r/Metroid • u/0ne_joke_man • Sep 10 '26
Discussion Why is metroid so much popular in US than Japan?
Ive really had this question for a while but I feel like metroids exposure really gets limited when its weighted with its popularity in Japan vs the USA. But what could be the reason, what are yalls theorys.
Also, the art displayed is my own so please enjoy.
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u/Dorian948 Dread Mode survivor Sep 10 '26
The Zelda character Tingle got three Japan-exclusive games. Go figure
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u/Ckrasxterz20 Sep 10 '26
I know this is a joke, but the character Tingle is based on an specific archetype of japanese comedy so it's something very based in their culture. Also I think that his creator was very passionate to include him other games even though he only worked in Majora's Mask for me
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u/Mercurius94 Sep 10 '26
I mean he looks like an actual medieval jester tbh. What archetype is he based on? Is it theatre/kabuki related? I also think he worked in Majora's Mask and the other games they simply failed to implement him in a charming or meaningful way... he could have stayed in jail all of Wind Waker, he totally deserved it.
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u/SanityAsymptote Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26
Tingle is basically the "Otaku" (extreme anime fanboy/weeaboo) archetype, but for fairies. A fairieaboo, if you will. He dresses like fairies, talks about fairies, and loves fairies. He ostensibly uses the money from his mapmaking work to fund more fairy-related exploits.
Otaku type characters are often used for comedic purposes in Japanese media, their fixation, bizzare speech patterns, and mannerisms are frequently used for easy laughs against a more serious foil character (like Link in the Zelda franchise).
Further, his visual style is very much キモ可愛い (kimokawaii) or "gross-cute". An extremely popular visual style in japan. Imagine a mashup of hello kitty and the garbage pail kids and you'd sort of be in the ballpark.
Tingle's solo games' rise in popularity also coincide with the emergence of Kobito Dukan, an extremely popular "gross-cute" media franchise that shares a suspiciously similar styling to Tingle.
tl;dr: Tingle is considered kimokawaii, or "gross-cute", which is a popular archetyle/thing in Japan. His obsessive nature also fits into the common Otaku comedy trope in Japan.
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u/Mercurius94 Sep 10 '26
Yeah that actually makes sense that he's an Otaku, if you look into him he's 35 and his dad is extremely disappointed in his life decisions. I just never made the connection that he was a weeb.
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u/BrookieTF Sep 11 '26
Damn, just realised that comedy archetype was likely inspired by people with Autism…
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u/amekusa Sep 11 '26
I think he is not exactly supposed to be an otaku, but more like a "man-child" who don't have a proper job for his age, living in his unrealistic dream (which in Tingle's case, is becoming a fairy.) He is a caricature of a awkward middle aged man that can't mentally grow up and struggles to adapt to the society. Maybe it's a nintendo way to depict peter pan syndrome. Also he is a self-parody for Link, I believe.
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u/MFZozzy Sep 11 '26
I'm not too familiar with japanese culture, when you say "based in their culture", do you mean based as in has the roots in their culture, or the online "that's based af" sense?
Is this archetype a positive one in japanese culture?
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u/MC_Fap_Commander Sep 10 '26
Dragon Quest (Warrior) barely made a blip in the U.S. with the early games. They literally had to cancel school on days when new DQ games dropped in Japan. In contrast, the West has been crazy for Zelda for a long time, but, while popular in Japan, it never had the enthusiastic support the DQ games got.
It's just some unusual cultural differences and what-not. I think it's normalized in the last few years with greater similarity of interests for both audiences (but occasional distinctions, too, obv).
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u/AgentSnowCone Sep 10 '26
That just reminded me of the music from DQ8, what a nostalgia hit
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u/GIRose Sep 10 '26
The game that is the reason every generic Western style fantasy setting in Japan is styled after the German Renaissance
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u/kango234 Sep 11 '26
I think Yuji Horii said DQ was never bug in the west because Enix refused to market it as much as Square did with FF back in the day. They were content with their Japanese fanbase.
