Mario Nintendo's Only Money Maker?

[TheViper]

I'm starting to wonder if Mario is Nintendo's only money maker nowadays. Like I know they have other characters they can base games around. Though, whenever I think about Nintendo it is only about Mario. It seems to me that they put so much behind Mario. That it seems like any other franchise from there doesn't even matter that much. I can't tell you the amount of people I know that only bought a Nintendo Wii/U just to play smash bros. Do you guys think Mario is Nintendo's only real money maker?

 

[Ridge]

Pokemon is basically a multi million unit selling annual franchise at this point.

 

[Squigly]

Nintendo still rules the handheld console market, largely due to Pokemon. Mario doesn't even come close

On the Wii though, yeah, Smash Bros and Mario Kart seem to be the biggest titles. Perhaps that's why the Wii console is generally seen as intended for a more casual audience.

 

[GlacialDoom]

I really don't think that Mario is Nintendo's only cash cow. They've got plenty of successful franchises, such as Pokemon (which is even a console seller), Kirby, Metroid, Pikmin and last but not least, Zelda.

 

[TheViper]

I understand that they have tons of other franchises that they can market off of. Though, I never hear people talking about them and I don't even know if they released one. The whole web was buzzed about "a new mario game". That makes me think that most simple buy a Nintendo console to play Smash Bros or Mario Kart.

 

[Brandon]

Well Zelda has a huge fanbaseb its like
Have you heard of the new Zelda? 99.9% of the people YES!

 

[Squigly]

Well Zelda has a huge fanbaseb its like
Have you heard of the new Zelda? 99.9% of the people YES!

Also, 99% of people refer to Link as Zelda. I didn't know until an angry fan corrected me :<

 

[Saffy]

I know pokemon is a huge seller for them.. heck I bought on of their games not too long ago for the DS... now if they created a pokemon MMO I think we'd all be in trouble.. lol

 

[joshposh]

Nintendo has a history with their mascots. They are known to be exclusively for Nintendo and no one else. They got Mario, Diddy Kong, Zelda, and a few others I can't put my finger on. They have recognition and character icons. So yeah, they still have a following. I remember them from the original donkey kong back in the arcades, and this was the early 1980s.

 

[Thomas Hall]

I think Mario was a favorite among the Nintendo fans and more games based on him since, that is what the consumers want. There have been other ones like Zelda, I remember playing it and was alright for me as I understood what had to be done when playing the game and enjoyed it. Mario games have a lot of exploring and also some of the missions require more thinking and sometimes team work to pass. The Mario games have done in business, great storyline and controls are real nice and easy to play the game and missions are not too hard to do.

 

[NickJ]

Mario is like a veteran. He has been with Nintendo since the old Nintendo days. Pokemon has died down a lot since the early 2000's but it's still popular. Just not as often talked about.

 

[insertkittyface]

Eh, I don't think that's it exactly. You have to remember how long Mario has been around and that he's just always going to be popular. He's one of the more known faces of Nintendo which is why I think they keep making games based around him. I'm not complaining though, I tend to love most of them.

 

[CosmicOdyssey]

A Pokemon mmo would cause world wide melt downs. The addiction would be too strong it'd be even worse if they let you use your 3ds to use your Pokemon to battle while not at your computer.

 

[Lights]

Nintendo has some of the strongest and most profitable franchises in the gaming industry. If you look at just the 3DS alone, Nintendo titles like Animal Crossing, Zelda, Fire Emblem, Pokemon and of course, Mario are constantly best sellers everywhere... they are essentially keeping themselves profitable with their own games, and have been for almost a decade now (I can't even name a third-party title on Nintendo consoles that sold as well as a Nintendo-made game!).

So it isn't just Mario that they're profiting from, but it is definitely their biggest moneymaker. I doubt you'll find anyone that doesn't know about that Italian, mustached, blue-overalls plumber!

 

[Jojo83]

Nintendo also makes quality, enjoyable games. They've used this quality seal on their games ever since the NES and SNES. You see this seal from 1st party games and some 2nd party and 3rd party developers but mostly from Nintendo 1st party games itself. Games from Nintendo are just oozing with quality in my opinion and every one of them was fun and enjoyable. Nintendo games may just look like games for kids, especially Mario and Zelda, but when you play them, you'll see that the gameplay are very polished and truly amazing.

 

[fjellse]

I think they have really milked the Mario franchise, but I can't blame them. It has this endless charm and appeal to it.

There are companies that have gone far worse with their intellectual property. Assassin's Creed, for example, with it's yearly installments. Call of Duty as well, although it has improved someone with its recent release.

With all that said, as Lights mentioned, Nintendo really has some of the strongest properties in the industry.

Truth be told, it's remarkable that Nintendo continues to produce such quality games year after year. Mario Kart 8, for example, is magnificent. Smash Bros Wii U is a work of art. Super Mario 3D World, which is yet another Mario franchise, pumped some fresh air into the game and its multiplayer experience.

I'm actually exited for more installments of everything.

 

[BPBWessel]

Mario is definitely not the only Nintendo money-maker/mascot. They have a wide assortment of franchises which bring in big bucks and keep loyal players on their systems. Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Smash bros... There are plenty of titles that fans of respective series will always buy and enjoy.

 

[Dana]

I think it's definitely a tie between Mario and Pokemon at this point. I know that there are other games like Zelda that Nintendo does, but it's just not up to par with those two. Though I think Mario still makes them more money since there are so many more different types of games that they have for Mario, since basically every Mario character has their own spin off game at this point.

 

[CosmicOdyssey]

Honestly nintendo doesn't need 3rd party games they can survive completely off the icons they own. That is true freedom they can make the games they want without any fear if going out of Business.

 

[Atlas_Hope]

Honestly nintendo doesn't need 3rd party games they can survive completely off the icons they own. That is true freedom they can make the games they want without any fear if going out of Business.

Nintendo in the past year has lost a tonne of money due to poor WiiU sales, and compared to Sony and Microsoft are not doing well. The only way they're staying alive is first party games like Smash Bros which just boosted sales, but what good is just surviving? They need to get 3rd party devs interested in making games for them or else they'll just keep losing money and have to change.