UK Charts: Mario Wonder Jumps Up The Rankings As EA Sports FC 24 Scores Another Win

Yeah, that retail debut for Avatar doesn't look that great. Obviously, charting at 5th during the end of the year is much better than charting at 5th in most of the other times of the year, but this is a disappointing start for a supposedly-big title as this one.

Also, my usual question about splits Would it be possible to provide the platform splits for FC 24, Hogwarts, MK1 and also Lego Star Wars?

@JimNorman Thank you for your answer! Interesting to see the Switch share for FC 24 declining after the last few weeks, I wonder if there were supply issues that impacted its sales over the tracked period.

This is also the third week out of the last four where the Switch version of MK1 outsold the Xbox Series one.

Bluey is still on Top 40. (Currently on number21) 😊

@MarcoP90 I'm honestly shocked to see the Switch share of MK1 sales so high. So many people buying a sub-standard product.

@Rob3008 I feel like the kind of people who buy those versions of games are a different breed. They pick up games because they have a cool box art or recognize the brand name. I don't think they read reviews.

Why do people buy the same game year after year just because the number on the title was changed? Is FIFA/EA FC that different from one year to the next (this is a real question, I don't know the difference and they all look identical to me)?

@Rhaoulos : FIFA 20, 21, 22, and 23 on Switch were essentially identical to FIFA 19, but with the most up-to-date rosters/kits/stadiums and a new soundtrack.

FC24 marks the first real upgrade since FIFA 19, but unfortunately, it's also the first to not have the full game on the cartridge (imposing a 20GB download), which ultimately makes it a substantially worse product than the last four releases as far as I am concerned.

I'm no die-hard fan of the series, but those who are would appreciate the content updates from one instalment to the next, especially if they pour dozens/hundreds of hours into the game.

Hmm wondering if Mario RPG is going to go down as a failure in the end… that would be regrettable, it’s been so enjoyable to play!

@NintendoWife
I don't think that's the case at all. Numbers look fine for Japan and especially strong in the US based on Amazon/Wal-Mart/Gamestop thus far (hard to know in aggregate though).

SM RPG was always expected to be heavily carried by the US/Canada and Japan; the two markets where the original sold due to lack of a PAL release. There's no nostalgia for the title in Europe so it's selling similarly to Paper Mario Origami King there.

But in the US/Japan it appears to be selling well above that.

@NintendoWife RPGs in general typical doesn't sell well in the UK. UK are usually FIFA, online shooters, open world, or action games territories. Japan and NA are where RPGs are the most successful. Just look at the top 10, not a single RPG are in there and when there is one it usually dropped out a few weeks afterwards.

@Serpenterror @zg44
Right, I didn't even really think about this being the UK charts in particular. I live in PAL land too (Germany), it was more that I was generally worried this game might do badly. It deserves selling well, perfect game for winter time. Origami King deserves it as well, btw!

@NintendoWife

Germany appears to be its strongest market in Europe based on Amazon and the Nintendo eShop over the past month. France, Spain, and Italy look fine.

We won't know exact numbers until we get the quarterly earnings from Nintendo (unless they announce SMB Wonder reaching a benchmark like 10-15 million and announce SM RPG sales alongside that).

I'm not too concerned about SM RPG. Should be headed for 4 million global sales based on strength in US/Canada and Japan.

Nintendo/Square should be happy to have that kind of number on a reasonably budgeted remake.

And @Serpenterror brings up a great point: the UK has always been the worst market by far for RPGs among the large markets.

So it's not going to be a benchmark of anything.

Nintendo is probably hoping for something like 800k to 1 million sales from PAL/rest of world (non-Japan/US/Canada). That's not a hard lift imo.

@Sisilly_G Thanks for the answer. I didn't think about the roaster and football fans wanting to play with their favourite player, since I'm not a football fan (or any other sport).

What about gameplay? Is it really different from one game to another, or does it feel more like minor improvements?

I always tell people Mario always has long legs when it comes to sales. It will continue to sell in top 10 across alot of countries for months.

@JimNorman Hogworyh is suprisingly a good Switch port. Good to see WB games efforts is paying off.

Wreckfest is back in the charts!
This game deserves every sale and more. The switch port is amazing!

@Sisilly_G A completely new game is substantially worse than the previous ones that were pretty much identical outside of cosmetic changes and soundtracks because it requires a download for the physical? 🥴

Not saying a download for the cartridge doesn’t suck but if that’s the price to have…you know…an actual new game then I’d take it. You do you though

@Rob3008 some people only have one console. If I only owned Switch and was interested in this game I might buy it also.

One of those Mario Wonder sales was mine, though it's imprisoned in wrapping paper for the next two weeks. Gonna be a good day, as I've got that and Spidey 2 waiting for me.

@Chibi thank you! I was thinking the same thing. I picked up the game a couple months ago and played the whole campaign and more. Lots of fun! But isn’t it an older game? How is it this high on charts?

@Chibi and yes good port. The graphics on Wreckfest are better than on what I am now playing: WRC.

@dugan Excellent Wreckfest port on Switch. I've put 35 hours plus into the Switch version, more time than I've played it on my Series S. Seriously good game 😄

@dugan
Unfortunately there is probably a heavy sale on.
The game deserves to sell lots of copies at full price imo

@BANJO I’d go as far as saying excellent. Campaign is challenging and extremely enjoyable and even online is excellent!

Can’t wait to never hear about this game again. It represents the definitive artistic downfall of Nintendo for me.

And here I was, hoping Bowser’s Fury was a glimpse of the next Mario game 🤦‍♂️
The Minion crowds just wouldn’t be able to handle 3 directions and some actual difficulty.

I described it as a "substantially worse product". I made no comment on the actual game.

For those who opt to download the game, then this stance would be of no consequence, but as a physical product, yes, it is substantially worse, especially when the last six instalments had fully playable games on the cartridge, and this latest exercise by EA is nothing more than a cynical attempt to save on manufacturing costs on their end at the expense of producing a decent (cough complete) product.

There generally tends to be minor refinements between instalments on other hardware, but the Switch has essentially had three unique FIFA instalments:

• FIFA 18
• FIFA 19
• FC 24 (being the most dramatic to date)

FIFA 20, 21, 22, and 23 were basically identical to FIFA 19, but with updated teams, uniforms, stadiums, and soundtracks (with no discernible differences to actual gameplay/performance).

I'm not a huge football fan, though I do enjoy watching the occasional game (last year's World Cup finale was fantastic), and I do enjoy playing the video games in small bursts. I did notice some minor differences between FIFA 18 and 19, but when all is said and done, the goal (no pun intended) is to produce an accessible and faithful video game adaptation of "the world's game".

I don't think the video games will change people's minds about whether or not they will like football (just as I would never buy a cricket game), but for casual fans, one instalment every few years (or once every console) is plenty, but diehard fans (and I know a few) will want every instalment, no matter how minor the differences may be between instalments.