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{{trope}}
{{Video Game Examples Need Sorting}}
Examples of [[{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}]] in [[{{SUBPAGENAME}}]] include:
== Real Life Examples ==
=== Action Adventure ===
* The [[Metroidvania]] genre is hugely popular in the West, but only a niche genre in Japan. In addition to ''[[Metroid]]'' and ''[[Castlevania]]'' themselves, games like ''[[Blaster Master]]'' and ''[[Cave Story]]'' have also been subject to this trend.
* The ''[[Metroid]]'' series is somewhat popular in Japan, but so much more in the U.S. that for ''[[Metroid Prime]]'', Nintendo hired an American developer. This led to a humorous meme that Samus, being blonde and blue-eyed, was 'obviously' an American character. Several of the titles have released in the U.S. before Japan to cater to this fanbase.
** ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' was heaped with critical accolades upon its release in the West, earning several Game Of The Year awards, and is to this day considered by many to be one of the greatest games ever made. Not merely its sales, but in critical reception was, at best, lukewarm in Japan.
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** Samus herself fits this trope. In the U.S. she's considered one of Nintendo's "Big four" characters, trailing only [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]], [[The Legend of Zelda|Link]] and [[Pokémon|Pikachu]] in popularity . In Japan she is probably behind [[Fire Emblem Akaneia|Marth]], which would humor or confuse those not in Japan.
** Interestingly, the latest game in the franchise, ''[[Metroid: Other M]]'', made a strong effort to appeal to Japanese players, with anime-influenced FMV cutscenes, greater emphasis on story, emotional character development for Samus, and more linear gameplay in the style of ''Metroid Fusion''. The fandom is [[Base Breaker|thoroughly split]] over ''Other M'', with many fans complaining about Samus's characterization and the emphasis on FMV cinematics, as well as complaints of the game being too linear and lacking in exploration. The game sold about as well as any other ''Metroid'' game in Japan, and [[Americans Hate Tingle|its US sales were the lowest]] of any console-based Metroid game.
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' is on the list of "Japanese games better known outside of Japan", as of the 2000s. While ''[[Ocarina of Time]]'' was as much of a best-seller as anywhere else, ''[[The Wind Waker]]'' and ''[[Twilight Princess]]'' in particular had disappointing sales in their homeland, despite Famitsu giving Wind Waker a perfect 40. [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] even commented on it once, saying the West apparently has a bigger preference for these types of games than Japan does.
*** Conversely, ''[[Phantom Hourglass]]'' was very successful there, but not so much could be said for ''[[Spirit Tracks]]'', which was loaded with Anime Tropes to cater to the established Japanese fan-base. This may be the reason behind Nintendo not planning further Toon Link games.
* ''[[Castlevania]]'' is more popular in the US than in Japan, according to current producer Koji Igarashi, which explains his decision to release ''Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles'' and ''Order of Ecclesia'' in the US first. Konami actually tried using the name "Castlevania" in Japan because it was more popular under that name (except it didn't take).
=== Action ===
=== Adventure ===
* The adventure game ''[[The Neverhood]]'' was a bit of a low-key cult hit in the West. The PC version got a Japanese [[PS 1]] port called ''Klaymen Klaymen...'' and Japanese gamers absolutely ''adored'' it. In addition to getting some cool pieces of promotional merchandise, the Japanese company that localized it (and its sequel, ''Skullmonkeys'') made a [[Gaiden Game]] called ''Klaymen Gun-Hockey.'' It's about as [[Widget Series|weird as it sounds.]]
** The game is also very popular in Russia, Poland, and the former Czechoslovakia
* ''[[Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors]]'' sold far better in the US than it did in Japan. This actually caused a supply problem (Aksys had only manufactured a small number of games, anticipating sales similar to Japan) and until the second release the game often sold for upwards of $80 on Ebay/Amazon.
