This post is also going to be known as “why you should look at numbers with skepticism” or even “ways in which journalists use numbers to lie“. But the truth is that the Mobile game Angry Birds has outsold the entire Mario series in terms of number of copies sold.
Presently the bird flinging mobile application has outsold the entire Mario series by 88 million copies. But does this mean that the slingshot pork killing application is an actual threat to one of the oldest and most beloved game characters of all time?
The short answer? No. Nintendo (or rather your average current platform) games generally go for around $60-$70 a pop (even back in the day and keeping inflation in mind the value of your average Nintendo games has remained rather steady) over the years so when you take a look at the monetary breakdown as follows:
This is not counting other famous video game series such as Zelda, The Harvest Moon series, Animal Crossing, and and many other titles that can boast a massive fanbase.
Now when you post Mario beside Angry Bird’s 350 Million copies it does seem like a gigantic leap, (especially when you think about the fact that Angry Birds has only been out for 2 years vs. Mario’s 30) but here is that wonderful math for you again:
If Angry Birds sold 360,000,000 copies at $1.50 per copy = Approximately $525,000,000 dollars would be gained in revenue.
When you throw down the numbers it doesn’t seem like the titan of the mobile community really has that much to boast about. Furthermore; one must keep in mind that it is currently estimated that 1 in every 2 Americans will own a smartphone by the Christmas of this year. So when we take the United States Population: 312,353,105 (at the time of this post) and divide that by two we get a total of: 156,176552.5 smartphone users out there who can download a quick and casual game on the fly without the hassle of having to run to a GameStop store and/or squirreling money away. Lets just say that as far as availability and price are covered, Angry Birds has a big handle on the casual gamer industry.
Furthermore when you think about the fact that the Wii is one of the fastest selling consoles out there I’m sure you can get behind me on the idea that Nintendo isn’t feeling any kind of pinch from the profits from Angry Birds, and I agree with Nintendo staying out of the mobile market. If Nintendo knows how to do anything, its how to make fun games that are worth the money you put into them. As long as Nintendo keeps making games that are worth playing they aren’t going to have any problems making money, and seeing as how Mr. Mario is basically the icon for the entire gaming industry and community, I don’t think we will see him going anywhere in the future either.
As much as I like Angry Birds (then again I own a BB for a smartphone and an Android-powered tablet that doesn’t even support Angry Birds LOL), it can never top our beloved Mario. I grew up with Mario starting with those little portable Nintendo “Game & Watch” portable handheld games back in the early 80s (I lived in Asia back then, so not sure if these were ever sold in the U.S. at that time LOL) before they even made their debut in the old NES. Angry Birds is an enjoyable and addictive game but you do the same thing over and over again, whereas the Mario series you do a lot of different things to go through the game.
I’ve always believed in quality over quantity. Angry Birds may have sold more, but Mario is still here with us.
True that! Although to be honest Mario has also had it’s share of flops (Mario Sunshine anyone? lol) but there were loyal fans out there who still loved the flop editions of the game.
I don’t even remember Mario Sunshine LOL. I admit sometimes I fall out of touch w/ Mario games b/c I’ve been more focused on a lot more “high-leveled”, story-heavy games. I was a serious fan of the Ace Attorney series (T_T) LOL.
I’m a Dragon Age fanatic. (Albeit it is on Xbox360) If you want an awesome and in-depth world setting/storyline I highly suggest that title!
I also love the Harvest Moon series. OMG Farming Sim FTW XD (not exactly intricate by any means!) lol
Also, being not a physical
item, Angry Birds can’t be resold. Mario games could easily have been
owned by several different people over the course of the life of the
cartridge/disc. Obviously this doesn’t help Nintendo since they receive
no money from used sales, but it does matter in a conversation about
popularity.
That was another point I was thinking about while writing that article, that and the fact that most people I know that own multiple WebOS or an Iphone & Ipad or or any type of touchpads have downloaded the game multiple times. Furthermore, the versions of the game on the Android OS were originally free (albeit with ads) I could not locate a reliable source for ad revenue though.
I don’t have angry birds or a smart phone. I’m so deprived I tell you lol…
Psh, I play Angry Birds on Google+ LOL. Why pay a buck when you can play it for free? LOL
Or if you use Chrome browser, you can play it here LOL – http://www.angrybirdsonline.com/angry-birds-web-version
I do like the fact that AngryBirds offers multiple ways of playing the game on multiple platforms, but not it is like… everywhere. XD
I used to think that Cellphones were over-rated… but then I got my DROID you see… and then I became an addict. XD
There is just so much more substance to Mario games than Angry Birds. Angry Birds is targeting an entirely different market. Mario games target “core” gamers and Angry Birds targets causal gamers.
I believe a while ago, some Nintendo investors wanted Nintendo to ditch making consoles and develop games for the iOS. I’m glad that that didn’t go anywhere.
Haha it’s funny, if Mario didn’t come save video games in the early 80′s, angry birds probably wouldn’t exsist
I am surprised that ANgry Birds got more popular but you also have to look at the fact that Mario has been around entertaining us for SOO LONG! It is quite amazing because I love playing Angry Birds but I also feel that it’s reign won’t be for decades like our beloved Mario.
No matter what, I’ll love Harvest Moon..even if everybody plays Angry Birds except me!