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u/Enrichus Sep 10 '26
Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland was released in Europe and it's genuinely a good game.
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u/logica_torcido Sep 10 '26
I don’t know but I also can’t fathom why it’s not more popular in the west either. They’re action adventure games, Samus is cool as fuck, it’s not hard to understand. Yet people still seem to shrug their shoulders at this series. I truly don’t get it
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u/Aware-Virus-4718 Sep 10 '26
Metroid is a series for older teens and adults on consoles that were primarily marketed towards children and families. Now that the N64/GBA/gamecube kids are adults with disposable income and Nintendo has an appealing offering for them, the series that you have to “grow into” like Metroid and FE are growing in popularity as well.
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u/connectplum_ Sep 11 '26
the "growth" is selling 3m and 4m for those series. other nintendo series sold 10m, 20m, 30m on switch. the growth for those series show that theyre actually niche. kirby sold 8m in the same console and it sells usually between 1m and 2m
and nintendo always have been bought by adults, teens and kids
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u/xtellarfb_ Shinespark Enthusiast Sep 10 '26
I'm not surprised 2D Metroid is not that popular, considering most people with a console only buy 3D games. But I'm surprised the Prime series is not that popular, considering the first-person shooter games market is huge.
I guess that has to do, in some capacity, with Metroid being locked behind the Nintendo ecossystem, and most people who are into 3D shooters go for PlayStation, Xbox or Windows instead.
And now that games are expensive, many people only want overbloated open worlds with +100 hours to justify the price they're paying. In my opinion, it's a little dumb, but it's only fair.
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u/Away-Actuary-6963 Sep 10 '26
Prime is a slow paced action-adventure puzzle series with a FPS camera, why would you expect it to be wildly popular? The average person would probably find it difficult and dull.
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u/came-as-I-were Sep 10 '26
And to add: look at what time the first Prime game released: in the west, shooters like Half Life 2, Counter Strike, Doom, Crysis, Unreal Tournament, Halo, Battlefield and so on were popular; completely different to Prime imo
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u/Verraise-Mage Sep 10 '26
Prime 3 launched within 3 weeks of Halo 3, one of the dumbest moves the series made
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u/Grndslap Sep 10 '26
Looking at when Metroid Prime came out, most fps fans weren’t using Nintendo by that point and those who wanted a sci fi shooter were more likely to go with Halo.
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u/MC_Fap_Commander Sep 10 '26
Prime used a shooter mechanic, but it was an exploration/adventure game at core. I don't think the Halo audience was looking for that in an fps.
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u/Axtdool Sep 10 '26
Tbf, the last new prime game before 4 was on the Wii.
Gaming in general has grown a lot since then and thus many people never even experienced the Prime games.
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u/NamiRocket Sep 10 '26
I think this is a gross overgeneralization of people's buying habits. Yes, triple A shooters and open world games move big numbers, that's no lie. But so do kart racers. So do little builder games. So do specific character action games. So do farm sims. So do other search action (or metroidvania) games like Silksong. It really depends on the game.
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u/xtellarfb_ Shinespark Enthusiast Sep 10 '26
I think this is a gross overgeneralization of people's buying habits.
Keyword: "Most".
And unfortunately that's true. Even in Nintendo's ecossystem, the best-selling games are *almost all* 3D or top-down.
And yeah, Hollow Knight and Silksong are VERY popular, but the metroidvania/metroid-like genre is still quite niche. It doesn't help that Metroid is looked down upon by a lot of the so-called MV fans because "not open-ended enough" (their words, not mine).
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u/NamiRocket Sep 10 '26
Keyword: "Most".
Yeah, that's what I was disputing.
And Metroid's genre is not extremely niche these days, no. It hasn't been for quite a while. Now, you could argue the market has been oversaturated with them for years, so it's a lot harder to stand out now than it's ever been, but it's also not particularly niche when several series in the genre are multi-million sellers.