=== Beat 'em Ups ===
=== Fighting ===
** It's rare to have a Brazilian character in fiction, much less in Video Games, but when it happens, Brazilian gamers usually share their love with it. Examples are ''[[Tekken]]'' capoeira fighters, and {{spoiler|Godot/Diego Armando}} from the ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' series, who [[Word of God]] says is Brazilian.
*** On a similar manner, [[Saint Seiya|Taurus Aldebaran]] (who is Brazilian) is the [[Butt Monkey]] of ''[[Saint Seiya]]'''s Brazilian fandom. He is almost universally regarded as the weakest Gold Saint and a boring character, but fans just love to make fun of him, to the point that no one hates him truly, just loves to pretend they do.
*** [[Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales|Blanka]], from ''[[Street Fighter]]''. Went from [[Ethnic Scrappy]] in the earliest days to very loved as some sort of [[Crazy Awesome]] character. To the point of people wanting him for [https://web.archive.org/web/20150828021022/http://bocadeurna.tumblr.com/post/898558198/vote-blanka-presidente President] of the country.
** The ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom]]'' games have never been popular in Japan (considered the Mecca of [[Fighting Game|fighting games]]) but have a large, rabid following in the United States, especially in the East Coast. ''MvC2'' is considered one of greatest fighting games of all time in North America.
*** [[Memetic Mutation|The only fighting game played in New York is Marvel Vs. Capcom 2]].
*** Similarly, France loves the ''[[Soul Calibur]]'' series.
** Jon Talbain from ''[[Darkstalkers]]''. Considered rather minor by the Japanese, compared to Morrigan, Demitri, Felicia, Lilith, and Anakaris, but has a very large following in America. Needless to say, they are very eager to see Talbain get featured in [[Capcom vs. Whatever|crossovers]], but the Japanese don't get it.
*** However, Ryoma Niitsuma, the developer of ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'', notes that than if he had more development time, [http://iplaywinner.com/news/2010/10/23/niitsuma-disconfirms-characters-for-mvc3-but-gives-some-hope.html Jon would have been his pick for the series' fourth rep.] <ref>For reference, the three ''Darkstalkers'' characters in ''MvC3'' are [[Ensemble Darkhorse|fan-faves]] Morrigan, Felicia, and Hsien-Ko.</ref> Perhaps his fans may be [[Throw the Dog a Bone|getting a bone thrown their way]] soon... [[Yank the Dog's Chain|which got cruelly yanked the moment]] ''[[Yank the Dog's Chain|Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3]]'' [[Yank the Dog's Chain|additions are revealed... and Talbain is nowhere in sight.]]
**** To rub salt in the wounds, Ameteratsu's alternate DLC costume in Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 [https://web.archive.org/web/20130624184448/http://shoryuken.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/img0852r.jpg has her looking like Talbain.]
** This trope is the reason why Choi Bounge from ''[[The King of Fighters]]'' who is rather unpopular and reviled (not as much as Bao, but still reviled) everywhere, managed to get into ''[[Capcom vs. Whatever|SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos]]''. Why? Because Koreans consider him top-tier, and love him. More than in-universe Korean hero Kim Kaphwan (who's also featured). So they added Choi to cater to the Korean fans.
** Not that he's lacking popularity in Japan, but from ''[[BlazBlue]]'', Iron Tager seemingly gets more fanbase in America, helped with the [[Values Dissonance]] of how manliness is better valued in America and he's probably the second manliest character in the game (after Bang) as well as helped with some American-exclusive memes like "REAL SOVIET DAMAGE" and "GIGANTIC TAGER!" (The Japanese version instead censors with [[Kenji Nomura]] yelling "Gauntlet Hades" thus missing out the joke), and one of the more higher-tier male voice actor ([[Jamieson Price]]) to voice him, making him seeing more fanbase in America.
