stupid question. look at the userbase difference for gods sake.

It's forbidden due to the fact that it's so popular. If Pokémon was as successful or popular, I think it would be forbidden, too.

Again, it was Enix the one that imposed the rule to themselves, not the J-government (that's a big one for the mythbusters), so now you want Nintendo to follow the Enix rule?

And a forbidden rule is enough to say that a franchise is more popular than another??? let me see: Is a Grand Theft Auto game forbidden to release on a weekday in any country in the West?, in America, is a Halo game forbidden to release on a weekday?

If you bother to look at the sales i posted, and do the math, you'll see which one is more popular, and i'm talking just about games, i'm not even discussing the cash cow that the Pokemon games brought with the anime, the cards, movies, etc.

   By using that logic one could think that Animal Crossing is a much bigger franchise than Dragon Quest is in Japan: http://www.vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=82&region=All

   Whilst in fact it's not even close: http://www.vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=24660&region=All

The same logic can be used about FF vs DQ game...

I'm not only proving my Pokemon point by bringing sales to the table, if you read my previous posts, i've talked about how Pokemon (and especially Pikachu) is a household name everywhere, especially in Japan, it's not just sales, the Pokemon phenomenon covers a lot, and right now it's Nintendo's #1 cash cow (Mario is the official mascot, but Pokemon has brought more money in less time)...

Pokemon is so mainstream i'm sure you can mention the two names to any number of Japanese people, and the people knowning about Pokemon (loving it, hating it, being indifferent but knowing it nevertheless) will be a lot more than the people knowing about Dragon Quest...

The japanese obsession with all things Pokemon is so big, Japan counts with Pokemon centers, airplanes, subways, busses and cars themed with Pokemon, a theme park in Nagoya, there are Pokemon mobile x-ray machines for god sakes!

I'm not bashing Dragon Quest, it's my 4th favorite franchise (behind Megaman, Mario and Final Fantasy), and i only care about quality, but we're talking about popularity here, and being as popular as it is, it's not on Pokemon levels of popularity...

   I dont like the idea of two people who dont even live in Japan arguing over what is more popular there. But if you insist...

   Dragon Quest is the only video game series that inspired a Ballet ffs! It sells much faster than Pokemon, it dominates the japanese top 100 games of all time charts whenever they are being made. Dragon Quest can sell on any hardware. And Pokemon? Whilst there is no real way to prove it, it's quiet obvious why Nintendo doesnt want to support the Wii with mainline Pokemon despite the current situation in Japan and relies on Dragon Quest X instead. Dragon Quest is being constantly mentioned in japanese mainstream press, when DQIX got delayed - it was in the news.

   Wherever Dragon Quest goes - the jRPG genre follows. The GBA has not become 'the console' for jRPGs despite having several successfull Pokemon games on it. And the flood of DS RPGs only started once DQIX got announced. Dragon Quest doesnt follow its fanbase, the whole jRPG fanbase follows Dragon Quest. It represents and leads the whole genre, Pokemon only represents .. Pokemon. Dragon Quest is known to the people of all ages, some famous people arent affraid to say that they wish to play the new Dragon Quest before their death ( http://kotaku.com/5167818/elderly-actress-wants-more-dragon-quest-before-death )

   It is not just huge sales that make Dragon Quest so important and popular in Japan.

@Rei & The Anarchyz

I don't think there is a good way to settle Pokemon and DQ.

However, I believe both of you would agree that Pokemon and DQ are bigger names than FF which is what the other user failed to understand.

Except for success in video games, Pokémon hasn't done so much else, whereas Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are so big names in video games, in my opinion, that they inspire others to take it to the next levels.

Dude, you're embarrassing. Mario is at least ten times bigger than Pokémon.  He doesn't belong here. We all know he's the biggest trademark in gaming, so don't discuss about him. To say that Pokémon is even remotely close is laughable.

Mario Franchise Sales History: 201 million units. source.

Pokemon Franchise Sales History: 186 million units. source.

Mario has been around since 1981. Pokemon has been around since 1997. 12 years for Pokemon and 28 years for Mario. Twice as long, and yet Pokmeon has sold almost as many units. So no, you're wrong, and completely ridiculous. Pokemon is the biggest franchise in the world.

It is the biggest JRPG franchise in every nation in the world. This is not debatable. There is no discussion here. Pokemon is much larger than Dragon Quest. Pokemon sells more units, has more products, and more cultural influence. Pokemon wins, even in Japan. Again, there is nothing to debate here. It's not even remotely reasonable to argue against this fact.

And there is very little more stupid than the "it doesn't count cause it's handhelds" argument. Handhelds represent more than half of our industry's sales. How about this? I'm gonna stop counting consoles since they are weak shit compared to PCs.

So yes. Pokemon is the biggest established franchise in the modern video game industry, regardless of territory. Deal with it.