"This launch is historic - promising to break longstanding records," says Peter MacDougall, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America Inc. "So far, sales rates for Super Mario Sunshine are running 36 percent ahead of even Super Mario 64 six years ago-and that game went on to sell more than 10 million units worldwide."
Super Mario Sunshine is already one of the 15 top selling console games for all of 2002, but will face stiff competition from other eagerly anticipated Nintendo GameCube titles through the remainder of 2002. While Mario's record of more than $7 billion in worldwide game sales knows no limitations in demographic or national appeal, older Nintendo GameCube fans will have a particular feast of choices throughout the fall.
In the first half of November, both Resident Evil Zero and Metroid Prime arrive exclusively for the console, along with Star Fox Adventures later this month. These will be accompanied by a host of companion teen- and mature-rated titles before the holidays, including: Medal of Honor: Frontline and James Bond 007: Nightfire from Electronic Arts; Turok Evolution and BMX XXX from Acclaim; Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee from Infogrames; Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 from Activision; Bloodrayne from Majesco; Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance from Midway; and a long list of sports, racing and other extreme sports titles.