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u/Wakkawipeout Sep 10 '26
Ooh, I love the phrase Search Action. That illustrates what the genre is about better than Metroidvania
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u/PlayMp1 Sep 11 '26
now that games are expensive
They're cheaper now relative to real wages than they were when the Prime trilogy released?
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u/Zevroid Sep 10 '26
I've seen a million different reasons.
One of the most recurring from people who tried and didn't like it was that they "don't know where to go" or "get lost." Most Metroid games don't hold the player's hand and tell them exactly where to go, and if they somehow don't understand how to read the maps, or remember which door goes where, they end up getting lost. This is obviously frustrating for some people. It also frustrates me because outside the original Metroid, and maybe the original Metroid II, I don't grasp how anyone can get lost in basically every other game because the maps aren't that hard to read.
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u/ElGlitch321 Sep 12 '26
You know, that's what makes Metroid special, that's what I loved about it as a kid. I remember how lost I got in Super Metroid and after 2 hours finally finding the right path.
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u/Additional_Crab_1678 Sep 10 '26
Prime was not my favorite series, but, damn if Dread didn't reignite that spark I had from the embers of Fusion... Holy crap I made it my mission to beat it.
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u/Meringue_Bandicoot Sep 10 '26
I think I just had a glimpse into some dark reality where Samus was some generic anime character instead, which switched her popularity
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u/ElGlitch321 Sep 12 '26
Nooooooooooooooo, Samus, I think if they do that they'll kill the franchise
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u/Silvanus350 Sep 10 '26
Sci-Fi and horror have never been mainstream or exceptionally popular genres. Even today. They’re MORE popular, certainly, but they still pale in comparison.
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u/Nei-Chan- Sep 10 '26
The issue here is that Nintendo spent a lot of time as "the kids console". Sega said they were more mature and for teens, Sony and XBox were the first consoles to try and target adults for real...
Nintendo was the cute and friendly games. And Metroid, while not a horror game or anything close, is still quite a deviation from that aspect.
That has kind of changed because Nintendo is now more the Nostalgia brand, but it's hard to have nostalgia for something you haven't played.
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u/NydusRush Sep 11 '26
It's because mainline Metroid games, like all Nintendo properties, have to be 10/10. It's part of the brand identity. That slows down the releases and makes them less frequent in the public consciousness.
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u/IronLordSamus Sep 14 '26
They would be more popular in the wat if they had more games coming out on the refular like Mario or Zelda. The problem is nintendo doesnt invest in its other franchises like they do with Mario or Zelda.
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u/myst_daemon Sep 10 '26
If I had to guess, I'd say it's due to the loneliness of Metroid games. So many entries in the series have only Samus and her abilities to make it through the whole game. For Japanese players, that isolation feels off-putting whereas Western players find it to be part of the experience. Zelda and Metroid were cut from the same cloth, but while Metroid threw you into a dark alien planet with no one to help you, Zelda put you in a whimsical fantasy landscape and even had some NPCs to help you along the way.
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u/MC_Fap_Commander Sep 10 '26
This is good stuff, thanks. I recall from a marketing class I took back in college that Marlboro cigarette ads in the West emphasized the "lone cowboy" as individualism was foundational to the brand. Marlboro ads in Asia tended to have groups of cowboys smoking and roping steers and what-not (as collective identity was part of the brand).
Maybe some of that going on here, too?
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u/Raptormann0205 Sep 10 '26
This i think actually cuts closest to the heart of the issue, moreso than any of the other superficial reasons listed.
Japan as a society is woefully solitary. Loneliness is the rule, it's the whole reason dating simulators are so big over there, the Japanese are so damned busy that many of them don't have time to make meaningful connections.
