Super Mario Galaxy just became the ninth Wii game to pass 5 million units in the United States after just four years on sale.
Mario's first intergalactic adventure joins an auspicious list of other games sitting above the 5m mark in the U.S.:
- Wii Play (13.06 million)
- Mario Kart Wii (11.3 million)
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii (8.86 million)
- Wii Fit (8.18 million)
- Wii Fit Plus (7.32 million)
- Wii Sports Resort (6.45 million)
- Just Dance 2 (5.61) million
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (5.43 million)
The next addition to the list is almost certainly Just Dance 3, currently sitting on 4.61 million sales across the U.S.
Super Mario Galaxy Becomes Ninth Wii Game to Sell More than 5 Million Units
Another month, another milestone for Mario: Super Mario Galaxy became the ninth Wii game to sell more than 5 million units in the United States, according to the NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. The Wii system, which crossed 39 million units sold in February, now has nearly twice as many 5-million sellers* as competing current-generation consoles combined.
“Wii continues its record-breaking run by surpassing 39 million units in its 64th month, a pace that is unmatched by any other system in U.S. history,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Titles like Super Mario Galaxy help explain why Wii continues to resonate with consumers. The fact that one of the best-reviewed games of all time is available for a suggested retail price of $19.99 speaks to Nintendo’s combination of quality, family fun and value that is unmatched in our industry.”
Other Nintendo milestones achieved in February include:
Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 for Nintendo 3DS each sold more than 100,000 units, bringing the life-to-date totals to more than 1.85 million and 1.45 million respectively.
Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version for Nintendo DS have now sold more than 4 million combined units in the United States.
Nintendo sold 625,000 total hardware units in February and saw double-digit growth across each of its product lines compared to January. This includes:
Nintendo 3DS: 262,000, a 53 percent increase
Wii: 228,000, a 50 percent increase
Nintendo DS: 135,000, a 76 percent increase
Total: 625,000, a 57 percent increase
The Wii games to surpass 5 million units sold in the United States include: Wii Play (13.06 million), Mario Kart Wii (11.3 million), New Super Mario Bros. Wii (8.86 million), Wii Fit (8.18 million), Wii Fit Plus (7.32 million), Wii Sports Resort (6.45 million), Just Dance 2 (5.61) million, Super Smash Bros. Brawl (5.43 million) and Super Mario Galaxy (5.04 million). Just Dance 3 is poised to be the next title added to the list with a lifetime total of 4.61 million.
Comments 34
Well, it's about time. I loved SMG!
Ouch. Looking at this list hurts.
Why does no one buy good wii games.
@2 Because a lot of people actually believe the lies about there being no good Wii games when I can easily name 20 just off the top of my head that wouldn't be considered a casual game, & that's just looking at my collection, there's a good 30 or more that I want that also fits as being a good Wii game.
They do. Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros Brawl, New Super Mario Bros & Super Mario Galaxy are all great games. The rest are the type of games everyone buys just so they have them for when they have guests round, so they're bound to be top sellers. It's not like people play them all the time, they buy them incase they need to entertain (also Wii Fit is a given).
I could always ask you, Jamouse, do you own Sin & Punishment 2? Xenoblade? Shattered Memories? Last Story etc? If you don't own all of theose then, to me, you're not buying some of the games I consider to be the best. That's because you'll have your own favourites that I don't buy - hence why they're not up there. Everyone loves Mario games, though, and everyone likes to keep a social game handy. It doesn't mean people arn't buying the games we consider good, it's just those tastes vary among each gamer so they'll never have the same appeal.
Surprised by Wii Play... that game was shocking! It isn't even fun when you have company around...
Surprised by SSBB though, that was a really good game! Shame it got such a low amount of sales, hopefully the next SSB will get more sales and be even better than Brawl.
I hope the fact that NSMBW outsold Galaxy doesn't mean the end of 3D Marios.
I love both games, but Galaxy is one of the few decent 3D platformers left on the market.
Best game on the Wii (even better than the second, in my humble opinion), and one of the greatest games of all time!
The best game on Wii! Hands down!
@Blizzaga and @Rensch both know where it's at.
SMG is better than the second one and holds some of my favourite-ever Nintendo memories.
why are so many people buying a ds still?
The sales are astronomical.
@Blizzaga, @Rensch, @James: consider it fourth'd. SMG brought me back to the days of SM64, with me just running around doing crazy stuff just to see what all i could do. I loved SMG so much that I worked to complete the game entirely. SMG2 was a decent sequel, but in no way did I feel the urge to go back and get every single star — not the way i did for SMG. :3
The galaxy games were the best mario games ever, by far. They should sell 100 million each month. Just because they deserve it.
