OT: Video Game Computers/Gadgets/Gizmos Thread

[Sauce Boss]

I voted more in terms of character design and stature in gaming than literally how powerful they are in games. And in those terms Mario is certainly one of the best video game characters of all time. His silhouette alone is instantly recognizable to almost anyone in the world, even if they've never actually played a Mario game.

I sent the bracket to a buddy and we kind of came to the consensus that this bracket should be “who’s the best video game character that’s not Mario.” He’s basically the mascot of not just Nintendo, but video games.

[crkone]

I voted more in terms of character design and stature in gaming than literally how powerful they are in games. And in those terms Mario is certainly one of the best video game characters of all time. His silhouette alone is instantly recognizable to almost anyone in the world, even if they've never actually played a Mario game.

I sent the bracket to a buddy and we kind of came to the consensus that this bracket should be “who’s the best video game character that’s not Mario.” He’s basically the mascot of not just Nintendo, but video games.

Yeah and I think the number 2 is obviously Link. It should probably be non-Nintendo to make it fair.

[ReasonablySober]

Calling Link or Mario mascots is perfect. Silent avatars you know almost nothing about because they never say a thing. **** characters, in other words.

[Ron Swanson]

Disagree that a character can't be great without spoken dialogue. You're basically just relegating good video game characters to the last 15 years or whenever they started doing voice overs for games. Duke Nukem has like, 20 total lines of dialogue throughout the original games, and he's one of the most cartoonishly **** awesome video game characters ever.

[FrieAaron]

The Tramp is still an instantly recognizable and well known film icon and it's obviously not because of any particular story but his appearance, mannerisms, etc.

[Sauce Boss]

I voted more in terms of character design and stature in gaming than literally how powerful they are in games. And in those terms Mario is certainly one of the best video game characters of all time. His silhouette alone is instantly recognizable to almost anyone in the world, even if they've never actually played a Mario game.

I sent the bracket to a buddy and we kind of came to the consensus that this bracket should be “who’s the best video game character that’s not Mario.” He’s basically the mascot of not just Nintendo, but video games.

Yeah and I think the number 2 is obviously Link. It should probably be non-Nintendo to make it fair.

Maybe, Nintendo is maybe a little too good at making recognizable characters. Yoshi is crushing Crash right now and I think that is kind of sad. Crash was the mascot of PlayStation for a while there.

[FrieAaron]

I sent the bracket to a buddy and we kind of came to the consensus that this bracket should be “who’s the best video game character that’s not Mario.” He’s basically the mascot of not just Nintendo, but video games.

Yeah and I think the number 2 is obviously Link. It should probably be non-Nintendo to make it fair.

Maybe, Nintendo is maybe a little too good at making recognizable characters. Yoshi is crushing Crash right now and I think that is kind of sad. Crash was the mascot of PlayStation for a while there.

Unlucky matchup for Crash who is definitely one of the best characters of his era, and yeah it's something Nintendo is just very good at.

[ReasonablySober]

The Tramp is still an instantly recognizable and well known film icon and it's obviously not because of any particular story but his appearance, mannerisms, etc.

I 100% thought you meant the dog and was confused because I could have sworn he talked.

[MikeIsGood]

I voted more in terms of character design and stature in gaming than literally how powerful they are in games. And in those terms Mario is certainly one of the best video game characters of all time. His silhouette alone is instantly recognizable to almost anyone in the world, even if they've never actually played a Mario game.

I sent the bracket to a buddy and we kind of came to the consensus that this bracket should be “who’s the best video game character that’s not Mario.” He’s basically the mascot of not just Nintendo, but video games.

Yeah and I think the number 2 is obviously Link. It should probably be non-Nintendo to make it fair.

I'm not sure Link is even in the top 5, to be honest. If we're talking world at large, Mario is likely a solid #1, but I think Pac-Man, Sonic, Pikachu, and maybe even like Donkey Kong would be before Link. Not to mention non-Mario Mario characters, like Luigi and Peach, maybe Yoshi.

Zelda is not a widely-played, non-gamer game. And it's not super pop culture. It's obviously huge in the VG landscape, but not like those others IMO.

*Based entirely on my musing.

[tydett]

I sent the bracket to a buddy and we kind of came to the consensus that this bracket should be “who’s the best video game character that’s not Mario.” He’s basically the mascot of not just Nintendo, but video games.

Yeah and I think the number 2 is obviously Link. It should probably be non-Nintendo to make it fair.

I'm not sure Link is even in the top 5, to be honest. If we're talking world at large, Mario is likely a solid #1, but I think Pac-Man, Sonic, Pikachu, and maybe even like Donkey Kong would be before Link. Not to mention non-Mario Mario characters, like Luigi and Peach, maybe Yoshi.