In America, at least during the time Metroid was coming out, we were almost aggressively social. So for many more introverted folk, the isolation of Metroid was probably a very welcome change. To the Japanese, a stark reflection of what they don't like about their society.
I additionally think it's why Metroid constantly flirts with adding additional characters to Samus' journey. Something to make it appeal more to domestic audiences.
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u/PhantomBraved Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26
To be fair, they're also very communitarian. Orderliness, cleanliness, and consideration for others is a huge part of their culture.
If you drop your wallet in a major Japanese city, you will probably get it back.
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u/CuFlam Sep 10 '26
I additionally think it's why Metroid constantly flirts with adding additional characters to Samus' journey. Something to make it appeal more to domestic audiences.
That's an interesting take, since we typically see stuff like that and assume it's just extra exposition and handholding for casual players in the west
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u/BaronAleksei Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 11 '26
There’s also the element that separates them in terms of the location. Zelda is analagous to a standard TTRPG campaign: there’s a world, and inside the world are discrete spaces called “dungeons” where you have the most high-energy fun. If you and the party feel isolated, you might leave the dungeon and reenter the world. You’re in Lava Land, you leave it to go back to Normal Town, and you end up traipsing over to Ice Cave.
Metroid is more like a “megadungeon”. A megadungeon is technically a single dungeon in a larger world, but can be ran as a single campaign because 1) it’s large enough to have multiple dungeons inside it with their own campaigns that serve as narrative beats for the megadungon’s larger campaign, and 2) it’s internal aesthetics and foci are as varied as regular dungeons are from each other. The megadungeon has a Lava Land and an Ice Cave inside it, there is no “outside” for narrative reasons. But it may also have some kind of denizens of the dungeon that have formed a Normal Town of their own, and that makes it feel less lonely…but Metroid doesn’t have any Normal Towns, so it’s just isolating.
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u/BoonDragoon Sep 10 '26
It's the respective countries' cultural moments.
The 80's-90's were very different times for the US and Japan. The US saw Japan as a potential rival; a nascent superpower that stood a good chance of reaching global dominance through advanced technology and business dealings. It's why the cyberpunk genre is so saturated with Japanese influence as seen through a Western lens. Metroid carries a lot of the same DNA and general energy as that early-wave cyberpunk. It was part of the zeitgeist.
Meanwhile, Japan felt itself being actively devoured by that same technological juggernaut. Popular science fiction properties like Gundam Wing were actually stealth fantasy, porting samurai imagery and sword combat into a futuristic setting. They were also biting criticisms of the kind of all-consuming technocracy that Japan felt itself becoming. Crawling around a dismal techno-maze shooting vermin with a beep-boop gun just wasn't hitting right. Metroid probably would have felt pretty off-putting to a lot of folks over there!
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u/connectplum_ Sep 11 '26
this makes no sense when the first metroid sold over 1m in japan, the only game that did
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u/kaleb314 Sep 10 '26
The distinctly American urge to curl up in a ball and roll into a tight space that is just large enough to accommodate you
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u/appoplecticskeptic Sep 10 '26
No, I think you might be thinking of cats, not Americans. Cats definitely do that.
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u/Nockolisk Sep 10 '26
Yet cats are extremely popular in Japan. Maybe they should reskin Samus as a cat for the Japanese releases.
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u/Emotional_Tip1931 Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26
japan likes mecha and magic (evangalion and all the jrpgs)more than sci-fi while other nations love sci-fi best example of this is star wars
edit : star wars isn't sci-fi sorry ;p
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u/countzero00 Sep 10 '26
But Star Wars was a massive success in Japan as well. When I went to Japan on vacation in 2018, All Nippon Airways even had a plane painted like BB-8 and C3PO did the safety instructions before takeoff.
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u/ReallySmartInEnglish Sep 10 '26
Star Wars also draws heavy influences from Japanese cinema, particularly from jidaigeki/samurai films. Go watch Kurosawa’s “The Hidden Fortress”. It’s basically Star Wars, but set in Feudal Japan.
