Yoshi's Woolly World and other Yoshi games

[Anacybele]

I mean failure as in it bombed worldwide as far as I can tell. It did decently in the US, that's it. Otherwise, it sold as bad as the Tellius FE games did, pretty much.

And I don't understand this at all. Doesn't Japan like these kinds of games (cartoony ones, I mean)? Wasn't Yoshi popular in the west too? Sure, Yoshi's New Island wasn't too impressive (it was alright to me, but not as fun as the original SNES game). But Woolly World is a whole different ball game.

Don't say "because it's on the Wii U" either, because that wouldn't explain the sales of games like Smash, Super Mario Maker, and Splatoon. And speaking of which, I actually predicted the reverse would happen with Splatoon and Woolly World. That Splatoon would be the failure and Woolly World the hit (from the moment I first saw the E3 trailer, I thought Splatoon looked terrible and I still think this).

Is it because Woolly World lacks online? If so, that's stupid, it doesn't make the game bad or not fun. It has a lot of fun levels, a lot of unlockable content for a platformer (secret levels, yarn Yoshi patterns), and even some challenges to it (like try 100%-ing every level or unlocking gold yarn Yoshi. I've done the latter, but the former...lol no way could I ever do that). Game kept me busy for quite some time and I'm still not done with it (took a break to play some other games, mostly new ones). It also has two-player co-op. Oh, and don't get me started on the yarn art style. As someone that loves art, I could sit there and just STARE at the game for a long time, it looks so pretty. It made me want to make something with yarn, even though I don't at all know how to knit or crochet. xP

Maybe I'm just tired of having so many minority opinions. It seems like almost every one of my favorite games were failures/sold poorly/aren't popular. Tellius FE, Zelda: Skyward Sword, gen 4 Pokemon games (they probably actually sold well because Pokemon, but most Pokemon fans I know hate them), this game... You could argue that Skyward Sword did well, but for a ZELDA game, it was a failure. I guess my tastes just suck and I shouldn't look forward to anything anymore, because almost all the popular stuff will be stuff I don't like. ...Okay, that's probably a little over-dramatic, but you can see why I'm disappointed here, right?

EDIT: Topic has gone away from sales, so now let's just talk about Woolly World and other Yoshi games. :P

Edited February 9, 2016 by Anacybele

[Lenh]

At least for me, I'd heard the story was formulaic, the aesthetics could've come at a better time (they ran it in parallel to Kirby's Rainbow Curse, which had its own flaws), and at least from previews it felt like they went for a 'trying too hard to be easy' approach. Following up after New Yoshi's Island (another mixed-bag game) probably wasn't good either.

No one really sang praises of level design or anything particularly unique about it aside from the yarn so I haven't tried it yet despite it looking interesting.

[MCProductions]

Three words: Super Mario Maker

Most people, myself included, had to choose between one or the other when purchasing during Woolly World;s release, so I believe that harmed sales overall.

I want to try it, but I honestly just have many other priorities at this point

Combined with a great deal of other options when it comes to Wii U platformers, game just didn't have much of a chance.

Edited January 1, 2016 by MCProductions

[Anacybele]

Well yeah, it's a platformer, it's not going to have a complex, indepth story or anything. Mario's been successful without real storylines. xP

Sure, it took the art style from Kirby's Epic Yarn, but somehow, I thought it fit a lot better with Yoshi. Yeah, following up after Yoshi's New Island probably wasn't the best idea, but I still felt that this game looked way better and a huge improvement, which it turned out to be for me.

I praise the level design, and I enjoyed all of them. I'm glad Sakurai put a Woolly World stage in Smash! I would've expected him to do a Splatoon one instead for obvious reasons.

MCProductions: Yeah, that probably had something to do with it too. I'm just trying to understand here, is all. But Woolly World is still my 2015 GOTY.

[Lance Masayoshi]

I honestly thought it sold well, guess not, lol.

The yarn and graphics are nice, I don't have a wii u to comment on anything else, though.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

The dinosaur deserves way more love!

So unhappy :<

Haven't played this game.

Only Yoshi's story for N64, which was also my first N64 game.

I loved it because of its cuteness although it was very short.

[Anacybele]

Yeah, I agree, this game deserves more love. I'm not a huge fan of Yoshi himself, but this game was just too adorable and fun to me! I also really loved Yoshi's Island for SNES.

[Ema Skye]

Wait, it bombed?

I've only heard good things about the game so that's a big surprise. It's a regular on those top Nintendo games of 2015 lists.

Edited January 1, 2016 by Doofina

[MCProductions]

Wait, it bombed?

I've only heard good things about the game so that's a big surprise.

In terms of sales it bombed, the game itself is apparently very good, but similar to FE9 and 10, the game just didn't sell.

[kingddd]

It has sold about 900K right now. It did decently in Europe and Americas but it bombed heavily in Japan.

The issue was the lack of advertisement despite Yoshi being a pretty big brand, they didn't do much to advertise the game at all even with the amiibo promotions. I admit even I didn't even remember the game at all until release even though I kept saying I'm getting the game.

