) Nintendo are interfering SOBs and made Nnooo add extra localisation code which means we didn't get Pop during the first week. Had Pop been around, I reckon Dr Mario's sales would have been half as strong.
Disappointing to see stuff like TV Show King and Blackjack above Star Soldier R - I guess that just shows the type of gamers the majority of Wii owners are...
LostWinds is getting beat by TV Show King? I can understand the other three being where they are...but TV Show King? This just bursts my bubble.
Although, for the moment at least, I'm just going to assume that LostWinds sold very well the weeks prior, resulting in some kind of drop-off in sales which would allow it to go that far down.
Unless TV Show King has been beating it all along, which will make me sad.
Question: When they tallied Dr. Mario Online RX's numbers, did they include the number of folks who downloaded the free demo or are the numbers only the people who paid money for the game?
Wii Ware every two Weeks in Europe? Or was the Release Pause last Week only because the Nintendo Channel was released?
Maybe from this week on every week VC and WW Releases...including Updates for the Nintendo Channel
i hope theres a wiiware weekly releases in europe soon cus im gona live in spain in october hehe
Pop was the one I was sad to see so far down on the list, although Star Soldier R being #9 shocked me a bit too.
As far as I'm aware it's every two weeks - can;t remember where the post was from but apparently it was official. Maybe they've changed their minds though. I'd love to see WiiWare every week - I'm looking forward to checking for new WiiWare tonight, I'm just hoping it's not in vain.
I'm surprised that TV Show King is at #4, but generally the rest of the list is as expected.
LostWinds should be a tad higher though...
TV Show King's place is believable. But LostWinds has tough competition. It deserves 3rd but so does FFCCMLK.
Toki Tori needs to be a lot higher! Same with lost winds.
I need some update's Nintendo! I got 5000 Wii-points waiting to be spent! And in the name of all that is good, please put a demo of Proffesor Layton and Ninja Gaiden DS on the Nintendo channel in the Netherlands! We only got to demo's! Brain Training and Big Brain Academy! Why?
they need to rename stuff that deserves to sell, such as "Mario Presents Lost Winds", or elsewhere, "Mario & Okami"
@ vherub-
i'd buy FFCC: Mario's Life as a King
that game already sells well though,
but i'd definitely buy "Mario Pop".
Maybe this will tell Nintendo that people want Nintendo made games.
I couldn't believe Pop was as popular as Corbie would have you think. This list only confirms my disbeliefs.
We'll have to wait and see how the games all fair when more heavy hitters are released. I for one would like to see Dr.Mario get knocked out of 1st place by a third party developer even though I like the game.
Dude, people are sleeping on Star Soldier.
This is where Try-Before-You-Buy would come in handy. It seems a lot of people are apprehensive about SSR due to the time attack only nature of the game. I was guilty of speculation, too, but as soon as I played the game, all fears were dispelled. The sheer quality of the gameplay let me know my 800 points were well spent.
Same with Lost Winds. A 3 hour campaign is preventing people from throwing 10 of their hard earned dollars at Frontier. If people had the chance to demo these games, I think they'd be less inclined to throw their money at whatever seemed like it was the BEST VALUE and would instead go for the BEST GAME. But because we're all shooting in the dark here, the best bet seems like a game like Dr. Mario or Defend Your Castle, because these games ooze replay value, there's no question of getting your money's worth. Help a brother out, Ninty!
Its a shame Star Soldier is not higher because it may impact if they doa retail version. I would have thought FFCC would be number 2.
Anyway see why Nintendo delayed Dr. Mario because it really helped a game like Defend your castle sell.
i expected Dr. Mario to be on there actually, maybe #1, maybe not. i did not want it on there though. i am glad Defend your castle is number two. Same for MLaaK at #3. i think Toki Tori should be in there very high on the list. T.V show king needs to drop a few ranks.
LostWInds is okay but it plays EXACTLY like Okami, whereas TV Show King is as stupid as a game about knowing things can be.
Now, which one would you get if you want to play a fun game with friends?
@Tony
I don't think the Mario delay helped out Defend Your Castle. I think it was the 500 point price point with a concept that is easy to understand. People like cheap and familiar; especially when you can't try before you buy.
lookin soomth DYC!
@Quakster Okami=LostWinds? I dont think so.
1 - Dr Mario Online Rx I expected this and I think it'll stay strong all summer
2 - Defend your Castle Nice to see it up here! Good value helps! I have it
3 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King Have it, love it
4 - TV Show King What?! More than LW and Pop?!
5 - LostWinds This was higher initially. And it should be. Next on my list.
