Super Mario Maker's launch on 11th September was one of the most notable Wii U arrivals of the year, and early tangible sales results have come through in the UK. The Wii U exclusive has naturally had a big challenge in overcoming major multi-platform releases on multiple systems, but has nevertheless started well in what's been a tough market for the big N.
Over its launch weekend Super Mario Maker secured 2nd place in both the all-format and individual format charts, only losing out to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in both cases. That's only sales at retail - not the eShop - and represents the 4th best launch week sell-through for a Wii U game in the UK, only losing out to Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and launch day hardware pack-in Nintendo Land.
The interest around Super Mario Maker may have also helped Splatoon a little, as it climbed to 25th place in this week's all format results, a rise of 12 places over the previous week.
It's some positive early news for Super Mario Maker, and it'll be intriguing to see whether it does well in this week's Media Create chart results in Japan; we won't have US NPD results for about a month.
[source chart-track.co.uk]
Comments (31)
Seriously though what's 25th place like 2000 copies?
Glad to see Mario Maker doing so well out the gate though!
Considering MGSV is also fresh release and is on multiple systems, this is really good. Long live the Wii U!
And I still haven't bought the game, yet! Let's hope these numbers carry on rising! Great job, Nintendo!
Mario Maker is addictive stuff. Great piece of software to create as many courses as your mind allows.
I bought mine in game and was overwhelmed by finally!!!!! A choice of games!!! And a good Mario maker display 😃
Impressive for only two days out.
A great showing considering it was competing with MGSV which only came out last week (and is multiplatform). Though I can't vouch for it being a system seller, it will definitely sell well amongst the current user-base.
Mario Maker is a great utility/game. I'm loosing hours in designing levels & extensively play testing them.
However it has one flaw and that's the star ranking system for the creators.
It appears if you have a YouTube channel you get thousands of stars for creating crap / insane levels just because you have a following. (Just look at the levels where you do nothing! - ok it's clever but not a Mario level to play)
And those level creators who put a lot of effort and thought into making 'traditional' Mario style levels that wouldn't look out of place in the next Super Mario platform game, who have no platform to get noticed don't get noticed and struggle to gain stars.
(There's a lot of comments on Miiverse about this issue)
I hope they look at improving this and a few other bits in future updates.
@Laxeybobby Agree fully with this - don't get me wrong I think those levels are impressive but I have no interest in them. Also the people who make it near impossible and only finish it because they know how to are pointless. I make an effort to make as traditional a level as I enjoy that style of game - sitting for two minutes watching Mario fly round the screen is boring
I'm glad to see the game is a hit and hopefully it will help sell more Wii U's over the festive period later this year.
MGSV looks incredible though so I can see why it's up there on the top spot.
@Graeme Exactly my point. I skipped 70% of the levels in the 100 Mario challenge as they were insane Mario killer levels where the only way you completed them was by luck or fluke and not gaming skill.
I make all mine to challenge gamer skill, all have clear routes, achievable, hidden extras and shortcuts and all play tested to make sure one missed or lost power up doesn't mean a restart.
Traditional level design.
Out of curiousity- has anyone else been tempted into buying one of the originals from the eshop after playing Mario Maker? I have an urge to buy Super Mario World again.
@MrGawain I already own all of those games multiple times ( except just one copy of NSMBU ). However, I think it would be a nice touch to patch in the classic games to unlock in game based on hours played in SMM. Just go ahead and buy SMW. You know it's amazing
@Laxeybobby fully agree. I enjoy quirky and fun levels. The insane ones may be interesting to watch complete but trying to conquer them is annoying, not fun.
It will indeed be interesting to see Japan's weekly sales chart. I'm not very versed in the culture but SMM doesn't strike me as something that those gamers would be interested in. But it's Mario and it's incredibly polished so a fantastic showing would not surprise me.
Ughh it's always that ONE game that ruins all of Nintendo's releases from becoming #1!
@Laxeybobby
The only way they can fix that issue, is mass genocide, which is generally frowned upon. Plus, isn't there an "Up and Coming" section?
But yeah, you can't patch out popularity.
@DarthNocturnal
You're right it's not something that can be stopped. 😆
It's just a shame as there are people out there creating some great playable levels that aren't getting any exposure unless you're following them or you randomly come across them.
The up and coming section is there but it's limited in size and the popular section is taken over by the thousand star YouTube brigade.
@Laxeybobby I feel the exact same way.
Hours of my life are going by like minutes playing SMM, you then spend about 1 minute actually playing the level you created! So addictive.
I've been trying to split my time equally between this and MGS V. It feels like I'm having an affair with two round pieces of shiny plastic and finding excuses to leave one and play with the other.
@Laxeybobby Should we create a forum thread for designers creating traditional SMM levels, so we can play and star each others' stages and follow each other?
EDIT: Guess I should've checked the forums first: https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/online_gaming/super_mario_maker_level_codes1#reply-01
I can't stop creating levels :3 Getting lots of positive reactions on my first lvl made me so happy, I went full-on level creator
I think Mario Maker in 2nd is pretty good. Heck I thought it didn't do so well from not seeing it as a game played by people in the WiiU home hub menu all weekend.
@jwfurness @Laxeybobby
The sharing forum isn't necessarily members trying to make real levels. I've seen all types of stuff get posted in there, and most people just post and never play others.
I've been trying my best to make legit, authentic levels that could pass as official. Naturally I've only had a week's practice but personally I think the levels are pretty decent, if not actually good. Unfortunately, I've seen others who just make brutally tough levels with no sense of coherent design, and rake in 3x the stars. It's how it goes.
It makes you feel like your creations just aren't that good, but in reality that's not the case. It's just that "good, authentic levels" aren't what's popular. That's the underlying problem and there's really no way to fix it.
The one thing you could do is force the first 10 users to flag a course with one of the following flags; WATCH, DEATHTRAP, REGULAR, FUNNY or whatever, and then add a filter to the course world screen that let's you filter what you see.
Still relying on the users but it would go quite some way to help organise the levels
I hope this one continues to sell well for while.
The game is awesome, I never thought I'd be this addicted to it. I'm nowhere near unlocking it all (my ocd won't allow me to change my Wii u date, especially as I love looking at what I've played most each day). The 8-bit playable characters in particular are a highlight - I hope the first main DLC is playing different characters in the NSMBU mode.
I've 5 levels up and have had just the 3 stars and 2 comments - I'm honestly pleased I even got that. I've downloaded 1 that sampled all these rave sounds. I've no interest in the sit back and watch levels ... Apart from that Mario Kart level, but wish you could do more yourself whilst its up and running (or driving).
Snake and Mario holding down the top 2 positions on the charts. I wouldn't have it any other way!!!
It's well deserved , I've already put 24 hours into it and still no where near bored.
@Laxeybobby Exactly my problem. Agree 100%.
Stronger debut then I expected! Good job.
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