So...Metroid wins?

@Bryan - I think it means that Samus is the epitome of all Nintendo genres, games, and characters....

i don't see duck hunt on that spectrum 8)

Pretty clever...

This is brilliant! But could someone list the names and games of the sprite-avatars shown? Particularly the shooting-only and the jumping+exploring one, I'm pretty sure I got the rest. Thing's just asking to be a t-shirt design, just needs some cleanup. Now, not to be picky, but since it's not all Nintendo, what about the primitive behind-the-car and top-down racing games, which are variations on the Frogger idea A-to-B and dodge hits in between? If you were going for iconic humanoid avatars, what about Final Fantasy (Grinding! or Leveling!)? Of course I only recently read Understanding Comics and still have McCloud's Map of the Comics Universe in mind...

Luke, if you get a chance, you should explain this at some point -- I'd enjoy seeing your thoughts!