Mario Still Most Popular Game Character in Japan

A survey conducted by the Japanese branch of Yahoo! shows that Mario is still the most loved video game character in Japan, taking the top position both when looking at favorite characters and when accounting for favorite video games during 2010.

The nominees were based on web search numbers, page views and the amount of coverage in video game news outlets received by titles between November 2009 and October 2010 and users of Yahoo then voted in order to determine the final order of the video games and the characters.

It's interesting to note that a lot of the characters in the chart presented below are not well known in the West and really only appeal to Japanese gamers.

The most attractive actual game characters for 2010 as seen by Japanese Yahoo users are:

1. Mario from New Super Mario Bros. Wii
2. Hatsune Miku from Hatsune Miku DIVA Project 2nd
3. Date Masamune from Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
4. Naked Snake appearing in Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
5. Airu from Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airu Village
6. Reshiram from Pokemon Black
7. Wadadon appearing in Taiko no Tatsujin DS Dororon! Yokai Daikessen!!
8. Anegasaki Nene from Love Plus +
9. Tutoria Helmold from Atelier Totori: Alchemist of Arland 2
10. Black Heart appearing in Hyperdimension Neptunia

The top ten games as voted by Yahoo users in Japan are:

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)

The PlayStation Portable and the DS each have three titles in the chart, while the PS3 and the Wii follow with two each, one shared.