History GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff / VideoGames

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

* 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.

** 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 is probably behind [[FireEmblemAkaneia Marth]], which would humor or confuse those not in Japan.

* The ''SonicTheHedgehog'' 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 (AltonTowers 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, ''SonicGenerations'' notwithstanding, came out in America and Europe before Japan by about a month.

** 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 spinoff ''ClassOfHeroes'' coming out just this year in Japan.

* In MortalKombat, one of Johnny Cage's earlier movies flopped in America. However, that same movie was very popular in France.

* The same could be said of Sazh in FinalFantasyXIII. 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 is only ''mentioned a few times in passing!'' (He did end up getting[[ADayInTheLimelight his own DLC episode.]])

* The same could be said of Sazh in FinalFantasyXIII. Case in point: in the sequal, while the rest of the original main cast either make physical appearences or are very significant to the game's backstory, Sazh is only ''mentioned a few times in passing!'' (This may change in the future though, WordOfGod hints he may be getting [[ADayInTheLimelight his own DLC episode]])

* 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}}, [[XCom X-Com]], JaggedAlliance, but most importantly, ''HeroesOfMightAndMagic'', 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''.

** 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 example: while ghostly chandelier Chandelure is the most popular Pokémon in Japan from ''PokemonBlackAndWhite'', in the US you'd be more likely to find fans of [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Haxorus, Hydreigon]] and [[HumongousMecha Golurk]].

* ''HeroesOfMightAndMagic III'' in Russia. Wanna find a gamer that won't play a multiplayer match or two with you? ''Try''.

* ''{{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 (Pac-Man & Galaga were both made by Namco), which became one of the most commonly found machines in North America.
** ''PacMan'' itself also falls under this trope: ''Ms. Pac-Man'' actually began life as an American romhack created to extend the life of the original game because western fans could not get enough of the original game, but wanted more features. Namco's own attempt at this, ''Super Pac-man,'' bombed due to confusing design changes and general fan apathy back in Japan.

*** This may be why the character Fawful, who became something of an EnsembleDarkhorse in America due to his ZeroWingrish translation, was made the main villain of ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]''.

* The ''SonicTheHedgehog'' 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 (AltonTowers 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, ''SonicGenerations'' notwithstanding, come out in America and Europe before Japan by about a month.

* The ''SonicTheHedgehog'' series is only fairly popular in Japan but has never stopped being a cultural icon in America (both of them) and loved to pieces in Europe. Over the years, SEGA's marketing became increasingly western-oriented, and major releases, ''SonicGenerations'' notwithstanding, come out in America and Europe before Japan.

* A very similar example comes in the form of ''BlasterMaster''; its Japanese incarnation, ''Metafight'', is all but forgotten. ''Blaster Master'', however, remains a beloved CultClassic among Western gamers who cut their teeth in the NES era, due to its {{Metroidvania}}-style gameplay and [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome 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.

* 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 ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' have also been subject to this trend.

** And in ''PokemonBlackAndWhite'' 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'').