History GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff / VideoGames

* ''{{Galaga}}'' was always a popular game in Japan (where the game was made), but it was even more popular in the US to the point that it was part of the mass produced ''Ms. Pac-Man & Galaga : Class of 1981'' arcade machine, which became one of the most commonly found machines in North America.

* 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 ''BlasterMaster'' and ''CaveStory'' have also been subject to this trend.

* {{SNK}} games were (and probably still are) huge in large portions of Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean, mostly because the NeoGeo MVS arcade 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 these games more economically feasible. 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.

** In a similar case, ''{{World of Warcraft}}'' is one of the most popular games in China. About half of the 11+ million subscribers are from there.

* "Love" may be a bit of stretch to call it, but the Polish press were generally the only people that were kind to American [=McGee=]'s ''Bay Day L.A''.

* While it notoriously underperformed on a global scale, the NintendoGameCube and its games still had a respectable number of owners in America and Europe during its time. In Japan, however, the market was ''completely'' eclipsed by the PS2. Most GameCube-exclusive games (even from major franchises) such as ''SuperSmashBrosMelee'', ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', ''{{The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker}}'', the ''ResidentEvil'' games, ''BatenKaitos'', and more sold better in the West than in their home country.
* SurferDude Funky Kong from DonkeyKongCountry seems to have a surprisingly large Japanese fanbase. He was never playable in the Europe developed {{Rareware}} games, but ever since the Japanese took up developing Donkey Kong games, he's been playable in just about every game and even shows up as a playable Racer in ''VideoGame/MarioKart Wii''.

* Speaking of ''Final Fantasy'', English speakers can't get enough of [[FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] because he's pretty much the poster boy for {{Woolseyism}}, being turned into an {{Expy}} of TheJoker, if The Joker had god-like magical powers and was secretly a NietzscheWannabe. 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''.)
** ''FinalFantasyVI'' in general fits this trope. In America, the game is part of the "Holy Pantheon" of old-school [=RPGs=] that includes ''IV'' and ''ChronoTrigger'' thanks to Square skipping half the series installments up until ''FinalFantasyVII'', along with a general lack of RPG releases in that generation. In Japan, where NoExportForYou wasn't an issue, it was just another game, and according to a Famitsu poll, is generally seen as one of the ''weaker'' entries in the series, only making it above ''I'' and ''II''.
** While ''FinalFantasy'' is popular and influential in Japan, the #1 RPG series there is ''DragonQuest'', which has yet to attain anything even close to its domestic success throughout the rest of the world. By contrast, ''Final Fantasy'' was the first JRPG franchise to achieve massive success outside Japan.
** [[FinalFantasyX Jecht]]'s appearance in ''DissidiaFinalFantasy'' propelled him to the status of a RatedMForManly MemeticBadass [[MemeticSexGod Sex God]]...In America. In Japan, while he's not ''un''popular by any means, he's...just another character.
* While it is beloved by many, ''ChronoTrigger'' appears to be more popular in the West than in Japan. Even moreso, ''ChronoCross'' may be [[BaseBreaker divisive]] in the US, but it's barely remembered at all in Japan.
* The ''BatenKaitos'' games may not exactly be mainstream, but nevertheless command a devoted cult following in the West. In Japan, they're virtually unknown.

** Additionally, SNK games were (and probably still are) huge in large portions of Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean, mostly because the old NEO GEO arcade 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 these games more economically feasible. 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.

* ''{{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.
* In the US, ''DanceDanceRevolution'' is the [[RhythmGame dancing game]] to play, but ''Pump It Up'', an extremely similar game that uses diagonal arrows and a center step, is rather explosive in Mexico and South America; go look at a video on [=YouTube=], where more often not the majority of the comments will be in Spanish or Portugese.
** DDR exemplifies this trope in its own right. It never really received a credible release in the US, and just as the imported arcade cabinets were really starting to pick up steam in the US, the series started to become passe in Japan, so Konami nixed it at the peak of its US popularity. To give you an idea of the magnitude of this missed opportunity, some members of the fanbase got together and started producing unofficial conversion kits as a spin-off game called ''InTheGroove'' in order to fill the void. Predictably, this quickly got sued into oblivion, but it was actually quite a polished effort, and it in the meantime did surprisingly well.
* ''Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!'' alledgedly sees more sales in US imports than it did domestically in Japan.

* Brazilians can't play many legal videogames (but the illegal stuff is really big!) due to them being in the same import tax bracket as gambling machines (i.e., a massive amount). No small wonder that so many years after its release, Brazilians still are ''huge'' fans of ''CounterStrike''.
** Recently, The Man gave a tax raise on [=GPUs=], the kind of thing you need to play recent games on your PC since you can't spend R$ 8999 (US$ 4200 at the time) for a PS3. How much? After the usual taxes (which already makes you pay 50-150% more), they now add more 50% instead of the previous 2% tax. So, smuggling is big too.

* ''{{Killer7}}'', while not exactly a hot seller in any territory, was quickly forgotten in Japan but garnered a strong cult following in America and Europe, paving the way for the success of...

* ''DynastyWarriors'' is surprising popular in the UK, with a very active fan community.

