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Discussion How Recognizable Nintendo franchises are to the general public.

Nintenbro

Nintenbro

Cappy
Everyone and their grandma knows: Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Smash, Mario Kart,

only your average gamer knows: Luigi's Mansion, Kirby, Splatoon, Wii Sports, Donkey Kong,

only Nintendo fans even know this series most likely because of smash bros: Metroid, Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Pikmin, Kid Icarus, F-Zero, Earthbound, Golden Sun, Starfox,
 
Why is Wii Sports, THE mass market casual game, something only the average gamers would know? Maybe young kids and teenagers don't know what that is. But for a large portion of the old people population, it's the only game that they know.
 
I mean, technically if we're counting Smash then the average gamer knows at least something about most Nintendo franchises, even if it is just certain characters from them

Smash is freakin' huge after all
 
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You are mixing stuff, are we talking about characters, series, or franchises (Like people know Boos and Luigi, they don't know the "Mario" subseries Luigis Mansion. )

In regards to your first 2:
Smash nope, i would not even count that (if we talk about characters since it doesnt really has its own characters), and even as a game series its not a "grandma" series. Animal crossing exploded, but its not long enough that big to count it "grandma tier". Kirby on the other hand was constantly present for almost 40 Years, and had such a broad appeal, that i could see it being almost grandma tier.

Donkey Kong is also for sure in the first tier. Wii sports ... could be, im mixed.
 
Not convinced Smash as an IP is that recognisable. The characters in it are, obviously, but I’m not convinced your average person in the street knows what ‘Smash Bros’ is. I’d put Donkey Kong above that, Wii Sports too.

Personally I knew what Starfox and Fire Emblem were well before I knew what Smash was. Mostly as Starfox was a big deal on SNES.
 
I asked my 7 year old niece if she knows about Link and if she's, at any point, felt the TotK HYPE. She's like, no; shut up.

Mario and Pokemon are the only trancendent franchises and characters (Mario, Peach, Bowser, Pikachu specifically).
 
I'd honestly say Smash and maybe even Mario Kart are more obscure htan Kirby and Wii Sports (also maybe even Splatoon seeing how omnipresent it is in japan)
 
Household names 99% of people off the street know: Mario, Mario Kart, Pokemon, Wii Sports
Your mum would probably go "Oh, that's a Nintendo thing, right?": Zelda, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong
Some crossover appeal but I wouldn't be surprised if someone pulled a face when shown the mascot: Kirby, Yoshi
If you know games, you know it: Smash Bros, Metroid, probably Splatoon & Pikmin
Yeah, no chance your gran ever recognises this: Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Kid Icarus, Starfox, F-Zero, Punch Out!, Steel Diver, all the rest.
 
ammonite said:
Household names 99% of people off the street know: Mario, Mario Kart, Pokemon, Wii Sports
Your mum would probably go "Oh, that's a Nintendo thing, right?": Zelda, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong
Some crossover appeal but I wouldn't be surprised if someone pulled a face when shown the mascot: Kirby, Yoshi
If you know games, you know it: Smash Bros, Metroid, probably Splatoon & Pikmin
Yeah, no chance your gran ever recognises this: Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Kid Icarus, Starfox, F-Zero, Punch Out!, Steel Diver, all the rest.
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This is the one
 
ammonite said:
Household names 99% of people off the street know: Mario, Mario Kart, Pokemon, Wii Sports
Your mum would probably go "Oh, that's a Nintendo thing, right?": Zelda, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong
Some crossover appeal but I wouldn't be surprised if someone pulled a face when shown the mascot: Kirby, Yoshi
If you know games, you know it: Smash Bros, Metroid, probably Splatoon & Pikmin
Yeah, no chance your gran ever recognises this: Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Kid Icarus, Starfox, F-Zero, Punch Out!, Steel Diver, all the rest.
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why is Smash Bros so low???
 
ammonite said:
Household names 99% of people off the street know: Mario, Mario Kart, Pokemon, Wii Sports
Your mum would probably go "Oh, that's a Nintendo thing, right?": Zelda, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong
Some crossover appeal but I wouldn't be surprised if someone pulled a face when shown the mascot: Kirby, Yoshi
If you know games, you know it: Smash Bros, Metroid, probably Splatoon & Pikmin
Yeah, no chance your gran ever recognises this: Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Kid Icarus, Starfox, F-Zero, Punch Out!, Steel Diver, all the rest.
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You sure about that last one?

