I just wanted to mention, before giving a rather long winded reply later tonight, that WW actually tanked in Japan. So did
TP.
TWW did slightly better overall then
TP, but neither game really strung a cord with Japan fans.
Oh, and
TWW didn't really "tank" in the states:
C3 News :: Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker | Breaks Sales Records!
Yup, breaking preorder records across the board.
Just wanted to point out the common misconceptions by those though that don't live in Japan. The final sales figures are actually approaching being surpassed by
TP, being
TP is still being put as "new" on store shelfs while
TWW is no longer available in that fashion.
TWW itself was not a big hit in Japan as it was predicted to be, and actually sold best in the states, where it was critcized the most. However, most game sites and game magazines still scored it a 9.5 or above. Long winded reply to come later.
EDIT: To note, Zelda, outside of
PH, has not sold well in Japan since the record breaking Ocarina of Time. None of the Zelda games have sold well over there, and if I had to guess most Japanese gamers don't care as much about Zelda anymore.