Majestic Farms: Videogame Characters - Money Talks (Research)

This next post will explain briefly on another key and core element in which videogame creators know their character has been successful or not. It is all fine and well if you come up with the greatest videogame character of all time having all the unique features a character should have, BUT should the game from which this character is found in does not sell well, then ultimately the character is a failure along with the game. There have been many instances were characters have been created but amounted to nothing due to the sales of the game from which they are found in, resulting in these characters never to get a second chance, because a games developer would not take the risk of producing a sequel if the first game did not sell well leaving the character to become under developed and forgotten about.

Looking at successful videogame characters today such as Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Solid Snake, Lara Croft and others, all of the games from which these characters can be found in have constantly had sales of over a million units for most of their games. This shows us with a game which sells over a million units once or perhaps constantly if it is a franchise, the developers see two things mainly being the game is a success and there is interest in the character they have created among players. Once the developers see such good results, the natural course of action they take is to produce a second and third game expanding on the character as well as features of the original game, this could then result in a franchise being created.

It is also important to mention should developers hit the jackpot so to speak with a character they have created, then it is possible this successful gaming character may crop up into other forms of media and may even have their own merchandise based upon the character themselves. Such merchandise may include: schoolbags, pencil cases, cups, teddy bears, clothing, etc. The character may also explore forms of other media other than gaming, perhaps getting their own TV show or a movie based upon the game they are seen in with the characters of the game starring in this medium too. Below are some images showing existing merchandise for existing gaming characters these being a Mario themed schoolbag, Sonic the Hedgehog clothing and a Link collectible figurine from which this character stars in The Legend of Zelda series.

Enjoy the pictures folks and I be seeing you in the next post. Remember the importance of this post is once developers know they are onto a winner with a character they will exploit their creation to make as much money as possible. Money Talks! ;-)