Super Mario Bros. Wonder Has Already Topped Amazon's "Best Sellers" Chart In The US

Gotta give Nintendo credit..they’ve really nailed down how to spotlight and market their games. They’ve really mastered generating hype without the need to overhype their software by giving you just enough of a tease without spoiling things. It’s quite remarkable how they’ve transitioned from all the praise and hype of AAA 3D title like TOTK to a 2D side scrolling Mario game with an evolved gameplay formula that’s old and familiar but so refreshingly new at the same time.

Everyone LOVES elephants. Oh, and people like this Mario fella too, I guess.

I never bother with pre-ordering. I just don't really see the point. Very seldom does my local Walmart or GameStop not have the latest release available for me to walk in and purchase on day one. I don't care about pre-order bonuses like a commemorative coin or--wow--stickers! It just doesn't do anything for me.

I actually did try pre-ordering some games online to be shipped to my house on launch day during the pandemic, but I guess everyone else was shopping online instead of in stores too, so I often wouldn't get those games until weeks after release.

In some ways it seems kind of staggering that in 2023 a 2d platforming-run-jump-collecting game will sell extremely well. And it'll be sold at the same price as all the mega budget "AAA" games. Just goes to show how varied the gaming world is, and how narrow a group of games that generally get the gaming media's attention.

@Not_Soos It’s true that there’s absolutely no need to pre-order most big releases. But if you want to buy a physical copy of a relatively niche game locally, it’s much safer to pre-order.

@Rainz Makes you wonder why more companies don't follow suit. They do not know how to manage hype at all. Starfield is a prime example of this. Great game buckling under the pressure of its own expectations.

Wonder looks wonderful. Will be a great co op game to play with the kids in the Xmas period.

I really really need to finish Mario 3d world and bowsers fury before I pick this up, I’d just be adding to the pile of games otherwise.
It’s looking so much fun at the moment from footage etc

Pure quality from Nintendo, I say no more.

@Jey887
Starfield is a good game and that’s it.
That’s the difference between that and a Nintendo studio game like BOTW, TOTK, Mario Odyssey, Mario kart, Splatoon 3, Mario Wonder etc.
Even Nintendo’s second party games like Luigi mansion 3 are heads above Starfield.

I think it's about time Mario came back to show who's the head honcho in the 2D platforming space. After years of Indies racking up much-deserved accolades it was weird that Mario was barely even in the top leagues anymore. Ironically these days Mario is actually quite a breath of fresh air as basic powerups that you can collect and lose throughout the levels is actually much rarer than games with permanent movesets.

It's also nice to see these big budgets get put into tight, focused experiences rather than many games these days which go for size over quality.

This looks like it has a large dose of something sorely missing in mainstream gaming, pure silly fun. Everything is so damn serious & moody now in the AAA space outside of Nintendo.

@Not_Soos I usually just pre-order when I get stuff like a collector edition or get the game cheaper. For instance, right now I have Mario Wonder and Mario RPG preordered at Amazon because I got them each for 46 euros.

And since I was going to buy them anyway and Nintendo games in Europe usually came out, increase in price for a while and then hover arround the 40-50 euro mark until the end of time, I just decided to preorder them.

That's great to hear, game will be a massive seller for sure. Haven't preordered it yet myself, but will definitely do so.

It’s definitely on my day 1 purchase list…
Not sure if I’ll preorder it or not yet…. Maybe someone will make a steel book… I like those.

@OldGamer999 I get what you're saying about the Nintendo quality that other games seem to lack. I often struggle to put it into words. A lot of people say it's the polish and I agree. But the thing that stands out to be is the way the characters move. Something about the mechanics and animations they program in games like TOTK, oddysey, Splatoon or even Pikmin, it's so fluid and fun to just run around. What makes me really excited about NL's preview of this game is that they highlight how fun it is to control mario and friends and the new animations all look superb. Shaping up to be the best 2D Mario game ever?

@jetsetradion
Shall be buying Mario Wonder day one.
I prefer the 3d Mario like Odyssey etc.
But the main thing for me with Mario Wonder is they have done away with the course timer, so I can’t run out of time or be rushed through the course which is a massive plus for me.

Toe to toe with Sonic in October. A classic 80s 2D showdown.

@LastFootnote Yeah, I recall a local Gamestop cashier telling me how the store may only get 5 copies for some of those niche titles.

For me, I'll be finally buying a switch so I can play this (and metroid dread) - I can't play 3D games cos of motion sickness and I have a huge nostalgia for these types of games. I am excited to play the mario game I have wanted post-SMW.

It’s incredible what Nintendo is doing. Switch may have the most epic library of games in console history.

@coversnail These mega budget AAA games are being sold for $70 or even 80€ now, while Super Mario Bros. Wonder is 60€/$. So it's actually cheaper.

@Not_Soos Sony and especially Microsoft really underprint physical copies - they can be quite hard to find sometimes. I end up having to order them more often than not.

Including pre-orders in your best sellers chart is kind of messed up.

Like I said before, both this and Sonic Superstars were already pre-ordered, it's just a matter of which one arrived first that I will play first and then Spider-Man 2 second.

@coversnail Also true that a lot of gamers just dont want the fuss of AAA loot box and season/battle passed games after shelling out £70 for a game.

@chardir The chart is also useful for arbitrary purposes. Some of my pal who does those things would earn a lot just doing arbitrary reselling of the hottest product that Amazon is listing as best seller.

Ok I like this article better than the one the other day where people didn't care about the game. 😀

Pre-ordered my copy at GameStop when I traded in my copy of FF16 at GameStop for $30. Which was a bit of an expensive rental but my kid had to play it before heading off to college, so at least we get Mario at half price. Can't do that with digital.

I hope for every one it's not like any of the new super Mario bros games
But never know it might be good this time😊
Just need to get past the bad graphics 😢

I'll pre-order a physical copy, I don't shop for games in stores anymore when I can have them delivered to my house.

"It's ahead of games like Starfield, Final Fantasy XVI "

lol? FF16 was a bomb and is hardly on any lists.

@Jey887
I honestly think the other companies just haven’t quite figured it out. Nintendo seems to understand how to CONNECT with their gamers as opposed to being a company that simply sells games and systems to them. Starfield is a great example, it’s a sprawling space epic, almost to the point of being overwhelming. Nintendo really just keeps it simple and they are masters at creating joy and fun in their games. That’s extremely difficult to do on such a consistent basis. As you mentioned, Mario Wonder will be great fun playing solo but even better to enjoy with family. Starfield is a great game but it doesn’t evoke that sense of fun and joy to be shared with others. It’s more of a solitary experience. It really highlights the constrast in philosophy between the major gaming companies

@Doomcrow

Over 1 Billion units of software sold! That is insane. I do believe the Switch will be looked upon as having the greatest library of any Nintendo console. The fact it has BOTW and TOTK alone released during its cycle is pretty mind blowing. It’s their most accessible console ever, (sorry Wii), you’re getting the very best of today and yesterdays Nintendo titles and everything in between.

With their next console likely to be backwards compatible the library will only get better, I’d reckon they introduce a streaming app eventually so we’ll be enjoying their games and movies/media all on one system. That’s quite the value proposition

To every normal person looking forward to this beautiful game, I hope it’s the best 2D Platformer Side-Scrolling game you’ve ever played.. while my brain won’t even let me play the games that MADE me a gamer.. (og Sonic/Mario).. for some reason I see them as games for young kids only because that’s the only type of game played when I was 4-9yo.. now I’m 34 and I’m seriously missing out 🤦‍♂️