Super Mario Maker was already a big hit: By the end of its launch month last September, the Wii U game had sold over a million copies worldwide. Not too shabby. Well, the game has now officially passed another major milestone. According to Nintendo, via Nintendolife, Super Mario Maker has officially sold more than a million copies in the United States alone. That’s a much bigger hurdle to clear, and truly impressive. Guess it really is Nintendo’s Minecraft, huh?
Super Mario Maker Joins The Elite Wii U Games
The Wii U has not exactly been the biggest hit ever. Although the system is only slightly behind the Xbox One in lifetime sales, it hasn’t won the kind of traction that Nintendo system usually get, especially in the United States. That makes Super Mario Maker’s million-selling success all the more remarkable. The game is truly in elite company: As Nintendolife points out, only six Wii U games have surpassed a million copies in the United States. They are Super Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, Super Mario 3D World, New Super Mario Bros. U, and Splatoon.
I think it’s safe to say that Super Mario Maker is far and away the weirdest of these six million-selling games. It’s a great game and getting better all the time. But the other games on that list, besides Splatoon, are all surefire, long-established Nintendo series, and more traditional games at that. Super Mario Maker is a weird creative sandbox of a kind that Nintendo has never really made before. And, along with Splatoon, it’s one of the company’s most online-dependent games ever. That really goes to show just how far Nintendo has come. The company’s network services still don’t exactly equal those on PS4 and Xbox One, but they’ve become quite serviceable and sufficient. Nintendo’s online stuff still has its quirks, but the company has made huge strides in the right direction.
As for Super Mario Maker, a million sales is far from the end of the road. This game is going to be with us for a long time. Indeed, it’s long-term potential is probably greater than anything we’ve seen so far. As long as more updates keep coming and the backend features keep improving, Super Mario Maker is in good shape to remain the ultimate Nintendo sandbox, possibly for years to come.
