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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Will any of today's gaming heroes match the lifespan of Mario?

Tagged games:

 

Will game characters that we play as today still be around in 30 years?

Yes 10 15.87%
 
NO 32 50.79%
 
Maybe 18 28.57%
 
Yes, but in another form 1 1.59%
 
See resultz 0 0%
 
Other answer 2 3.17%
 
Total:63
S.T.A.G.E. on 13 February 2012
kain_kusanagi said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:
kain_kusanagi said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:
kain_kusanagi said:
TWRoO said:
kain_kusanagi said:
I think Master Chief, Lara Croft, Sonic, and Gordan Freeman are here to stay. These games may not always be hits or have as many releases as Nintendo's but they have all proven their staying power and dedicated fan bases.

They are all pretty old already IMO. Obviously not quite Mario's age but Sonic is 20, Croft is 15, Freeman is 13 and Chief is 10.

I don't think they are here to stay in the same way Mario is (Mario own't die until Nintendo dies) but Sonic and Croft will almost definately reach Mario's current age of 30. Chief is very probable too. I don't know about Freeman. He'll definately still be popular but whether there will still be new half-life games then I'm not sure.

They age and staying power is proof they can stick around. Sure Mario and Zelda kind of have that timeless Disney feel, but that's not the only way to maintain popularity. I think there will always be Half-Life and Halo games. Tomb Raider and Sonic looked to be out for the count, but they bounced back. There's room in peoples hearts for more than Nintendo.

Halo is for a teen to adult audience as far as concept of character. It doesnt have the staying power of Mario.

People spend more time as Adults than children. I have a special place in my heart for Mario, but Master Chief appeals to me just a strongly, but in a different way. It's possible for both to be loved and last. Although I will say that because Halo/Half-Life/etc. is story diven and Mario/Zelda/etc. retell and reinvent that characters like Master Chief and Gorden Freeman may actualy die and be replaced while Mario and Link will live on as reincarnations of themselves.


People spend more time as adults than children. We keep creating children and spending on them. The highest consumerbase will always be women and children, therefore, mario wins. This is how Disney survives.

Mario wins? This is a discussion about the populatiry of characters not a competition. Mario is always going to be popular, but that doesn't mean more adult oriented characters can't be as beloved.


I wish I could agree, but even though I'll be gaming for a while I know I'll be spending heaps on Mario when I have kids in a never ending cycle. When I say mario wins I am speaking for the disney archtype character, whom appeals to women and children and thus refreshes its appeal. Adult characters are cool and thankfully with this generation people are cosplaying and appreciating adult oriented characters just like they would Star Wars or Anime. The thing with adults is that you can tire out things for them far more easily than with a child because children dont rationalize a product. Things can change, but Microsoft really needs a kid friendly game because Banjo is spent. I know Sony can internally but they need to market it properly if they do. I dont think Rare can pump out another good one in the shape they are in for MS any longer. For games like Halo, Gears, Mass Effect and Uncharted storyarchs must eventually end. Mario has no clear cut story....its mostly gameplay and great platforming design.



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Kasz216 on 13 February 2012

No.

Why?

Mario came from a simpler time when stories were like, 5th in priority behind gameplay, graphics, sound and difficulty.

Now a days story is far more important.

What modern day character could have nearly as many games as Mario does without a character reboot?

None, because new characters are expected to have more of a narrative.

Who is the most recent "Mario like" character created? Pikachu... maybe?


Character "reincarnation" in the way of Mario and Link just isn't accepted anymore.

Unless it's like... Batman or something.



usrevenge on 13 February 2012

mario can always be relevant as long as platformers, and arcade sport games are viable.
mario tennis was awsome, mario 64 was awsome, as long as these type of games continue mario will have its place, it would be impossible for a new character to last that long unless these games died off first.
that said, halo will probably never die, but master chief could easily. master chief is stuck in the shooter world you can only do so much.



Kasz216 on 13 February 2012
S.T.A.G.E. said:
kain_kusanagi said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:
kain_kusanagi said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:
kain_kusanagi said:
TWRoO said:
kain_kusanagi said:
I think Master Chief, Lara Croft, Sonic, and Gordan Freeman are here to stay. These games may not always be hits or have as many releases as Nintendo's but they have all proven their staying power and dedicated fan bases.

They are all pretty old already IMO. Obviously not quite Mario's age but Sonic is 20, Croft is 15, Freeman is 13 and Chief is 10.

I don't think they are here to stay in the same way Mario is (Mario own't die until Nintendo dies) but Sonic and Croft will almost definately reach Mario's current age of 30. Chief is very probable too. I don't know about Freeman. He'll definately still be popular but whether there will still be new half-life games then I'm not sure.

