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Forums - Nintendo - Zelda U... Nintendo's attempt to win back the Japanese?

 

Am I crazy?

Zelda is AMERICA AND SO CAN YOU! 11 18.97%
 
Man, it's an internation... 37 63.79%
 
ZELDA is more Japanese than GODZILLA!!! 8 13.79%
 
Apple fanboy<<< ... 1 1.72%
 
Total:57
Dulfite on 10 June 2014

While watching the IGN video q/a with Reggie, someone there mentioned the fact that the new Zelda U game had some similarities to Japanese anime and that got me thinking. Zelda is a series that isn't nearly as popular in Japan as it used to be. Let's look at the Japan Zelda game sales:

PosGamePlatformYearGenrePublisherNorth AmericaEuropeJapanRest of WorldGlobal
1 The Legend of Zelda NES 1986 Action Nintendo 3.74 0.93 1.69 0.14 6.51
2 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link NES 1987 Adventure Nintendo 2.19 0.50 1.61 0.08 4.38
3 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time N64 1998 Action Nintendo 4.10 1.89 1.45 0.16 7.60
4 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past SNES 1991 Action Nintendo 2.42 0.91 1.15 0.13 4.61
5 The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass DS 2007 Action Nintendo 1.81 1.77 0.95 0.47 5.01
6 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker GC 2002 Action Nintendo 2.60 0.99 0.89 0.13 4.60
7 The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks DS 2009 Action Nintendo 1.37 0.87 0.74 0.26 3.25
8 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask N64 2000 Action Nintendo 1.90 0.67 0.73 0.06 3.36
9 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Wii 2006 Action Nintendo 3.66 2.03 0.60 0.67 6.95
10 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS 2011 Action Nintendo 1.64 0.92 0.57 0.23 3.35
11 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening GB 1992 Action Nintendo 2.21 0.96 0.54 0.13 3.83
12 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX GB 1998 Adventure Nintendo 1.00 0.63 0.45 0.13 2.22
13 The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons GB 2001 Adventure Nintendo 0.87 0.52 0.41 0.06 1.86
14 The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages / Seasons GB 2001 Adventure Nintendo 0.92 0.53 0.41 0.06 1.92
15 The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds 3DS 2013 Action Nintendo 0.98 0.54 0.41 0.14 2.06
16 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Wii 2011 Action Nintendo 1.94 1.08 0.37 0.37 3.75
17 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past GBA 2002 Action Nintendo 1.75 0.52 0.33 0.10 2.70
18 The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap(weekly JP sales) GBA N/A Action N/A 0.00 0.00 0.27 0.01 0.27
19 Classic NES Series: The Legend of Zelda GBA 2004 Adventure Nintendo 0.46 0.17 0.24 0.02 0.89
20 The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap GBA 2004 Action Nintendo 0.89 0.22 0.22 0.10 1.42
21 Classic NES Series: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link GBA 2004 Adventure Nintendo 0.37 0.14 0.17 0.01 0.70
22 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker WiiU 2013 Action Nintendo 0.55 0.24 0.10 0.07 0.96
23 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess GC 2006 Action Nintendo 1.15 0.36 0.04 0.04 1.59

Now, looking at this chart it's pretty clear that Nintendo sales have gone down in Japan for Zelda. They are now releasing Hyrule Warriors (based on a game series that is popular mostly in Japan). It would appear that the main Zelda game is attempting to also be appealing to the Japanese. What if this is Nintendo's strategy going into the future? To make Zelda more and more Japanese appealing? 



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drake_tolu on 10 June 2014

I predict 500,000!



Jizz_Beard_thePirate on 10 June 2014

I am sure it will do well but I do think it will be the lowest selling Zelda not cause of the poor sales of the wiiU (although that is still a factor) but cause of the art style! I think it will be like WW all over again



                  

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Wazowski on 10 June 2014

their line up is clearly for japanese market, the system will do ok there i guess, zelda looks great.



Nintentacle on 10 June 2014
Ka-pi96 said:
Sounds plausible. Wii U is most popular in Japan so far right?

No, It's the most popular in the USA.



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Dulfite on 10 June 2014
Ka-pi96 said:
Nintentacle said:
Ka-pi96 said:
Sounds plausible. Wii U is most popular in Japan so far right?

No, It's the most popular in the USA.


Didn't know that... thanks


Well the US has like 312+million people. Japan has a lot less, so of course more Wii U's are going to sell in US than Japan.



AZWification on 10 June 2014

It's going to sell more than Skyward Sword and ALBW in Japan, but that's not saying much!



                
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noname2200 on 10 June 2014

Making an open world game doesn't tend to scream "Japan" to me



Xxain on 10 June 2014

It reminded me of Princess Mononoke



HoloDust on 10 June 2014

Well, with that art style they're certainly not trying to cater to western (mainstream) tastes.