* ''MadWorld'' is about as extreme an example of this as you can get, because the game will be released months after its initial Western release in the developers' native Japan because of [[{{Gorn}} its graphic violence]].
** Not that it sold particularly well regardless...
* ''BattleCity'' 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.
** And, to draw the line, the vast majority of hacks of this game come straight from here.
* Russians ''really'' love ''{{Civilization}}''. [[http://www.civfanatics.ru Just one of many sites.]]
* While ''SimCity'' is slowly being forgotten in America due to ''TheSims'', it's been a huge hit in Canada and Europe. In fact, most of the biggest and impressive fan-sites are Canadian.

* Similarly, in Japan handheld systems and games have overshadowed consoles in the last few years; in the West, very few developers create handheld games, and (with the exception of ''{{Pokemon}}'') they rarely achieve the same kind of commercial success as console titles. Even the [[GrandTheftAutoChinatownWars latest entry]] in the venerated GrandTheftAuto series sold notoriously below expectations on handheld platforms.

* Mexico (and the rest of Latin America) loves the KingOfFighters.
* While HUGE in Japan (#1 in Arcadia Magazine for 5 years), Koreans love ''{{Tekken}}'' even more.

* The [[FireEmblemJugdral Jugdral subseries]] is considered a fan-favorite among English-speaking ''FireEmblem'' fan communities, despite [[NoExportForYou never being officially released outside of Japan]]. Japan tends to overlook them in favour of [[FireEmblemAkaneia the Akaneia games]], and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' received the worst Famitsu score of the series as a whole despite being considered ''the'' best by the Englsih community.
** ''[[FireEmblemElibe Blazing Sword]]'' is also significantly more popular in the west than it is in Japan, owing to its status as the first English release of the series. The ForcedTutorial has probably something to do: While it helped the Western newcomers, it annoyed the more seasoned Japanese players, especially as there was already a ''Fire Emblem'' game on the GBA that played 99% the same.
* Similar to the ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' example above, we have [[CompleteMonster Setsuna]] from ''LastBlade 2''. 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 [[JustHereForGodzilla Just to play with, or against him]].

* While it isn't a slouch when it came to sales (at least, from the first sequel onwards), the classic ''Game/MegaMan'' series is aimed towards young audiences in its native homeland of Japan. In the rest of the world, on the other hand, it enjoys massive popularity among young and old alike, especially in North America.

* ''Game/DungeonMaster'', 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 PCEngine; 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 SegaSaturn game that never left Japan.

** However, Ryoma Niitsuma, the developer of ''[[{{ptitle2dt8gjfc}} 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.]] [[hottip:*:For reference, the three ''Darkstalkers'' characters in ''[=MvC3=]'' are [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan-faves]] Morrigan, Felicia, and Hsien-Ko.]] Perhaps his fans may be [[ThrowTheDogABone getting a bone thrown their way]] soon... [[YankTheDogsChain which got cruelly yanked the moment ''Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3'' additions are revealed... and Talbain is nowhere in sight.]]

** ''[[FireEmblemElibe Blazing Sword]]'' is also significantly more popular in the west than it is in Japan, owing to its status as the first English release of the series. The ForcedTutorial has probably something to do: While it helped the Western newcomers, it annoyed themore seasoned Japanese players, especially as there was already a ''Fire Emblem'' game on the GBA that played 99% the same.

* The [[FireEmblemJugdral Jugdral subseries]] is considered a fan-favorite among English-speaking ''FireEmblem'' fan communities, despite [[NoExportForYou never being officially released outside of Japan]]. Japan tends to overlook them in favour of [[FireEmblemAkaneia the Akaneia games]], and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' received the worst Famitsu score of the series as a whole despite being considered ''the'' best by the Englsih community. ''[[FireEmblemElibe Blazing Sword]]'' is also significantly more popular in the west than it is in Japan, owing to its status as the first English release of the series.

* Speaking of fighting games, Blanka from [[StreetFighter]] in Brazil. Went from [[EthnicScrappy Ethnic Scrappy]] in the earliest days to very loved as some sort of [[CrazyAwesome Crazy Awesome]] character. To the point of people wanting him for [[http://bocadeurna.tumblr.com/post/898558198/vote-blanka-presidente President]] of the country.
* Eddy Gordo, from the [[Tekken]] series. Brazillians loved to play as the [[capoera]] fighter (and also because of his nearly [[GameBreaker]] kick combo).

* To rub salt in the wounds, Ameteratsu's alternate DLC costume in Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 [[http://shoryuken.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/img0852r.jpg has her looking like Talbain.]]

** Samus herself fits this trope. In the U.S. she's considered one of Nintendo's "Big Three" characters, trailing only [[SuperMarioBros Mario]] and [[TheLegendOfZelda Link]] in popularity. In Japan she and Link are probably behind [[FireEmblemAkaneia Marth]], which would humor or confuse those not in Japan.

* {{Roguelike}}s 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 ''TornekoNoDaibouken'', ''PokemonMysteryDungeon'', ''[=~Chocobo's Dungeon~=]'' and ''ShirenTheWanderer''. ''{{Elona}}'' -- one of the most expansive, elaborate, and ambitious roguelikes ever created -- also originates from Japan.

* SonicTheHedgehog also gets this treatment.

** The MegaDrive (what the rest of the world calls 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.

* 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}}'' Caporeia fighters, and [[spoiler: Godot/Diego Armando]] from the ''AceAttorney'' series, who WordOfGod says is Brazilian.