Main > Main Forum
Game character - The most iconic?
<< < (9/13) > >>
missioncontrol:

--- Quote from: Franco B on September 14, 2008, 04:13:30 pm ---
--- Quote from: ratzz on September 13, 2008, 11:01:55 am ---
--- Quote from: ChadTower on September 13, 2008, 10:15:22 am ---

--- End quote ---

I'm with you on this Chad.

Although not necessarily my all time best game, I feel that it was a defining moment in arcade history.

--- End quote ---

Me three. It was a Space Invaders cocktail that I first played on when I was 8 in a hotel in Blackpool that got me hooked . I have become quite infatuated with those few pixels. My project reflects this.

--- End quote ---

it's easily recognizable to us, but I have this guy as my front license plate and I get a lot of "What's that thing supposed to be?" questions.
shmokes:

--- Quote from: Hemi on September 16, 2008, 05:55:05 pm ---The limits are especially harder since Pacman never really made it into the latest gen. Mario is much easier to come up with new ideas for based on 3D and better looking graphics and level design. There is not much you can do with a 2D character to make it new when the core appeal is in a 2D maze. Taking Pacman out of his 2D maze loses all his appeal and then becomes just another bad platformer, unlike Mario.

--- End quote ---

But that's my point exactly.  Mario didn't just waltz into the latest generation of his own accord.  His 2D origins are as humble as Pac-man's.  He was carried into successive generations, right up to the latest generation (if the Wii can be considered current-gen), by talented developers who have, with a few exceptions, refused to cash in with wholly derivative sequels. 

There's nothing inherently more updatable about a plumber being chased by turtles than a yellow guy being chased by ghosts.  There's also almost no resemblance whatsoever between Donkey Kong or the original Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy, or Super Mario 64, or even Super Mario Bros. 2.    And certainly there's nothing logically linking the original Donkey Kong to Super Mario Strikers or Mario Kart. 

If Pac-Man had been Miyamoto's character, you can bet that we would have modern iterations of Pac-Man that continued to innovate and push the envelope of videogames.
ChadTower:

Plus Pac-Man did evolve over the years.  I really liked the Pac Man World games.
RandyT:

--- Quote from: shmokes on September 17, 2008, 10:29:40 am ---If Pac-Man had been Miyamoto's character, you can bet that we would have modern iterations of Pac-Man that continued to innovate and push the envelope of videogames.

--- End quote ---

I tend to disagree with this statement.  Just giving Pac-Man legs, arms and eyes was stretching it to an extreme.  The character was fundamentally changed from the thing that gave it fame in the first place.  IMHO, that helped to fuel a rejection of the "new" character.  PacMan is also far less dimensional than Mario.  Mario is a person, while PacMan is a yellow blob with a mouth.

Further proof is that there were attempts to integrate PacMan as a character beyond the 2D maze. and none of them fared very well at all.

RandyT
shmokes:
Mario has been given everything from a racoon's tale that inexplicably gives him the ability to fly, to the ability to fly around like a bee and stick to honey-comb.  Mario has been fundamentally changed dozens of times from what gave him fame in the first place.  Seriously, you would have to be stark raving mad not to consider the change from Super Mario World to Super Mario 64 to be anything but completely and utterly fundamental.

What sets Mario apart is the quality of the sequels and nothing else.  Mario sequels have endured for one reason and one reason only -- the quality of the games.  Look at the Tomb Raider franchise for an example of this on the other side of the coin.  The Tomb Raider sequels (aside from the most recent Crystal Dynamics developed ones) didn't stray from the fundamentals at all.  But they were total cash-ins that didn't innovate at all, and the franchise almost disappeared.  Sonic is another example of a character who has floundered, but is fundamentally no-less updatable.

I maintain that it is Pac-Man's developers, and not his original lack of legs, that have kept him from evolving with gaming hardware.

Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page

Go to full version