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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Why do Japan and Zelda not mix?

BraveNewWorld on 22 April 2014

Why does The Legend of Zelda series sell so poorly in Japan, but sell well in the west? Handheld Zelda games don't fare much better and handheld consoles are more popular in Japan than the west.

5.68 (West) 0.60 (Japan) - Twilight Princess
3.00 (West) 0.37 (Japan) - Skyward Sword
2.53 (West) 0.57 (Japan) - Ocarina of Time 3D
0.96 (West) 0.40 (Japan) - A Link Between Worlds
0.74 (West) 0.09 (Japan) - The Wind Waker HD



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Mystro-Sama on 22 April 2014

And here I thought it was really popular in Japan...



Cobretti2 on 22 April 2014

because it isn't a game about an under aged girl in a school uniform



 

 

TheLegendaryWolf on 22 April 2014

Good question, it appears its almost slightly decently received in Japan.



Skidonti on 22 April 2014

Yes, I hear that's why Monster Hunter is so popular over there, Cobretti.
Anyways, this has been a concern of mine for a while, actually. And I've wondered if Nintendo will deal with it by trying to make Zelda more Japanese or by simply acknowleding it won't be a smash hit there and focusing on the west.



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superchunk on 22 April 2014

It was a Japanese million-plus seller in NES, SNES, and N64 days.



Ninricken on 22 April 2014
Cobretti2 said:
because it isn't a game about an under aged girl in a school uniform


You forgot mechs, boobs and things that make no sense like cats from outer space fighting each other in Samurai clothing to find the last source of energy in the universe...just thoughts...



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I don't prefer Sony, I don't prefer Nintendo.
...Ok, I love Nintendo but this is something about tolerance, ok?

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GamechaserBE on 22 April 2014

Why does The Legend of Zelda series sell so poorly in Japan, but sell well in the west?

Because their is a bigger userbase in the West with +50 countries compared to Japan that sadly is just one nation..



Jizz_Beard_thePirate on 22 April 2014

Not enough jiggle physics?



                  

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ktay95 on 22 April 2014

Starting with the most popular game in the franchise OoT.
It sold 4.1m in North America, the N64 sold 20.11m giving it an attach rate of 20%
In japan it sold 1.45 on the N64 which sold 5.54 giving it an attach rate of 26%

Next is Twilight Princess on Wii
NA-3.66/45.18=8%
JP-0.6/12.76=4%

Trying to stick with recent games as they are more relevant, Spirit Tracks attach rates are 2% for NA and Japan
Skyward Sword was 4% for NA and 2% for Japan

Anyway as you can see its really not that bad, try comparing it to some many other franchises. The older games in the series were indeed more popular than the newer ones in Japan though.

I would also like to point out if you are going to look at raw sales numbers you must first look at this
1,014.10 this is the number in millions of the top 200 selling games in NA combined. Lets compare that to Japans, 431.29
Simply put, games sell more in NA where they have a larger population.