To say the likes of Metroid, F-Zero and Starfox sell like crap is obviously an exaggeration, but I wonder why they don't sell as well?
Is it a result of Nintendo's lack of effort in other areas, predominantly Improve Online.
WipeOut was always a hugely popular game and much more well known, despite F-Zero arguably being the better series. Online Multiplayer and a track editor could have done wonders for the series over the years.
Star-Fox... how many Space Shooters are there? Non!... there is a huge gap in the market there and one perfect for online co-op and multiplayer.
Metroid, how fucking cool is Metroid!!... and yet people only know Halo.
And yes I know the series are nothing alike but...
Metroid [Prime] is the single player experience Halo can only dream of. If Nintendo had had the vision to give it an online multiplayer like that of Halo's who's to say it couldn't have been the bigger series? Halo was on a brand new console after all.
Surely if Nintendo [had] put the effort in, some of these secondary franchises could be in much stronger positions!?