Importance of Character Development:
Importance of Character Development:
Nintendo Vs. Sega, Sony, and Microsoft
I’m sure that none of us here in all of our geekdom would ever imagine that we would care about what two plumbers were up to and the adventures they might encounter. However, after the hit games Mario Brothers and Super Mario Brothers, our opinion has most likely drastically changed. For many, it started back before these games with the Nintendo Game and Watch series. This series of handheld colorless dual LCD screen pocket games was released in the early ‘80s and featured two brothers named Mario and Luigi who were plumbers. They had to do various blue-collar jobs, like working in a factory and packing bottles. Although very primitive when compared to even 8-bit gaming standards, these quaint mini adventures established two characters that would go down in gaming history as the most recognizable icons of video game culture. Now when we see these two characters, we don’t think of plumbing at all, we think of video games. How did Nintendo do this? Through a marketing plan that placed the Mario Bros. at the forefront of the Nintendo brand, a prime example of branding at its best.
What are the strengths of branding? Why is character development so important? When a company releases a hit game, people remember the characters involved. Through analyzing top-selling games, we can see that people like a wide variety of characters. They can look like virtually anything, from humans, to animals, to little blob monsters with cute faces. What common characteristic must they all have? They have to be in a good game. No actually, they have to be in a great game. Nobody would care about the Mario Bros. if it weren’t for the aforementioned Mario Bros and Super Mario Bros. The success of these games carried them to superstardom. Once a game is recognized as a hit and the main character involved is considered lovable, the company can proceed to brand the character as a possible mascot for the company, or for one of the game genres they produce.
Although the folks at Nintendo are masters at character development, their former rivals and current competition have also become quite well at creating and marketing memorable characters for hit games. The most memorable non-Nintendo character that comes to mind would have to be Sega’s Sonic The Hedgehog. Once again, an odd character choice by choosing something that is non-human and an unpopular animal nonetheless. Sonic does not even fully resemble a hedgehog, but he does have an interesting colorful look and personality about him that makes him likeable. Similar to the Mario Bros., what made this character popular were the initial successful games he first appeared in, Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Genesis. If these games had failed, nobody would care about Sonic for very long, would they? It is these successful titles that gave Sega the mascot they had been looking for. This was of course intentionally done, for Sega had seen what a successful branded character could do for a company through Nintendo. Sonic, no doubt, became the face of Sega and helped them greatly with promotions during their successful 16-bit era and even during the release of the Dreamcast in the company’s less successful times.
When Sony entered the video game industry in the late 90’s, they too realized the importance of creating a successful platform game featuring a marketable character. The result of their efforts was Crash Bandicoot, another odd character choice. What exactly is a bandicoot? A kind of rodent? And what is he crashing? But, the game was indeed successful and Sony proceeded to use Crash Bandicoot in their marketing and made several commercials utilizing this character. Although the developer was mainly using Crash to sell its games, the character was bringing awareness to the Playstation system as well. Other prime examples of this are the Ratchet and Clank series and the Jak series of games released on the Playstation 2. These characters, though not nearly as popular as the Mario Bros. or Link from The Legend Of Zelda, appeal to many gamers and were in successful games featuring unique and enjoyable game play. Once again we are introduced to another odd group of characters, a gun toting cat and robot with Rachet and Clank, and a half-man half-animal creature with Jak. Both were successful platformers and people grew to like the well executed game play and grew attached to the characters involved.
With the release of the XBox, Microsoft made their belated entry into the console market. This was an extremely daunting prospect considering the current success of Nintendo and Sony. Sega’s demise was proof of this. Although the XBox initially did not have any games that could be considered strong release titles, they had one saving grace, a game called Halo. Microsoft’s story is unique in that they do not really have a strong successful platform title or major character based game. What they do have however, is a very successful first person shooter with a great multiplayer mode and online gaming capability, something that XBox has focused on with excellent results. Although many find the overall story and character design of the Halo series to be lacking when compared to the competition, Halo and its sequel Halo 2, are undeniably fun and addicting to play, primarily in multiplayer mode with friends and online with gamers from far away places. Now the Master Chief character has become an icon and when people think about Halo they think of the XBox.
In conclusion, we must remember this important fact; the character without the game is completely disposable. It is true that a strong likeable character is very important and can be a valuable asset to a company and its success, but the character needs an equally strong well-developed game to reach is full potential as a game industry icon. While well-executed character design and the well-planned marketing of that character can drive a company ‘s success, the character is only as good as the game behind it.
