Why isn't Kirby popular in the states?

[Emphraim]

I actually never noticed Kirby isn't popular in the United States. He seems to be pretty popular in my school at least. Everyone seems to know who he is, and the school Games Club holds a Kirby Air Ride tournament every several months.

I think I heard kirby has something cooking so love might return.

The new Kirby is fucking gorgeous.

video snippity

I have to say, that looks amazing. The Kirby games always manage to cheer me up just by watching the gameplay.

 

[Zeromaeus]

Kirby is popular. Its just that nobody wants to admit it.
Like the Powerpuff Girls. Everyone liked it, but you'll never find a guy that'll openly admit it in public.

 

[Souplex]

Kirby's rather popular here.

 

[miscelaneous]

Kirby air ride was sooo much fun! I used to play that 4 player with my friends all day long.

Ho crap, I forgot how much fun that was.

 

[VonBrewskie]

I don't think America doesn't like Kirby games, I just think he's not what our key demographic craves. America likes Kirby fine, we like machismo and guns and stuff blowing up more, if the sales figures are to be believed. This is not to say we don't also like other genres in the states. We play a lot of different kinds of games here. It's just that we have a gun culture here in the U.S. that is unlike anywhere else in the world. For those of you that don't live here, it's hard to describe. Gun culture permeates our entire national identity. I think that culture is part of why we buy more CODs than Kirbys. We also have an extremely diverse population in our country so you'll find pockets of fandom in every genre out there. Kirby is one of those pocket genres. I'm pretty sure that that particular pocket is pretty deep though. I think pretty much every person that's played Nintendo in the States in the last ten or fifteen years is aware of Kirby, and I'd be hard pressed to find someone in my circle of friends that doesn't like the Kirbster. I think most of us like him a lot, and support his games by buying them. I think we Americans tend to elevate different icons to the levels that the Japanese venerate Kirby. Cultural differences man. No biggie. We like Kirby.

 

[Yennick]

...

 

[VonBrewskie]

I thought it was because he was a cannibalistic serial killer that impersonated his victims.

At least that's why I don't play him.

haha! funny!

 

[Manhattan2112]

Hi, I'm twelve and from Wisconsin and what is Kirby, I don't even?

 

[KeyMaster45]

Kirby's a furry pink hairball and only noobs use him in Super Smash.

Can't stand getting your ass handed to you by Kirby I take it? Good, cause he's the character I rape face with whenever I sit down to that game.

OT: I'm a huge Kirby fan and wish there was more merchandise for him available in the states, but for now I'm quite content with my overstuffed Kirby plush. Kirby has just been a constant throughout my life, next to playing the Mario Bros/Duck Hunt cartridge on my NES Kirby was the first game I ever picked up and played. Even today I get endless replayability out of them and it was made even better when they did a re-make of Kirby's Adventure for the GBA (titled Nightmare in Dreamland) Now I can take one of my all-time favorite games with me on every trip I take.

In my opinion if someone comes to you and says they want to get into video games; dust off your NES/Gameboy and sit them down to play Kirby's Dreamland or Kirby's Adventure. Its a nice and easy game to start off on; simple controls and easy to kill enemies. In the span of an hour or two it will take them to beat it they can learn most if not all of the fundamental basics for playing a video game. Afterwords introduce them to the Mario Bros/Duck Hunt cartridge where they can pick up platforming skills along with hand-eye-coordination. Lastly set them loose on any Zelda title, I'd recommend Link to the Past (or OOT if you're feeling sadistic).

My that got rather off topic really fast. In an effort to tie that all into the topic at hand....no wait...I got nothing. All fear the pink ball of doom and his stony justice from above.

 

[MikailCaboose]

I think I heard kirby has something cooking so love might return.

The new Kirby is fucking gorgeous.

<youtube=JP3slFnGIDw>

Hmmm... Not sure what to think of it. It looks like Kirby as far as gameplay, but not at the same time...

And is it odd that this game seems to have better "paper" (or fabric) effects than the Paper Mario games?

It doesn't look anything like Kirby gameplay. It throws the entire established Kirby mechanics and gameplay that they've been evolving and toying with over the years out the window and completely undermines everything they've done previously. And before anyone brings up the whole "THEY'RE TRYING NEW THINGS" argument, almost every non-main storyline kirby game tries at least one major new thing without tossing every base mechanic out the window and making it look like it plays like some indie game.

It looks like they just swapped the inhale ability with a...well something ability (heresy!), but it looked like the power-up system was still there. Mabye I'm looking at it wrong.
I'm fairly sure that I'll just stick with Kirby 64 and Nightmare in Dreamland and give this one a pass.