@theblackdragon @Blizzaga @Rensch @James: err, I guess I'm fifth'd? Super Mario Galaxy may be my favorite Wii game and my favorite Mario game. (don't know for sure though, SMW and SMB3 are really awesome too) I had the same feeling as dragon, I just didn't feel like going back to SMG2. SMG, on the hand, was amazing and it did encourage me to get all 120 stars. I didn't love the game enough to play through the whole thing again as Luigi though. D:
It really should've sold this amount sooner. The only game on that list better than it is SSBB.
I'm happy to hear this. The SMG games are easily my favorite games of this generation. I gotta give some love to SMG2 though, as I don't quite agree with the general consensus here that SMG > SMG2. Can't we have two equally fun games? =)
Damn I heard 3D Mario didn't do as well as 2D but just now hitting 5 million that's a shame. Kind of sad this is doing that when other games hit more than 5 million in their first week out.
At first I thought you meant 5 million worldwide and that would be really sad.
I bought the first SSB when it came out, SSBM when it came out, and I would have pre-ordered SSBB if my parents would have let me.
@Demonic(#5): It included a Wii Remote though so for Nintendo standards it was a quite cheap game which made so many people buy it imo. I know i found it to be worth the 10 € i paid over just an adiitional Wii Remote.
@James and all others who say SMG > SMG 2
YES. Galaxy is a genuine candidate for my favorite game of all time. Galaxy 2... lost some of the magic, particularly in the switch to speed and linearity. Gone were the slower-paced moments where I could stop and marvel at a strange world, and gone was the endearing storybook of childhood loss.
Eh, I should probably go back and finish it sometime. Just not a big Mario fan, myself.
A real masterpiece!!
In terms of console exclusives this game sold incredibly. To put it in perspective, this game has sold just around 10 million to halo 3's 11 million.
Heh, guess I'll be the black sheep by saying I preferred Galaxy 2. I adored Galaxy 1, don't get me wrong, but for me Galaxy 2 had so much more variety. Galaxy 1 lost a fair bit of its sparkle for me when many of the later galaxies turned out to be pretty much identical to previous galaxies (like the second honeybee galaxy was just an autumn-themed mirror mode of the first honeybee galaxy).
That being said, I feel the super-linear style Mario game has now run its course - NSMB, NSMBWii, SMG2 and SM3DL all using the style, with SM3DL feeling a little tired - and I hope the next Mario game returns to large, open, explorable worlds. Let's leap into Wii U with a full-on Mario 64 style title.
Just new sales or used as well? If that includes used, games aren't selling as well as I thought.
You are not alone, VintageBoy. Although SMG is awesome, SMG2 manages to top it for me. The Green Star Challenge alone is one of the best "New Game+" modes ever, easily trumping the "Play again as Luigi" of the first one. Not to mention a final star that separated the baby Marios from the moustached Marios. I found the level design and music more varied too. And the best 3D Yoshi ever.
With that said, it really should haven't taken so long to make the 5 million mark.
This game is so epic. I cried at the end. It was beautiful.
Finally another real game (other being Brawl), none of the fitness or tech demo!
And deserved! It was a awesome game with a awesome concept! I really wonder if they can come up with a Mario concept on Wii u that is as strong. It will be difficult!!
Well duh! Super Mario Galaxy is like the best game ever1 Everything about it was AWESOME! They should make Super Mario Galaxy games for the 3DS and WiiU.
Oh my God, these screenshots bring back so mugh memories. In fact I just got the theme song stuck in my head from reading this. Brrrrrrrrrrrrlp! Duh duh dah duh-duh-dah!!!!! It almost made me cry, remembering how beautiful this game is. I think it's on par with Skyward Sword, the Wind Waker, OoT, Mario 64...
I bought Wii Play because I needed an extre Wii-Mote. Rather than pay $40 for a Wii Mote, I payed $10 more for a Wii. Game. Target shoot, Laser Pong, and Pool are my favorites. For extra replay value, try playing Target shoot and Laser Pong by yourself with two Wiimotes - for a game that's normally pretty darn casual, it turns into a hardcore exercise in hand-eye coordination when your attention is divided between two pointers!
For the record, SMG, SMG2, MKart, NSMB, and SMashBros are all excellent AAA titles.The fitness and dance titles don't appeal to me, but I'm not so naive that I realize just because a game don't appeal to me doesn't make them bad.
@StarDust 'I bought Wii Play because I needed an extra Wii-Mote' same, at the time it was $10 cheaper than buying a second Wii remote =P
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