Zelda and Pokemon Do Strongest in the Canadian Market, Nintendo President Reveals

In relative terms, obviously.

It seems that Canadian gamers have good taste- at the very least, one can conclude that based on their preferences for Nintendo franchises. According to Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, Canada is an unusually strong market for The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon games, relatively stronger even compared to the United States (which to begin with is the strongest market for the series).

“There are certain franchises that overperform in the Canadian market,” Fils-Aime said in an interview with Toronto Star. “Legend of Zelda is one. I can’t tell you why but the Canadian consumer loves it. Every single game in the series has done better with the Canadian audience than the U.S. audience, and the U.S. audience does better than Europe or Japan. Another phenomenon, and this is a recent trend, over the last 10 years is PokémonPokémon games do exceptionally well (in Canada).”

As someone who lives in Toronto, I can personally vouch for that- the general presence of Pokemon and especially Zelda in day-to-day Toronto culture is insane. Pokemon merchandize abound, and no nerd store worth its salt will ever be found without a large section dedicated to Zelda trinkets. People walk around with Triforce tattoos, and can be seen on public transit playing Breath of the Wild on their Switch.

So yes, I can definitely see this being true- it seems like my fellow Canadians have good taste when it comes to games, then.

canadaNintendopokemonthe legend of zelda