 

[gonzo20]

i wish they would make a meta knight game, would be pretty awesome playing as him so you can slice through everything

 

[Mcupobob]

I don't know what your talking about, kirbys plenty popular and liked up were I live. Don't know about everyone else in the states but where I lived the show had weird time slots so it was hard to catch.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Yes, I know, Kirby is known in the States and his games turn a profit around here. However, Nintendo's attempt to make him the next pikachu when the Kirby anime was to be raped dubbed by 4kids for an American release failed miserably (even though that anime had a big budget, smooth half traditional half CGI animation, and the original creator having a big say what went in the series) stopping them from releasing the huge wave of Kirby mechrandice around here. In Japan, Kirby is HUGE, up right there with Mario and Link. I just don't understand this. It isn't just a culture difference with Kirby's, Pokemon has just as strange of an art style with a armodda of very Japanese creatures, and that is the second biggest franchice in game sales ever. In fact, the anime that was dubbed by the same horrible company is STILL AIRING AFTER A DECADE. Is it just because Kirby is Pink and pink makes all of the "hardcore" FPS players gag and say "its gay?"

Is it as simple as Americans can't enjoy an entire series of great games because she/he/it is pink? Or is there something I am missing?

I think the better question would be "Why is he so popular in Japan?"

I mean, really, what about him convinces you that he SHOULD be popular? It's not like he's a deep, compelling character or that his anime sets a new standard to children's programming.

Japan likes weird shit sometimes, and it doesn't generally coincide with any reasonable standard of quality.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Yes, I know, Kirby is known in the States and his games turn a profit around here. However, Nintendo's attempt to make him the next pikachu when the Kirby anime was to be raped dubbed by 4kids for an American release failed miserably (even though that anime had a big budget, smooth half traditional half CGI animation, and the original creator having a big say what went in the series) stopping them from releasing the huge wave of Kirby mechrandice around here. In Japan, Kirby is HUGE, up right there with Mario and Link. I just don't understand this. It isn't just a culture difference with Kirby's, Pokemon has just as strange of an art style with a armodda of very Japanese creatures, and that is the second biggest franchice in game sales ever. In fact, the anime that was dubbed by the same horrible company is STILL AIRING AFTER A DECADE. Is it just because Kirby is Pink and pink makes all of the "hardcore" FPS players gag and say "its gay?"

Is it as simple as Americans can't enjoy an entire series of great games because she/he/it is pink? Or is there something I am missing?

I think the better question would be "Why is he so popular in Japan?"

I mean, really, what about him convinces you that he SHOULD be popular? It's not like he's a deep, compelling character or that his anime sets a new standard to children's programming.

Japan likes weird shit sometimes, and it doesn't generally coincide with any reasonable standard of quality.

I don't ask because one, he stars in some really great platforming games, two, some times simplicity is the best and kirby is really the best example for that, three, his anime has some of the best animation of I have ever seen from an anime and I actually been enjoying a subbed versian (even though I don't know why), and four if they can like Itilian plumbers, elves in dresses, and an electic mouse, a pink puff ball named after a vacuum company (or a lawyer depending on who you ask) doesn't seam that strange.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

I think I heard kirby has something cooking so love might return.

The new Kirby is fucking gorgeous.

<youtube=JP3slFnGIDw>

Hmmm... Not sure what to think of it. It looks like Kirby as far as gameplay, but not at the same time...

And is it odd that this game seems to have better "paper" (or fabric) effects than the Paper Mario games?

It doesn't look anything like Kirby gameplay. It throws the entire established Kirby mechanics and gameplay that they've been evolving and toying with over the years out the window and completely undermines everything they've done previously. And before anyone brings up the whole "THEY'RE TRYING NEW THINGS" argument, almost every non-main storyline kirby game tries at least one major new thing without tossing every base mechanic out the window and making it look like it plays like some indie game.

It looks like they just swapped the inhale ability with a...well something ability (heresy!), but it looked like the power-up system was still there. Mabye I'm looking at it wrong.
I'm fairly sure that I'll just stick with Kirby 64 and Nightmare in Dreamland and give this one a pass.

You at least have to give them respect for trying to do something different just rerelease the same game again.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

I don't ask because one, he stars in some really great platforming games, two, some times simplicity is the best and kirby is really the best example for that, three, his anime has some of the best animation of I have ever seen from an anime and I actually been enjoying a subbed versian (even though I don't know why), and four if they can like Itilian plumbers, elves in dresses, and an electic mouse, a pink puff ball named after a vacuum company (or a lawyer depending on who you ask) doesn't seam that strange.

1) "Really great" is your opinion, and platformers are just starting to make a comeback after having been largely irrelevant last generation.
2) Sometimes simplicity isn't the best, and is just boring.
3) I'd watch more anime if I were you, and "Some of the best animation I have ever seen form an anime" isn't saying much in the first place. Besides, the best anime about a pink kickball is still an anime about a pink kickball.
4) The only one of those that has been "huge waves of merchandise popular" in the last decade is pokemon, and that was largely off of the popularity of the games, which had the whole gotta-catch-em-all and trading things going on.