The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Just been reading an article about great gaming characters, or quite the opposite in fact... They questioned whether or not a great character can make a game to which someone replied quite the opposite. Would Mario have been such a great character if he was part of a failing game that doesn't sell?
When people talk about how great a game is because of the character they are in fact wrong, if you place someone with a bubbly personality in a Library will they shine through? Not quite. Put the same person on a Butlins holiday resort and all of a sudden the medium becomes interesting. It’s all about balancing the gameplay and hitting the right formula with the character. It can of course work in reverse; an example of this would be Metal Gear Solid 2. Despite some of the latter stages testing the patience of even the most avid Metal Gear fans me I still managed to enjoy a fair bit on offer. What really spoilt the game though was Raiden; arguably in the first Metal Gear the character made the game however in Metal Gear 2 the character did his best to break the chain of command.
It had me thinking where the industry would be now if Nintendo had opted for a different character or even a different style of a game, the same goes for Sega with their ever worthy Sonic series; before it turned 3D that is. Perhaps I am looking into this too deeply but it just makes me wonder if the game industry would have been such a great hit if the people didn't opt to put Mario with a platform game. If Mario had been placed in a different game at a different time who knows what could have happened?
It works both ways so I don't agree entirely that the characters are worth nothing, in some cases they can make a game; from a sales point of view at least. We have more to thank the plumber and hedgehog for than we give credit, without them we could be sat here today discussing the latest pop idol contestants and who your favourite actor in xXx was, thank the lord for Nintendo; we owe them more than we may think!
A great game isn't a great game if the character isn't up to it but more to the point, a character isn't a great character if the people behind the game don't make the gameplay of equal or better quality.
Worth a thought at such an hour...
When people talk about how great a game is because of the character they are in fact wrong, if you place someone with a bubbly personality in a Library will they shine through? Not quite. Put the same person on a Butlins holiday resort and all of a sudden the medium becomes interesting. It’s all about balancing the gameplay and hitting the right formula with the character. It can of course work in reverse; an example of this would be Metal Gear Solid 2. Despite some of the latter stages testing the patience of even the most avid Metal Gear fans me I still managed to enjoy a fair bit on offer. What really spoilt the game though was Raiden; arguably in the first Metal Gear the character made the game however in Metal Gear 2 the character did his best to break the chain of command.
It had me thinking where the industry would be now if Nintendo had opted for a different character or even a different style of a game, the same goes for Sega with their ever worthy Sonic series; before it turned 3D that is. Perhaps I am looking into this too deeply but it just makes me wonder if the game industry would have been such a great hit if the people didn't opt to put Mario with a platform game. If Mario had been placed in a different game at a different time who knows what could have happened?
It works both ways so I don't agree entirely that the characters are worth nothing, in some cases they can make a game; from a sales point of view at least. We have more to thank the plumber and hedgehog for than we give credit, without them we could be sat here today discussing the latest pop idol contestants and who your favourite actor in xXx was, thank the lord for Nintendo; we owe them more than we may think!
A great game isn't a great game if the character isn't up to it but more to the point, a character isn't a great character if the people behind the game don't make the gameplay of equal or better quality.
Worth a thought at such an hour...
I agree that a character isn't a good character normally if the game is bad.
Mario could get away with it, because he is so well established now. But if it was Rayman or Gex etc in a really poor game, well they would be viewed as rubbish characters.
But a great game doesn't make a character great. There are a whole bunch of great games with poor characters.
Mario could get away with it, because he is so well established now. But if it was Rayman or Gex etc in a really poor game, well they would be viewed as rubbish characters.
But a great game doesn't make a character great. There are a whole bunch of great games with poor characters.
Any person on a Butlin's holiday is interesting providing they aren't
A: Dead
or
B: your dad
-----------
Nice little context summary. Now I know why Oranges164 on Pro Evo 2 was never famous.
A: Dead
or
B: your dad
-----------
Nice little context summary. Now I know why Oranges164 on Pro Evo 2 was never famous.
Just been reading an article about great gaming characters, or quite the opposite in fact... They questioned whether or not a great character can make a game to which someone replied quite the opposite. Would Mario have been such a great character if he was part of a failing game that doesn't sell?
When people talk about how great a game is because of the character they are in fact wrong, if you place someone with a bubbly personality in a Library will they shine through? Not quite. Put the same person on a Butlins holiday resort and all of a sudden the medium becomes interesting. It’s all about balancing the gameplay and hitting the right formula with the character. It can of course work in reverse; an example of this would be Metal Gear Solid 2. Despite some of the latter stages testing the patience of even the most avid Metal Gear fans me I still managed to enjoy a fair bit on offer. What really spoilt the game though was Raiden; arguably in the first Metal Gear the character made the game however in Metal Gear 2 the character did his best to break the chain of command.
It had me thinking where the industry would be now if Nintendo had opted for a different character or even a different style of a game, the same goes for Sega with their ever worthy Sonic series; before it turned 3D that is. Perhaps I am looking into this too deeply but it just makes me wonder if the game industry would have been such a great hit if the people didn't opt to put Mario with a platform game. If Mario had been placed in a different game at a different time who knows what could have happened?
It works both ways so I don't agree entirely that the characters are worth nothing, in some cases they can make a game; from a sales point of view at least. We have more to thank the plumber and hedgehog for than we give credit, without them we could be sat here today discussing the latest pop idol contestants and who your favourite actor in xXx was, thank the lord for Nintendo; we owe them more than we may think!
A great game isn't a great game if the character isn't up to it but more to the point, a character isn't a great character if the people behind the game don't make the gameplay of equal or better quality.
Worth a thought at such an hour...
When people talk about how great a game is because of the character they are in fact wrong, if you place someone with a bubbly personality in a Library will they shine through? Not quite. Put the same person on a Butlins holiday resort and all of a sudden the medium becomes interesting. It’s all about balancing the gameplay and hitting the right formula with the character. It can of course work in reverse; an example of this would be Metal Gear Solid 2. Despite some of the latter stages testing the patience of even the most avid Metal Gear fans me I still managed to enjoy a fair bit on offer. What really spoilt the game though was Raiden; arguably in the first Metal Gear the character made the game however in Metal Gear 2 the character did his best to break the chain of command.
It had me thinking where the industry would be now if Nintendo had opted for a different character or even a different style of a game, the same goes for Sega with their ever worthy Sonic series; before it turned 3D that is. Perhaps I am looking into this too deeply but it just makes me wonder if the game industry would have been such a great hit if the people didn't opt to put Mario with a platform game. If Mario had been placed in a different game at a different time who knows what could have happened?
It works both ways so I don't agree entirely that the characters are worth nothing, in some cases they can make a game; from a sales point of view at least. We have more to thank the plumber and hedgehog for than we give credit, without them we could be sat here today discussing the latest pop idol contestants and who your favourite actor in xXx was, thank the lord for Nintendo; we owe them more than we may think!
A great game isn't a great game if the character isn't up to it but more to the point, a character isn't a great character if the people behind the game don't make the gameplay of equal or better quality.
Worth a thought at such an hour...