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Mario Is More Popular In Japan When He’s Flat

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by Ben Reeves on May 10, 2010 at 06:27 PM
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Mario is beloved all over the world, but it seems that different countries prefer different versions of him. The Japanese, for example, seem not to care much for the 3D version of him, but can’t get enough of his 2D exploits.

The site Siliconera has some interesting facts to support this claim. It seems that Super Mario Galaxy has sold 8.84 million copies worldwide, but only about 1 million of those were bought in Japan. That doesn’t mean that Japan has fallen out of love with Mario, however, because last year the 2D platformer New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold nearly 3.6 million units in Japan in a fraction of the time Galaxy was on shelves.

One theory to explain this comes from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. “As we see it, one reason why a number of people who love 2D Mario do not want to play 3D Mario appears to be because they are afraid to be lost in the 3D world by not knowing the exact directions, while they feel that they can play with 2D Mario with no such issues,” Iwata explained to investors during a financial results briefing. To deal with this issue, Nintendo will be packing a DVD called Super Mario Galaxy 2 For Beginners – which will presumably teach newcomers how to play the game – with every copy of Super Mario Galaxy 2.

We’re not sure if we buy Iwata’s explanation or not. Almost sounds like Iwata is saying that the Japanese just aren’t as good at spatial navigation as other nations, and that doesn’t make sense to us.

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  • by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 06:34 PM

    i agree with the Japanese. The 2-D Mario games are the best, but 3-D Mario games are still good and fun to play.

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 06:37 PM

    Would explain Final Fantasy XIII's linear gameplay.

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 06:38 PM
    Interesting ideas but I could care less what the Japanese favor so long as they enjoy Mario. Mario is the video game icon 3-D or 2-D. It's not Japan's fault the majority of its inhabitants aren't as good at spacial navigation as the U.S.
  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 06:38 PM

    Maybe it's because of multi-player.

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 06:43 PM

    "they are afraid to be lost in the 3D world by not knowing the exact directions,"........has he PLAYED galaxy? a vast majority of the worlds were fairly linear (although it took absolutely nothing away from the game), seeing as how the Warp Stars basically brought you exactly where you had to go. its obviously a matter of preference, not getting lost. i love nintendo, but their reasoning sometimes makes no sense at all.

  • by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 06:45 PM

    How could they get lost in a mario world?

  • by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 06:52 PM

    @Freakinerd

    Bingo.

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 06:57 PM

    LOST  IN  SPAAAACE!!!

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 07:01 PM

    That's such bullsh!t, explain Final Fantasy

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 07:01 PM

    i love it all... except sunshine =P

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 07:14 PM

    Meh... To each there own... Doesn't matter to me 2D or 3D still love my mario.

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 07:28 PM

    3D is better imo.

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    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 07:31 PM

    I love Mario no matter what, except when he is throwing turnips ('cough cough' Super Mario Bros. 2 'cough').  That is a weird statement coming out of Nintendo's president.  Does he beleive that his own people are just dumb when it comes to navigating 3-D worlds???

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 08:06 PM

    Listen to japan. they know their games pretty well and games not involving lots of guns.

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 08:10 PM

    Galaxy was pretty linear, mostly just a straight path, maybe the Japanese have bad depth perception when looking at a video game?

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 08:10 PM

    I think he might just make some people feel stupid when they see the dvd in the package. But, stilla decent idea.

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 08:12 PM

    So, the Japanese are simpletons with no sense of direction? That... makes no sense.

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 08:14 PM

    i guess that explains why Asians suck at driving.

  • by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 08:31 PM

    Wow a how to play mario DVD? Really? Is the video game industry so obsessed with pulling that "casual" crowd they're resorting to this?

  •
    by Monday, May 10, 2010 at 08:55 PM

    are japs dumb,i dont think so they created transformers...just kidding but they are smarter,they don't need a "iam dumb tutorial disc attached to my game"

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