But look at how little other big sci-fi franchises are present in Japan. Alien, Terminator, Dune, Doctor Who, Star Trek, not much publicity/reception in Japan. And even though a number of them have had Japanese elements, it’s not anywhere near the ratio of Japanese/Non-Japanese that Star Wars has.
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u/countzero00 Sep 10 '26
I agree that Japanese stuff is more present in Japan then stuff from the west, but it is still popular. E.g. The Terminator: they turned it into an anime (Terminator Zero, and yes, I know it was commissioned by Netflix and written by an American) and even made a movie "What if the Terminator was a cute school girl" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929860)
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u/ReallySmartInEnglish Sep 10 '26
Just cause “What if X was a cute girl” has kind of become ubiquitous with Japan, doesn’t mean they’ll be onboard with the concept wherever it shows up. They tend to lean towards Japanese-made stuff. Star Wars has roots in Japanese cinema, so it’s kind of grandfathered in. Terminator - to the best of my knowledge - doesn’t really have any Japanese influence. Plus, you can make anime out of anything (it’s a medium, not a genre). There’s a Halo anime. There’s a Batman anime (more than one now I think).
Another factor is that most sci-fi tends to be set in a speculative version of Earth’s future. The few Western sci-fi that reference Japan in their settings do not paint a particularly flattering picture (Weyland-Yutani in Alien, Arasaka in Cyberpunk). Because Star Wars has literally zero connection with Earth, it’s divorced enough from some of that messy imagery, and messy history that the Japanese don’t enjoy discussing.
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u/MedusasGirlfriend69 Sep 10 '26
I'm gonna hold your hand when I say this. Star wars is space fantasy, not traditional sci fi
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u/xtellarfb_ Shinespark Enthusiast Sep 10 '26
What's stopping Nintendo from putting Samus in a mecha? That would be rad af.
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u/Zevroid Sep 10 '26
The truest miss of Federation Force's concept with the giant mecha - not having Samus pilot one.
Well, that and the mechs not being the most interestingly designed. Even when they came back in Prime 4, their designs are very grounded (as grounded as mech design can be) with a basic military design philosophy. A far cry from the more popular aesthetics of Gundam, which run the full spectrum of mech design.
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u/JAvatar80 Sep 10 '26
Except Star Wars is not sci-fi. It's sci-fantasy. You have literal space wizards with laser swords.
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u/xtellarfb_ Shinespark Enthusiast Sep 10 '26
Yeah, when I think of Sci-Fi, I think of Star Trek or Doctor Who.
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u/Additional_Crab_1678 Sep 10 '26
And by all accounts... Star Wars is Science-Fiction.
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u/JAvatar80 Sep 10 '26
Except it's not. It's squarely in science fantasy. Because the science doesn't. And the fantasy DOES.
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u/Additional_Crab_1678 Sep 10 '26
Another word for Fantasy is... Uh oh.. Fiction!
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u/JAvatar80 Sep 10 '26
Yes. But Science Fiction is a specific sub-genre of Fiction, which Fantasy and Science Fantasy are not part of.
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u/PriorityNo4971 19d ago edited 19d ago
Tbh at this point Metroid is borderline sci-fantasy as well, considering they also got psychic space wizard aliens, and ghosts n stuff
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u/CKoiLRapportAvecLeQC Sep 10 '26
They had a long running series called Legend of Galactic Heroes although it was more about politics and nobility drama with spaceships.
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u/Eusocial_sloth3 Sep 10 '26
How does Japan feel about super soldiers?
I always group Samus with Doom Guy and Master Chief; the idea of an unstoppable badass is very popular in the West.
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u/BaronAleksei Sep 10 '26
They definitely love main characters who are simply built different, if shonen battle manga and light novels are any indication
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u/An_feh_fan Sep 11 '26
A good chunk of Final Fantasy VII's plot revolves around characters related to a organization of super soldiers literally called "SOLDIER" so I'd say at least a little
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u/ImposterDittoM Sep 10 '26
It’s sci-fi.
