Forum - View topicINTEREST: Buzzfeed Japan: International Recognition Kept Pokémon Out Of Olympics Closing Ceremony
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KH91
Posts: 6176 |
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What a load of crap.
You talk about pun's with this Mario and Rio thing, but what about Pokemon's 20th anniversary and Tokyo 2020? |
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kotomikun
Posts: 1205 |
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Mario is the most iconic gaming character. But I'd be willing to bet that, to the general public, Pikachu is more recognizable. Pokemon Go hasn't increased awareness so much as revived it; Pokemon was a ginormous fad for a few years after it was released internationally, and we're now seeing a resurgence of that. Mario never became that type of phenomenon, though he's obviously been a huge influence on gaming for most of its existence.
Here's a better question, though: Why Doraemon? Mario vs. Pokemon is one thing... but Doraemon vs. Pokemon is like Rattata vs. Mewtwo. No one outside of Japan watches Doraemon. That is what they should have replaced with Pokemon. |
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peno
Posts: 349 |
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Actually, Doraemon is well known in India and some other Asian countries, but that's pretty much it. Otherwise, I agree with you, as I wrote before.
As for most iconic gaming figure, I may agree Mario may be more recognisable Nintendo figure than any Pokémon out there, including Pikachu, but I will argue that Pac-Man is actually more iconic even these days. And I wouldn't be surprised if Sonic also beat Mario in the iconic battle 
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Lemonchest
Posts: 1771 |
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It's almost like the deciding factor behind which IP they used as part of their 5 minute dance routine wasn't recognition among English speaking millennials.
Last edited by Lemonchest on Tue Aug 23, 2016 4:51 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jonny Mendes
 Posts: 997 Location: Europe |
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Doraemon is pretty well know in Europe. In my country, even before Pokemon appear, we had Doraemon and is still on air. Also in Latin America in countries like Brazil, Doraemon is famous. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4604 |
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I can understand Doraemon, but I really have to question how Pikachu would be less recognizable than Captain Tsubasa. I know the latter is popular in much of the world, but I only guessed at it live and had to look it up later to make sure I was right. Pikachu is pretty much ubiquitous.
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Nonaka Machine Gun B
 Posts: 819 |
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Doraemon; 1969.
Hello Kitty; 1974. Pac-Man; 1980. Captain Tsubasa; 1981. Mario; 1981. I smell ageism. Pokémon is 1000 years too young to represent Japan! |
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Lemonchest
Posts: 1771 |
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Afaik Tsubasa is the second most successful sports manga after Slam Dunk, & football makes much more sense at Rio. It's also old enough that the middle aged organisers might have heard of it (I think every IP I saw was from the 80s or earlier). |
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Lactobacillus yogurti
 Posts: 846 Location: Latin America |
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Time for the Latin American to clear up some stuff for the North Americans.
Doraemon: It's been dubbed for some time in Mexico, and broadcast in Latin America for years. Brazil is no exception, even though they speak Portuguese. So it may seem to you that Doraemon wouldn't be recognizable, but I'd also like to add that many anime series made it to Latin America BEFORE they made it to the USA. Captain Tsubasa: I'm not a big fan of it (the series was too long), but for football-loving Latin America, it was a household name. Granted, we call it Supercampeones ('Superchampions'), but every person who was a kid or teenager (even some who were adults!) in the 90's will remember it, and the fact that there have been three series, dubbed and braodcasted in Latin America in the late 90s, as well as the 2000s means that for us Latin Americans, it's a beloved memory and one of the series we recognized as anime, along with Saint Seiya, Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2 and Dragon Ball. Pikachu < Tsubasa, Pac-Man and Doraemon: If I recall correctly, the Pokémon anime series arrived here before the videogames, and even so, I don't remember seeing the first games until after the anime was here. Rather than that, we had sticker albums. It's not to say that this series wasn't popular in Latin America (the Mexican dub is crazy), but it's not as popular as Captain Tsubasa and Pac-Man. But it is more popular than Doraemon. That I can assure you. Besides, even if people are playing Pokémon GO down here, most fans here in Latin America had to resort to less legal means to play the games, since importing them was, and still is very expensive. Thus spoke the microbe. |
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Lord Oink
Posts: 876 |
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 There are other countries outside of Japan besides America you know. Plenty of which Doraemon is popular in.
Well there is Jibnyan, Usagi, Shinosuke, Luffy, Naruto, and Pretty Cure representation alongside Atom here. 
People also forget Pokemon GO is an American game, not Japanese. And most people who play it are just riding the fad train and never played the main games. |
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Hazinger Zeta
Posts: 53 Location: New York |
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And even then, it's not like we just had Doraemon on American TV for 2 years straight, up until those bastards at Disney X D took it off the air last October (though it was after the second season aired all it's episodes, at least). Good dub, too, despite the occasionally maddening edits. Last edited by Hazinger Zeta on Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:04 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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vallum
Posts: 58 |
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IF? Well, they didn't, so... |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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Yeah, who has the balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? IT SURE ISN'T A FAT ITALIAN PLUMBER. Not to mention, Pikachu's had like a few different balloons by now, meaning they think its worth paying for again and again.
Japan doesn't have to sell itself to Brazil, but the whole world. Maybe they chose the few that would be more recognizable there, but from here on it's an international effort. We're gonna get Cool Japan'd harder than ever. Does anyone even know/remember what the coverage was like for the Nagano games; anything even remotely anime related? Winter 1998 was well before Pokemon even began gaining popularity here, same with Sailor Moon or DBZ because Toonami was barely starting to show those. |
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jdnation
Posts: 2012 |
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I'd still go with Mario.
Pokemon is mainly popular with a younger gen. Mario is more timeless, and if there was any mascot to represent the idea of videogames, it'd be Mario. Not Pikachu. Not to mention it'll be Mario and Sonic at the Tokyo Olympics as a game to sell. Not Pikachu. If they had to animate a character doing Olympic stuff for every event it's simpler with a human character like Mario, not Pikachu. Unless we redesign Pikachu to be like new-Sonic... brrrr.... I think the little guy will inevitably pop up when 2020 gets around. But for now, for a more cross-cultural character, Mario makes the most sense. Not just the character but also the iconography of the pipe and let's not forget the music as well. Everyone knows the 8-bit Mario themes. How many can hum anything from Pokemon? Yeah... I bet many here would even have to think a little while to recollect the main theme from Pokemon, and most likely they'll pick the orchestral piece from Smash Bros. Plus there's Mario sports games that Nintendo will want to capitalize upon. |
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kotomikun
Posts: 1205 |
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I don't know why I still expect people not to be toxic, condescending, or unable to understand hyperbole, but I guess it's time to lower my expectations again. |
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