If Nintendo is in fact the Disney of video gaming (as certain mainstream journalists are quick to assert) then Mario is unquestionably the Mickey Mouse of the game publisher. Similar to Mickey, the Mario brand seems to be relentlessly leveraged (exploited?) with almost countless spin-off games by Nintendo. While the Italian plumber plays basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis and golf (along with starring in his own RPG series and perpetual party game franchise) no spin-off brand means more to Nintendo than Mario Kart.
The Mario Kart series has always walked the fine line of appealing to younger and more casual fans, while still drawing in the core gamers who want to perfect the mechanics. Because of this, and the almost universal appeal of racing titles, the Mario Kart brand has typically outsold other Nintendo staples like Star Fox, Metroid and even Zelda. Needless to say, Mario Kart Wii was met with heavy anticipation by the teeming masses when it released this past April. We take our finely honed business monocle to Nintendo's latest kart racer.
Not bad for a month with GTA IV
According to the NPD, Mario Kart Wii was the second best selling game for the April period, behind only Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360. This of course made Mario Kart Wii the best selling Wii game over the same period. Overall, Mario Kart Wii sold 1.12 million copies during the month of April.
Fitting into the larger picture of the month, Mario Kart Wii was part of a record surge that increased sales over 50 percent. It's obvious that Grand Theft Auto IV (which sold 2.85 million copies in the U.S. alone) did not impede the sales of Mario Kart Wii, nor vice versa. This sort of sales success in April, a month far removed from the holiday period, is proof positive that the gaming industry can and should operate with a year-round release policy.
Following the releases of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with Mario Kart Wii's launch Nintendo has now completed the extension of their best selling GameCube franchises (Mario Kart Double Dash, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Smash Bros. Melee) onto the Wii. That was a powerful trinity to be sure, but this is a new Nintendo, a Nintendo that caters to the casual gamer and it's clear that a new trinity is forming on the Wii in Wii Sports, Wii Play and Wii Fit. It will be interesting to see if those simple titles with their causal oriented nature end up being the best selling titles on Wii when things are all said and done.
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