This really feels like a meaningless set of data. The criteria are really, really arbitrary and tailored to make the point that the N64 did "better"; I'm not even sure you're sticking to them, though (GoldenEye? James Bond isn't a mascot, now?). What the hell is your point?

James Bond is certainly an iconic character, but I think you guys know damn well there's a big difference between him and Mario or Kirby.

I'm focusing on non-family-oriented properties and that's stated in the OP.

If James Bond rescued Princess Peach, he wouldn't be eating her "cake" (unless "cake" is slang for something else) as a reward. Lets just put it that way for starters.

That's obviously a very different type of character that has an appeal to different kind of audience.

Typical vgchartz response. He already answered this. Evolve.

It's time to bring Rogue Squadron back! Those games sold very well.

What makes Link family friendly?

Yeah you can see the Star Wars games sold very well on the N64 and GCN, particularily those Rogue Squadron games.

If Factor 5 had been allowed to make another Rogue Squadron, either on Wii and or PS3/360 multiplat they'd probably still be around today.

Just for fun as well here are some of the more notable multi-plat, non-family-centric titles on Nintendo platforms over the years ...

Call of Duty 3 (Wii) 2.16 million ww
Mortal Kombat II (SNES): 1.93 million ww
Call of Duty: World at War (Wii): 1.86 million ww
The World Is Not Enough (N64): 1.55 million ww
Mortal Kombat III (SNES): 1.53
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex (Wii): 1.46
Soul Calibur II * feat. Link (GCN): 1.2 million ww
FIFA 11 (Wii) 1.04 million ww
Mortal Kombat Trilogy (N64): 960k
Madden NFL '99 (N64) - 900k ww
Madden NFL '08 (Wii) - 860k ww
San Fransisco Rush (N64) - 780k ww
Resident Evil 2 (N64) - 560k ww
NBA Street Vol. 2 *feat Mario and co. (GCN) - 540k ww
TimeSplitters 2 (GCN) 440k ww

Mortal Kombat II is technically a 1994 title, but what the heck.

If you're developing Bayonetta or ZombiU or Ninja Gaiden, do you think it helps to know that a James Bond title sold lots on the console? Hell, no. Just because lots of people are willing to buy a game with James Bond in it doesn't mean that they're willing to buy your game. The fact that both games have an unnecessary amount of blood means nothing. It's not the same audience at all. James Bond has his own franchise following and so it'll sell more. Same way, Mario has his own franchise following so it'll sell more.

The idea that there's a completely different audience for "hardcore" games isn't evident to me at all.

@happydolphin You really needn't be so condescending. While that's not report-worthy, venting your anger at VGC on me is stupid and no use to anyone. This is not the first time someone hasn't bothered to look through the entire thread before posting in a thread on a forum on the internet and it won't the last time. Get over it. I'd tell you to evolve, but that would make me seem hypocritical.

Look immortal, I understand you didn't read the thread and there is nothing wrong with that. I'm simply getting fed up with the chewed up responses that kill analysis and discussion. My last intent was to insult, and if I did I apologize because I didn't even realize I was being insulting. But what I do intend on doing is challenging you and others like you to make this forum a place where intelligent discussion is welcome, and the usual witchhunt is banished.

If you can't dilineate between the design appeal/aesthetic of Animal Crossing, Super Mario, Pokemon, Mickey Mouse, Lego versus say James Bond, Resident Evil, Turok, 1080 Snowboarding, Perfect Dark, Eternal Darkness, etc. or have some mental block in doing so because it brings up console war politics, then sure, this thread is probably lost on you.

For everyone else, have at it. I wanted to focus on games that do not rely on a colorful/cartoony character or aesthetic specific to the Nintendo home consoles for the last 15 years and see how those games have performed.

And the appeal of the first GoldenEye directly lead to Activision making GoldenEye (2010) on the Wii, which is one of the best selling non-family-oriented games on the console. If GoldenEye on Wii had sold 8 million copies like the N64 version did, that certainly would alter some perceptions of the console too and perhaps have led to different types of games being greenlit as well.

After the success of GoldenEye, Nintendo themselves moved to make Perfect Dark, allowed Conker to go M-rated, greenlit Riqa (Tomb Raider knock-off), and invested heavily in Silicon Knights and Retro Studios, which was supposed to make many games like a racing simulator, an NFL football game, Raven Blade (a fantasy action game perhaps akin to Skyrim), and also inked a deal for Starcraft 64.

Unfortunately a lot of these plans went sour on Nintendo.