4 ms·

I tbink it's easy to underestimate this - everyone seems surprised when I tell them Mario Kart 8 is the 5th best selling game of all time.

andrepd 1y ago
Well it's been continuously sold for over a decade now, and bundled with the Switch.
- furyofantares 1y ago
  It's bundled due to the success of the game and not the other way around: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44338584 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44338584
- mook 1y ago
  Famitsu (a Japanese magazine) has top ten sales of console games in Japan every week. Until the Switch 2 launch, Mario Kart 8 was there nearly every week.
stavros 1y ago
What's the list?!
- astura 1y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_gam...
  - k__ 1y ago
    Interesting that most of the best selling games aren't sequels.
    - dijit 1y ago
      It’s more interesting to me that so many are. It’s rare for any product to have more success in later invocations than the first edition, that is where the narrative is fresh and strong- and even in the event sequels are stronger, they tend to increase sales of the first season/movie/etc; because people want the whole experience.
      - teamonkey 1y ago
        A lot of game development is trying to find an idea that hits. When developing a new game, there are a lot of unknowns, budgets are tight, a lot of compromises are made, and often there are plenty of rough edges. A sequel allows the same team to build on the shoulders of the first game, keeping what worked, adding features that players missed and refining those that didn’t work. It’s seen as a safer investment, with an existing fan base to leverage, and so this often leads to larger development and marketing budgets with a focus on growth.
      - k__ 1y ago
        Aren't sequels always touted as safe bets?
        dijit 1y ago
        Yeah but only because there will be a reactivation of x% of people. I think the margin is usually 70%~ but depends a lot I guess. You can safely bet that >50% of people who enjoyed seeing/playing the first of something would be interested in the second.
      - lolinder 1y ago
        Video games I feel like reverse this general trend, though. Unless they have a major story component (and sometimes even if they do) many games get iteratively 'better' (better for the purposes of making sales if not of making original fans happy) for various reasons: improvements to the core game loop, polish that makes the game more appealing to new audiences, and most importantly graphics. Story-based content is what struggles with sequels because it's really hard to both capture the feeling of the original sufficiently to satisfy existing fans while also telling a new story that's interesting in its own right. Being derivative without being too derivative.
  - jonhohle 1y ago
    I’m shocked Overwatch is so high. Microsoft/Activision/Blizzard seem to barely give it any attention and basically killed off its pro scene.
    - washmyelbows 1y ago
      There's also a ton of multi sale per person in overwatch. Especially before role queue existed, it was easier to just spend 10 bucks on a new account to learn a hero than to suffer ELO hell while doing it. People are so toxic in competitive shooters, and playing at the ELO of your best heroes while on a hero you don't even know the abilities of is very very unpleasant. I struggle to think of a person I played with that didn't have multiple accounts, some with as many as 5-10. This is to say nothing of the rampant cheating in the game, which if a person ever gets banned for, there is nothing stopping them from just spending 10$ on a replacement account.
    - philistine 1y ago
      A pro scene is absolutely not a sign of a popular game. Oftentimes it's the reverse. There are so many strange externalities with a healthy pro scene that can positively destroy your general appeal. Leaving you with perhaps 10,000 really insane players, and no community outside of that.
      - cosmic_cheese 1y ago
        I’ve not gathered any data to prove it, but I’ve long held a hunch that there’s something of an inverse correlation between multiplayer games’ popularity among highly competitive players and the masses. Most people don’t want to spend large amounts of time “getting good” and don’t enjoy getting matched up against players that absolutely destroy them, but instead prefer more casual games against other players with middling skills. The thing is though, even if highly competitive games include an unranked queue intended for casuals, it ends up being filled with smurfs[0] and the like looking to smash lower skilled players, which drains the fun from the game for those players. Thinking about it that way, it’d make perfect sense if the most popular PvP games would be those that are shunned by the highly competitive - a lack of “pro” players might be considered a feature rather than a bug. [0]: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/17209/where-does-the-term-smurfing-come-from https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/17209/where-does...
soulofmischief 1y ago
Wii Sports enjoyed a similar status, as it was also bundled with a console. I don't think console bundles are necessarily a fair way to count video game sales.
- furyofantares 1y ago
  Mario Kart was not originally bundled with the Switch and the Switch has never been exclusively bundled with Mario Kart. You've always been able to buy a Switch by itself or bundled with other games - Mario Kart was not even the first bundle. It was like the 8th or something - two years after release, and has been re-issued every Black Friday since, but there have been numerous other bundles since as well.

