There once was a time when every publisher and console maker wanted their own mascot. Nintendo’s Mario exploded with popularity after the launch of Super Mario Bros, not that it wasn’t popular before. Seeing the huge sales in both software and hardware thanks to this game, and with Sega having their own console on the market in direct competition, a mascot was needed. So they came up with the brilliant Alex Kidd. Oh… Yeah, that’s right, only one game in the series is any good. Everything else is just crap. And that one game is Alex Kidd in Shinobi World. As a mascot, Alex Kidd failed to spark interest in either a game series or sales of the Master System, so for some reason not understanding why nobody cared, Sega released Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle early in the Mega Drive’s life. And it did wonders. Oh…
Learning that unless you lived in Europe, nobody cared about a mascot with a stupid name, Sega attempted to create something fresh, edgy and was capable of showing why you must buy a Mega Drive over anything by Nintendo. Sonic the Hedgehog was born and it worked. Sales were insanely high, console sales went crazy and put Sega ahead of Nintendo. In fact, the popularity of Sonic was such that they crapped out a pinball game in a matter of weeks to fill a holiday gap after the delay of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. It’s why it’s a shit game that’s obviously not polished. But it worked. And Sega learned from all of this by launching a high quality Sonic title for each console going forward. Oh… Yeah, the Saturn had no proper game released for it. That’s thanks to how shit developing games for the console was. It’s also said that should a game have launched for the Saturn, it may have helped boost sales.
Well, Sega certainly had a Sonic game ready for the launch of the Dreamcast and it did just what was needed. Dreamcast sales went skyrocketing and saved Sega from bankruptcy and they were able to stay in the console market to this very day. Oh…
At least Sonic Adventure actually was a good game and proved that as a franchise worked great in 3D just like Super Mario 64 did for the Mario franchise. And Sega used this knowledge to make sure all future 3D Sonic the Hedgehog games were of top quality. Oh…
One of the most bizarre companies to try their hand at having a mascot was Commodore. But, since they as a company didn’t develop their own games, they looked at what else was out there. At the same time, Gremlin Graphics were working on the third entry to Seitchblade but found what was actually being developed didn’t feel like a Switchblade game at all. The game was reworked and what came out of it was Zool. Commodore saw this fast paced, lollipop sponsored title and salivated at the thought of making it their mascot. And that’s exactly what they did. Apart from for some reason, in doing this, Commodore didn’t think to prevent it from being released on any other system. So, it really didn’t work as a mascot.
NEC and Hudson Soft also had a console they wanted a mascot for, the non-console named PC Engine. Although Hudson Soft did develop a shit tonne of games for the PC Engine, it wasn’t them who developed the mascot. They did at least publish it. Red Company and Atlus developed the mascot, named Bonk and the first game was Bonk’s Adventure. Bonk is a cave boy with a worrying oversized head that suggests he has a brain tumour and is likely going to die. Just a delightful fun character for your mascot. But, just like Commodore, NEC and Hudson Soft didn’t think to make the games in the series exclusive. So it got ported onto competitive systems.
When Sony entered the console market with the PlayStation, they too thought it would be wise to have a mascot. When you think of PlayStation, what games pop into your head as a mascot? Lara Croft? Crash Bandicoot? Spyro? Heck, what about Croc? Well you’re a fucking moron, because the mascot Sony thought would explode onto the scene and make you shit your pants with excitement was in fact Knack!… oh no, sorry, that was the PS4. Nope, the mascot Sony came up with was Polygon Man! But, unlike any of the actual characters you think of for a PlayStation mascot, Polygon Man never even had a game. It was just an advertising campaign which was so shit, they flushed the turd down a toilet as fast as they could.
Now, Microsoft should be easy. It’s always been Master Chief. The end. Goodnight everybody! Oh, for fuck sake! Why didn’t anyone be easy at working out a good mascot!? The actual planned mascot Microsoft wanted for the murder weapon, also known as the console called Xbox, was actually Blinx. Blinx only starred in two games before being dumped in recognition that the best mascot would be Master Chief, and Halo has been a fantastic and successful series ever since. Oh…
There are other planned mascots by none console makers. For instance, Mr Nutz. Look, it even has a “Z” in the name because he’s so cool and goddam edgy. This was Ocean Software’s attempt. And nobody remembers or cares. Data East had two kinda mascots. Joe & Max is probably the biggest known as they originated in the arcades and had multiple home console and handheld entries. The other, well it’s something called High Seas Havoc and is evidently trying so hard to be Sonic the Hedgehog, just shitter. And nobody remembers or cares. Other mascots at the time was the more successful Earthworm Jim, that actually had a TV series! Another was… oh crap. It’s Bubsy. And they also tried to have a TV series. But thankfully someone sobered up and realised how crap it was as a mascot and pressed the “stop” button.
Once upon a time, everyone wanted to have their own mascot because it was a big trend that everyone wanted to jump on board with to cash in as much as possible. Thankfully the industry has moved on and publishers no longer try to jump on the latest trend bandwagon. Oh…