=== First-Person Shooters ===
* [[Similarly Named Works|Not to be confused with]] [[Point Blank (video game)|the Namco game of the same name]], but the Korean multiplayer PC FPS ''[[Point Blank (2008 video game)|Point Blank]]'' has enjoyed massive success in Indonesia, mainly because it's free ([[Allegedly Free Game|yeah]], [[Bribing Your Way to Victory|mostly]]). It's now available in America (and the rest of the world) as ''[[Point Blank (2008 video game)|Project Blackout]]'', for those who want to give it a try.
* ''[[Counter-Strike]]'' has an enduring popularity in Brazil and China. In fact, one news report from Chinese media states that certain police departments use it as a training tool, and it got to the point that [[Moral Guardians]] in Brazil banned ''Counter-Strike'' citing "subversion of the social order". The ban was lifted shortly after.
=== Hack and Slash ===
=== MMORPG ===
=== Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas ===
* ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'' enjoys an enduring popularity in the Philippines, as evidenced by the immensely vocal ''DOTA 2'' scene in the country which popularised the slang term ''"Lakad Matatag!"'' (lit. "Walk Strong!") as made famous by a Filipino commentator during an eSports match. There have been times that ''DOTA'' matches in PC rental shops went into [[Serious Business]] territory (read: degenerated into violent brawls) that one village in the province of Cavite banned the game from being played on said shops over delinquency issues by youths playing it.
* Ditto with the mobile game ''[[Mobile Legends: Bang Bang]]'' (often colloquially referred to by Filipinos by the initialism "ML"), as it is far more readily available especially to those who either could not afford a PC or don't have the time or patience to be stuck on a computer. Such was the popularity of the game in the Philippines that developer Moontoon added national hero Lapu-Lapu as a playable character, and appointed boxer [[Manny Pacquiao]] as their brand ambassador. To commemorate their partnership with Pacquiao, a character based on the boxer named Paquito was added in an update.
=== Open World ===
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' is ''overwhelmingly popular'' in Brazil largely due to its open-world gameplay and extensive customisation the series gives to players. It isn't uncommon for a Brazilian gamer from the 2000s to spend hours wreaking havoc in ''San Andreas'' either on a PS2 with a bootleg copy, or on PC where countless Brazil-themed mods were made by the local modding scene. It came full circle in 2012 when Rockstar released ''[[Max Payne 3]]'', set in [[São Paulo]].
** The ''GTA'' series also experienced a surge of popularity in the Philippines especially in the 2000s during which the 3D era (''GTA 3'', ''Vice City'' and ''San Andreas'') was in full swing. It became so much of a staple on PC rental shops that some of them have even provided cheat sheets for players to refer to whenever they want to use cheat codes ingame.
* ''[[L.A. Noire]]'' was a best-seller in Japan when it was first released in 2011, topping local sales charts. It even got a [https://techcrunch.com/2011/06/29/3940-l-a-noire-gets-almost-perfect-score-from-japanese-game-magazine-famitsu/ near-perfect score] from ''Famitsu'', a rarity among Western-developed games. It helps that detective fiction is a popular literary genre in Japan, and that the game's interrogation mechanic is reminiscent of visual novels.
=== Party ===
=== Platformers ===
* A very similar example comes in the form of ''[[Blaster Master]]''; its Japanese incarnation, ''Metafight'', is all but forgotten. ''Blaster Master'', however, remains a beloved [[Cult Classic]] among Western gamers who cut their teeth in the NES era, due to its [[Metroidvania]]-style gameplay and [[Crowning Music of Awesome|amazing soundtrack]]. So much so, that the direct sequel was produced in the UK (never sold in Japan), and by the time a [[PlayStation]] revival was attempted, even Japan got the American version of the story as opposed to the original ''Metafight'' one.
* While [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]] is ''the'' poster boy for video games everywhere, his [[Video Game 3D Leap]] wasn't as popular in Japan. For one the [[Sega Saturn]] kept outselling the [[Nintendo 64]] for a long time there and more recently, ''[[New Super Mario Bros. Wii]]'' outsold ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'' within just 3 days of its Japan release.