andrepd 1y ago

Well it's been continuously sold for over a decade now, and bundled with the Switch.

furyofantares 1y ago
It's bundled due to the success of the game and not the other way around: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44338584 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44338584
mook 1y ago
Famitsu (a Japanese magazine) has top ten sales of console games in Japan every week. Until the Switch 2 launch, Mario Kart 8 was there nearly every week.

stavros 1y ago

What's the list?!

astura 1y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_gam...
- k__ 1y ago
  Interesting that most of the best selling games aren't sequels.
  - dijit 1y ago
    It’s more interesting to me that so many are. It’s rare for any product to have more success in later invocations than the first edition, that is where the narrative is fresh and strong- and even in the event sequels are stronger, they tend to increase sales of the first season/movie/etc; because people want the whole experience.
    - teamonkey 1y ago
      A lot of game development is trying to find an idea that hits. When developing a new game, there are a lot of unknowns, budgets are tight, a lot of compromises are made, and often there are plenty of rough edges. A sequel allows the same team to build on the shoulders of the first game, keeping what worked, adding features that players missed and refining those that didn’t work. It’s seen as a safer investment, with an existing fan base to leverage, and so this often leads to larger development and marketing budgets with a focus on growth.
    - k__ 1y ago
      Aren't sequels always touted as safe bets?
      - dijit 1y ago
        Yeah but only because there will be a reactivation of x% of people. I think the margin is usually 70%~ but depends a lot I guess. You can safely bet that >50% of people who enjoyed seeing/playing the first of something would be interested in the second.
    - lolinder 1y ago
      Video games I feel like reverse this general trend, though. Unless they have a major story component (and sometimes even if they do) many games get iteratively 'better' (better for the purposes of making sales if not of making original fans happy) for various reasons: improvements to the core game loop, polish that makes the game more appealing to new audiences, and most importantly graphics. Story-based content is what struggles with sequels because it's really hard to both capture the feeling of the original sufficiently to satisfy existing fans while also telling a new story that's interesting in its own right. Being derivative without being too derivative.
- jonhohle 1y ago
  I’m shocked Overwatch is so high. Microsoft/Activision/Blizzard seem to barely give it any attention and basically killed off its pro scene.
  - washmyelbows 1y ago
    There's also a ton of multi sale per person in overwatch. Especially before role queue existed, it was easier to just spend 10 bucks on a new account to learn a hero than to suffer ELO hell while doing it. People are so toxic in competitive shooters, and playing at the ELO of your best heroes while on a hero you don't even know the abilities of is very very unpleasant. I struggle to think of a person I played with that didn't have multiple accounts, some with as many as 5-10. This is to say nothing of the rampant cheating in the game, which if a person ever gets banned for, there is nothing stopping them from just spending 10$ on a replacement account.
  - philistine 1y ago
    A pro scene is absolutely not a sign of a popular game. Oftentimes it's the reverse. There are so many strange externalities with a healthy pro scene that can positively destroy your general appeal. Leaving you with perhaps 10,000 really insane players, and no community outside of that.
    - cosmic_cheese 1y ago
      I’ve not gathered any data to prove it, but I’ve long held a hunch that there’s something of an inverse correlation between multiplayer games’ popularity among highly competitive players and the masses. Most people don’t want to spend large amounts of time “getting good” and don’t enjoy getting matched up against players that absolutely destroy them, but instead prefer more casual games against other players with middling skills. The thing is though, even if highly competitive games include an unranked queue intended for casuals, it ends up being filled with smurfs[0] and the like looking to smash lower skilled players, which drains the fun from the game for those players. Thinking about it that way, it’d make perfect sense if the most popular PvP games would be those that are shunned by the highly competitive - a lack of “pro” players might be considered a feature rather than a bug. [0]: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/17209/where-does-the-term-smurfing-come-from https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/17209/where-does...

soulofmischief 1y ago

Wii Sports enjoyed a similar status, as it was also bundled with a console. I don't think console bundles are necessarily a fair way to count video game sales.

furyofantares 1y ago
Mario Kart was not originally bundled with the Switch and the Switch has never been exclusively bundled with Mario Kart. You've always been able to buy a Switch by itself or bundled with other games - Mario Kart was not even the first bundle. It was like the 8th or something - two years after release, and has been re-issued every Black Friday since, but there have been numerous other bundles since as well.