Christmas Weekend Thread | Xmas Day #s - Purple 18.1, Aqua 10.6, Wonka 10.3, Boys 5.7, Migration 5.4, Ferrari 2.9 | #BlackGirlMagic dominates the charts

[MightyDargon]

The idea that Mario is somehow "not popular" with kids despite the boatloads of merch, multiple system sellers, and Lego sets is...hoo boy.

See, I can buy Switch owners being majority 20-40 because those people actually have money and little kids DON'T. People on this site seem to think that kids can get every single thing they want out of cash strapped parents despite all evidence to the contrary.

[MovieMan89]

The reason I knew Mario was going to be huge so far out is because I saw the huge hype signs among Gen Z and Millennials and even Gen X for it. It had little to do with kids as to why I was predicting so big for it. In fact, if it had to rely on kids as the driving force, I’m not sure I would have predicted 200. Older gens drove kids to it, not the other way around 

[MovieMan89]

2 minutes ago, MightyDargon said:

The idea that Mario is somehow "not popular" with kids despite the boatloads of merch, multiple system sellers, and Lego sets is...hoo boy.

See, I can buy Switch owners being majority 20-40 because those people actually have money and little kids DON'T. People on this site seem to think that kids can get every single thing they want out of cash strapped parents despite all evidence to the contrary.

Who said it’s “not popular” at all? But Nintendo does struggle to reach kids on the level of their core 20-40 demo for years now, that’s not made up info. 
 

Memes like this, while obviously hyperbolic, have floated around the gaming comm for years for a reason

Edited December 24, 2023 by MovieMan89

[MightyDargon]

Just now, dallas said:

I'm sorry but looking at Aquaman's target audience, I don't expect a bunch of 18-24 year old white guys to choose TCP default over Aquaman 2. 

Aquaman's "core" target audience will still probably show (although Iron Claw and Minus One will take a chunk out of even that). The reason Aquaman 1 was a super blockbuster was because it appealed to women and other groups far outside the core. Most of those groups will avoid this sequel for anything else that looks remotely appealing. If other studios actually were scared of it we would have another Avatar 2 situation.

[MightyDargon]

3 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

The reason I knew Mario was going to be huge so far out is because I saw the huge hype signs among Gen Z and Millennials and even Gen X for it. It had little to do with kids as to why I was predicting so big for it. In fact, if it had to rely on kids as the driving force, I’m not sure I would have predicted 200. Older gens drove kids to it, not the other way around 

Older gens did not drive Mario. It was little kids. If you want to see what a nostalgia play driven by "kids of yesteryear" looks like look at Mutant Mayhem's box office instead.

[MovieMan89]

6 minutes ago, MightyDargon said:

Older gens did not drive Mario. It was little kids. If you want to see what a nostalgia play driven by "kids of yesteryear" looks like look at Mutant Mayhem's box office instead.

You’re not gonna drive most kids to see something that feels like it’s right out of the 80s. Mario works because Mario’s appeal is universal. Thats why you can get kids hyped to go see it. Perfect storm of how older nostalgia introduced the IP to a lot of new kids.

 

And yes Mario still appeals to kids, please stop making that the argument. But Nintendo themselves wouldn’t have been so happy about the new kid audience the movie brought in if they had no problem at all in that area. 

Edited December 24, 2023 by MovieMan89

[MightyDargon]

Just now, MovieMan89 said:

You’re not gonna drive most kids to see something that feels like it’s right out of the 80s. Mario works because Mario’s appeal is universal. Thats why you can get kids hyped to go see it. Perfect storm of how older nostalgia introduced the IP to a lot of new kids. 

Then why was Stranger Things primary demo people who weren't alive in the 80s? That went out of its way to feel 80s. Ironically Mario felt more self-consciously "80s" than Mayhem did (at least in soundtrack). But Mayhem was very clearly a nostalgia push to "reintroduce" an IP in a way that Mario clearly wasn't. Rise of the TMNT only ran a season and a half on Nicktoons. Mutant Mayhem was clearly pushed to reintroduce the TMNT and it felt like it was a pitch based on the brand loyalty of older audiences, not younger, because today's actual kids didn't have much invested in TMNT.

[MightyDargon]

13 minutes ago, WorkingonaName said:

Are you high?

I don't know exactly how many "little" kids got to see Barbie considering it was pitched as a somewhat hard PG-13 but it wasn't exactly inaccessible either. I very much doubt many kids would have been interested in that script if it didn't feature the Barbie character and was sold solely as an original IP. Which kind of makes the point that kids basically need to already be invested to care and "generic movie" doesn't work with that age.