 
Nintenbro said:
look i like pikmin but i highly doubt your average gamer knows what a "pikmin is" its objectively the smallest active nintendo ip
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Yeah, it must be. But, like I said, it is actually bigger in Japan. I don't have much to back it up, but sales of 3 Deluxe were good and Bloom is modestly popular over there. Chances are, a decent amount of players could be able to tell you what the critters are.
 
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Believe it or not, every human being alive knows about Mario, Pikachu, Kirby, Donkey Kong and Yoshi.

Some people get Zelda and Link confused but pretty much everybody knows that exists too.
 
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Kirby is absolutely in the top category in Japan. He even has his own café at Tokyo Skytree that is booked up a month in advance. Something to bear in mind for those who complain that Kirby gets too much attention.
 
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Nintenbro said:
why is Smash Bros so low???
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Show Master Hand to someone and ask them to name it.

Smash is too reliant on its IPs to have an actual identity of its own. At best, you'll get an "oh, Pikachu is in a Mario game?"*.

*Actual quote I've heard in real life
 
Nintenbro said:
why is Smash Bros so low???
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Personal experience, I guess. I'd say the majority of my friends could guess Super Smash Bros is a game from the name but wouldn't know anything about it. As others have said, it's a crossover of other IP and so kinda lacks identity in the general public sphere.
 
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Pokemon and Mario (and I'm including DK here as one of the cast members) are the two franchises that transcend gaming.

Wii Sports after them.

For the next few, I can see a good number of non-gamers having heard of these, though people may not be overly familiar with them. I would have Zelda, Animal Crossing, and even Kirby (going purely by anecdotal experience) here, with Splatoon behind them.

Anything below that, and you enter a territory where you likely have to be a gamer to have heard of them.

I imagine this whole thing is pretty different in Japan, lol.
 
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higgsboson1997 said:
Pokemon and Mario (and I'm including DK here as one of the cast members) are the two franchises that transcend gaming.

Wii Sports after them.

For the next few, I can see a good number of non-gamers having heard of these, though people may not be overly familiar with them. I would have Zelda, Animal Crossing, and even Kirby (going purely by anecdotal experience) here, with Splatoon behind them.

Anything below that, and you enter a territory where you likely have to be a gamer to have heard of them.

I imagine this whole thing is pretty different in Japan, lol.
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pretty accurate here.
Linkstrikesback said:
There are a whole bunch of smaller 'active ip' from Nintendo than Pikmin. Xenoblade, for one
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name them.
 
the selection of Mario is probably legit at least, there's an old report stating that a national survery revealed he was more recognizable than Mickey Mouse to american children in 1990.
Mr. Sheff writes of Mario overcoming Mickey Mouse: "Generations of children had been imbued with Mickey's message: 'We play fair and we work hard and we're in harmony' . . . Mario imparted other values. 'Kill or be killed. Time is running out. You are on your own.' "
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I’m not really big on Mickey vs Mario popularity comparisons because you could use different metrics to justify who you think is more popular. Mickey is an icon in the way Ronald McDonald is an icon: more famous at this point as being the mascot of a successful brand than their own original works. Yes, Mickey does have original works like the new cartoon (and old ones for that matter) and classics like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, but I think as an animation star, SpongeBob SquarePants probably has him beat in current active fondness, but Mickey’s century long place as the face of the most powerful media company on Earth still ensures he is far more recognizable.

However, Mario is more active and I believe regarded more fondly by more people. Mario is also a flagship mascot for a massive entertainment company, but he more actively works for the maintenance of his fame. Mario hasn’t reached the status of Mickey in that he could go dormant for decades and retain his recognizability to the same extant (give it time though and he will). But because he’s a more active icon, I think he’s more ingratiated with people and pulls a more actively fond audience compared to Mickey.
 
