Why does Mario have less of an internet fanbase than the likes of Zelda or Pokemon?

[CM30]

Or various other gaming series? Because as a fan of the series, I've always noticed the following:

There are no big name websites/forums of the same scale as Zelda Universe or Serebii.net dedicated to the Mario series, with even the likes of The Mushroom Kingdom, Super Mario Bros HQ and Mario Wiki being less 'active' than their other franchise counterparts.

The fans tend to be a lot less dedicated, and arguably more sane than their equivalents in other fandoms (it's especially noticeable when contrasted with Sonic the Hedgehog, which seems to attract a lot of crazy people to the fan 'scene').

In general, it seems there are less fan theories, ideas, fiction, etc than a lot of less well known franchises.

So what causes this? Is it something about the series that doesn't appeal as many to the typical internet 'nerd' demographic (aka usually college students)? Does the use of negative continuity/very limited 'canon' scare away the types who'd otherwise analyse things? What makes the Mario series so seemingly less popular online than more obscure franchises?

 

[Aensland]

I think it is because of the simplicity of Mario compared to the intricate-ness of Zelda or Pokémon. Sonic and Mario are basically simple (even the RPG forms) and so they have less of a fanbase due to adults enjoying a detailed story that thickens rather than "Oh... the princess is taken again... let's go get her... AGAIN... Bet that dragon will be back too". Sonic is full of immature "furry-lovers" for his fan-base which goes to prove most are children.

Even the RPG series after the SNES one is much more easy and simplified than the Zelda series has become. Smaller target audience means smaller fan-base, I would have to guess.

 

[Mother/EarthBound Collection]

I think it's because that Mario was at it's peak from 1985-1991, which was before the internet existed. And that these days, various other franchises are sadly better than that of Mario. Let's face it, Mario is not like it once was.

 

[Aensland]

Let's face it, Mario is not like it once was.




I agree with this statement. I mean... remember challenge? What happened to THAT element? All of the latest "New" franchise games (i mean New Super Mario Bros with the word NEW in the title) and Super Mario 3D Land were so easy I wondered the developers test played the games or if they just assumed the levels would be difficult. I had to intentionally die to die at ALL in those games!