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u/DarkKnightNiner Actually beat the original Sep 10 '26
What does that mean though. Japan just isn't into Sci-Fi at all...?
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u/SipoteQuixote Sep 10 '26
Their sci-fi is little more... cyberpunk or mecha/kaiju stuff while were usually in space fighting aliens or something.
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u/initial-algebra Sep 10 '26
There is a lot of mecha out there about fighting aliens in space (although it's more common to be about fighting other humans).
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u/DarkKnightNiner Actually beat the original Sep 10 '26
Kaiju is definitely big over there, but let's not pretend like there aren't plenty of popular anime that aren't just Kaiju and more similar to more regular space adventures like Metroid.
I've always been blown away how poorly it sells in Japan. It's like a handful of people buy the games over there. It's a huge shame.
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u/Ladyaceina Sep 10 '26
metroid has become a bit more popular in japan in recent times
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u/510BrotherPanda Sep 10 '26
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u/Sea_Macaron_8789 Sep 10 '26
Annnnd that's she's Blonde and Attractive, no shocker that America adores her.
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u/510BrotherPanda Sep 10 '26
I guess
It's not a factor for me, I prefer the armor on.
Especially since they seem to refuse to go back to the combat boot soles on Zero Suit since Other M's wedge heels.
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u/SacredGeometry9 Sep 10 '26
An athletically built blonde woman in full power armor, who has a gun so big it covers her entire lower arm? That checks almost all the boxes for the USA.
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u/Second_Sol Sep 10 '26
I've heard that Samus in Other M was more catered to a Japanese audience, and the game sold decently well in Japan, so maybe that's one of the reasons why?
The gameplay is entirely different from the prime and mainline games, so it's hard to say for certain.
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u/socu11 Sep 10 '26
Because they don't know shit.
Just kidding, it's probably because the sci-fi badass character shooting aliens appeals more to Americans than to Japanese people. I mean, Halo could have only been made by an American team
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u/SvenHudson Sep 10 '26
I'm gonna go against the grain and speculate that Metroid is perhaps too familiar to Japanese audiences; perhaps some of what is to us individuality and mystique is to them tropey and uninteresting because it's their tropes and not ours.
Like, we like to make a big deal out of its Alien/s inspiration and we're not wrong to call that a major influence but there's also a bunch of stuff based on sci-fi cartoons and live action superhero shows and giant monster movies but those are all Japanese media so to western audiences they feel less derivative and more novel. Like, we're aware of some examples of that Japanese media, certainly Power Rangers and Godzilla weren't unfamiliar to me when I first played Super as a kid, but those are actually whole genres in Japan and not just the few individual series that achieved popularity outside of it.
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u/AegisUrien Sep 10 '26
Japaneses love cute stuff. Metroid isn't cute. Metroid plushies won't sell.
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u/Zeth22xx Sep 10 '26
Japanese culture is more about the collective or group reliance. US is more independent or self reliance.
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u/Away-Actuary-6963 Sep 10 '26
Baby’s first sociological analysis and also that doesn’t explain at all why Metroid is unpopular in Japan vs other games with a single isolated protagonist that are popular
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u/mishumishumishu Sep 10 '26
I feel like a big majority of the Nintendo demographic is into more cutesy lighthearted games, like Mario, Kirby, Pokemon, Zelda, or Splatoon, and I'd imagine that would be even more true in Japan. Metroid is like, the furthest first party Nintendo series from being cutesy I can imagine, so unfortunately I guess it doesn't appeal to a lot of people who buy the only consoles it's on.