6 - Family Table Tennis Seriously? People sacrifec all those blocks for this?
7 - Pop I am glad to see this ata healthy 7...for 700 points!
8 - V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack No. Get out.
9 - Star Soldier R Decent showing for a time attack game.
10 - Critter Round-Up It shows how limited our choices are right now.
Thanks for the support guys, we wouldn't be #2 without you.
WiiWare sucks.... at least here in EU. Only 6 titles for launch day and now not even a word when we can expect more titles. I wrote an email to Nintendo about it. Never got an answer. Not a good customer support.
So why is he pleased with himself? All I see is him and peach.
I'm just wondering, where do you guys got those numbers? because I tried searching for this info a few times and all the blogs I find have no sources at all.
The list is best read at:
http://www.nintendoeverything.com/?p=1527
You'll note that not only did TV Show King take 4th, it HELD 4th against the onslaught of Dr. Mario. TV Show King's the "Carnival Games" of WiiWare, it seems. Low quality is ignored due to "fun for the whole family". Though I was under the impression those Wiis weren't online...
Before Dr. Mario, Defend Your Castle was king, and it well deserves that honor. For 500 Wii Points, it's "full of win".
I doubt Dr. Mario demos count, as those are sent from within the game, not the Wii Shop...
@Peznaze - Actually the list comes from the Wii Shop channel. Click on "Popular Titles" sometime and you'll see how things are stacking up. And the Dr. Mario Demo does actually come from the Wii Shop channel. The game just sends a message with a link to the demo in the Wii Shop channel.
@XGen - You fully deserve your success! Way to go guys!
i'm interested in seeing toki tori move up.
Here's the Norwegian list. Only Top 6, since we don't have as many games, but I think you'll be pleased with the winner:
1) LostWinds
2) Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
3) Dr. Mario & Germ Buster
4) Star Soldier R
5) Toki Tori
6) TV Show King
thanks for the Norwegian list Adamant, that is interesting data.
TV Show King and Dr. Mario Rx are saving my marriage. Finally two games my wife actually likes to play with me. Don't hate on the multiplayer goodness that both offer.
I can see TV show beating lostwinds. It's 500 points cheaper, there's more casual wii gamers, and people probably thought lostwinds was weird.
it is highly doubtful that T.V. show king would be beating it.
Looks like Toki Tori's making a nice climb, it may surpass Pop or Table Tennis by mid-week. Well, depending on what WiiWare comes Monday.
@shoemaker - Last time I looked both LostWinds and TV Show King cost 1000 points
Here's the UK chart for comparison's sake:
1)Lost Winds
2)TV Show King
3)Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
4)Dr Mario & Germ Buster
5)Toki Tori
6)Star Soldier R
7)Actionloop Twist (Just released)
TV Show King hasn't always been that high, a week or so back it was lower than Toki Tori, FFCC and Dr Mario.
@Xgen: Good job! You really threw out a top notch product at launch. It's fun and intuitive, and the multiplayer is perfectly incorporated.
@Peznaze: I didn't think those kinds of Wii owners were online either. They are ruining Nintendo! Don't they remember the SNES? When they released QUALITY games (not to mention the only good Yoshi game except for the DS game)?!!
@Everyone: Dr. Mario is insanely good. I went back and played Dr. Mario 64, and I don't think I wasted a cent. The classic mode is about the same, but the online and Virus Buster still makes it worth the extra 10 bucks. That said, Dr. Mario 64 has some cool modes if you can buy it anywhere.
To whom it may concern:
Since I have sojourned in Italy, I have seen or heard 6 instances of the name Mario, two pictures of Mario (one SMB era, one N64 era), and three instances of the name Luigi. I am proud to say that I am nerdy enough to count stuff like that.
Here's the US list as of this afternoon:
1-5 are the same, then Tennis, Pop, VIP, Toki Tori, Star Soldier R, CRU, and Protothea at No.12. Toki Tori went to No.9 in just 5 days! Makes me proud I have it
Iam not surprised that TV Show King is that high, with the new casual audience that the wii has made.
@ XGen:
You deserved it, Your game is really fun and addictive.
@Clayfrd: I spent two weeks in Italy on an Art history trip in 2005. Spent 6 days in Pompeii and 9 days in Rome. It was a blast
This is just baffling to me.. I hope they include these rankings with this week's, as a lot seems to have shifted. And... it's... odd. I was thinking the cheaper games were rising to the top, with Dr. Mario, Pokemon and Final Fantasy having the brand recognition to buck that trend, but... it seems that 700 or 800 is NOT 500... Anyway, the next list compared to this list will be fascinating.
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