UPDATED: We already know that Mario games sell well on Nintendo consoles, that doesn't really mean much if you're developing say ... Zombi U or Ninja Gaiden or Bayonetta.

This list is intended to remove that and look at things from the POV of a publisher who doesn't have the luxury of putting Mario or Mickey or Lego, etc. into their games, by looking at the historical record of what games without an overwhelming family-friendly aestheic have sold on Nintendo platforms in the past.

The Criteria: The games have to have been exclusive or have premiered on a Nintendo home console from 1995 onwards. No Mario/Zelda games are included, nor are any games using family-oriented/cartoony mascots (sorry Sonic, Kirby, DK, etc.), no kids-centric brands (no Pokemon, Disney/Mickey, Lego, etc.), and no fitness/dance/mini-game fests (nuh uh to Just Dance, Wii Sports, Carnival Games, etc.). We are looking at games that have a darker/edgier or more realistic aesthetic like a ZombiU or even Metroid. This is NOT a slight to Mario or Pokemon or Mickey or Lego, just focusing on a different style of games/demographic appeal

I tried to use official numbers from the companies where possible but most numbers are from VGChartz.

GoldenEye (N64): 8.09 million worldwide

Killer Instinct (SNES): 3.2 million worldwide
Star Wars Episode I Racer (N64): 3.12 million worldwide
Wave Race 64 (N64): 2.94 million worldwide
Metroid Prime (GameCube): 2.82 million worldwide
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (N64): 2.65 million worldwide
Perfect Dark (N64): 2.52 million worldwide
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64): 2.17 million worldwide
Resident Evil 4 (Wii): 2.11 million worldwide
1080 Snowboarding (N64): 2.03 million worldwide

Monster Hunter Tri (Wii): 1.9 million worldwide
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II (GameCube): 1.9 million
Turok 2 (N64): 1.89 million worldwide
GoldenEye (Wii): 1.7 million worldwide
Resident Evil 4 (GameCube): 1.69 million worldwide
Metroid Prime 3 (Wii): 1.63 million
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii): 1.49 million worldwide
Resident Evil REmake (GameCube): 1.4 million worldwide
Metroid Prime 2 (GameCube): 1.33 million worldwide
Resident Evil 0 (GameCube): 1.29 million worldwide
NBA Courtside (N64): 1.19 million worldwide
Mission: Impossible (N64): 1.17 million worldwide
Metroid: Other M (Wii): 1.15 million worldwide
South Park 64 (N64): 1.14 million worldwide
F-Zero X (N64): 1.1 million worldwide
NFL Quarterback Club '98 (N64): 1.08 million worldwide
Excitebike 64 (N64): 1 million worldwide
Red Steel (Wii): 1 million worldwide (approx)

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles (Wii): 970k worldwide
Tales Of Symphonia (GameCube): 953k worldwide
Killer Instinct Gold (N64): 820k ww
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III (GameCube): 800k worldwide
House of the Dead Overkill (Wii): 800k worldwide
Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64): 770k worldwide
Xenoblade (Wii): 740k worldwide
MadWorld (Wii): 700k worldwide
F-Zero GX (GameCube): 650k worldwide
Wave Race: Blue Storm (GameCube) 600k worldwide

Red Steel 2 (Wii): 540k worldwide
The Conduit (Wii): 530k worldwide
No More Heroes (Wii): 520k
Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom (Wii): 490k
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii): 470k worldwide
DOOM 64 (N64): 470k worldwide
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GameCube): 470k worldwide
Eternal Darkness (GameCube): 440k worldwide
The Last Story (Wii): 410k worldwide
Ridge Racer 64 (N64): 400k worldwide
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wii): 370k worldwide
No More Heroes 2 (Wii): 350k worldwide
1080 Avalanche (GameCube): 310k worldwide

You can see the N64 did quite well with "hardcore" players despite competetion from the Playstation and Saturn/Dreamcast. Even sports games, racers, and so-so third party content like Mission: Impossible could sell quite well. Once Microsoft entered the game business in 2001, Nintendo took a hit with the GameCube and Wii being steps backwards in high selling "hardcore" content. Wii has the same size userbase as the SNES/N64/GCN combined but really was not able to bring Nintendo more success in this area. 

Where is Street Fighter 2 or is that not hardcore?

How is hardcore defined here? There are E, T, and M rated games in this list. And surely Samus is a Nintendo mascot?

I don't mean to be flip; I just don't see what binds these games together?

Look at the people dismissing the work you put into OP so easily. Shame on you guys.

First of all, GOOD WORK! That is a big list and must have taken you some time to compile.

Second of all, the core-casual concept exists, as many people even on this forum use it to refer to something, we just have not yet as an industry defined what exactly that is, and OP helps to push the understanding of that concept further.

Nintendo was able to capture the casual audience with the Wii, but missed a serious opportunity with the broader core market upon the failed launch of the PS3.

I'm glad more people see the light.

"Mascot" is a rather broad term, but I narrowed it down to basically "games starring furry animals or cartoon characters". Unless it was aimed specifically at an older audience, hence why Conker is included, but not say, Banjo-Kazooie. Samus makes the cut therefor IMO, it's mostly a franchise aimed at more hardcore players with an art style/aesthic more aimed towards them too (versus say, Animal Crossing).

To the person who asked about Street Fighter II, that would take the list before 1995, and I don't have a problem doing that, it just would be hard to reliably find numbers for all pre-95 games.

I'm sure there's a lot of games missing here No More Heros outsold it's sequel as did Tatsunoko Vs Capcom but neither is listed. CoD is also missing, especially CoD3 which was the best selling of the series on Wii (over 2m I believe)

Regardless, with the exception of Goldeneye (N64) this is really, really unimpressive. 3M is the best for any Nintendo home console ever? (By this def of 'hardcore') This truly supports 3rd Party claims that their games don't sell on Nintendo systems.

Thanks, it did take a while to put together. There are a few games I can't reliably find sales info for either like Turok 1 and Turok 3 on the N64, but I'm pretty sure they sold less than Turok 2, which was a pretty big hit on the N64.

Happyd is right. I wouldn't want to see a bunch of posts questioning the legitimacy of my thread right off the bat. Sorry about that, Soundwave. No hard feelings?

I have a couple to add to the list. How about Turok 1, 2, 3, and Rage Wars, all for N64? I'm not sure how much they sold, but I bet the first two sold fairly well.

Betcha half these numbers are inflated, too!

Does this help?