That was a really good writeup Pacack, and I think it's a good sort of reality check. I believe that thinking outside the box is a good thing to, but I find it's usually the most comfortable just a little bit outside that box rather than all the way on the other side of the room, yknow?
In any case, I wanted to use this part as a springboard for something else I've been thinking about - mainly how for some series, sales aren't telling the full picture. At risk of sounding like I'm trying to shift the conversation toward my MW (bear with me, it's just an example I'm particularly familiar with), one thing that particularly brought this to my attention was an interview with Puyo Puyo's producer Mizuki Hosoyamada:
https://twitter.com/gosokkyu/status/1172369224280395776?s=20
"it doesn't necessarily correlate to game sales but, according to Hosoyamada, Puyo Puyo has bigger brand awareness across more demographics/generations in Japan than any other Sega brand—like, overwhelmingly so, in the same ballpark as Sanrio, Nintendo, etc "
Meanwhile, Puyo Puyo has only about 25 million in sales, which includes Puyo Puyo Quest on mobile I believe - which puts it at Sega's second best selling series. Nothing to scoff at, but it's a far cry from the sales of Sega's obvious darling Sonic the Hedgehog. So it's a bit of a headscratcher, at first glance, how a series could underperform pretty drastically compared to Sonic and still apparently be bigger across these demographics.
Now from what I've gathered from a Japanese friend of mine, brands in Japan often rise to popularity through merchandise and general iconography. Cartoon characters, for example, make their way to Japan and will get some airtime, but will often make the biggest impact as say, a fashion statement. Like, I don't know how many people in Japan watch Spongebob for example, but he's still a highly marketable figure. You could probably make a similar case for Puyo's cutesy characters and the Puyo themselves: another friend of mine once brought Puyo gummies over from Japan, I'd expect a lot of that sort of thing.
And then of course you have the fact that Puyo Puyo got its greatest push in arcades, Puyo Tsu being toe to toe with Street Fighter II in Japanese arcades back in the 90s. That definitely helps spread notoriety that may not be properly reflected through sales numbers, and it seems like a good segue for exploring this for a series more familiar to Smash Bros.
---- Nerdy Puyo rambling over ends here
Ryu and Mega Man are, undoubtedly, Capcom's biggest stars. That's the reason they're here. But as Pacack's sales reports show, Street Fighter's lifetime sales clock in at around 45 million and Mega Man's at 36 million. Meanwhile Monster Hunter and Resident Evil triumph over these two series, practically doubling their sales numbers... granted, I think Rathalos and Jill Valentine are plenty iconic in their own right, but it's hard to stack up to the likes of Capcom's two golden boys.
But anyway, it's really Mega Man's strong mascot marketability and Street Fighter's deep history on arcades that have propelled them to outright gaming legend status. SFII was an absolute phenomenon and it's telling that it's the game that has gotten an overwhelming amount of attention in Smash (to my chagrin - give me Third Strike content!). And Mega Man's success is fairly moderate compared to some other gaming mascots present in Smash, but as effectively Capcom's mascot he's made the rounds as quite the instantly recognizable and easily marketable figure in his own right. Despite what the sales may tell you, these two are almost certainly the series that the most people are familiar with. Except maybe Monster Hunter nowadays, which has reached a monumental cultural status in Japan... but even so, we've got Rathalos too.
This extends toward Terry as well, but to a bit more of an extreme. Fatal Fury / King of Fighters obviously isn't as massive as the former two, but it's undoubtedly an important part of gaming / arcade history in its own right. I suppose this is an instance where Terry's history precedes him, he certainly has the merit from a legacy standpoint regardless of whether his games sold tremendously well on consoles or even whether or not he's a very recognizable character outside of a specific circle. I think Terry is a very fascinating case in general because it's kind of hard to put him on the same level as most of the others we've seen but he feels right at home regardless.
And while it's a bit of a special case, I would compare Mega Man to the likes of Kirby. Obviously different because Kirby isn't a third party, but more like... Kirby games don't really sell gangbusters or anything, but EVERYONE knows Kirby. He's probably one of the most marketable character designs ever, and his appeal and merchandise is what propelled him to being one of the most iconic video game characters out there. Well, that and Smash I presume, but that's another story.
Damn, sorry for the tangent. Just thought this was an interesting idea to explore. I mentioned Puyo Puyo already, but you guys think there are any other significant potential series that could join where the sales don't always tell the full picture?