** Similarily, [[Super Mario RPG|the]] [[Paper Mario (franchise)|Mario]] [[Mario & Luigi|RPGs]] have done much better in the Western markets, selling around a million copies in North America alone, while they barely break 400,000 in Japan. This may be why the character Fawful, who became something of an [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] in America due to his [[Intentional Engrish for Funny]] translation, was made the main villain of ''[[Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]''.
* Americans regarded ''[[Spelunker]]'' as decent in its arcade and [[Commodore 64]] forms but overlooked its [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] port. When said port made its way to Japan, it inexplicably sold extremely well, and now the game is looked back on fondly due to its [[Narm Charm|charming badness]] and, most of all, the [[One-Hit-Point Wonder|endearing]] [[Everything Trying to Kill You|weakness]] of the main character. In fact, the Spelunker might very well beat out [[Halo|Master Chief]], [[Half Life|Gordon Freeman]], and the like as the best-known American videogame character in Japan simply by virtue of being "the weakest videogame character" - he's a cultural icon, to the extent that ''supe taishitsu'', "having the constitution of a spelunker," is a common idiom in Japan (meaning, of course, being easily injured) used in professional sports commentary.
=== Puzzle ===
=== Racing ===
* ''Top Gear'' (not [[Top Gear|the TV show]]) is very popular among Brazilians.
=== RPGS ===
* While the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' elements of ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' were played up to sell it overseas to traditional RPG fans, the project sprang up as a game starring Mickey Mouse and was always intended to use the Disney elements to appeal to the massive Japanese fanbase that includes adults.
** The character Xigbar is more popular in the west than in the East. His appearance in ''[[Birth By Sleep]]'' as his other, {{spoiler|Braig}} helped.
* The early [[Western RPG]] series ''Phantasie'' caught on in Japan, to the point where ''Phantasie IV'' was a Japan-exclusive release.
* English speakers can't get enough of Kefka from ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' because he's pretty much the poster boy for [[Woolseyism]], being turned into an [[Expy]] of [[The Joker]], if The Joker had god-like magical powers and was secretly a [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]. It's not so much that he isn't [[Bishounen|pretty]], but that his original lines were [[The Scrappy|obnoxious and moronic]] that he gets little love in Japan (though he has gotten a little more popularity thanks to ''Dissidia''.)
* [[Final Fantasy X|Jecht]]'s appearance in ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' propelled him to the status of a [[Rated "M" for Manly]] [[Memetic Badass]] [[Memetic Sex God|Sex God]]...In America. In Japan, while he's not ''un''popular by any means, he's...just another character.
* The same could be said of Sazh in [[Final Fantasy XIII]]. Case in point: in the sequel, while the rest of the original main cast either make physical appearences or are very significant to the game's backstory, Sazh only appears for a [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment during the final battle. (He did end up getting [[A Day in the Limelight|his own DLC episode.]])
* If the huge number of translated [[Game Mod|Game Mods]] is any indication, ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'' has a sizable Czech fanbase.
* [[Sweet Home]] is an obscure Japanese RPG based of the movie of the same name and was almost forgotten. In the US, a high amount of interest surged after it was discovered to be a huge inspiration for [[Resident Evil]].
** Although well received at home in America, the dungeon-crawler RPG series ''[[Wizardry]]'' was HUGE in Japan, with over 20 Japanese-made ports with dramatically enhanced graphics and original games made, as well as an anime series.
*** This has gotten the point that although the Western branch of the series has died off after the poor performance of ''Wizardry 8'' in 2001, the Japanese branch is still going strong, with releases in both the series proper and the de-facto [[Spin-Off]] ''[[Class of Heroes]]'' coming out as recently as 2011.
