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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Zelda isn't big in Japan. Or is it?

Skullwaker on 27 February 2015

So, this is something that I see often. "Zelda isn't big in Japan," "It doesn't make a difference there," "They don't care about Zelda." But is this all really true? Well, kiddos, it's time to get to the cold hard facts and see what the deal is with Zelda.

PosGamePlatformYearGenrePublisherNorth AmericaEuropeJapanRest of WorldGlobal
1 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time N64 1998 Action Nintendo 4.10 1.89 1.45 0.16 7.60
2 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Wii 2006 Action Nintendo 3.71 2.09 0.60 0.68 7.08
3 The Legend of Zelda NES 1986 Action Nintendo 3.74 0.93 1.69 0.14 6.51
4 The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass DS 2007 Action Nintendo 1.83 1.79 0.95 0.48 5.05
5 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past SNES 1991 Action Nintendo 2.42 0.91 1.15 0.13 4.61
6 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker GC 2002 Action Nintendo 2.60 0.99 0.89 0.13 4.60
7 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link NES 1987 Adventure Nintendo 2.19 0.50 1.61 0.08 4.38
8 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Wii 2011 Action Nintendo 1.99 1.14 0.37 0.38 3.88
9 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening GB 1992 Action Nintendo 2.21 0.96 0.54 0.13 3.83
10 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS 2011 Action Nintendo 1.74 1.03 0.57 0.25 3.59
11 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask N64 2000 Action Nintendo 1.90 0.67 0.73 0.06 3.36
12 The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks DS 2009 Action Nintendo 1.39 0.90 0.74 0.27 3.29
13 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past GBA 2002 Action Nintendo 1.75 0.52 0.33 0.10 2.70
14 The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds 3DS 2013 Action Nintendo 1.13 0.68 0.44 0.17 2.41
15 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX GB 1998 Adventure Nintendo 1.00 0.63 0.45 0.13 2.22
16 The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages / Seasons GB 2001 Adventure Nintendo 0.92 0.53 0.41 0.06 1.92
17 The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons GB 2001 Adventure Nintendo 0.87 0.52 0.41 0.06 1.86
18 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess GC 2006 Action Nintendo 1.15 0.36 0.04 0.04 1.59
19 The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap GBA 2004 Action Nintendo 0.89 0.22 0.22 0.10 1.42
20 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker WiiU 2013 Action Nintendo 0.71 0.36 0.12 0.09 1.29

As shown above, the top 20 best selling Zelda games (aka, the only ones that truly matter for this discussion) can be seen having pretty substantial sales in Japan, occasionally outselling Europe altogther. Recently, Majora's Mask 3D sold over 230k FW in Japan. So why is there this stigma that Zelda games don't have an impact there?

It's important to note that the Zelda series consistently outsells games that are perceived as being incredibly popular in that region, including Persona, the Souls series, Tales of, Dynasty Warriors, Metal Gear Solid, Fire Emblem, etc. Yet, Zelda is seen as irrelevent to them. Why is that? Is it just in comparison to the series' more prominent success in the west? Or are people truly unaware of the franchise's sales in the east?

Now, here's a picture of cute chibi Link.



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Clyde32 on 27 February 2015

I think it's an illusion because it's much more popular in the west.



KyleeStrutt on 27 February 2015

It isn't

Final Fantasy is big in Japan, Dragon Quest is big in Japan, Pokémon is big in Japan.

Zelda is in the middle, its not big, but not irrelevant or hated as many have said, however it can't be denied that the franchise has lost plenty of popularity.

btw, MGS is bigger than Zelda in Japan



artur-fernand on 27 February 2015

I think that people compare Zelda to HUGE series like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest or Mario. Since it's not even close to those series, it's dismissed as "irrelevant" in Japan.

That's my guess at least.



kljesta64 on 27 February 2015

silly people dont like their own games



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TheGoldenBoy on 27 February 2015

Comparatively to it's Western sales, Zelda's sales in Japan are pretty lackluster. But it's like Kylee said there only like 5 top tier franchises in Japan and the rest are either mid or bottom tier.



Skullwaker on 27 February 2015
KyleeStrutt said:
It isn't

Final Fantasy is big in Japan, Dragon Quest is big in Japan, Pokémon is big in Japan.

Zelda is in the middle, its not big, but not irrelevant or hated as many have said, however it can't be denied that the franchise has lost plenty of popularity.

btw, MGS is bigger than Zelda in Japan

I mean big as a relative term. Of course, nothing touches Final Fantasy, DQ, Pokemon, MH, YW, etc.

And the best selling MGS games in Japan have sold .96m, .87m, .83m(x2), .78m and .38m, respectively. Not as big.



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artur-fernand on 27 February 2015
KyleeStrutt said:
It isn't

Final Fantasy is big in Japan, Dragon Quest is big in Japan, Pokémon is big in Japan.

Zelda is in the middle, its not big, but not irrelevant or hated as many have said, however it can't be denied that the franchise has lost plenty of popularity.

btw, MGS is bigger than Zelda in Japan


Is it? It seems about the same size.



O-D-C on 27 February 2015

It's pretty popular and big, but just not as HUGE as things like Pokemon, DQ, FF, MH, etc..



Samus Aran on 27 February 2015
KyleeStrutt said:
It isn't

Final Fantasy is big in Japan, Dragon Quest is big in Japan, Pokémon is big in Japan.

Zelda is in the middle, its not big, but not irrelevant or hated as many have said, however it can't be denied that the franchise has lost plenty of popularity.

btw, MGS is bigger than Zelda in Japan

And AC is even bigger. ;)