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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Why are Metroid franchise sales so low? How can the franchise grow?

richardhutnik on 04 January 2009
liquidninja said:

Wow, I coulda swore I hear someone tell me that Metroid wasn't as big in Japan as it was in America. Apparently they didn't take into consideration that Super Metroid sold more there the here.

I Also didn't know that Metroid Prime was the highest selling Metroid. And I though Super Metroid did better than regular Metroid. (I guess because I'd never even knew about NES Metroid until a couple years ago.)

Well on topic, I guess they could add a peripheral to the next one. Like the arm cannon thingy in the game.

My understanding is that Kid Icarus actually was/is a bigger series popularity-wise than Metroid, in Japan.  A characteristic of Japanese games is linearity, and Kid Icarus is more linear than Metroid.

 



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Soleron on 04 January 2009
MontanaHatchet said:
I think Metroid Prime was bundled with the Gamecube for a short while (explaining the high sales).

It was, at least in the UK. I'm a huge Metroid fan now (and was always a Nintendo fan), but I'd never heard of Metroid until I got the GC bundle in the UK to replace my NTSC GC.

"Wow, I coulda swore I hear someone tell me that Metroid wasn't as big in Japan as it was in America. Apparently they didn't take into consideration that Super Metroid sold more there the here."

The word "anymore" was used in the original post.



d21lewis on 04 January 2009

Really good multiplayer, good marketing, (optional) third person perspective, and more relate-able enemies would go a long way towards Metroid's mainstream success.



neotea on 04 January 2009

Metroid games have always been a niche series. There have always been a steady market for it just not blockbuster type. Nintendo makes metroid games to keep the niche crowd for it happy like myself.



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megaman79 on 04 January 2009

Nah, Mario Kart is the third best respected franchise.

failing that i would put Donkey Kong in front of Metroid.



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student on 04 January 2009

I think it's a number of things. In Japan, FPS aren't popular so it's never going to recapture its popularity there. Second, it's not a conventional FPS so it won't ever be completely mainstream in America.

Third, I've always believed Samus as a character isn't as appealing as the other Nintendo characters because she's faceless. She isn't as likeable as Mario or Link



Demotruk on 04 January 2009

Nintendo need to create their own FPS franchise, or a third party make one exclusively nintendo(such as conduit, I suppose). They should not bastardize Metroid Prime for a mainstream FPS audience. Metroid works best as an FPA, MP:3 was closer to being a normal FPS and that was it's problem.

Keep the focus on exploration, openness, atmosphere, and the series will stay popular(rather than pale in comparison to proper FPS's).



A game I'm developing with some friends:

www.xnagg.com/zombieasteroids/publish.htm

It is largely a technical exercise but feedback is appreciated.

liquidninja on 04 January 2009

Soleron said:

"Wow, I coulda swore I hear someone tell me that Metroid wasn't as big in Japan as it was in America. Apparently they didn't take into consideration that Super Metroid sold more there the here."

The word "anymore" was used in the original post.

I wasn't referring to the original post. I was actually referring to someone I heard.

 



bazmeistergen on 04 January 2009

Prime came out on the cheaper Player's Choice label as well, don't forget.



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Son1x on 04 January 2009

I liked MP3 and am waiting for MP1 and 2 to come on Play Wii (or what is that thing) so I can play them with wiimote.



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