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oomoepoo said:
I'd honestly say Smash and maybe even Mario Kart are more obscure htan Kirby and Wii Sports (also maybe even Splatoon seeing how omnipresent it is in japan)
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Mario Kart is probably one of the most well-known games ever, possibly more so than Mario platformers themselves. There's a reason the Super Mario Bros. Movie had an extensive Mario Kart sequence.
 
Everyone knows Donkey Kong and would recognize Kirby (maybe not by name though). Meanwhile Smash and Animal Crossing are very niche from an outside perspective. Even after covid and all.
 
Nintenbro said:
name them.
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... Alright, but sounding like you're taking offense at that come across as rather pathetic, demanding list wars.

Xenoblade, Advance wars, Bayonetta, Brain training, Brain academy, Warioware, Astral chain, for a start. And that's just listing things that had entries on switch.

There's no sane way to describe Pikmin as anywhere close to the smallest Nintendo franchise.
 
Linkstrikesback said:
There are a whole bunch of smaller 'active ip' from Nintendo than Pikmin. Xenoblade, for one
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Pikmin and xenoblade are debatable (xeno is more active, and pikmin was never that big of a seller), but even if xenoblade would be bigger, im confident that people woulr recognize pikmin more.

The games are simpler, the character designs easy on the eyes, simple, and reused through the games. If you are not into anime / jrpgs / xenoblade, then the games can also just be different jrpgs on a glance. that cant happen with pikmin, its distinct. And thats a big factor for non fans to recognize a franchise.
 
Ehhh, Mario and Pokemon are the only ones I'd say "everyone" knows
 
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lexony said:
Everyone knows Donkey Kong and would recognize Kirby (maybe not by name though). Meanwhile Smash and Animal Crossing are very niche from an outside perspective. Even after covid and all.
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how is Animal Crossing one of the most played games ever very niche to a outsider?
 
Bayonutter said:
I asked my 7 year old niece if she knows about Link and if she's, at any point, felt the TotK HYPE. She's like, no; shut up.

Mario and Pokemon are the only trancendent franchises and characters (Mario, Peach, Bowser, Pikachu specifically).
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My 9 year old told me Mario, Sonic, Pokemon and even Zelda is known in her class. But it seems like most other older series are not known. Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft are the biggest.
 
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lexony said:
Everyone knows Donkey Kong and would recognize Kirby (maybe not by name though). Meanwhile Smash and Animal Crossing are very niche from an outside perspective. Even after covid and all.
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For Animal Crossing, I don't think it has many characters your layperson could name but I think they'd know the overall brand. I also can't see how a 40m+ selling game can be seen as very niche compared to Kirby - I don't know the exact numbers but I'd bet the sales of the whole Kirby franchise are close to ACNH alone.
 
Nintenbro said:
how is Animal Crossing one of the most played games ever very niche to a outsider?
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WW was 12M, thats big, sure. New leaf was 13M , also big. NH was HUGE.
bit the earliest hit was 2005, and it did not start to get shown much outside of the game and some DS advertiesement till New Leaf. Thats 2013.

Lets say it this way: kirby has overall less sales, but till recently (2020) it had more then AC, has about a bazillion more merch floating arround, and is known for decades longer. They are close, and Animal crossing will take over, but for now im confident kirby still has the edge.
 
Aether said:
WW was 12M, thats big, sure. New leaf was 13M , also big. NH was HUGE.
bit the earliest hit was 2005, and it did not start to get shown much outside of the game and some DS advertiesement till New Leaf. Thats 2013.

Lets say it this way: kirby has overall less sales, but till recently (2020) it had more then AC, has about a bazillion more merch floating arround, and is known for decades longer. They are close, and Animal crossing will take over, but for now im confident kirby still has the edge.
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Animal Crossing was always a bigger franchise then Zelda
 
Nintenbro said:
Animal Crossing was always a bigger franchise then Zelda
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....wat? how...what...hä?
Zelda existed for 2 decades before there was Animal crossing.
By not existing it could have not been bigger.

