Buying Mario related titles...

[JoanMcWench]

Now, with all of my Nintendo system purchases I owned at least a few Mario related titles. This was because they always seemed to utilize the platform best and were damn entertaining. However, I have to confess, I did purchase some because I knew they would hold or appreciate in value depending on when I purchased it and not because I had any interest in it. I believe it was Mario Power Tennis I picked up for five bucks and when I was willing to get rid of it I found it actually increased in value. I did not really care for the game. Tennis was not my thing.
So, my question is:

Is there a reason that slapping a Mario universe character on a title seems to inherently give it value? I loved Yoshi and Dr. Mario for NES but we all know they ripped off Tetris for a piece of the concept. Yes, they are not the only ones. Is it that the consumer can tolerate anything if you sprinkle enough innovation, recognizable character, and game play to spice it up?

...this one feels like it snowballed out of control in my mind as I was writing. I'm going to go watch some Angry Video Game Nerd to calm myself.

 

[jardantuan]

I think it's partly due to the Nintendo 'Seal of Quality' (which doesn't hold the same meaning as it used to, but still). Games made by Nintendo are generally better than the rest of the games that come out for Nintendo consoles, as well as being better than a lot of games on other consoles. Since they're generally regarded as quality titles, they don't depreciate in value as quickly.

There's also the fact that (again, in general) a Nintendo game in a series doesn't have a follow-up for a few years. While Mario makes tons of appearances, each individual series (Mario Party, Mario Kart, NSMB, the 3D Mario titles, sports spin-offs etc.) rarely gets more than one or two iterations per console. Contrast this to companies like Activision and EA, who release annual instalments of almost all their franchises - see what I'm getting at? I think the term given to Nintendo games is 'evergreen', in that they're relevant for a lot longer than many other games (most people forget about the current CoD when the next one comes out).