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u/Waterlemon1997 Sep 10 '26
We are rather fond of gun welding super armored heroes fighting evil space creatures
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u/Ranko08 Sep 10 '26
Japan preferred whimsical games like Mario and zelda, and the type of sci fi they liked was more mecha related, like neon genesis evangelion and such. Isolation and cold space exploration was more popular in the us because of stuff like the alien movie (the inspiration for Metroid)
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u/GirlsOfGaming Sep 10 '26
Only way is to ask lol. Japanese fans please step to the front, we have questions
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u/generico2560 Sep 11 '26
I know this is a joke but it's something that I always wanted to see how the actual japanese see these franchises
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u/superxav120 Sep 10 '26
Metroid is that classic Badass Hero story, in a retro/horror, scifi world. She's got ammunition for days in a cool power suit and is basically on the level of some of the worlds most powerful heroes. I swear, if Metroid had a movie that leaned into all its strengths, a lot of people would give it a chance cause.
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u/Foodeater55 Sep 10 '26
I feel like they ignored Metroid for years and also just had it on hand helps. Skipped n64 entirely
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u/Warm_Republic4849 Sep 10 '26
Alien movies. They showed us that a female can be more that that, can be caring badass strong nuanced, etc. Samus is the same archetype and them some
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u/ernitheshinyone Sep 10 '26
Not just the US. We love the franchise here in Europe too. It's seems to be a Japan-only thing.
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u/LunaLynnTheCellist Sep 10 '26
daaaamn your art is amazing i love it i honestly took it for official artwork
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u/Snowman640 Sep 10 '26
It caters more to our specific cultural interest -- Metroid is heavily based on Alien and other classic Hollywood Sci-fi franchises, and it's more gritty art style and story telling slotted in perfectly as it evolved alongside American games like Halo and Doom.
Games like Splatoon are now CRAZY popular in Japan specifically because it has such heavy cultural references in its art and story telling despite it purposely trying to be a mix of American and Japanese art culture (it's more heavy on the Japan part than the American part).
Zelda is also wildly popular in the west specifically because it's based on Western Fantasy like Tolkiens works.
Mario really works in both countries simply because it's such a simple and fun world not really rooted in either countries Culture other than the whole "he's a New York plumber". King Koopa is a Japanese Kaiju buuuut the original Donkey Kong arcade game had... Donkey Kong... King Kong is an American monster that's been adopted by Japanese Kaiju media.
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u/Src-Freak Sep 10 '26
Japan loves their cute stuff.
Dark or more mature games don’t fly there that much.
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u/Electronic-Jacket291 Sep 10 '26
I think that its because the prime series was Taylor made for western gamers at the time. Fps, influenced by Halo, highly military, made by a western studio. And that was the point of make of break for most IPs in gaming
Up until that, super was just a somewhat niche game, games didn't have the following they have today.
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u/CULT-LEWD Sep 10 '26
sci fi in general i think is just more popular in america. not to mention is more aligns with american pop culture like Alien wich the series was isnpired by
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u/MarseloBoomer Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26
We should ask them directly because at least in my western mind it doesn't make any sense, i'm incapable to make an explanation.
I rather question myself why Metroid isn't more popular in general. I get it if you never owned Nintendo or you don't like their stuff even when they have played games like Blasphemous, Hollow Knight, Ori, some old Castlevania but they are clueless about Metroid.
But on the other hand i know people that have owned Nintendo consoles even before me, played things like Zelda, Mario, Kirby, Smash etc and they still don't know anything about Metroid. I feel like "come on this is some of the best shit that Nintendo has ever created and you just dont play it?!" Weird.
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u/iago_hedgehog Sep 10 '26
you say that based in what exactly? Im pretty sure metroid is niched as it is in both countries.
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u/spyD164 Sep 10 '26
From a gameplay standpoint it's probably cause (generally), Japanese audiences don't like demanding and hyper skill-based games
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u/GreatSirZachary Sep 10 '26
Americans like runny-shooty games. Metroid was the runniest and shootiest until Splatoon.
