Like diehard football fans who love watching the draft just as much as as the Superbowl, I love watching the release of high profile videogames to see how well they sell. Case in point: Super Mario 3D Land. Of course, it’s unlikely that it will totally bomb, but the fact that it’s a Mario game isn’t a guarantee that it’s going to be a huge hit either. The loyalty of Mario fans is a fickle thing. Just look at the disparity in sales between Super Mario Sunshine and New Super Mario Bros. Wii (as of 2010).
Of course, Super Mario 3D Land is on a portable, which is arguably a very different market. It’s a place where modern Mario games are even more potentially profitable — New Super Mario Bros on the DS went on to be the second best-selling game in the series. However, that was a very different time, on a very different console. Will Super Mario 3D Land suffer due to the 3DS’s relatively small install base, or will the game go on to be a stratospheric hit and a monumental system seller? I CAN’T WAIT TO FIND OUT!
As for me, I’ll be buying the game no matter what. I really enjoyed what I played of it at E3, and as a huge fan of suit-focused Mario titles, there’s no way I could pass this one up. The revelation of the Boomerang Bros. suit’s return only works to further cement my desire for the game. Then again, I’m far from the typical Mario fan, so my intent to buy this sucker on launch day doesn’t mean that the masses will go for it, right? I guess we’ll see when the game drops next month.
Boomerang Bros. suit in Super Mario 3D Land [GoNintendo]