Nintendo Vs. Sega, Sony, and Microsoft
I’m sure that none of us here in all of our geekdom would ever imagine that we would care about what two plumbers were up to and the adventures they might encounter. However, after the hit games Mario Brothers and Super Mario Brothers, our opinion has most likely drastically changed. For many, it started back before these games with the Nintendo Game and Watch series. This series of handheld colorless dual LCD screen pocket games was released in the early ‘80s and featured two brothers named Mario and Luigi who were plumbers. They had to do various blue-collar jobs, like working in a factory and packing bottles. Although very primitive when compared to even 8-bit gaming standards, these quaint mini adventures established two characters that would go down in gaming history as the most recognizable icons of video game culture. Now when we see these two characters, we don’t think of plumbing at all, we think of video games. How did Nintendo do this? Through a marketing plan that placed the Mario Bros. at the forefront of the Nintendo brand, a prime example of branding at its best.
What are the strengths of branding? Why is character development so important? When a company releases a hit game, people remember the characters involved. Through analyzing top-selling games, we can see that people like a wide variety of characters. They can look like virtually anything, from humans, to animals, to little blob monsters with cute faces. What common characteristic must they all have? They have to be in a good game. No actually, they have to be in a great game. Nobody would care about the Mario Bros. if it weren’t for the aforementioned Mario Bros and Super Mario Bros. The success of these games carried them to superstardom. Once a game is recognized as a hit and the main character involved is considered lovable, the company can proceed to brand the character as a possible mascot for the company, or for one of the game genres they produce.
Although the folks at Nintendo are masters at character development, their former rivals and current competition have also become quite well at creating and marketing memorable characters for hit games. The most memorable non-Nintendo character that comes to mind would have to be Sega’s Sonic The Hedgehog. Once again, an odd character choice by choosing something that is non-human and an unpopular animal nonetheless. Sonic does not even fully resemble a hedgehog, but he does have an interesting colorful look and personality about him that makes him likeable. Similar to the Mario Bros., what made this character popular were the initial successful games he first appeared in, Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Genesis. If these games had failed, nobody would care about Sonic for very long, would they? It is these successful titles that gave Sega the mascot they had been looking for. This was of course intentionally done, for Sega had seen what a successful branded character could do for a company through Nintendo. Sonic, no doubt, became the face of Sega and helped them greatly with promotions during their successful 16-bit era and even during the release of the Dreamcast in the company’s less successful times.
When Sony entered the video game industry in the late 90’s, they too realized the importance of creating a successful platform game featuring a marketable character. The result of their efforts was Crash Bandicoot, another odd character choice. What exactly is a bandicoot? A kind of rodent? And what is he crashing? But, the game was indeed successful and Sony proceeded to use Crash Bandicoot in their marketing and made several commercials utilizing this character. Although the developer was mainly using Crash to sell its games, the character was bringing awareness to the Playstation system as well. Other prime examples of this are the Ratchet and Clank series and the Jak series of games released on the Playstation 2. These characters, though not nearly as popular as the Mario Bros. or Link from The Legend Of Zelda, appeal to many gamers and were in successful games featuring unique and enjoyable game play. Once again we are introduced to another odd group of characters, a gun toting cat and robot with Rachet and Clank, and a half-man half-animal creature with Jak. Both were successful platformers and people grew to like the well executed game play and grew attached to the characters involved.
With the release of the XBox, Microsoft made their belated entry into the console market. This was an extremely daunting prospect considering the current success of Nintendo and Sony. Sega’s demise was proof of this. Although the XBox initially did not have any games that could be considered strong release titles, they had one saving grace, a game called Halo. Microsoft’s story is unique in that they do not really have a strong successful platform title or major character based game. What they do have however, is a very successful first person shooter with a great multiplayer mode and online gaming capability, something that XBox has focused on with excellent results. Although many find the overall story and character design of the Halo series to be lacking when compared to the competition, Halo and its sequel Halo 2, are undeniably fun and addicting to play, primarily in multiplayer mode with friends and online with gamers from far away places. Now the Master Chief character has become an icon and when people think about Halo they think of the XBox.
In conclusion, we must remember this important fact; the character without the game is completely disposable. It is true that a strong likeable character is very important and can be a valuable asset to a company and its success, but the character needs an equally strong well-developed game to reach is full potential as a game industry icon. While well-executed character design and the well-planned marketing of that character can drive a company ‘s success, the character is only as good as the game behind it.
posted by Binary Bot at 11:15 PM
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