The Gaming Industry is Set to Have its Very Own Barbenheimer
Earlier this year, the internet was in an uproar about ‘Barbenheimer’- which was the release of the ‘Barbie’ movie and Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ on the same day: July 21st. Now, nearly three months later, the gaming industry is imitating this with the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Spider-Man 2 on the same day. Now, having two big games release on the same day is nothing new, but these two mirror the complete opposites of Barbie and Oppenheimer in an interesting way.
Image by Nintendo
First of all, both games are launching as exclusives for their consoles- the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 respectively. While Xbox had its monumental exclusive of the year in Starfield back in September, October 20th marks the day in which Nintendo and PlayStation’s big holiday releases drop. That itself makes this day one to mark on the calendar, but the recognizability of Mario and Spider-Man elevates that to new levels- especially considering the hype behind both releases. This is especially true considering that Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the first truly unique 2D entry in the franchise since ‘New Super Mario Bros. U’ back on the Wii U in 2012. On top of that, the last taste of Spider-Man that fans got was the scaled-back ‘Miles Morales’ in 2020-3 years ago now. It’s safe to say that hype levels for these two releases are at a peak right now.
Image by Insomniac
Another interesting similarity between ‘Mario-Man’/Spiderio’ and Barbenheimer is the tonal differences between the two. While Spider-Man is often known for being a more kid-friendly superhero, Insomniac’s upcoming take on the ‘Venom’ storyline looks to take the character in a much darker direction. Think of a game with less quips and more complex moral dilemmas. Conversely, Super Mario Bros. Wonder takes the beloved character to even more wacky and out-there heights than ever before- further widening the gap of comparison between the two games. While not an exact parallel, it is interesting to see how the Oppenheimer approach of conflicting tones is being replicated with Mario and Spider-Man 2. If October 20th is anything like July 21st was, this is good news for both IPs.
Image by Nintendo
With ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ both breaking box office records on release, Insomniac and Nintendo would no doubt love to profit as much as possible from this apparent ‘coincidence’. With both games being long-awaited entries in their franchises (and both looking fantastic), October 20th is set to be a great day in what’s been an excellent year for gamers. Well, for them- not their wallets. With both games being AAA buys, this might be one of the tightest months for those wanting to try every new release- and that’s not even including the likes of Alan Wake 2 and Ghostrunner 2- which both release in the week window after October 20th.