The pricing is also an issue in my area. I have to pay almost 80 bucks for it thanks to the tax system and Nintendo is not willing to lower it anytime soon. The gameplay while I will admit surpasses many Yoshi games, the value that they were offering just wasn't viable for a 2D platformer. Not to mention Super Mario Maker was the same price and it offered almost unlimited content and was worth the value it was providing. Most of my friend who do have a Wii U felt that Yoshi Woolly World's price was unjustified.

[solrocknroll]

Pretty much nothing but Mario and Smash sells on Wii U. Maybe Zelda. Splatoon got lucky and caught lightning in a bottle.

I'm assuming Woolly World did fine. Sure, it didn't do too well, but almost nothing has. Genei Ibunroku #FE sold like 23,000 copies opening weekend. Now THAT is bombing. Likewise, Xenoblade didn't fair that well, but it did reach expectations.

I hope that both Woolly World and Rainbow Curse did well enough for an eventual Epic Yarn 2. I love Epic Yarn even more than Woolly World, so I need this to happen.

[Alex95]

I only just recently got the game, but from what I played and seen from trailers, it looks well worth the while. Xenoblade X is currently taken up my time though...

[Erdall]

Never thought Yoshi's franchise was a brand that popular. I mean, not.

Very rarely sold the franchise like Mario or Zelda did. The game isn't big deal for how is pictured by the media, a regular platformer with a ton of wool. I understand it deserves better treatment, but competing with other games such Batman: Arkham Knight and others ...

It has sold about 900K right now.

Dude, what? You may mean 90K based in these results, right?

Edited January 1, 2016 by Edrall

[kingddd]

Dude, what? You may mean 90K based in these results, right?

The results you are looking at are the first two weeks and only talks about Europe and Japan and nothing of the NA release. The numbers also do not count the digital sales.

[Erdall]

The results you are looking at are the first two weeks and only talks about Europe and Japan and nothing of the NA release. The numbers also do not count the digital sales.

Apologies, it was kinda of odd for me that the game did sell good then. 900K for real? Come on, that's no small profit, I think!

But if expecting it could sell better ... I can't tell, except for what I stated. And your points are all valid, by the way.

Thought the game could sell around few 100ks in the end.

Edited January 2, 2016 by Edrall

[Jave]

YWW sold 165k in October in America according to the NPD reports. It was the 8th best selling game that month.

With the Holiday bumps, it should be around 400k in America and around 800-900k worldwide, which is probably fine for itself. For comparison, Splatoon was at 3 million BEFORE December, and sold over 100k only on Christmas week in Japan alone, so who knows how the sales are at this point.

We'll know for sure when Nintendo updates their fiscal report this month.

[Anacybele]

Well, sounds like the game did alright overall then. Though still not as well as I'd hoped. I mean, I didn't expect it to sell super amazing because the Wii U install base and all, but yeah. I thought it'd do great in Japan and decent everywhere else...

Btw, while we're discussing the game, anyone unlock every possible yarn Yoshi pattern, excluding Amiibo? I'm still working on that myself as well as getting all the flowers required to unlock the secret levels.

[Zera]

Yoshi's Woolly World has already reached .91 million copies. I think it'll reach a million at some point, so it's not too bad.

I don't know why it's not selling well, but I CAN tell you why I myself didn't purchase it.

Okay, so I got this here Yoshi's Island for $6 on the VC. Now, I can spend $50 for a very similar experience with a graphical upgrade. That's not enough incentive for me. It looks like a very polished game, but since I already own (and haven't completed) the original, I'd probably only buy it at $30 or less. I'm currently playing through Splatoon right now, and I'm enjoying it because of it's unique core mechanics. Maybe if Woolly World weren't the same game in a new sweater, I would buy it.

Oh, and if I'm not mistaken it still has that thing where your 100% completion of a stage doesn't count unless you did it in one run. WITH invisible collectables. Could the game at least improve on the flaws of the original? No? Then don't expect me to buy it.

And that's my view of Yoshi's Woolly World.

[MarioKirby]

Oh, and if I'm not mistaken it still has that thing where your 100% completion of a stage doesn't count unless you did it in one run. WITH invisible collectables. Could the game at least improve on the flaws of the original? No? Then don't expect me to buy it.

Actually, it did. While you still have to get all of a particular collectible in one run (say, the flowers, for instance), you can grab every subset of collectibles in multiple runs and still be counted for 100% (flowers on one run, no damage on another, stamps on a third, and round it out with yarn bundles. Or whatever order.)

Anyway, it's not surprising to me that Woolly World is only doing okay. Like others have said, with how sub-par the Wii U is currently doing, the only real big successes are what normally do exceptional for Nintendo: main series Super Mario and Smash Bros. While I don't have numbers to support this, Woolly World's sales situation seems to be the norm, not the exception.

[Alex95]

Yoshi's Woolly World has already reached .91 million copies. I think it'll reach a million at some point, so it's not too bad.

I don't know why it's not selling well, but I CAN tell you why I myself didn't purchase it.