* Of the ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' series, in the western fanbase, ''[[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and/or ''[[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Thracia 776]]'' are regularly cited as the best and most beloved of the series, despite the fact that [[No Export for You|neither of them were ever officially released outside Japan]]. Compare to Japan, where not only do they cite [[Fire Emblem Akaneia|Marth's games]] as the best ([[Americans Hate Tingle|which just confuses western players]]), but ''Genealogy'' even got the lowest Famitsu review score of the entire series (though it still sold well).
* So far as video game characters are concerned, in [[Pokémon]], [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons|Charizard]] is perhaps the most well-loved Mon in the US. This even extended to the [[Card Game]], where ''everyone'' wanted his card, despite being [[Awesome but Impractical|fairly useless]].
** And in ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'' we have Zekrom. He's quite popular in Japan (not as popular as his counterpart Reshiram though), but ''insanely'' popular in America, overshadowing Reshiram and countless others (and selling more copies of ''White'' in North America than ''Black'').
** This phenomenon even extends to the [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|competitive metagame]]. Cresselia is a notable example, in Japan, [[One-Gender Race|she]] made the list of [[Game Breaker|banned]] Pokemon. In the Smogon (American-based) metagame, ''she's not even [[Character Tiers|OU!]]''
** For the characters themselves, [[Pokémon (anime)|Anime Misty]] still has a massive popularity on the West for someone who left the main cast in ''2003''. Japan, well, was able to move on and likes May, Dawn and Iris just as much if not more.
*** Generally, [[First Installment Wins|the older Pokémon and characters seem to be more well-liked in the West than in Japan]]. As far as Pokémon go, Mewtwo and Lugia (two of the oldest legendaries) seem to have bigger American than Japanese fanbases (a recent 15th Anniversary poll suggests that Lugia isn't quite as popular among Japanese fans as one would think).
** A similar divide exists for "tough, [[Badass]] Pokémon" (America) vs. "cute, beautiful and whimsical Pokémon" (Japan), hence the difference of opinion between fans on Reshiram and Zekrom (above). Another demonstrative example: while ghostly chandelier Chandelure is the most popular Pokémon in Japan from ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'', in the US you'd be more likely to find fans of [[Our Dragons Are Different|Haxorus, Hydreigon]] and [[Humongous Mecha|Golurk]].
** It should be noted that among fan artists, western artists tend to enjoy drawing the Pokémon themselves more than the human characters. The reverse is true of Japanese fan artists.
*
=== Shoot 'em Ups ===
* ''[[Battle City]]'' became extremely popular in the ex-USSR and Asian countries where it never was officially released... Basically due to the fact that every second [[Dendy|famiclone]] got this game on a bundle multicart. The vast majority of hacks of this game come straight from there.
=== Stealth Based ===
=== Survival Horror ===
* The ''[[Silent Hill]]'' series is more successful overseas than in Japan, so much so that the last three titles have been developed by Western studios and had belated releases in Japan. Understandable, in that the series specifically targeted a Western audience to begin with.
=== Third-Person Shooters ===
=== Other ===
* While the [[Nintendo 64]] and [[GameCube]] were beat by their [[PlayStation]] rivals worldwide, they were both even less popular in Japan than they were in North America and Europe. It was very often when the Playstation 1 and/or 2 version of a game got a Japanese release while the N64/Gamecube version stayed in North America and Europe (sometimes, even North America only).
* In most major gaming regions, the Nintendo DS outsells the PSP. In the Philippines, it's the other way around, due to Sony already having a much bigger fanbase there than Nintendo due to PS1 and PS2 games, which use CDs and DVDs, respectively, being far easier to pirate than N64 cartridges or GameCube mini-discs (Never mind that Wii modding changed all that for GameCube games with its backwards compatibility), resulting in more affordable (yet pirated) copies which can easily be found and bought. Many a gamer who grew up in the 90s would fondly remember the "Players"-brand bootlegs sold at grey-market stalls and at one point even in established toy stores in malls. The PSP also enjoyed a larger mind share in the Philippines, and as what [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weTJxMivscQ one YouTuber can attest], it is more common to see Filipinos brandishing a PSP out in the open, and if there's anyone using a DS, it's mostly either small children or ''Pokemon'' fans. It is said that pickpockets prefer stealing PSPs over Nintendo 3DSes due to the former's popularity, not to mention that it isn't uncommon for shade-tree cellphone repair shops to offer jailbreaking and sideloading services for PSP owners looking to play cheap games. Also contributing to the PSP's popularity was its superior graphics compared to the DS, which while somewhat inferior to the PS2, still allowed for what amounts to a PS2 on the go.