Zelda is not a widely-played, non-gamer game. And it's not super pop culture. It's obviously huge in the VG landscape, but not like those others IMO.

*Based entirely on my musing.

Eh, tbf, Pac-Man hasn't been a real video game character for 30 years, Hyrule Warriors sold more copies than any Sonic game outside of Sonic Racing since 1998, Pikachu is infinitely more marketable (but has even less characterization), and Donkey Kong was basically dead for 10 years after DK64 before experiencing a minor resurgence recently. I'd say he's probably ahead of all the guys you listed, in my estimation.

[MikeIsGood]

Yeah and I think the number 2 is obviously Link. It should probably be non-Nintendo to make it fair.

I'm not sure Link is even in the top 5, to be honest. If we're talking world at large, Mario is likely a solid #1, but I think Pac-Man, Sonic, Pikachu, and maybe even like Donkey Kong would be before Link. Not to mention non-Mario Mario characters, like Luigi and Peach, maybe Yoshi.

Zelda is not a widely-played, non-gamer game. And it's not super pop culture. It's obviously huge in the VG landscape, but not like those others IMO.

*Based entirely on my musing.

Eh, tbf, Pac-Man hasn't been a real video game character for 30 years, Hyrule Warriors sold more copies than any Sonic game outside of Sonic Racing since 1998, Pikachu is infinitely more marketable (but has even less characterization), and Donkey Kong was basically dead for 10 years after DK64 before experiencing a minor resurgence recently. I'd say he's probably ahead of all the guys you listed, in my estimation.

This isn't about selling games to gamers*; my point was quite the opposite, actually. You think if you ask a random Joe or Jane who these characters are, Link will be the most identifiable? I think you're very, very wrong But I guess it doesn't matter.

*Also, generation would matter here. Sonic is a character from a defunct console company who now is best known for racing and the olympics. But it doesn't change that he's less than a year removed from a $300M worldwide movie.

[VooDoo7]

Pac-Man, Mario, Sonic and Donkey Kong are the four most iconic videogame characters ever IMO.

[humanrefutation]

Nintendo has been around forever. There is an inherent bias towards their iconic characters, and it would be a shock if anyone won besides Mario.

It would be a lot more interesting if it was broken up by gaming system or decade or something like that.

Also - on Link - you'd be surprised how many folks out there don't realize that the main playable character of the Zelda franchise isn't named Zelda.

[tydett]

But our question we're answering here is not "who is the most recognizable" or "who is the most well-known amongst casuals", it's "who is the best"? Which of course is as broad as it gets and almost assuredly ties into who has the most consistently great games. And of course the question has gotta be for gamers, not the casual public! Otherwise, it's like asking "What is the best movie?" to the casual public and you wind up with a top 5 of Minions, Frozen, and the like.

[MikeIsGood]

But our question we're answering here is not "who is the most recognizable" or "who is the most well-known amongst casuals", it's "who is the best"? Which of course is as broad as it gets and almost assuredly ties into who has the most consistently great games. And of course the question has gotta be for gamers, not the casual public! Otherwise, it's like asking "What is the best movie?" to the casual public and you wind up with a top 5 of Minions, Frozen, and the like.

Sure. The chain I had responded to had taken a different approach and were talking about recognizability, thus my response.

This is precisely why I hate lists or tournaments or whatever like this, though. No one thinks about this stuff the same way lol.

[WRau1]

My laptop gets delivered today, pretty pumped about that. Been holding off on starting Valheim, think that will be how I break it in. Or BG3 run w/ my wife.

[hermes]

as much as i hate to admit it, people in here are sleeping on pikachu. pokemon is a gigantic franchise and i'm expecting a mario-pikachu final

[Sauce Boss]

as much as i hate to admit it, people in here are sleeping on pikachu. pokemon is a gigantic franchise and i'm expecting a mario-pikachu final

This is definitely a possibility I discussed with my buddy when we went over the bracket. I think Link should beat Pikachu, but I 100% could see him winning in an open voting poll like this.

[Sauce Boss]

Apparently in a recent interview Jim Ryan from PlayStation confirmed (and there’s now a Steam page) Day’s Gone coming to PC. In regards to more PlayStation ports to PC, “A whole slate of them is on the way...”.

Not sure Day’s Gone is worth getting (seemed average), but pretty cool if a bunch of first party games, even older ones, started showing up on PC. Maybe I’d finally play The Last of Us if the re-release gets re-released. God of War would be the dream.

[ClassicJack]

All of this angst I'm seeing about God of War 2's release date has me thinking I should finally play God of War. I've heard of it, had it for a while but truly don't know much about it. Is it really "must play" good?