Okay, so I got this here Yoshi's Island for $6 on the VC. Now, I can spend $50 for a very similar experience with a graphical upgrade. That's not enough incentive for me. It looks like a very polished game, but since I already own (and haven't completed) the original, I'd probably only buy it at $30 or less. I'm currently playing through Splatoon right now, and I'm enjoying it because of it's unique core mechanics. Maybe if Woolly World weren't the same game in a new sweater, I would buy it.

Oh, and if I'm not mistaken it still has that thing where your 100% completion of a stage doesn't count unless you did it in one run. WITH invisible collectables. Could the game at least improve on the flaws of the original? No? Then don't expect me to buy it.

And that's my view of Yoshi's Woolly World.

Don't knock until you try it, Zera. It looks very good and, while it may play the same as the original, it still has it's own unique content and quirkyness. (For one thing, there's no Baby Mario XD) You don't have to collect EVERYTHING on your first run through a level, and if you're not bothering to search for the invisible collectables, you're playing it wrong. But then again, you don't have the game, so your opinion doesn't mean much. I have yet to play Splatoon even a little because I don't like the focus on online play, but I still like the game for how it looks, it's content, and level of fun from what I've seen. But what do I know about Splatoon? Nothing, so I can't say anything about it.

[angienessyo]

I feel like the Yoshi games have always had sort of a hard time getting a strong following for some reason. I picked up WW but have yet to actually play it because I have a giant pile of other games to get through, but everything I've heard about the game has been very positive. I even grabbed the WW amiibo because they're cute as a button.

[Randoman]

Funny how this topic gets made the day after I complete Yoshi's Woolly World 100%, with all levels starred, all 68 non-amiibo Yoshi's obtained, and a full music and bestiary collection.

Anyways, to contribute, the game definitely felt like a traditional Yoshi game, and I personally felt it was more true to Yoshi's Island (SNES) than Yoshi's Island DS did (since the latter made things tedious quite often when it came to switching babies for collectibles and even without that, they just felt unfairly and tediously hidden compared to Yoshi's Island (SNES) and Yoshi's Woolly World). I definitely enjoyed the co-op multiplayer of Yoshi's Woolly World (something I hoped they'd add to Yoshi games ever since Yoshi's Island for the SNES). The level design of Yoshi's Woolly World had great variety while staying fair, fun, and not tedious (unless you get stumped on the puzzles). I really enjoyed the game overall.

As for sales, I'd say 0.9 million units (pre-Christmas) is a reasonable sales amount given the current situation. I mean, Yoshi games aren't among the top 3 best selling Nintendo series.

[Czar_Yoshi]

For me it was mostly an issue of pricing. Wii U stuff has a kind of high asking price next to 3ds games, and with the 3ds having such a good library already I really need to be sold ahead of time to grab something more expensive for the Wii U instead.

[Falaflame]

Huh? Wooly World isn't doing bad on sales. It's not Top 5 on the Wii-U, but it's certainly doing well for a brand that doesn't exactly house a cult following.

But the reason why it didn't top the chart is probably a multitude of factors.

The lackluster Yoshi games before it is one factor. I mean, before Wooly World, we had (in order from old to new): the godawful Yoshi's Island port on GBA, Yoshi's Topsy-Turvy, Yoshi Touch & Go, Yoshi's Island DS, and Yoshi's New Island, all of which were either mediocre-at-best, or awful games in general. So a lot of the Nintendo fanbase didn't really have too much hype on Yoshi games in general.

Advertising was also another issue. Nintendo, for some strange reason, has a major problem with advertising in general, so it isn't just reserved to Yoshi products.

Another factor is the Wii U is flopping mad hard in terms of sales in general. There was a time where Nintendo was going to have a net loss in profit for the first time in a very long time. In fact, Smash Bros, Mario Kart 8, and Splatoon are pretty much the 3 games keeping the Nintendo Wii U out of the red in terms of sale profit, and not much really comes even close to those 3 games..

Another factor is, although it's just in general, that the console generation war is just bad in general. Sony PS4 is leading the way currently, but even they know for sure they're not where they really should be. A lot of people are getting into mobile gaming, such as iphones and androids, and even the Nintendo 3DS, and as such, consoles are slowly starting to lose their footing. All 3 companies will have to outdo themselves this coming new generation to make up for possibly the worst generation Gaming has ever had (well, arguably. there's the generation that had the 3DO, Virtual Boy, and *shudder* CD-i, but at least that generation didn't last very long), lest they start selling less products than handhelds.

There's probably more I could think of, but I've gotten tired halfway through tyoping this message.

[Radiance]

For me it was mostly an issue of pricing. Wii U stuff has a kind of high asking price next to 3ds games, and with the 3ds having such a good library already I really need to be sold ahead of time to grab something more expensive for the Wii U instead.

Well the wii u is a next gen console like the ps4 and xbox 1. This a factor as well. As far as Yoshi, I am somewhat whatever with him. I like and hate him. Like him in his games and Mario's, hateful in smash due to how he is kind of broken in smash bros. Hes a cool character other than that.

Edited January 2, 2016 by Radiance