Indigo_Dingo said:
Tomb Raider stands out cause it has a big breast lady that uses two guns to kill bears and T-Rexes and likes to wear very short shorts. She is also advertised as the female Indiana Jones.
Solid Snake is a guy that wears a grey suit and fights people and some robots.
You see theres no visual appeal to Soild Snake. NONE!
Mario has, Sonic has and even Lara Croft has. Soild Snake as ZERO visual appeal. In a mascot the first thing you do its come up with a timeless concept of a character that can last for yonks in the minds of people and that will stay fresh in some way.
Solid Snake is not a mascot. In his last adventure he looks like someones grandfather in a grey suit.
Sackboy is a mascot. He has the sort of timeless visual appeal. He has no backround cause he needs none. He doesn't need to talk. Its a simple concept that looks good.
Sackboy dressed as Solid Snake does a better mascot than Solid Snake itself. Cause Sackboy doesn't age, sackboy doesn't die, sackboy doesn't talk. Sackboy is a burlap sack that walks around waving is arms looking silly.
Like..every other mascot. A mascot is supposed to look timeless, quirky, wacky and silly. A mascot is supposed to say "Hey this is Fun!".
Solid Snake has none of those qualities. He has no visual appeal. He has nothing to stand out of the crowd.
You can say that Metal Gear Solid as a gaming franchise sells to the "hardcore" gaming demographic. But you cannot say that Solid Snake sells a console on his own.
Parents look at MGS4 cover and see an old guy with a moustache "Does this look fun? Don't think so...". Parents look at Super Mario Galaxy and see a colourfull cover with a wacky character in its cover "Does this look fun? Yes it does."
Who buys Metal Gear Solid 4? People that already know what is Metal Gear Solid, that know the story, the characters, what type of game it is. