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"The main man (or woman)"

Is the main character of a game really important? Does it matter what they look like or what they do?
lets take a look at some of the big names to grace the many consoles.

Mario and Luigi
The nintendo brothers have featured in many games, they wear hats as it was easier to draw hats on characters than try to put hair on them back when the NES was released. They are plumbers as nintendo wanted a main character that could be desrcibed as hard working. A good role model for children.


Lara Croft
She seemed to take the console market by storm. I wasn't a big fan of any of her games but she did and probably still has a huge following. The first female games character, but why? Maybe to try attract more females to become interested in games or try to get young boys to buy the game, who knows. One thing is though as each new game featuring her came out the size of her b..b..b..b.. emm assets got bigger. Think they must have been trying to get young boys to buy it then. : )

Joana Dark
Again another female main character who tried to do the same as Lara Croft, although she probably isn't as well known as Ms Croft. Still she is part of a great game but would the game be better if the main character was male or female??

Solid Snake
Hes tough, hes good and hes the star of one of the biggest games ever. Snake is a typical soldier determined to finish the mission. Government agent on a mission to regain control of a secret nuclear weapons base from terrorist hands. Words that describe a brilliant game and a character that fits in nicely. His dark image definately adds to the atmosphere of the game.

Sonic
He aint human but we would say he is a male hedgehog (who knows though), he can run fast and spin. He made sega succesful and is still kicking it with mario in the battle to be the best. Would sega have been as succesful if it hadn't been for this little guy? I don't think it would have. Most consoles require a character from a game as a kind of mascot or symbol for the console.

I think the main character is a little important, as long as the game is good it will sell. Metal Gear soid would still be a great game even if Solid Snake was called Rupert Smith and he wore t-shirt and shorts. Games are similar to books in a way that the main character is usually someone the gamer and reader can connect with. You are given information about them that allows you to understand more about them. One thing I would like to see used more is a choice of character. Like in Deus Ex you can choose from a few faces to what you want your character to look like. Who knows we may even see something like the create a wrestler feature being used to design the main character.

This kind of option could suit everyone as you could go with the default one or go on and make your own. It could add to the realistic feel of the game if the character was modeled on yourself.
I wonder how long the main character is worked on when making a game, some games don't even have one. Alot of games need them but does their name and image really change a game?
I mean you couldn't have solid snake being a huge fat guy, how would he hide from the enemy? Or sonic being a slow type of animal like a slug. It just wouldn't suit the type of game.

So the looks of a character aren't really that important as long as it's not taken to far. In Onimusha you can obtain a secret outfit to play as a giant panda, it dosn't spoil the game at all. So do you think main characters are imortant, could any of them be made better? Who is the best of all time?

I would say out of the above, Solid Snake and Lara Croft are the best characters. You see Snakes attitude had some seriuos problems and needed some sorting out, but on the other hand he was the best trained killer on this planet and snapped people's necks like twigs. Same with Lara it's not just how the character looks, but that is an important thing as Tomb Raider proved, but it's also the way they act.

Would you ever find a young woman going into caves all by herself hunting for treasure? Nothing against women cos no sane bloke would even go in those Tombs.

Thanks for listening

But then no-one would know what to call the main character in guides and reviews!

EyeCandy wrote:
> I may be asking too much, but I wish more adventure games would
> allow the gamer to edit or create his/her own lead character's looks
> - in a similar way to how you can edit or create a player on
> International Superstar Soccer.


Can you not do that on Phantasy star online?

I may be asking too much, but I wish more adventure games would allow the gamer to edit or create his/her own lead character's looks - in a similar way to how you can edit or create a player on International Superstar Soccer.

I think that it is important to have a main character in some types of games, especially first person shoot em ups and adventure games. The reason for this is to allow the player to immerse themselves with said character, creating the impression that the player is actually in the game. Without main characters in such games, it will cause the player to be unsure of their main role, and may also mess up the storyline a bit, like in the extra levels of Perfect Dark.

James Bond is the best one player character. but if new characters could be designed to be the character of choice in a game that would be amazing.

Is the main character of a game really important? Does it matter what they look like or what they do?
lets take a look at some of the big names to grace the many consoles.

Mario and Luigi
The nintendo brothers have featured in many games, they wear hats as it was easier to draw hats on characters than try to put hair on them back when the NES was released. They are plumbers as nintendo wanted a main character that could be desrcibed as hard working. A good role model for children.


Lara Croft
She seemed to take the console market by storm. I wasn't a big fan of any of her games but she did and probably still has a huge following. The first female games character, but why? Maybe to try attract more females to become interested in games or try to get young boys to buy the game, who knows. One thing is though as each new game featuring her came out the size of her b..b..b..b.. emm assets got bigger. Think they must have been trying to get young boys to buy it then. : )

Joana Dark
Again another female main character who tried to do the same as Lara Croft, although she probably isn't as well known as Ms Croft. Still she is part of a great game but would the game be better if the main character was male or female??

Solid Snake
Hes tough, hes good and hes the star of one of the biggest games ever. Snake is a typical soldier determined to finish the mission. Government agent on a mission to regain control of a secret nuclear weapons base from terrorist hands. Words that describe a brilliant game and a character that fits in nicely. His dark image definately adds to the atmosphere of the game.

Sonic
He aint human but we would say he is a male hedgehog (who knows though), he can run fast and spin. He made sega succesful and is still kicking it with mario in the battle to be the best. Would sega have been as succesful if it hadn't been for this little guy? I don't think it would have. Most consoles require a character from a game as a kind of mascot or symbol for the console.

I think the main character is a little important, as long as the game is good it will sell. Metal Gear soid would still be a great game even if Solid Snake was called Rupert Smith and he wore t-shirt and shorts. Games are similar to books in a way that the main character is usually someone the gamer and reader can connect with. You are given information about them that allows you to understand more about them. One thing I would like to see used more is a choice of character. Like in Deus Ex you can choose from a few faces to what you want your character to look like. Who knows we may even see something like the create a wrestler feature being used to design the main character.

This kind of option could suit everyone as you could go with the default one or go on and make your own. It could add to the realistic feel of the game if the character was modeled on yourself.
I wonder how long the main character is worked on when making a game, some games don't even have one. Alot of games need them but does their name and image really change a game?
I mean you couldn't have solid snake being a huge fat guy, how would he hide from the enemy? Or sonic being a slow type of animal like a slug. It just wouldn't suit the type of game.

So the looks of a character aren't really that important as long as it's not taken to far. In Onimusha you can obtain a secret outfit to play as a giant panda, it dosn't spoil the game at all. So do you think main characters are imortant, could any of them be made better? Who is the best of all time?