They age and staying power is proof they can stick around. Sure Mario and Zelda kind of have that timeless Disney feel, but that's not the only way to maintain popularity. I think there will always be Half-Life and Halo games. Tomb Raider and Sonic looked to be out for the count, but they bounced back. There's room in peoples hearts for more than Nintendo.

Halo is for a teen to adult audience as far as concept of character. It doesnt have the staying power of Mario.

People spend more time as Adults than children. I have a special place in my heart for Mario, but Master Chief appeals to me just a strongly, but in a different way. It's possible for both to be loved and last. Although I will say that because Halo/Half-Life/etc. is story diven and Mario/Zelda/etc. retell and reinvent that characters like Master Chief and Gorden Freeman may actualy die and be replaced while Mario and Link will live on as reincarnations of themselves.


People spend more time as adults than children. We keep creating children and spending on them. The highest consumerbase will always be women and children, therefore, mario wins. This is how Disney survives.

Mario wins? This is a discussion about the populatiry of characters not a competition. Mario is always going to be popular, but that doesn't mean more adult oriented characters can't be as beloved.


I wish I could agree, but even though I'll be gaming for a while I know I'll be spending heaps on Mario when I have kids in a never ending cycle. When I say mario wins I am speaking for the disney archtype character, whom appeals to women and children and thus refreshes its appeal. Adult characters are cool and thankfully with this generation people are cosplaying and appreciating adult oriented characters just like they would Star Wars or Anime. The thing with adults is that you can tire out things for them far more easily than with a child because children dont rationalize a product. Things can change, but Microsoft really needs a kid friendly game because Banjo is spent. I know Sony can internally but they need to market it properly if they do. I dont think Rare can pump out another good one in the shape they are in for MS any longer. For games like Halo, Gears, Mass Effect and Uncharted storyarchs must eventually end. Mario has no clear cut story....its mostly gameplay and great platforming design.


I somewhat agree, and somewhat disagree... if only because your phrasing makes sounds like your not considering women adults and your ignoring well... men to who still love Mario.

Like you said though, Mario is from an archtye of characters that can be "immortal".

 

I mean, can anyone really imagine playing 13-14 Uncharted games staring Nathan Drake? (Not even counting mario spinoffs)

Or Kratos?  At that rate he'd be be fighting Quetzalcoatl.



Khuutra on 13 February 2012
RolStoppable said:
Kasz216 said:

 


Character "reincarnation" in the way of Mario and Link just isn't accepted anymore.

Unless it's like... Batman or something.

I don't know about that. A lot of things changed in the video game industry, because publishers put an end to it, not because the market didn't accept it anymore. The most obvious case in point would be the switch to 3D platformers in the fifth generation, but nowadays the NSMB games on DS and Wii make it extremely clear that interest in 2D platformers never really vanished. Consumers just never really got a chance to show their interest anymore (besides all the Super Mario Advance games selling about five million copies each; and those were just slightly enhanced ports of old games).

So in order to prove that something isn't accepted anymore, you can't do so by pointing to the absence of it, but rather you need to point at failures, i.e. games that existed.

Like Rayman Origins, which has managed just over a million copies on three consoles?



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Kasz216 on 13 February 2012
RolStoppable said:
Kasz216 said:

 


Character "reincarnation" in the way of Mario and Link just isn't accepted anymore.

Unless it's like... Batman or something.

I don't know about that. A lot of things changed in the video game industry, because publishers put an end to it, not because the market didn't accept it anymore. The most obvious case in point would be the switch to 3D platformers in the fifth generation, but nowadays the NSMB games on DS and Wii make it extremely clear that interest in 2D platformers never really vanished. Consumers just never really got a chance to show their interest anymore (besides all the Super Mario Advance games selling about five million copies each; and those were just slightly enhanced ports of old games).

So in order to prove that something isn't accepted anymore, you can't do so by pointing to the absence of it, but rather you need to point at failures, i.e. games that existed.

Point taken.  Either way, it seems like it'd be a very hard thing to do in modern days.

I mean, even sonic is barely struggling along because it kinda seems like there is only room for a few "immortal" icons.

Seems like Megaman coudl make a comeback, if Capcom wasn't so.... capcom.

I mean actually were there any characters like that created even in the 16 bit era?



Kasz216 on 13 February 2012
Khuutra said:
RolStoppable said:
Kasz216 said:

 


Character "reincarnation" in the way of Mario and Link just isn't accepted anymore.

Unless it's like... Batman or something.

I don't know about that. A lot of things changed in the video game industry, because publishers put an end to it, not because the market didn't accept it anymore. The most obvious case in point would be the switch to 3D platformers in the fifth generation, but nowadays the NSMB games on DS and Wii make it extremely clear that interest in 2D platformers never really vanished. Consumers just never really got a chance to show their interest anymore (besides all the Super Mario Advance games selling about five million copies each; and those were just slightly enhanced ports of old games).