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u/Crono_Sapien99 Sep 10 '26
Sci-fi isn’t that popular of a genre in Japan outside of stuff like mecha (Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Macross) or cyberpunk (Ghost in the Shell, Akira.) Metroid is more of a traditional sci-fi inspired by Alien, a western movie franchise, and so it’d naturally appeal more to a Western audience
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u/thealice1984 Sep 10 '26
Obviously there's a plethora of reasons but one that has often come to mind is story. I'm of the understanding that generally speaking Japan is big on story and less on gameplay. The early Metroid games are not this. They've gotten more narrative action in later games (and they're nowhere near as cryptic as say a Souls game) but I would argue they're for the most part, light on narrative, and heavy on gameplay. Meanwhile in the the states, it's kind of a 180. Americans like a good story but really want action and highly interactive gameplay (broadly speaking).
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u/Illustrious_Bid4224 Sep 10 '26
I think that the biggest problem is Nintendo's tendency of making console exclusives, with very little chance for people in bigger markets to learn of it's existence.
Like do you know anyone who was actually exited for the switch 2?
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u/Long_Context6367 Sep 11 '26
I think it has to do with a tall sexy blonde taking out aliens. That was a popular genre in the 80s and 90s.
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u/TheGrumpiestPanda Sep 11 '26
It's because Metroid is a type of sci-fi Japan doesn't vibe with.
Metroid is closer to Western sci-fi like Alien, Predator, and The Thing; it has very horror sci-fi influences.
Japan loves mechs, cyberpunk, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi a lot more.
So, I can see why most Japanese audiences sadly take a pass on the series.
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u/DaGreatestMH Remember me? Sep 11 '26
Guns.
Plus especially now, you get a much more action focused series that probably appeals more to western sensibilities.
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u/Johnny_Strawhat Sep 11 '26
Space-person-shooting-disgusting-aliens is a time honored American trope.
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u/connectplum_ Sep 11 '26
Metroid isnt even popular in the west. There's barely no sales in japan so only 1-3m from the west is nothing
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u/yakcm88 Sep 11 '26
It's because , between merch, games, special editions and preorder bonuses, Japan consistently gets all the cool stuff, and Samus is VERY cool.
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u/dragnfrost Sep 11 '26
Probably same reason scalpers seem to be so much worse over here compared to japan, cultural differences. There's always been a collectable side to Metroid but when it comes to a women in a power fantasy and "oh no, she's hot" side of things it seems to resonate more in the west than east. While Japan has the dead or alive series, Metroid has less ogle moments comparatively. Japan still has a lesser view on women compared to the US also, so the women in power dynamic resonates more over here. The sci-fi aspect makes a big difference between both sides but I think its still mainly cultural differences in power dynamics.
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u/Caolan114 Sep 11 '26
It was explained to me that japanese players prefer lengthy rpgs as to real time action games which Is why Dragon Quest Is way more popular there
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u/SomeRandumbDooch Sep 11 '26
It's mainly cultural preferences for gameplay.
Japanese gamers generally prefer more linear experiences while American gamers generally like a bit more freedom.
Metroid's also fairly western in its inspiration which might be a reason.
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u/Endymion2626 Sep 11 '26
Japanese people preffer women who only are sexual objets, that’s why xenoblade is so popular
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u/veteran_food_eater Sep 12 '26
Cuz it’s a shooter. I think that’s really it. Put guns in the game and America will buy it
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u/ZrapeToid Sep 14 '26
Americans love space stuff, first person shooters, creepy aliens. Just add blood and perhaps hamburgers and you're all set.
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u/SirFroglet Sep 10 '26
Perhaps has more to do with the style of Sci-fi. I feel like Japanese sci-fi resonates more into either cyberpunk, post-apoc, or mecha.
Metroid has more in line with Alien and other sci-fi horror which resonates more with the West, even though Metroid is clearly more of a power fantasy.