Then the question is less whats bigger, and whats recognizable.
I would argue that link was more recognizable for the longest time outsime of gaming circles? If we go by total sales then zelda was also always bigger.
The only way AC wins is by peak sales (WW, NL with their 12M where better, and NH , just 2020, exploded with its mind bending 40+ million)

And if we are simply going by high sales per entry:
PUBG: Battlegrounds, Red Dead Redemption 2, Overwatch, The Witcher, Terraria, Human Fall Flat... all of those are as much known as animal crossing or way more. but by who? by grandmas? i doubt that anybody outside if the gmaing sphere would recognize red dead redemption or one of its characters, yet it sold 53 million....)
 
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Popularity tier list:

God tier: Mario and its spinoffs
I could make the argument that Mario is in the top 5 fictional characters ever.

S tier: Pokemon

A tier: Zelda, Smash, Kirby, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, Wii Sports

B tier: Metroid, Yoshi, Splatoon (A tier in Japan), Star Fox

C tier: Fire Emblem, Pikmin, F-Zero, Wario games, Xenoblade

D tier: Earthbound, Kid Icarus, Pilotwings, Golden Sun

E tier: Chibi Robo, Boxboy, Pushmo, Starfy

F tier: Famicom Detective Club, Jump Rope Challenge


Now this is about popularity in general not based on quality or sales. And it's about the general population not gamers.
For example Fire Emblem sells more than Metroid or Star Fox, but the general audience is more familiar with Samus or Fox than FE. The fact that every FE has different protagonist doesn't help its case.
 
doodlewhizz said:
For Animal Crossing, I don't think it has many characters your layperson could name but I think they'd know the overall brand. I also can't see how a 40m+ selling game can be seen as very niche compared to Kirby - I don't know the exact numbers but I'd bet the sales of the whole Kirby franchise are close to ACNH alone.
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Yeah I get that and it probably comes down who you ask. In Japan for example probably almost anyone knows what Animal Crossing is, regardless of age. Also I feel like the IP seems more known in the US than in Europe. I was talking more in the sense of brand recognition outside of gaming. Kirby was probably a bad example, but Donkey Kong is despite of lack gaming sells well known. He is part of pop culture in general. Similar to Sonic a Donkey Kong Film would be successful alone because of the brand while Animal Crossing would have a much harder time with a general public. Though not saying that it couldn‘t get there.
 
Enpsty said:
Popularity tier list:

God tier: Mario and its spinoffs
I could make the argument that Mario is in the top 5 fictional characters ever.

S tier: Pokemon

A tier: Zelda, Smash, Kirby, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, Wii Sports

B tier: Metroid, Yoshi, Splatoon (A tier in Japan), Star Fox

C tier: Fire Emblem, Pikmin, F-Zero, Wario games, Xenoblade

D tier: Earthbound, Kid Icarus, Pilotwings, Golden Sun

E tier: Chibi Robo, Boxboy, Pushmo, Starfy

F tier: Famicom Detective Club, Jump Rope Challenge


Now this is about popularity in general not based on quality or sales. And it's about the general population not gamers.
For example Fire Emblem sells more than Metroid or Star Fox, but the general audience is more familiar with Samus or Fox than FE. The fact that every FE has different protagonist doesn't help its case.
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very accurate
 
lexony said:
Yeah I get that and it probably comes down who you ask. In Japan for example probably almost anyone knows what Animal Crossing is, regardless of age. Also I feel like the IP seems more known in the US than in Europe. I was talking more in the sense of brand recognition outside of gaming. Kirby was probably a bad example, but Donkey Kong is despite of lack gaming sells well known. He is part of pop culture in general. Similar to Sonic a Donkey Kong Film would be successful alone because of the brand while Animal Crossing would have a much harder time with a general public. Though not saying that it couldn‘t get there.
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we really need a new donkey kong game.
 
Wii Sports being in the same tier as Luigi’s Mansion is crazy lmao. That game’s not just ingrained in gaming culture but 2000’s culture in general.
 
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