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The Decline of the Video Game Mascot
Ant writes "Ryan Cullen, of Access Gamer, writes: "This is the beginning of a recent fad that I have noticed the past couple years. Lately it seems that the mascot video game character has declined in popularity. Names like Mario and Sonic, characters who were once able to make the video game world suddenly stop and pay attention, are now either shells of their former glory, or they are just not as huge as they once were. Why is this?""
They didn't start out as mascots, they started out as characters in a game which became so popular that they became synonymous with the hardware vendor they were created by.
Sony's original IP is tied to their methodology of creating new markets which requires innovation in technology and is not character based.
You could argue that Halo is synonymous with the Microsoft XBOX, but the faceless dude in a space suit wouldn't be recognised by many people outside of gaming circles.
Pokemon is synonymous with the Gameboy for many kids. All their parents would know this too - they buy the shit.
Okay, so maybe it's not quite on the same level as Sonic the Hedgehog (who looked more like a blue fox than a hedgehog), but there is an all-new Hello Kitty MMORPG ready to debut.
The editorial points to a kind of shift from the happy game landscapes of Mario and Sonic, but I didn't see any welcoming treatment of Hello Kitty. How can you get much more happy, fun and vibrant than Hello Kitty?
The assertion in the editorial is that mascots are just too cutesy-kidsey to have much appeal anymore, but I think that the recent slew of game concepts/storylines is probably not easy to align with a mascot image... but this could change.
Consider this game premise: You are part of a band of mutant gun-toting grenade-lobbing prairie dogs who must encircle and destroy a hedgehog settlement as you defend against the attacks on a horde of evil gophers. Find something cute and fuzzy, put a chaingun in its hand and a bandanna on its head and you've got a mascot. In the premise, it could be "Hank the PO'd Prairie Dog"! Pick another name for the gopher-king and the hedgehog sultan and you've got mascots Galore!
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
Might the slight decline in prominence of mascots be due to the relatively recent possibility of semi-immersion? Many a game places the player in the shoes of an everyman of sorts. It's kind of hard for "the GTA guy" to become a mascot. To borrow a phrase from Gag Halfrunt, "He's just this guy, you know?"
Mascots are still around, and definitely provide brand identification. Nintendo still uses its stable of characters, especially Mario. Jak 3 just came out, starring the closest the PS2 might have to a mascot (worth noting that Naughty Dog is the studio behind both Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter). Master Chief, while definitely the faceless everyman, is now quite iconic, and you can't see him without the XBox immediately coming to mind.
Anyway, while mascots don't seem to be as important for sales as they once were, many game characters still can become instantly recognizable and elicit mental associations with their respective platform or developer. Who doesn't think of Valve and headcrabs when they see Gordon Freeman?
Honor Among Slackers. A veri
Gamers don't want rehashes for the most part. A mascot is used over and over... and over... and over.
Everyone has been waiting for games like Half Life 2 and Halo 2 to come out; why? Because they hadn't really seen anything like them before and wanted more. Now when we get on down to Half Life 23 and Halo 42, gamers won't be excited. Why? Well, just look at the Tony Hawk games. The first was pretty sweet so we waited for the second. Now that the 6th or 7th is out (depending how you count) it's no longer such a big deal.
Thanks for asking.
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
I think it's just because there are more games out there. Parents recognized pac-man because they played that game.
... I think its just that there are more mascots.
I know what spyro looks like, and I know the prince of persia when I see him.. even if I dont know his name. I think this are bonified mascots.
Now for Mario being used as a company mascot, thats a different issue. I don't think that anyone besides Nintendo really did that.
I don't think you can say "Atari" had a mascot, or Colecovision.
I don't think you can say Laura Croft _isnt_ a mascot.. but she was never used to promote outside of the Laura Croft brand.
So while their might be a decline
I dont think you can judge them by their universal recognition - that just means they are mascot for poorly recognized games.
kcroy
video games (and many other forms of popular entertainment) currently are concerned with gangster rap and violence. many players seem to be embarrassed if their games are not badass shit where you get to kill motherfuckers. "many gamers" includes children. mario and sonic are cartoons and do not fit the image of pimped-ass motherfuckers. that fucking gay fucking old-ass shit.
This relates to a recent article in WIRED regarding the declining power of name brands in general. Consumer research seems to indicate that more and more people are starting to realize that quality requires more than just a popular name.
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