[MovieMan89]

Because Mario’s appeal is universal, that’s the whole point. The problem is kids don’t want to play a Nintendo console today, they want to play Roblox and Fortnite and whatever crapp store game they can get on a smart device. It’s a matter of exposure and awareness to Mario, not that it’s unappealing. Mario Movie was a brilliant solution to how do you expose them 

Edited December 24, 2023 by MovieMan89

[MightyDargon]

1 minute ago, MovieMan89 said:

Because Mario’s appeal is universal, that the whole point. The problem is kids don’t want to play Nintendo today, they want to play Roblox and Fortnite and whatever crapp store game they can get on a smart device. It’s a matter of exposure and awareness to Mario, not that it’s unappealing. 

Geez, you are absolutely intent on dying on the "kids don't care about Mario" hill, aren't you? I'm sure Universal got Super Nintendo World solely for the Disney Adult demo according to this argument line. Mario didn't need to be reintroduced! Odyssey sold 26 million copies! It was a super blockbuster by any standard. That's why the movie was succesful! Kids don't care about generic IP but they will get excited about "a Mario movie".

[MovieMan89]

5 minutes ago, MightyDargon said:

Geez, you are absolutely intent on dying on the "kids don't care about Mario" hill, aren't you? I'm sure Universal got Super Nintendo World solely for the Disney Adult demo according to this argument line. Mario didn't need to be reintroduced! Odyssey sold 26 million copies! It was a super blockbuster by any standard. That's why the movie was succesful! Kids don't care about generic IP but they will get excited about "a Mario movie".

The data speaks for itself about the key ages buying those games. Do you want to know why Nintendo decided they can no longer be just a video game company despite the massive success of Switch? It’s because they know they need the kids demo to care more for their future. Hence their ventures into movies and theme parks. It’s all a play to make sure young audiences are getting introduced if kids aren’t going to play Switch as much as Nintendo would like. 
 

Purely anecdotal, as someone who has had 8 nieces and nephews 15-25 years younger than me, I can tell you I’ve had to be the one to push Nintendo games hard on them as kids or they likely wouldn’t have gotten into them. They are content with whatever’s on a smart device instead if left to their own devices. 

Edited December 24, 2023 by MovieMan89

[MightyDargon]

I see people got bored with "Avatar has zero cultural relevance" and have now moved to "kids don't like Mario" for this board's latest bizarre meme.

At least with Avatar there was a kernel of truth in that the fandom wasn't that dedicated (although Cameron was also smart enough not to strip mine it the way Lucasfilm or Marvel did under Disney). 

 

[Eric is Quiet]

39 minutes ago, dallas said:

Barbie was a kids movie?

95% of every PG-13 movie that comes out, especially these days, are kids movies.

[MightyDargon]

I mean, Barbie didn't have "kid" themes but they watched it anyway because of the IP and because "it was cool". Stuff like Wish never had that kind of buzz despite "it's a Disney movie"

[AniNate]

I think a general truth holds that all the studios need to up their game to keep running. Maybe they can get away with the odd mid release or franchise IP that happens to resonate better with general audiences, but families aren't going to show up for just anything anymore. It's hard to feel too sorry for studios if they're just putting out mediocrity.

[sabrecmc]

36 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

Kids did not care about Barbie… like at all 

I’d be interested to see how Mattel’s Barbie sales were impacted. My niece went from zero interest in Barbie to it dominating her Christmas list this year. There’s Barbie themed merch at “kid” places like Claire’s and Miniso. I’ll bet a lot of these kids didn’t actually see the movie, but the movie put Barbie back into the cultural conversation in a fresh way that appealed to a lot of young girls. Not disagreeing with your point that the movie wasn’t a huge hit for young kids in and of itself, but I’ll bet it moved the needle in ways for Mattel that are probably pretty interesting.

[MightyDargon]

11 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

The data speaks for itself about the key ages buying those games. Do you want to know why Nintendo decided they can no longer be just a video game company despite the massive success of Switch? It’s because they know they need the kids demo to care more for their future. Hence their ventures into movies and theme parks. It’s all a play to make sure young audiences are getting introduced if kids aren’t going to play Switch as much as Nintendo would like. 
 

Purely anecdotal, as someone who has had 8 nieces and nephews 15-25 years younger than me, I can tell you I’ve had to be the one to push Nintendo games hard on them as kids or they likely wouldn’t have gotten into them. They are content with whatever’s on a smart device instead if left to their own devices. 

You never provided an age breakdown for Odyssey, just for the system itself. All you demonstrated is how popular you think "Nintendo" is, not who Odyssey sold to or why. Your entire argument is the movie somehow was needed to reintroduce a character who was already overwhelmingly popular.

[Bob Train]

Barbie is an all-ages movie.

[Eric is Quiet]

43 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

Kids did not care about Barbie… like at all 

I work at Target and uh...yeah, that ain't right lol

[MightyDargon]

The argument is really about whether kids will come out for a "generic" movie or not. There's pretty strong evidence they won't. It has to be an IP that at least already registers with them. I think kids were at least aware of who Barbie is, even before the film.