Yahoo! Japan Survey Finds Mario Still Tops In Japan

A survey of Yahoo! Japan users finds Nintendo mascot Mario maintaining his popularity in Japan, taking first place in polls asking for favorite character and individual games from the past year. A self-selected sample of users of the major Japanese web portal chose from nominees that Yahoo! picked based on number of web searches, page views on Yahoo! Japan's games site, and the amount of news coverage the games and characters received between November 2009 and October 2010. Nintendo's Pokemon Black/White took second place on the games survey, finishing almost 3,000 votes behind top pick New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which received over 12,000 votes. Both finished well ahead of third place finisher Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and the remainder of the list. On Yahoo's game characters poll, Mario finished ahead of Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker's "Naked Snake," (Number 4) Pokemon Black's Reshiram (Number 7) and a number of domestically popular characters largely unfamiliar to Western audiences, including the cultural phenomenon Hatsune Miku, a fictional character intrinsically tied to vocaloid software. New Super Mario Bros. Wii recently became the first Wii game to sell four million copies in Japan, just over a year after its late 2009 release. Franchise releases Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario Collection also led weekly sales results upon their release in Japan this year. The complete lists (as translated by 1UP) are listed below: Yahoo Japan Users' Top Games of 2010 1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) 2. Pokemon Black/White (DS) 3. Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker (PSP) 4. Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes (PS3/Wii) 5. Yakuza 4 (PS3) 6. Love Plus + (DS) 7. Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 (DS) 8. The Legend of Heroes: Zero no kiseki (PSP) 9. God Eater (PSP) 10. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Beginner's Package (360) Yahoo Japan Users' Top Game Characters of 2010 1. Mario - New Super Mario Bros. Wii 2. Hatsune Miku - Hatsune Miku DIVA Project 2nd 3. Date Masamune - Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes 4. Naked Snake - Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker 5. Airu - Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airu Village 6. Reshiram - Pokemon Black 7. Wadadon - Taiko no Tatsujin DS Dororon! Yokai Daikessen!! 8. Anegasaki Nene - Love Plus + 9. Tutoria Helmold - Atelier Totori: Alchemist of Arland 2 10. Black Heart - Hyperdimension Neptunia