Their definition of iconic is so off. If I were to poll even a groups like totally random gamers that play > 40 hours a week, the number that don't recognize Donkey Kong is near 0. I wouldn't be shocked if the annoying owl from Zelda games polled higher than Kiryu Kazuma.
I mean even Cloud Strife is more iconic than Lara Croft. It's the first character people think of when they think of the absolutely massive Final Fantasy library.
I wouldn't give Marcus Fenix and Gordon Freeman as much broad recognition outside of "gamers" as I would any of those other names. I would expect the average person who's never touched any video game to have a solid shot at recognizing the others... although they might call Link "Zelda," so I don't know if that counts against him.
I would say Mario, Pikachu, and Link easily beat her.
And Master Chief, Gordon Freeman, Sonic, Marcus Fenix, Pac Man...
Donkey Kong, Minecraft Steve.
Their definition of iconic is so off. If I were to poll even a groups like totally random gamers that play > 40 hours a week, the number that don't recognize Donkey Kong is near 0. I wouldn't be shocked if the annoying owl from Zelda games polled higher than Kiryu Kazuma.
I mean even Cloud Strife is more iconic than Lara Croft. It's the first character people think of when they think of the absolutely massive Final Fantasy library.
I wouldn't give Marcus Fenix and Gordon Freeman as much broad recognition outside of "gamers" as I would any of those other names. I would expect the average person who's never touched any video game to have a solid shot at recognizing the others... although they might call Link "Zelda," so I don't know if that counts against him.