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.
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.