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Discussion These are Nintendo's big eight franchises. Thoughts?

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In Nintendo's latest press releases they highlight eight specific franchises as "household names". These are:
  • Mario
  • Donkey Kong
  • The Legend of Zelda
  • Metroid
  • Pokemon
  • Animal Crossing
  • Pikmin
  • Splatoon
Why these franchises in particular? Could this give an indication of Nintendo's future projects? What else could this mean?

It’s very peculiar Nintendo would pick out these specific franchises to group together. Pokémon has never been developed in-house. Pikmin is clearly far less relevant than the other franchises. Donkey Kong hasn’t had a new release in ages. And the franchises that aren’t in this list raise further eyebrows: Wii Sports, Smash Bros., Kirby, Yoshi, Fire Emblem, and Xenoblade to name a few. It’ll be interesting to see how this list changes in the future, if at all.
 
Metroid is only big in USA
Pikmin only big in Japan
Wii Fit/Ring fit and Wii/Switch sports are bigger franchises than Metroid/Pikmin (and even Splatoon/DK)
Donkey Kong is part of the Mario universe imo but alone I agree is top 6
Pokémon it’s not a ‘Nintendo’ IP in the sense of Nintendo promotional material it’s usually not mentioned is it’s own thing .
Mario is above all franchises honestly
I think it’s Mario>>Zelda/Animal Crossing>Splatoon>DK
 
Only one that raises my eyebrow is Pikmin, is that really a "household name"?

I would think many of the other franchises you mention in your OP have outsold it and have greater brand recognition.
 
i feel like kirby is bigger than metroid and pikmin. both in sales and also in popularity as a general name even outside of gaming.

donkey kong maybe hasn't had the biggest games recently but is still a massively recognizable brand.
 
Franchises?

.....
........

Feel this is more brands.

Mazi: (Geeze, my phone REALLY wanted to auto'correct' your handle)
i feel like kirby is bigger than both metroid and pikmin. both in sales and also in popularity as a general name even outside of gaming.
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The first thought that came to mind was is Kirby still technically hal, but, well, Pokemons up there.
 
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Kirby’s exclusion is the weirdest, since it’s inarguably a bigger franchise than Pikmin and Metroid in basically every region (maybe it’s equivalent to Metroid in America but that’s it).

If not for Pokémon it would have seemed like just in-house IPs were included but that’s obviously not the case since Pokémon is there.
 
I'm inclined to agree with this. Regarding Pikmin...

It just got a mobile game and Pikmin 3 Deluxe a couple of years ago. I also think a new game will come before the Switch successor.

No Kirby is odd 🤔
 
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8? .. I think it's a bit too much... but I can stretch to:

Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, Donkey Kong, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, Fire Emblem and maybe Xenoblade;

hard to say any other IPs would fit the criteria of being a pillar
 
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If I had to guess the reason for Kirby's exclusion is because it's more of a HAL thing than an in-house thing... and the reason Pokemon gets away with that is because it's just way too big to ignore
 
Pikmin seems out of place there to me. I'd replace it with Wii/Switch Sports, or even something like Xenoblade or Fire Emblem as a companion to Metroid (in that they're not huge sellers but they're big fan favorites).
 
I wouldn't really read too much into this - it's a press release blurb of a few franchises they want to note, and outside of Pokémon, which is perhaps too big to ignore, they're all franchises created in-house. Kirby, Fire Emblem, and Xenoblade are notable exclusions, but they got stable homes with their dev teams and Nintendo pays all of them plenty of mind. If we're talking internal franchises minus Pokémon, yeah, this seems like this most prominent seven - Wii Sports is a massive game, but I wouldn't say is a marketable IP in the same way as any of the other listed franchises.

Also, the franchises in the blurb are listed in chronological order of release, assuming that "Donkey Kong" counts as both a Mario game and a DK game. That's pretty neat.
 
Catalyst said:
Kirby’s exclusion is the weirdest, since it’s inarguably a bigger franchise than Pikmin and Metroid in basically every region (maybe it’s equivalent to Metroid in America but that’s it).

If not for Pokémon it would have seemed like just in-house IPs were included but that’s obviously not the case since Pokémon is there.
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This is one of several reasons why using the word franchise just feels off and odd to me. This seems like they are talking more about brand power than franchise power..... Honestly that's the only way I can grok Metroid even being on the list.

It's one of those situations where 90% of the end results will be the same, but the things that are different, are really different.

Metroid as a franchise, just doesn't have the sales to be on this list, even if it's been around since the 80's. Kirbys been around nearly as long, and has vastly higher number if entries, and sells as well if not better per entry.

Metroid as a brand, has a LOT of power. That powers just a double edged sword right now. I know there are people in here, as everywhere with all manner of takes on the responses to games like other m and federation forces.

