Nintendo has a good year, and it looks like the latest Mario is going to make it even better. Super Mario Odyssey is the best-selling Mario of all time, in the United States at least, and has achieved one million sales in less than five days here and has sold more than 2 million worldwide.
That should not be a surprise given the Switch's quick sales and the seemingly pent-up demand for a new Mario game. But it's always nice to celebrate.
The critics, including mine, have been respectful. The game is a joyful gem by almost all estimates, and its Metacritic score (still to be taken with a grain of salt, but a useful measure) is pretty at 97, tied with the incredible Breath of the Wild for the Nintendo's top rated game in the years.
I asked Nintendo for a little extra information about the limitation "in the United States"; Could it be that, for example, global sales of (say) Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii are higher in the first week? Nintendo refused to add to what he put in his press release, and I do not blame them. I looked at it a bit and really, even if it was, it would be comparing apples to oranges.
The Switch is currently in a unique position and very different from that of Wii, Wii U or 3DS in first year. Mario and Zelda are two essential for the system and there is a good chance that the majority of players will eventually buy them sooner or later, much like Ocarina for N64 or Super Mario Bros. 3 for NES.