According to VGChartz, the first couple of days this game has already sold 140k, and reached the number two spot for all games sold last week. Definately a promising sign.
I just bought it on friday. Here is a quick review. I did not own or play a game cube, so my last experience with video games was n64, apart from the occasional ps2 or 360 at some friends houses.
Pros: -4 players -unique movements/controls -fun and colorful gameplay -familiar characters -mini games are fun and random -very responsive play control (unlike monkey ball mini games) -controller makes noise on your turn -cool character animations when eating candy or standing on special squares -in 3 games we only repeated 2 mini games -easy to tell how to play each game (unlike monkey ball)
cons: -only 4 players and not 8 players (small party) -menus are difficult to understand at first -cant skip the dialog -mii's not available as characters for board play
That pretty much raps it up. We have played 3 games and both my wife and I enjoy it. We are excited to have a couple of friends over for a mario party. We would say that it is easily on par with the fun factor of wii sports, and has a lot better graphics.
I would have to rate this an 8.5/10. Which is entirely subjective. If you have a wii and 1-3 friends, buy it!
I've noticed this stock slowly dropping as reviews come out. I feel selling at this point is a mistake.
The following are the average meta scores of all the past Mario Party games:
1. Nintendo 64: Mario Party (1999) 79 Nintendo
2. GameCube: Mario Party 4 (2002) 70 Nintendo
3. Nintendo 64: Mario Party 3 (2001) 74 Nintendo
4. GameCube: Mario Party 5 (2003) 69 Nintendo
5. GameCube: Mario Party 7 (2005) 64 Nintendo
6. GameCube: Mario Party 6 (2004) 71 Nintendo
As is fairly obvious, these games are NEVER reviewed very well. Yet they are consistently best sellers. Reviewers have always struggled with this series, because game reviewers reward innovation, and to be frank, if you are looking for innovation in a Mario Party game, you will sooner find a hot coffee scandal.
Nintendo knows their target audience. They know, with these games, people don't want huge mechanic changes, they don't care about visual changes, they want more of the same, and this is counter to what every game reviewer thinks.
It is foolish to sell at this point, and infact, is a great time to be buying this stock as the price has reached a low point.
We'll see the first week sales soon, and that will be a great indicator of how well/poorly this game is selling. I have a feeling, most people will be surprised at the numbers.
I have to agree that this stock should be a huge stock. Judging by past mario parties and the market that the wii hits, it only makes sense to surpass the 2.39 million copies it is currently projected at.
Mini-games + Wii = huge success. Nintendo has really done well on the mini-game market. I remember some of the first mario party games. Even as a college student we would play them because they were great fun and social games.
I think like Halo for Xbox, this will be a large title for wii.
I'm expecting this stock to start raising soon. It releases in a matter of weeks, and I think that it's been on TSE so long, that it's flown under the radar of most people.
The Mario Party games have consistently been huge sellers for Nintendo, even though, and and perhaps inspite of the fact that reviewers tend to really trash these games. I think this has more to do with reviewers just not understanding the kind of game this is, and trying to sit down and play alone in their cubicle for three hours straight.
This clearly shows that every single iteration of the Mario Party games have been best sellers. With the success of the Wii, and infact the whole target audience the Wii is going for, Mario Party 8 seems like one of the games for the Wii that will fly off the shelves.
Agreeing with ErikAston, I still think this is way undervalued, and although I'd thought this was undervalued earlier, I think the case is now much stronger, especially with the surprising success of Wario Ware for the Wii.
Wario Ware (Wii) has now sold at least in excess of 1.6 million (according to VG Charts), and its stock sales estimate hovers at around 1.9 million. The Mario Party franchise, on the other hand, is well-loved by many people already, whereas Wario Ware, though fun and popular, is still not as well-known a name.
One may argue that because there have been so many Mario Party games, people will simply avoid this new one. However, I doubt this is the case, because I think those who love Mario Party and purchased an earlier one look forward to a fresh one dependent on Wii controls.
Furthermore, the fanbase of party games may be growing with the high sales of Wario Ware. Then, take into account the demand for the Wii. This game will easily sell at least as much as Wario Ware, but probably even more, taking into account the sales numbers of previous Mario Party games.
6
first mario party for GC = 2.44mil
i dont think n64 or gc have been as fanatically popular as the wii.
IMHO this game is underrated.