So in order to prove that something isn't accepted anymore, you can't do so by pointing to the absence of it, but rather you need to point at failures, i.e. games that existed.

Like Rayman Origins, which has managed just over a million copies on three consoles?


To be fair though.  Rayman has always seemed to lack autheticity.



Rafux on 13 February 2012

Can we count Snake/Big Boss?



S.T.A.G.E. on 13 February 2012
Kasz216 said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:
kain_kusanagi said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:
kain_kusanagi said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:
kain_kusanagi said:
TWRoO said:
kain_kusanagi said:
I think Master Chief, Lara Croft, Sonic, and Gordan Freeman are here to stay. These games may not always be hits or have as many releases as Nintendo's but they have all proven their staying power and dedicated fan bases.

They are all pretty old already IMO. Obviously not quite Mario's age but Sonic is 20, Croft is 15, Freeman is 13 and Chief is 10.

I don't think they are here to stay in the same way Mario is (Mario own't die until Nintendo dies) but Sonic and Croft will almost definately reach Mario's current age of 30. Chief is very probable too. I don't know about Freeman. He'll definately still be popular but whether there will still be new half-life games then I'm not sure.

They age and staying power is proof they can stick around. Sure Mario and Zelda kind of have that timeless Disney feel, but that's not the only way to maintain popularity. I think there will always be Half-Life and Halo games. Tomb Raider and Sonic looked to be out for the count, but they bounced back. There's room in peoples hearts for more than Nintendo.

Halo is for a teen to adult audience as far as concept of character. It doesnt have the staying power of Mario.

People spend more time as Adults than children. I have a special place in my heart for Mario, but Master Chief appeals to me just a strongly, but in a different way. It's possible for both to be loved and last. Although I will say that because Halo/Half-Life/etc. is story diven and Mario/Zelda/etc. retell and reinvent that characters like Master Chief and Gorden Freeman may actualy die and be replaced while Mario and Link will live on as reincarnations of themselves.


People spend more time as adults than children. We keep creating children and spending on them. The highest consumerbase will always be women and children, therefore, mario wins. This is how Disney survives.

Mario wins? This is a discussion about the populatiry of characters not a competition. Mario is always going to be popular, but that doesn't mean more adult oriented characters can't be as beloved.


I wish I could agree, but even though I'll be gaming for a while I know I'll be spending heaps on Mario when I have kids in a never ending cycle. When I say mario wins I am speaking for the disney archtype character, whom appeals to women and children and thus refreshes its appeal. Adult characters are cool and thankfully with this generation people are cosplaying and appreciating adult oriented characters just like they would Star Wars or Anime. The thing with adults is that you can tire out things for them far more easily than with a child because children dont rationalize a product. Things can change, but Microsoft really needs a kid friendly game because Banjo is spent. I know Sony can internally but they need to market it properly if they do. I dont think Rare can pump out another good one in the shape they are in for MS any longer. For games like Halo, Gears, Mass Effect and Uncharted storyarchs must eventually end. Mario has no clear cut story....its mostly gameplay and great platforming design.


I somewhat agree, and somewhat disagree... if only because your phrasing makes sounds like your not considering women adults and your ignoring well... men to who still love Mario.

Like you said though, Mario is from an archtye of characters that can be "immortal".

 

I mean, can anyone really imagine playing 13-14 Uncharted games staring Nathan Drake? (Not even counting mario spinoffs)

Or Kratos?  At that rate he'd be be fighting Quetzalcoatl.


I do consider women adults, but womens purchasing habits on a marketing perspective dwarf mens purchasing habits. Half the reason is because of children, hence why women and children are always heaped together. If you want to parents to buy something go after the children and the one they most likely will get to buy them anything will be the mom. Women like Disney just like children do, but why is it that Universal Studios is such a big hit with men compared to Disney? Why is it that Nintendo products have a high male, female ratio compared to Microsoft and Sony? lol 

I dont want to get off topic, but I do think I should explain myself as I get attacked for my comments. The Disney Archetype is a powerful one which is as age old as Astroboy and Mickey Mouse. People in America and Japan are still banking off of those names. I like the way you phrased it when you said they are immortal which is true because Mickey Mouse outlived Walt Disney and probably will a thousand times over. Nintendo has made archetype character after archetype character and they exist in a worth with colorful simplicity without a storyarch to damage their time. Its truly magic that games like Metroid and Zelda havent died out yet. Nintendo has that simplicity that makes their characters last forever.



S.T.A.G.E. on 13 February 2012
Rafux said:
Can we count Snake/Big Boss?


They will both eventually die. Snake still hasnt been cured. This is the difference between making stories for children and adults.