But I don't think you can mount much of an argument against those responses, however you feel about them, those responses to the brand were very powerful.

I fully believe that If the brand is used right, marketed right, the game is right, that power can absolutely be united nearly unanimously in the pro direction, like a freaking bat signal.

Metroid Dread may not be all the way there.... But it's definitely a viable proof of concept. A shape of things primed to come.

I hope.
 
mazi said:
i feel like kirby is bigger than metroid and pikmin. both in sales and also in popularity as a general name even outside of gaming.

donkey kong maybe hasn't had the biggest games recently but is still a massively recognizable brand.
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The character kirby yes. I could say 2d metroid sells a tad better than fire emblem but they re generally in the same range imo. Of course, the new kirby will elevate kirby considerably but its much more metroid than zelda for example
 
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Pikmin seems pretty Jim Bob, but I'm glad they consider Metroid that important. Bodes well for its future.
 
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Something can be a "household name" without being commercially huge. Metroid gave its name to a genre, for example. These could also all be franchises which Nintendo sees as particularly important right now and in the near to medium term; Pikmin seems odd but it is the series they used for their latest mobile effort and it has a presence in their new merchandising.

DK I'd guess is something we see get bigger investment in the next few years outside of the theme park. And, with Prime 4 and Dread, we're seeing Metroid get that investment too. One reason I like this potential interpretation is because it would mean new DK and new Pikmin are coming...

I'd also agree with what others said about co-owned IP. Pokemon is too big to ignore, and Sports etc doesn't make for an easily marketable "household name" franchise.
 
Quite surprised to see Pikmin there. It'd be really nice if we got a new game Nintendo.
 
Replace Donkey Kong and Pikmin with Kirby and Fire Emblem. That would be a pretty decent picture then of how Nintendo treats their franchises, with Xenoblade as an honorary 9th.
 
Swap Metroid and Pikmin with Kirby and Fire Emblem and I would agree with it. Smash Bros. also but that’s sort of “everything and the kitchen sink” and only gets games every 4-6 years so I get why it wasn’t mentioned.

If they’re listing DK though by golly they better start acting like it soon.
 
Based on the list, with the exception of pokemon, those franchises are fully owned by nintendo and made (at one point) in-house. Yes you can make the case for kirby, since he is co-owned, or FE, since they own the IP. But those games are made by studios not owned by nintendo. Idk that was my first though
 
SirArthur said:
Based on the list, with the exception of pokemon, those franchises are fully owned by nintendo and made (at one point) in-house. Yes you can make the case for kirby, since he is co-owned, or FE, since they own the IP. But those games are made by studios not owned by nintendo. Idk that was my first though
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If they’re only discussing in-house Nintendo IPs (with Pokémon being the main exception due to how big it is), then I would swap Pikmin for Xenoblade.
 
They've had that description since the Pikmin Bloom announcement; hence why Pikmin gets to be included.

We've had a similar thread on a similar topic before, so I think i'll just copy-paste exactly what I had to say then; an examination of marketing and merch outside of games to see which characters Nintendo typically position as their most important mascots:


In their self description included in corporate news releases Nintendo mention the following IP:

Nintendo Co., Ltd., headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, has created franchises that have become household names worldwide, including Mario™, Donkey Kong™, The Legend of Zelda™, Metroid™, Pokémon™, Animal Crossing™, Pikmin™ and Splatoon™
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Nintendo's official website lists these five IP under the 'Characters' heading:

eSu2QXx.png


Elsewhere on the site, though, Nintendo has a list of featured categories where Splatoon and Pokemon also get special spotlight.

The Nintendo Tokyo Store branding is focused on Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing and Splatoon; with a tiny bit of Pikmin. The store also carries a decently large selection of Kirby merch and some special Pokemon merch (plus there's a whole dedicated Pokemon Center store a few steps away anyway).

Super Nintendo World currently has the Mario Land completed in Japan, with Donkey Kong Land on the way. TPC have announced a partnership with Universal Studios for Pokemon content at the park, a Zelda Land is known to be in the cards for future expansion and Kirby was part of the initial pitch. The Mario segment of the park also has minor Pikmin cameos littered throughout.

Finally, Sanei are Nintendo's go-to plush manufacturer (they have a Twitter account dedicated to their Nintendo products, cute profile banner below), so what characters and series are they currently working with? Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Kirby, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, Pokemon, Pikmin and Fire Emblem.

