Famitsu's Top 100 and Japanese taste in games

[Zycrow]

So I was watching Chrontendo (I think episode 26) and he talks about Famitsu magazine's list of the top 100 greatest games. This list was fascinating to me (and to the author of Chrontendo) for how it so starkly differs from similar lists produced by American publications.

It's no surprise to me that Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games fill out most of the top 10, but what's stranger to me is what games ranked higher than others - FFX, FFVII, and FFIII all rank higher than the traditional western favorite, FFVI.

Other games that get frequent favorites in Western culture are either low-ranked or not present - Chrono Trigger is in the 20s, Super Mario Bros. 3 ranks at 99, and Super Metroid is entirely absent.

So I'm wondering if any of you who are more well-versed in Japanese culture have any insights on this. I know that games like Contra and military-themed stuff tends to resonate more strongly in the West, but I would have thought things like Chrono Trigger and Mario would have been more popular than indicated by the list.

Something that I also gather from experience with Japanese culture is there's more value placed on things that follow a pattern or series - things that break the mold aren't valued nearly as much. That is a gross oversimplification probably, but it might factor in. I dunno!

[synt4x]

Regarding Super Metroid I know that the Metroid games were never that popular in Japan. But yeah SMB3 at #99 was pretty shocking to see.

[P]

FFVII is by far the most popular FF game in the world. It was the first FF game for many people (especially in Europe since it was the first in the main series to be localized). The other FFs' placements are a bit puzzling though (I'm a big FFVI fan myself). As is the placement of SMB3.

The thing about Metroid games not being popular in Japan is probably just false rumours ( Metroid for FDS sold over a million in Japan). It's kind of like the false rumours that Akumajou Dracula series never was popular in Japan (since they sell poorly nowdays). It seems Super Metroid was sold poorly due to marketing timing, which is probably part of the reason that particular game is not on the list.