THE ICONIC VIDEOGAME MASCOTS OF TODAY!
When I was of a younger age, I recall fondly the days spent arguing on my Primary School playground about which console was better, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or the Sega Megadrive/Genesis. More then often these 'arguments' would result in us fighting about who would win in a battle between Mario and Sonic, but it was all good fun and something we don't often get to see nowadays. Back then it was the fashion to have your very own videogame console mascot and brand loyalty was a much more common occurrence.Fanboyism still exists today, for better or worse. But back then you were expected to choose one of two main sides, you were either all about the Nintendo and Mario, or all about the Sega and Sonic. It brought with it it's own extra special spice to gaming conversations and something that for the most as disappeared. Now I won't deny that I was once quite the Sega fanboy back in the day, to the point that I wouldn't even touch a Mario game until I would eventuallly experience the SNES for the first time at a friends house. Looking back I realize how stupid I was, but I was a fanboy and I've come to learn that fanboys are rather stupid.
Whenever someone would asked me why I didn't like the most famous plumber in all of gaming, I would simply tell them 'What's to like about a fat plumber who isn't as fast as Sonic?' and even saying that now brings shame to my face. Mario as featured in many of this industries best titles and is as much loved today as he was when he first appeared. Where's Sonic now? It still gets me angry when I look at the way Sega have treated the Sonic name over the years, especially when I so adored such wonderful Megadrive games such as Sonic & Knuckles. Anyway, back on subject for now though. Mascots were often the source of hatred and love for many a gamer, but do mascots actually exists for todays three main consoles?
Depends on your personal view it seems, while back in the early 90's all gamers knew that Mario led the armies of Nintendo and Sonic the forces of Sega, nowadays it seems tougher to really see a clear leader for all three of the major consoles. It could be said that Mario is still the head of the Nintendo household and the better for it, afterall Nintendo continue to develop solid and much loved videogames around him to this day. But what about Sony and Microsoft, well Sony have had quite a few leading mascots over the years. From Lara Croft to Kratos, there as always been choices for Sony and maybe it's just up the gamer to choose their personal favourite. Me personally, well I'd have to say Nathan Drake. Now I'm sure some of you will already be disagreeing with me, and maybe that's the issue on why we don't see mascots much these days.
It would be all to easy to say that Master Chief is Microsoft's leading videogame figure for this generation, afterall when many people think of Master Chief they think of Halo, and when they think of Halo they think of the Xbox. So you'd think it was an obvious choice right? Well I'm not to sure, for you see despite Halo's popularity as a franchise over the recent years, the Master Chief isn't exactly a much adored and treasured videogame character. Sure many people are big fans of both him and the Halo universe, but I could also as easily find some forum thread about how they dislike Master Chief. Maybe the problem lies in the lack of personal connection the gamer as with this rather cold and marine like character. My personal choice would be Gears of War's Marcus Fenix, an individual who is easier to connect with in many ways. Though is even personal connection such a worthy matching point?
I don't know, maybe all this is why game consoles don't have mascots anymore. They don't exactly make a whole lot of sense unless your trying to use them in a marketing campaign, but the Mario vs Sonic wars began for a reason and that reason was the love for their specific console. We game in an age where exclusivity is a rather rare sight, so we no longer connect one videogame character with a certain console of this generation. There are a possible few exceptions to that rule, as I mentioned previously I think Halo is rather unique in that format. But when we see such established franchises such as Metal Gear Solid make their way to more then a Sony console, we realize that the day of choosing one system over the other as gone. Like many of you, I own all three of the major consoles and I enjoy them all. But I no longer have love for one over the other, yes I could argue that I much prefer the Xbox 360 and PS3 over the Nintendo Wii but that doesn't mean I don't like the Wii. it's just that my needs as a gamer are not catered for on that console.
Reading this, you might feel that I'm looking into the whole situation a little to deeply and maybe your right, but I have such fond memories of my gaming discussions at Primary and secondary school, where we would argue against each other to see which console was better then the other. I'm sure many of you have had the same sorts of experiences and hopefully you'll understand this blog a little better. It's possible that the days of a leading console mascot are gone, probably not such a bad thing afterall. Though it's still pleasant to think back to the days when I fought bravely in defending the honour of Sonic the Hedgehog, an honour that no longer exists thanks to Sega. Of course there are characters I'm fond of today and maybe I'll discuss that in a later blog. But I'd be very interested to read how my fellow gamers feel about videogame mascots. So as always, if your up for it answer the questions below.
In your own personal opinion, who are the leading mascots for the current three major consoles? (1 choice for Xbox 360, Wii and PS3).
and
Is there still a place for console specific mascots in days of little exclusivity?
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