** Same in Poland. No one there owns a DS, you see kids with PSPs everywhere. Same in case of the [[PlayStation 3]]: More people own them than [[Xbox 360|Xbox 360s]]. Ironically, it is easier to pirate for the 360 than the PS3. So why is the PS3 popular? A. Its games are region-free to begin with and B. Microsoft '''will''' unleash the banhammer on your 360 for piracy. And you gotta have good luck to find a Wii owner, despite it being by far the easiest (and safest) 7th-gen console to pirate for.
*** Also, there is virtually no support for Xbox Live in Poland - Microsoft promotes (hell, the menus are in Polish!) something that can't be legally used in the country, since you need a foreign e-mail account to do anything.
* In Israel, the word "[[PlayStation]]" is almost synonymous with "console", and is still selling better than its competitors despite it being ranked distant third behind the Wii and [[Xbox 360]] in most other world markets for the past few years.
* [[SNK]] games were (and probably still are) huge in large portions of Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean, mostly because the [[Neo Geo]] MVS cabinets could hold multiple games at a time, and the games could be replaced by simply buying a new game and inserting it, rather than buying a whole new cabinet, making them more economically feasible for arcades. In these areas, it's not uncommon for characters like Terry Bogard to be more recognizable than the likes of Mario. SNK has not failed to notice this, and has added more Mexican (Angel, Ramon, Tizoc) and Chinese (Lin, Duo Lon) characters to its roster.
** The [[Neo Geo]] fighting game version of ''[[Double Dragon]]'' was a cult success in the Latin American market, especially in Mexico, which is why Evoga produced ''Rage of the Dragons'' as a [[Spiritual Licensee]] of the series.
* This extends to platforms as well: In the US, Japan and most of Europe most consoles routinely outsell PC-games, while in Sweden PC gaming remains the largest platform.
** PCs were tax deductible in Sweden from the late 1990s to 2007, Filesharing is also big in Sweden. This makes PC gaming attractive.
** Likewise, PC games are also more popular than console games in Russia.
*** More than that: while in whole world PC is considered platform for rich snobs and consoles are for more everyman-gamers, in Russia it's completely reversed.
*** On what we can call a textbook case of [[Russian Reversal]].
* The arcade game scene started in the US with games like ''Pong'', but in Japan arcade games grew to be much more popular. Today, while arcades in Western territories are a dying breed, viewed as little more than overpriced novelties (with the exception of rhythm games), Japanese arcades are still going strong. It certainly helps that Japanese-developed arcade games are very creative.
** For a more specific example, there's crane games (or UFO catcher, where you use crane to catch dolls or prices), which are ''huge'' at Japanese game centers; they're big enough that their appearances in some anime are not [[Pac-Man Fever|ignorant of modern Japanese arcades]]. They're often placed at the entrances to game centers to attract passersby, and some game centers are dedicated entirely to hosting crane games. There is even a ''[[Serious Business|national crane game competition]]''.
* The [[Sega Master System]] wasn't really much of a success in its homeland of Japan or the United States due to Nintendo's dominance in those two countries. It was highly successful in Europe and even more so in Brazil, where it's still supported today.
** The popularity of the Master System was so much in these areas that Sega ported several games from the technically identical [[Game Gear]] to the system long after it had been discontinued in the US and Japan.