1500x500


That's five sources, five potential points for each IP. We'll say the minor roles Pikmin has at Super Nintendo World and Nintendo Store Tokyo only account for half a point each. What does the mascot of each series score?
  • Mario - 5/5
  • Link- 5/5
  • Pikachu - 5/5
  • Isabelle - 4/5
  • Inkling - 4/5
  • Kirby - 4/5
  • Donkey Kong - 3/5
  • Pikmin - 3/5
  • (Current FE Lord) - 2/5
  • Samus - 1/5

I think this assessment is totally fair! Those top 6 are what I would argue to be the top 6; but I think the other four IPs have earned their place as Nintendo mascots too.
 
Xenoblade needs to be added and either Pikmin or Metroid need removed for it.

Now that I read all the posts in the thread; dump Metroid and Pikmin and add Xenoblade and Kirby.
 
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Mekanos said:
If they’re only discussing in-house Nintendo IPs (with Pokémon being the main exception due to how big it is), then I would swap Pikmin for Xenoblade.
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I agree. But maybe since the IP came from Monolith and not EPD then maybe thats why. Regardless, it should be there.
 
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"has created franchises that have become household names worldwide, including" Nintendo isn't saying that these are their biggest franchises/IPs, they're saying "these are some of our big IPs". The list probably was selected to reflect recent trends as much as their Biggest Names - Metroid just came off a huge marketing campaign, Pikmin has a big mobile app, Animal Crossing occupied the entire zeitgeist a few years ago. Not to mention trying to show breadth of IPs.

It's a Press Release not a statement of intent for future development, or about current sales.
 
Renmazuo said:
If I had to guess the reason for Kirby's exclusion is because it's more of a HAL thing than an in-house thing... and the reason Pokemon gets away with that is because it's just way too big to ignore
Click to expand...

Yes, but it’s still a Nintendo franchise and it’s not HAL going solo. Nintendo assists on the games as well as produces, so it is weird it’s not there. Kirby is a big name - especially in Japan - and it is a consistently good seller.

Fire Emblem had a rebirth 8 years and exploded. That’s another weird one.
 
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Pikmin is bigger than Xenoblade right? If you go by franchises that aren‘t mainly casual, that are inhouse or by subsidiaries developed and are all avaliable on switch, this would be a pretty accurate list.
 
lexony said:
Pikmin is bigger than Xenoblade right? If you go by franchises that aren‘t mainly casual, that are inhouse or by subsidiaries developed and are all avaliable on switch, this would be a pretty accurate list.
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Xenoblade will overtake Pikmin by the end of the year.
 
lexony said:
Pikmin is bigger than Xenoblade right? If you go by franchises that aren‘t mainly casual, that are inhouse or by subsidiaries developed and are all avaliable on switch, this would be a pretty accurate list.
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It is, even worse is that pikmin 3 deluxe being a barebones portmsold judt as much as xeno 2.
 
Since they seem to be the three most in question, here's all the million seller Pikmin, Metroid and Xenoblade titles:
  • Metroid Prime - 2.84m
  • Metroid Dread - 2.74m (as of December 2021)
  • Metroid - 2.73m
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - 2.05m (as of June 2020)
  • Pikmin 3 Deluxe - 2.04m (as of March 2021)
  • Metroid II: Return of Samus - 1.72m
  • Pikmin - 1.60m
  • Metroid Fusion - 1.60m
  • Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - 1.52m (as of March 2021)
  • Super Metroid - 1.42m
  • Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - 1.41m
  • Pikmin 3 - 1.27m
  • Pikmin 2 - 1.12m
  • Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - 1.10m
  • Metroid Prime Hunters - 1.08m
It took until the Switch for Xenoblade to get a million seller; the original, 3D and X couldn't do it. Every mainline Pikmin title managed to pass 1m; only Hey! Pikmin fell short. Every main numbered Metroid title, plus Hunters, reached 1m; both remakes (Zero Mission and Samus Returns), Other M and other Prime spin-offs (Pinball, Federation Force) didn't.

Clearly all three franchises still have growth in them, though, as their Switch installments are (or soon to be for Dread) the best selling games in their series.
 
LoneRanger said:
The big 6 are:

  • Zelda 3D
  • Mario Kart
  • Super Mario 2D
  • Super Mario 3D
  • Animal Crossing
  • Splatoon

All developed inside Nintendo.
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If you ignore smash bros.
MondoMega said:
Since they seem to be the three most in question, here's all the million seller Pikmin, Metroid and Xenoblade titles:
  • Metroid Prime - 2.84m
  • Metroid Dread - 2.74m (as of December 2021)
  • Metroid - 2.73m
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - 2.05m (as of June 2020)
  • Pikmin 3 Deluxe - 2.04m (as of March 2021)
  • Metroid II: Return of Samus - 1.72m
  • Pikmin - 1.60m
  • Metroid Fusion - 1.60m
  • Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - 1.52m (as of March 2021)
  • Super Metroid - 1.42m
  • Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - 1.41m
  • Pikmin 3 - 1.27m
  • Pikmin 2 - 1.12m
  • Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - 1.10m
  • Metroid Prime Hunters - 1.08m
It took until the Switch for Xenoblade to get a million seller; the original, 3D and X couldn't do it. Every mainline Pikmin title managed to pass 1m; only Hey! Pikmin fell short. Every main numbered Metroid title, plus Hunters, reached 1m; both remakes (Zero Mission and Samus Returns), Other M and other Prime spin-offs (Pinball, Federation Force) didn't.

