Topic: Are Link and Samus well known among the general public?

[THF]

By "well known" I mean if you stopped a person on the street and asked him/her if they knew who Link or Samus/Metroid is.  My initial opinion would be no.  I've read a lot of posts claiming that Ocarina of Time gave the N64 a huge push in terms of console sales.  While there's no doubt that OoT is a superb game (my favorite of all time), I seriously doubt it would have the same effect as say, Mario.  EVERYONE knows who Mario is, yet Link would only be well known among the hardcore gamers.  Same with Samus/Metroid in general.

This is further backed up by the fact that Wind Waker hasn't sold well after the initial 800,000+ copies were sold (which would consist of Nintendo's hardcore gamer fanbase).  This is even worse for Metroid since it sold much worse.  It also didn't help that the Wind Waker TV commercial is utter crap.  Whoever handles Nintendo's advertising needs to get fired now (though the Metroid Prime commercial was pretty neat), but that's a different topic altogether.

oh, this is speaking only for North America too, not Japan, where Link is probably as well known as Mario since Ocarina of Time sold like 2 million copies there (though I have nothing to back that up)

ok, I'm done ranting

[Ian Sane]

Considering that several people I've met, some of whom have even beaten a Zelda game, think the character Link is named "Zelda" I'd say that Link the character is not that well known.  But I have never met a person who didn't know of the Legend of Zelda series.

Metroid is a different situation.  It's not very well known outside of gamers and even then since it laid dormant since 1994 it isn't even that well known with "hardcore" gamers who have only been playing for a few years.  And a lot of people think Samus is a guy.

Zelda the franchise is as well known as most other popular game franchises like Mario, Final Fantasy, Doom, Sonic, and "flash in the pan" games like Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat.

[Plugabugz]

Well here in the UK, there was no Metroid Prime/Fusion ads.
The Wind Waker ads were awful frankly. If anything, they put me off buying the game.

Metroid Prime sold 800,000 copies worldwide.
Wind Waker sold 1 million in the first week, here in Europe (I think, I'm not 100% certain).

When people hear Legend of Zelda, they think the game is based around Zelda, but not Link.
Metroid isn't a mainstream franchise: I'm not saying that it isn't a good one (I would be clearly lying if I said it was a poor game) but those who rated Halo better than Metroid Prime (With my friends) have all changed their opinion having seen/played it several months later.
If this was say, Vice City it automatically gains the "good game status".

Thats how I see it.

[Gup]

Quote
Metroid Prime sold 800,000 copies worldwide.
Wind Waker sold 1 million in the first week, here in Europe (I think, I'm not 100% certain).

Metroid Prime's worldwide sales is just over 900, 000.
Wind Waker sold 300, 000 copies in Europe's first week.

[Plugabugz]

Thanks for clarifying that

[GaimeGuy]

Actually, OoT sold the best in the US.  Zelda games ALWAYS sell best in the United States.   OoT sold 5.4 million in the US ALONE

[Mario]

Quote
Originally posted by: GaimeGuy
Actually, OoT sold the best in the US.  Zelda games ALWAYS sell best in the United States.   OoT sold 5.4 million in the US ALONE

While its true that Zelda games sell the best in the US, OOT didnt sell nearly that much.

N64 ZELDA: OCARINA TIME Nov-98 NINTENDO OF AMERICA 3,543,374

[GaimeGuy]

Where'd you get that? Because the official sales I've read show  5.4 million

[PIAC]

hehe metroid by far isn't a well known series, most of the people i know, know samus as 'that guy from smash bros. with the gun' (they are mostly friends of my mates brothers etc) and like Ian Sain said, most people know link as zelda that know OF the series.

[GoldShadow1]

Where'd you get that? Because the official sales I've read show 5.4 million

What official sales would those be? Do you have a link?  I'm always hearing different numbers for sales.  It'd be nice if there was some site where I could look up accurate sales number for each game.

[VoodooMerlin]

I'd agree with the fact that as far as Link is concerned......most would consider his name to be Zelda. As far as Samus......most would consider her to be a guy IF they knew what game Metroid was. Unless the person on the street was a gamer, I'd say they'd draw a blank. Interesting...considering that both characters are old-school as well as modern.

[Mario]

I got that from the NPD data sheet. I cant share that with you

[THF]

I find it kind of baffling that Metroid is not better well known.  I mean, across all the Nintendo Platforms, there are like 6 Metroid games.  Samus has also made appearances in some of the other Nintendo games (or is it just Smash Bros.?).  Plus I've also seen on many "Best games of all time" lists has Super Metroid always somewhere in the top 10.  Anybody have any idea how well Super Metroid did for the SNES?  I mean, if the previous game in the franchise was so incredible, why isn't Metroid Prime selling in the millions?  The blame game has to be placed somewhere here.

Oh, and about the OoT sales numbers, gamespot had it at 7.1 million copies worldwide:
[L=]http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hist_zelda/page14.html[/L]

Granted this article was written awhile ago, it was still well after the N64 died.
By simple math, I estimate the following:
2 million in Japan, 1.5 million in Europe, 3.6 million in North America (as Mario said)

[GaimeGuy]

I could have sworn the NPD sales I read had said  5.4 milion, but I guess I was wrong. :/ Either way,  I was right about Zelda selling the most  in NA.  one out of two isn't bad, although that would be a failing grade.

*drops Mr Weight on himself in defeat*

Zeeky Boogy Doog!  *thread blows up*  

I lose.  

[the_zombie_luke]

Link isn't as well known as Mario. Everyone always assumes Zelda is the star of the Legend of Zelda and that you are Zelda. Samus is even more obscure to video gamers today. There are always some who have heard of Samus, but I always hear: "He's a she?"

[Nintendo]

Who the heck Link & Samus?!?! I know Mario, but who the F are they??

Zelda: OoT - 31,328+3,543,374 (usa) / 1.45 million (japan) -- 5.72 million worldwide
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - 1,632,896 (usa) / 601,539 (japan)

[egman]

THF--I don't know the sales for Super Metroid, but from what understand it was not a big seller. The Metroid series is in realm of games like River City Ransom or the Panzer Dragoon series--always critically acclaimed but never really garnering the kind of sales or attention to match the respect. I think the sales that Metroid Prime has earned is pretty good when you consider that the series has more of a cult status than anything else.

I think Link was on track to surpass Mario as the face of Nintendo at least after OOT. But obviously that has slowed down with Sony's dominance and the fact that the series has gone in directions that even some hardcore gamers don't agree with.

[GaimeGuy]

hmm wellperhaps I was thinking about global sales, not US sales.  Or maybe I just suck.   But like I said,  the US always  buys more Zelda than  Europe or Japan.