Atlus Halloween Contest (please vote!) - and "cute" mascots

[Blue Lemma]

Hi forumites

Thought I'd pop in to ask you to support my friend in the Atlus Halloween cosplay contest. She did a Persona 4 cosplay of Teddie which is "unbearably" cute:

https://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/co ... s/60692627

teddie.jpg (54.67 KiB) Viewed 2227 times

(pic credits to G4)

Please vote for her (and take a look at the other ones, they're pretty cool too), and thank you!

I wrote this below, but I'll edit and put it up here:
Since we're on the subject of Teddie, here's a question:
What do you think about cute-type mascots in games?

I remember when I started Lemma Soft and made Lemma the mascot, it was because a cute girl mascot would convey the idea of... well, cute girls in the games. Plus she's easily cosplayable But it seems like there are a lot of non-human cute-type mascots in anime and games. Cardcaptor Sakura, Persona 4, Pokemon, etc. Why always "cute" mascots? If you've put a mascot char in your game is it cute and why?

[CheeryMoya]

!!!

Yo Lemma, nice to see you still around. PyTom might crack down on this thread for not being related to VNs but how are you these days? And I did vote, it's a very nice costume O:

[Blue Lemma]

It's a cosplay of a J-stuff/story-based game, but I'm probably pulling founder privilege a bit ^_^;

I'm doing pretty well. Very busy, but I do lurk around here a lot still. Thanks

[SundownKid]

Vote'd - any girl who endures the heat in a mascot costume of an RPG character is awesome in my book!

[J. Datie]

Look at that costume-ception, it's sensei-tional!

[Blue Lemma]

Apparently it squeaks when she walks, too

But since we're on the subject of Teddie, here's a question for anyone reading:
What do you think about cute-type mascots in games?

I remember when I started Lemma Soft and made Lemma the mascot, it was because a cute girl mascot would convey the idea of... well, cute girls in the games. But it seems like there are a lot of non-human cute-type mascots in anime and games. Cardcaptor Sakura, Persona 4, Pokemon, etc. Why always "cute" mascots? If you've put a mascot char in your game, why?

[Cidz]

Voted.
I thought teddy was cute in persona 4 anime (never played the game >_> )

[Lumella]

Voted!

I suppose cute mascots can serve a wider audience because of their "cutesy" factor. Sometimes, they're easier to draw or replicate than cute human characters. Not everyone is into cute human characters after all. I like animal mascots especially in CCS ♥

[Blue Lemma]

True it's a wider audience... Are there any mascots in games that *aren't* cute? Maybe that's the better question!

[LateWhiteRabbit]

But since we're on the subject of Teddie, here's a question for anyone reading:
What do you think about cute-type mascots in games?

I remember when I started Lemma Soft and made Lemma the mascot, it was because a cute girl mascot would convey the idea of... well, cute girls in the games. But it seems like there are a lot of non-human cute-type mascots in anime and games. Cardcaptor Sakura, Persona 4, Pokemon, etc. Why always "cute" mascots? If you've put a mascot char in your game, why?

I wonder if it is just the Business/Economics Degree with a dash of professional design training talking, but I always think of adding cute mascots to the stories and game designs I come up due to the marketing factor. A cute mascot, simplified creature or animal is imminently more memorable and brand building than a human face or character. It's the reason Pikachu is the face of Pokemon and not Ash. It's what will sell plushies, T-shirts, coffee mugs and make people go, "Ah! How cute! What is that from?"

So I coldly calculate an engineered cuteness designed for maximum marketing. A mascot character works so well because they can be the the straight man, comedy relief, author avatar, or the only character allowed to lean on the fourth wall without breaking it. They can guide the player or reader just as much as the main character. When the mentor mascot explains something to the main character, they are also cheaply briefing the reader in a funny/entertaining way. See Kerberos from Card Captor Sakura or Chamo from Negima.

I think all you need to be careful of is to make them a valuable character within the story itself, otherwise you risk getting a Jar Jar Binks. R2D2 is really the "cute mascot" character of Star Wars.






Good to see you on the boards again, Lemma.

[Anna]

True it's a wider audience... Are there any mascots in games that *aren't* cute? Maybe that's the better question!

Not a game but... Kyuubey *shiver*

Also, I'm a bit bored with such characters, I'd rather have a cool mentor-like character than these.

[CheeryMoya]

True it's a wider audience... Are there any mascots in games that *aren't* cute? Maybe that's the better question!

Not a game but... Kyuubey *shiver*

Kyuubey isn't cute? But how could you say no to that face? ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

I get the feeling that cute mascots are common because, well, they're iconic. They're easier to recognize than a human, though I think it's about time we got some variety for mascots. Do people want more manly ones?

[SundownKid]

I am not opposed to mascot characters in games at all, but only if they are executed right!

Basically, don't make a mascot character that acts like Scrappy Doo and has an annoying high-pitched voice (especially talking about themselves in the third-person!) Either make them like any other member of your team, or don't have them talk at all (but if so, they had better be interesting). Or better yet, make them actually a likeable but non-human character, because it adds more variety. Most people tend to look at a mascot character and think "oh, they have to have an IQ of 50".

Also, Teddie is a mascot character that is literally a mascot. We need more characters like that

[Destiny]

I like Teddy from Persona.
He is annoying, fluffy, weird...and that's how he's supposed to be.
Looking at Persona 4 closely, most characters there are kind of ironic and seem like parodies to certain types. And he makes a joke of the mascots (his bear-isms is kind of joking around with mascots inserting weird sounds like "Thats nyeat"),

But yeah, I dislike most mascots, because they always have the same features: small, cute, fluffy, they add humour and they are often squeaky.
One reason why I like Kyuubey so much.
Mokona (Clamp mascot) is also alright sometimes, because it often doesn't speak and sometimes suddenly grows aggressive.
Kero is KIND of ok, he's noisy, cute and stuff, but his natural form kind of makes it better.

P.S.
I voted for your costume, it's just too awesome, love the squeak-sounds when walking