Memorable Icons
 

So whatever happened to games with memorable icons or masots, anyway? One of the things that made the games of yore so great were the wonderful stars or co-stars.

Mario, Pit, Link, Sonic, Kirby... it's almost as if game companies have forgotten that their games need memorable characters, not something punched from a cookie-cutter mold. I think the most recent, great video game character would have to be Crash Bandicoot, and that was damn near ten years ago! Sure, we've had Maximo, Ratchet and Clank, Jak & Daxter, but deep down they're really based on their predecessors.

Any thoughts?

playstation was using pyro for a while, but yeah, that was like 5 years ago. . . I don't know of any good mascots lately, kinda sad . . . mainly the companies just use their logos now :(

It's true, but you can't look to Sony for that. The closest I can think of recently is Dante from DMC. But Sony's still more for teens than kids, and mascots have diffrent appeal to diffrent ages I think. Though then again X-Box would have Master Chief. But I guess it could just be that mascots have changed since the days of yore. Nintendo's still using Mario like a nickle and dime whore, so there you have it.

I don't think that's really fair. He's about as recognizeable as Mickey Mouse at this point, and the opening 7 notes from Super Mario Bros. for the NES is one of the most recognizeable tunes in video games today. They're using what they're known for, and as far as I can see, Zelda, Mario, Link, Bowser, Gannon, and all of the crew (even Fox McCloud, too) are what kept the Gamecube from sinking.

But on topic.

Mascots? They really can't exist anymore, except for Nintendo. Nintendo makes their own consoles, followed by their own games, and that's what keeps them so popular (that and the die-hard Nintendo maniacs). Microsoft and Sony don't do that.

If anything, Master Cheif is the mascot for the Xbox and Kratos is the mascot for the PS2.

Silly Mirai. Everybody knows that Tales of Symphonia is on the GameCube.[/sarcasm]


Still, I don't think God of War is the best example of an iconic PS2-exclusive. Maybe Tidus?

If it's anybody from FFX its Auron. Maybe Sora from Kingdom Hearts?

Sora made his way to the Game Boy Advance, so I wouldn't really consider him a mascot.

I personally don't think Sony or Microsoft can claim to have mascots like Nintendo do. Hell, look at the Super Smash Bros. saga. I find it difficult to impossible for the latter companies to pull a game like that (as in themes, nostalgia, and all those signature ass-kicking moves).

Only reason I said it is because Sony of America made it. Keep in mind that most of the Nintendo icons were made by nintendo, or subsections. Which is also why MAster cheif would be the icon; he actually belongs to Bungie, who got eaten up by Microsoft.

Super Square Bros. might work pretty good, though. They're the only other company I can think of that has enough characters. (except for the fighting series with characters created specifically for fighting games, of course)

Edit: Ah, my mistake, then. I didn't know that Sony made God of War

It would be interesting if the PS2 made a game like Super Smash Bros. Melee.

It would likely have Dante, Jak, Ratchet, and Kratos in it. Who else would they stick in?