** The [[Mega Drive]] (known in North America as the Genesis) also had great success in these areas, and like the Master System, it was manufactured in these areas long after it was discontinued in the US and Japan in favour of the Saturn. Licensed variations on the hardware are still sold in games stores to this day.
=== UNSORTED ===
* The ''[[Advance Wars]]'' series also has a considerably larger fanbase in North America and Europe than in its native Japan. This is partly due to the fact that the Japanese version of the original game, ''Game Boy Wars Advance'', wasn't released until three years after its American release along with its sequel due to the [[Too Soon|unfortunate timing]] of the 9/11 attacks, allowing the series to develop a larger fanbase overseas during the gap, but even then, the second DS game in the series (''Days of Ruin''/''Dark Conflict'') was canceled in Japan after several delays. This is ironic, considering how long it took Nintendo to release the ''[[Nintendo Wars|Wars]]'' series outside Japan.
* ''[[Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan]]'' alledgedly sees more sales in US imports than it did domestically in Japan.
** Inversely, ''[[Elite Beat Agents]]'' did crazy well in Japan, to the point where it was sold in normal stores rather than as an import.
* ''Cheetahmen II'', a crappy American game, has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3hC3V_HDjc one stage song], and it's surprisingly [[Crowning Music of Awesome|awesome]]. So awesome, that there are many remixes of it on the video site Nico Nico Douga. Which is a ''Japanese'' video site.
* ''[[No More Heroes]]'' was initially considered a flop because there was almost zero interest for the game in its home territory of Japan, but did so well in the US and Europe that a sequel was made ''entirely'' because of the strong overseas sales.
* Despite the heavy editing it goes through in order to be legal for sale there, the ''[[Command
* A similar case could be made for the ''[[Golden Sun]]'' series, although that's more because of a dedicated Fanbase.
** Case in point: The news for the upcoming Golden Sun DS first released in Nintendo's E3 2009 Conference. And as told by the E3 Report in Camelot Software Planning's Website, CEO Hiroyuki Takahashi [[Lampshade Hanging|commented a bit on how well the previous games did overseas]] and his wish for the game to be as successful with the Japanese before his surprise with the in-conference and web-coverage reactions.
* In ''[[Disgaea]]'', Pleinair, Asagi, and female archers have a huge fandom in Japan. Raspberyl is the most popular main character of the third game in Japan. Champloo is also more popular in Japan than in America. Sapphire seems to be one the most popular main characters in America. Also since the [[Affectionate Parody]] is more spot on in America, '''Captain Gordon, DEFENDER OF EARTH!!''' sees more fanbase in America than Japan (he considerably has ''less'' fanarts than Laharl, Etna, Flonne, Mid Boss...)
* ''[[Dungeon Master (video game)|Dungeon Master]]'', first released in 1987, was very successful and enjoyed several ports and translations. Japan, however, seems to have adopted the series while the West gradually forgot it. A remixed, lighter version called ''Theron's Quest'' was released for the [[TurboGrafx-16]]; the official sequel was released in Japan first, and only much later in the West; and the last official episode of the series, ''Dungeon Master Nexus'', is a [[Sega Saturn]] game that never left Japan.
* Kinzo Ushiromiya of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' isn't all that popular in Japan (according to the character polls), but, thanks to massive [[Memetic Mutation]] (helped along by "OH DESIRE") [[In America]], he's become pretty popular in the states.
* ''[[Skullgirls]]'' has a loyal following in the West, but has such a large fan following in Japan that Reverge Labs is working on both a retail disc version of the game for Japan (since Japanese gamers don't care for DLC) and an arcade version.
* Capcom is convinced that Americans Love Frank West of ''[[Dead Rising]]''. So convinced, in fact, that they plan to [http://www.destructoid.com/capcom-loves-frank-west-wants-him-in-everything-172114.phtml turn him] into their own version of [[Wolverine Publicity]]. [[Tropes Are Not Good|Uh oh...]]