Clearly all three franchises still have growth in them, though, as their Switch installments are (or soon to be for Dread) the best selling games in their series.
Click to expand...
Great post, informative : )
 
metroid and pikmin are not household names, I'd put kirby, wii sports or fire emblem there instead, or luigi's mansion if that counts as being separate from mario

edit: oh yeah and smash bros

bixente said:
Isn't Wii Sports bigger than Pikmin? Is Pikmin included cos Miyamoto created it
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I honestly feel like this is a part of it, pikmin gets a disproportionately high amount of promotional material/merchandise compared to other nitnendo series at its level of popularity, pikmin sticks out like a sore thumb here (despite being a small part of the image)
ac8HYZu.jpg
 
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oldpuck said:
"has created franchises that have become household names worldwide, including" Nintendo isn't saying that these are their biggest franchises/IPs, they're saying "these are some of our big IPs". The list probably was selected to reflect recent trends as much as their Biggest Names - Metroid just came off a huge marketing campaign, Pikmin has a big mobile app, Animal Crossing occupied the entire zeitgeist a few years ago. Not to mention trying to show breadth of IPs.

It's a Press Release not a statement of intent for future development, or about current sales.
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Well, Kirby has a big new game on the Switch and it isn't included.
 
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You've included Pokemon on the list twice but spelled it wrong the second time.
 
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Donkey Kong is the only one that makes sense on the list if Nintendo are preparing a new major release with a huge marketing campaign to go along with it. Metroid and Pikmin have no place on itl.

Feels like the inclusion of Metroid is basically just pandering to fans in an attempt to boost sales of the next game/s (Prime remaster, Prime 4). Pikmin is just plain odd to see, perhaps a gesture of respect to Miyamoto along with wishful thinking in relation to the app.
 
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MondoMega said:
Since they seem to be the three most in question, here's all the million seller Pikmin, Metroid and Xenoblade titles:
  • Metroid Prime - 2.84m
  • Metroid Dread - 2.74m (as of December 2021)
  • Metroid - 2.73m
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - 2.05m (as of June 2020)
  • Pikmin 3 Deluxe - 2.04m (as of March 2021)
  • Metroid II: Return of Samus - 1.72m
  • Pikmin - 1.60m
  • Metroid Fusion - 1.60m
  • Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - 1.52m (as of March 2021)
  • Super Metroid - 1.42m
  • Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - 1.41m
  • Pikmin 3 - 1.27m
  • Pikmin 2 - 1.12m
  • Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - 1.10m
  • Metroid Prime Hunters - 1.08m
It took until the Switch for Xenoblade to get a million seller; the original, 3D and X couldn't do it. Every mainline Pikmin title managed to pass 1m; only Hey! Pikmin fell short. Every main numbered Metroid title, plus Hunters, reached 1m; both remakes (Zero Mission and Samus Returns), Other M and other Prime spin-offs (Pinball, Federation Force) didn't.

Clearly all three franchises still have growth in them, though, as their Switch installments are (or soon to be for Dread) the best selling games in their series.
Click to expand...
When your talking household names though none of these are actually that.
 
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Happy to see Nintendo highlight Metroid 🙂
My favorite ones from them are Zelda, Metroid, Xenoblade and Fire Emblem.
 
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ILikeFeet said:
Metroid, I guess because it sparked a whole genre. but big? lol, no
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Raccoon said:
big fan of Pikmin, but it shouldn't be here

neither should Metroid, probably
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If the criteria is purely sales, then sure, but if I'm not mistaken, Super Metroid and Metroid Prime still remain the only games in Nintendo's history that stand alongside the best of Mario and Zelda, in terms of both influence, and critical acclaim. It makes sense that the series would be mentioned among the others.
 
Pikmin should not be here, most Nintendo fans I know don't know or care about it. Swap it with Kirby. And if FE keeps going with its current pace, it can be added in.
 
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Aurc said:
If the criteria is purely sales, then sure, but if I'm not mistaken, Super Metroid and Metroid Prime still remain the only games in Nintendo's history that stand alongside the best of Mario and Zelda, in terms of both influence, and critical acclaim. It makes sense that the series would be mentioned among the others.
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IMO, only Super Metroid really has that much influence. you don't really see too many games like Metroid Prime
 
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