Where Have All The Mascots Gone?

[vbt]

Sure it's a good question. Some years ago we got many mascots on the same cconsole. The was Wonder Boy, Alex Kidd and Sonic on the Megadrive and on the Master System. So where are they now ? Maybe the answer of this question is on this article :


http://www.gwn.com/articles/article.php/id/882/title/Where_Have_All_The_Mascots_Gone.html

 

[Kuta]

Mascots were good marketing for younger customers. These days the focus is on older gamers so they wouldn't really work as well. Besides that there havn't been any hugely popular characters in the gaming industry these days. Looks like the good old days are gone forever.

 

[mtxblau]

You can't say Nintendo without thinking Mario. If you do a word association, I'm sure that'll be the first thing that springs to mind. Zelda is a strong second, methinks.


Sony was really the first company to say 'we don't need a mascot' and just go with that. I mean, you can think of cloud strife, but that was more for Square and it was because it was a console specific title...


Sega kind of followed in suite. They didn't really make a strong Sonic title for either the 32X, or the Saturn. Sonic Adventure was more closely related to Sonic 3D on the saturn in that there wasn't the edgy attitude and the breakneck speed. And then we know they proceeded to butcher Sonic's image.


Xbox doesn't have a mascot either. I think the closest it got was Abe or Munch, but that was just because of the defection from PS2 to Xbox.


As long as there is a Mario, there is money to be made.

 

[Cloud121]

Sony was really the first company to say 'we don't need a mascot' and just go with that. I mean, you can think of cloud strife

Crash Bandicoot and Lara Croft during the PSX days as well.

 

[mtxblau]

Crash Bandicoot and Lara Croft during the PSX days as well.

...except both characters have shown up on other consoles. I mean you could say Lara Croft, but only because the Saturn was lagging so incredibly far behind.

 

[lordofduct]

Sega kind of followed in suite. They didn't really make a strong Sonic title for either the 32X, or the Saturn. Sonic Adventure was more closely related to Sonic 3D on the saturn in that there wasn't the edgy attitude and the breakneck speed. And then we know they proceeded to butcher Sonic's image.

I'd like to add though, Sonic still holds the Sega image. Good description of how:

Every new Sonic game the majority of people say SEGA sucks and can't make good games. Though the majority of the time they don't compare their reasoning to all Sega made games, but instead to the Sonic games ONLY.

Though yes you could say there is other crappy Sega games, there are still some good ones out side of Sonic coming out. The new Virtua Fighter for instance. But Sonic sucks, hence Sega must suck. Perfect example of mascots defining a company.

 

[mtxblau]

I'd like to add though, Sonic still holds the Sega image. Good description of how:


Every new Sonic game the majority of people say SEGA sucks and can't make good games. Though the majority of the time they don't compare their reasoning to all Sega made games, but instead to the Sonic games ONLY.


Though yes you could say there is other crappy Sega games, there are still some good ones out side of Sonic coming out. The new Virtua Fighter for instance. But Sonic sucks, hence Sega must suck. Perfect example of mascots defining a company.

And I thought *I* was bitter.

 

[dibz]

I don't know if I'd call it bitter rather then the honest truth. Sega is known for Sonic, and it buried the name in to the ground with shitty games. Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Party, (apparently) the new Sonic the Hedgehog? It looks like it rocks for the new Wii game, but with the Sonic name attached to it -- will that even matter at this point?

I love the old mascot characters as much as anyone else here, but there is no denying what Sega did to the Sonic, and therefor Sega, public image.

 

[Jedi Master Thrash]

The way that the mascots are drawn has changed too.

For instance, look at how the new 3D mario looks compared to how he originally looked on the NES. Sure he still has red pants and a mustache, but the style is just completely different.

Like the way they've been drawing sonic in all the latest gen console games. He looks absurd. Long stick legs with huge feet going up to a tiny body and round flat-shaded cheap 3D head&hair. Sonic used to have a slightly bigger body and shorter legs, and didn't have these lame facial expressions.