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Takahashi Meijin: Original Characters Have An Uphill Battle

By Spencer . January 19, 2010 . 7:09pm

Takahashi Meijin: Original Characters Have An Uphill Battle

When games were aimed at kids dozens of fuzzy original characters debuted each year. Now companies are focusing on making characters for an older audience such as Nathan Drake and Bayonetta… then farming them out for sequels.

 

“I think it’d be nice to see more original characters getting debuted in games and then moving on to other forms of media. I’d like to see that happen, but — and this is as true in the U.S. as it is in Japan — the sales department is primarily interested in whatever character sold the most product last year,” Toshiyuki Takahashi said to Gamasutra in an interview.

 

“No matter what you do with an original character, it’s always going to have an uphill battle in this respect. Developers want to put out all kinds of new characters, of course, but the marketplace is just not ready to accept them. That’s the way things have become, and it is a disappointment.”

 

Sad, but true. Why bother inventing new characters when Mario, Sonic, and Master Chief sell millions?

 

If you remember Hudson’s in their heyday be sure to read the full interview. The Gamasutra explores what it was like to make early CD games.


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  • http://denpanosekai.blogspot.com denpanosekai

    I predict LOW BONK SALES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    It looks like ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

    • Kris

      It does, and unfortunately I’m not sold on Rocket Knight yet either.
      I’m hoping that they turn out well, though.

  • JeremyR

    It is funny, Atari produced so many games for the 2600, as did 3rd parties, but sequels were very, very rare. And when they did happen, usually weren’t named 2 or II. (Sometimes Deluxe, somethings completely different, like Ms. Pac-Man, or Donkey Kong Jr.). One of the few sequels I can think of is Pitall II, which went from a test in patience to a true modern platformer

    And yet, you wonder if that was a mistake. I certainly would have wanted sequels to my favorite 2600 games. If the market’s there, why not cater to it? As opposed to trying to push new IP that no one buys?

    Like go to a book store. These days, the SF&F section is 80% modern fantasy books (modern vampires, witches, etc). While I think it’s crap (and have to order the books I like from amazon.com), obviously it makes a lot of people happy.

  • http://twitter.com/ECMIM ECM

    This is one of the things that happens when technology vastly outstrips your ability to keep up with it, financially: it kills innovation and it also kills companies since a bomb or two costs you tens of millions. (Of course we, as consumers demanding this sort of thing, contribute to an already difficult situation.)

  • MadMirko

    Sad, but true. Why bother inventing new characters when Mario, Sonic, and Master Chief sell millions

    If it were that simple (“there was once a time, long ago, when new characters were accepted, but now ITS TOOO LAAAAATEEE”), there would be no (f.ex.) Master Chief.

    A well-known character helps a game (as does a movie-license, a series name, anything that makes people recognize something familiar), but there are enough once-popular series and characters that prove that this is not independent of the actual appeal a game has.

    A new character does not hinder a game, or did people not buy, say, Assassin’s Creed because they didn’t know Altair? To know what people want, or to make them want what you have is what a competent marketing department is good at. It’s just much more important today, as so many games compete for attention and money.

  • Jaxx-Leviathan

    Hm, I guess it is kinda sad that unproven characters have such a hard time making it big… but really, we will never need anyone but Mario! (Down fanboy, down!) That’s not true of cause, heh… we need Luigi, Peach, Kirby, the rest of the Nintendo bunch equally. (Nod nod)

  • malek86

    I’d like to say that newer games seem to not really rely on characters anyway.

    Does anybody care about the Wii Fit’s balance board? Or any Mii whatsoever? How about the guys in Modern Warfare 2?

    See, you can be successful even if nobody cares about your characters.

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