** Well, they're kinda on the money with Frank's [[Memetic Mutation|internet popularity]]. He might not be quite as popular as they think though.
** [[Dead Rising|The game itself]] is far more successful in North America, whereas back in native Japan, the game likely flopped, due to [[Bowdlerize|being cut]] [[Bloodless Carnage|beyond all recognition.]]
* ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]'' is much more popular in Japan than its home country of the US. On [[YouTube]], the most viewed video of that game has less than a million views, and the second most viewed has less than 500,000. On the Japanese site [[Nico Video]], however, there's tons of videos of it with 100,000s of views, including several that have over a million. What's more, multiple Japanese-developed fangames exist.
** The fact that it was inspired by a Japanese web game ("The Big Adventure of Owata's Life", aka "The Life-Ending Adventure") might have something to do with this... in fact, the final version of Owata included the first few screens of IWBTG as its final level in an extended [[Shout-Out]]!
** It's possible that Japanese gamers, who have a higher tolerance for [[Nintendo Hard]] games that require lots of [[Trial and Error Gameplay|trial and error]], don't quite get that ''I Wanna Be The Guy'' is a parody.
* [[Roguelike|Roguelikes]] are a niche genre in their home in America, and receive reviews ranging from "poor" to "scathing" when sites or magazines deign to review them. They're pretty big in Japan, with multiple long-running commercial series such as ''[[Torneko No Daibouken]]'', ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'', ''[[
* [[Complete Monster|Setsuna]] from ''[[Last Blade]] 2'' is pretty much an overlooked character in his home country, but overwhelmingly popular all around America. Up to the extent gamers have claimed to buy this game [[Just Here for Godzilla|Just to play with, or against him]].
* ''[[Lumines]]'' is much more popular in North America (it sold 300,000 units there) than in Japan (70,000 units), so much so that the sequel featured mainstream American music.
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* In the same vein, ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'', while fairly popular in the United States, is played by nearly everyone in Sweden and the Philippines.
** Exemplified by the song written about it from ''Swedish'' producer Basshunter.
* Despite going almost completely unnoticed outside of Japan, ''[[Tamagotchi]]'' seems to have a sizable fanbase in Poland.
* [[
* Russia seems to be very fond of classic turn-based strategies, further reinforcing the stereotype of Russians being good at chess. Among the favorites are [[Civilization]], ''[[X-COM (Video Game)|X-COM]]'', [[Jagged Alliance]], but most importantly, ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]]'', specifically the third part (Widely believed to be the best in the series by many, Russian or not). Wanna find a gamer that won't play a multiplayer match or two with you? ''Try''.
** Also, that's a reason Nival Interactive's been trusted with making HoMM V. Russian fans wouldn't have forgiven them for doing badly.
* The ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' series is only fairly popular in Japan but has never stopped being a cultural icon in America (both of them) and is especially loved to pieces in Europe ([[Alton Towers]] even has a Sonic themed roller coaster and a Sonic themed hotel). Over the years, SEGA's marketing became increasingly western-oriented, and major releases, ''[[Sonic Generations]]'' notwithstanding, came out in America and Europe before Japan by about a month.
== In-Universe Examples ==
* Usually, Luigi of the ''[[Super Mario Brothers]]'' is living in the shadow of his extremely famous brother Mario in the Mushroom Kingdom, but in ''[[Paper Mario:
** ''[[Mario
* In one episode of Telltale's ''[[Sam and Max]]'' series of episodic games our heroes are cast as the stars of a TV show called Midtown Cowboys, which in a later episode proves to be insanely popular in ''Germany'' despite being cancelled right after the first episode in the U.S.
* In ''[[Ace Attorney|Investigations]]'', it turns out that the Steel Samurai is incredibly popular in Allebahst while the Jammin' Ninja is very popular in Babahl.
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* In [[Mortal Kombat]], one of Johnny Cage's earlier movies flopped in America. However, that same movie was very popular in France....because it was mostly about mimes.
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