Topic: Why aren't Metroid or Starfox having more love than Zelda or Mario?

A lot of gamers claim that Nintendo just keeps milking Mario and Zelda all the time and don't make a comeback franchises like Metroid or Starfox. I can only tell the reason why Nintendo is doing that is because of Mario and Zelda selling really well whereas Metroid, Starfox or F-Zero look really underwhelming in terms of sales. Now obviously, as long as the games are well received and sell fairly well, you shouldn't focus on specific franchises that sell better. Infact you should try learning from low sales and make something that works with it. I feel sorry for Metroid atleast because I had a great time playing the first game and now I'm playing return of samus.

You don't realize how a business works very well do you? A company has to make money to surrvive, so they make more of something that sells.

It's simply because they're not anywhere near as popular with the general public as Mario, Zelda, or Pokémon. Simple as that. Even though within fan circles, you hear their praises sung, the public at large probably wouldn't recognize them as quickly as the aforementioned franchises.

Also, its pretty hard to match the sweat spot with those games.
Zelda and Marios proofed to be successful even after tinkering with the game mechanics, so its pretty much a save haven to make these games. No matter how they turn out or how much you experiment with them, they still find their audience.
Not so much with the others:
Metroid: Make a 2D one, not as good as "Metroid game X", make a 3D first person adventure "we want 2D Metroid", take the best of both worlds and add a story for the people who want one "Its not 2D, its not 3D and it has a story so it sucks"
Starfox: Adventures got flak for beeing "not a starfox game", Armada got flak for god knows what, i really loved it and it brought some fresh ideas to the mix, Assault got flak for "not being like SF64" SF64 3D was considered "just" a remake.
F-Zero never got much attention and love to be honest.Its generally well recieved, the cast of characters are fan favorites and the series as a whole has potential to grow in all sorts of directions. I have no real clue why nothing is made with that IP.

Regarding Metroid:

• Nintendo wasn't happy with Other M sales-wise. Reggie wanted one million in the U.S by the end of 2010, and it only exceeded half of that. The fan backlash probably didn't help either.
• Retro favored another Donkey Kong over Metroid Prime 4, not to mention several people involved with the Prime series (including director Mark Pacini) left Retro after MP3.

Not sure how these franchises are not popular when fans have been wanting a new game, at least a decent game, since nothing was made for the Wii.

@PKpunky: Keyword: fans. People who aren't "gamers" aren't going to instantly flock to Metroid or Starfox - they're going to buy the newest Mario or Pokémon games - therefore Mario and Pokémon (and Zelda) equals more sales. And that's why they focus on making those rather than lesser used IPs.

Basically this. Personally I would rather see a new Star Fox. All Star Fox games have been goof games but sales wise they have been suffering since Adventures. Also I think Star Fox has the most general appeal for the current market. Metroid, while good, is a series Nintendo is going to more careful with after what happened with Other M. F-Zero doesn't have a big audience. Just look at modern racing game sales. Plus Mario Kart is coming out soon, so they don't need a second racing game in their line-up currently. (Also I would rather see another ExciteTruck or ExciteBot game)

Where are Ness & Lucas?

Blue, blue

And you can make the test yourself: Ask people that are not really into videogames passionatly but play occasional:

• If they know Zelda (answer is probably "that green guy" but at least they know what youre talking about)
• If they know Mario (which is essentially a rethorical question)
  and
• If they know Metroid (and i heard MANY answers like "isnt that the game with the postapocalyptic russian subway station ?")
• If they know F-Zero (i got answeres like "im not into racing simulations, im more into fun racers" probably confusing it for F-1)

And when it comes to the characters, most "non dedicated gamers" know them from Smash or just because of one of the most annoying memes ever, regarding C.Falcon.

A few vocal gamers =/= a lot of sales.

At the same time, exhaustion with a particular franchise could lead to diminishing returns.

A more relevant question at least to me: why can't these "lesser known" Nintendo properties coexist with their sibling franchises?
It seems like Nintendo could do a great service to their hard core fans, by releasing more focused content for these properties. Particularly on the eShop.

"Metroid, Starfox, F-Zero" Don't worry, this is just something us nintendo gamers say every now and then to let off some steam. lol

Star Fox and Metroid simply don't sell as well as Mario or Zelda historically. Despite what you read on the Internet (especially Nintendo fan forums), the majority of gamers simply do not know what Star Fox or Metroid are. And after Star Fox Assault and Other M met to disappointing sales (compared to other first-party Nintendo games) and mixed reviews, Nintendo simply couldn't see the point of investing in those franchsies.

And the thing about Assault and Other M is that they were made by thrid party developers (Namco for Star Fox and Team Ninja for Metroid). Nintendo simply doesn't trust third parties as much anymore with their franchises and to do them justice, so they just leave them out. And with the main internal Nintendo studios pumping out Mario and Zelda games, they simply do not have the resources to make games on their smaller IPs. They needed other companies to make the new main Metroid and Star Fox games, and they saw the finished results as a failure.

They are getting better though with their relations with third parties, with stuff like the Yoshi-themed level in Sonic Lost World, Namco Bandi helping with the Smash Bros. development, and recently with the announcement of Hyrule Warriors from Tecmo Koei. Maybe if Hyrule Warriors does well, Nintendo will trust third parties even more.

if Nintendo really pushed these IPs then they could have been really popular but that's Nintendo for you. Stubborn.

@Bulbousaur And lets not forget that they trust Retro so much, that they gave them the second major IP to work on. Its definitly getting better, but nintendo does need some wingmen to feed the ever demanding crowd Also lets not forget that they are the only console manufacturer at the moment that makes his own games.

The chance of a Metroid game coming to Wii U is high. We might see an announcement for it at E3 2014. The chance of a brand new Starfox game coming to Wii U isn't high but it should be.
A Metroid 3DS game coming in the future? VERY HIGH. A brand new Starfox game coming to 3DS? MAYBE. If we can get freaking Kirby and Yoshi's Island then we can get a brand new Starfox game.

Their previous games were not that "successful", I agree. But they still appeal to everyone that has played and heard of them. These two franchises have been around since the SNES days.

I'm sure we'll see a more steady approach when a new release in either franchise comes about. Until then, who ever is in charge for the next game will need to improve what was done before.

Didn't you read my post? I mentioned that Nintendo wants franchises that SELL BETTER than the ones like Metroid or Starfox.

Maybe Retro studios should be in charge for Metroid. I never played the prime series but I have played the original, 2 and Super metroid.

A lot of franchises are pushed and aren't as popular as others, so I doubt it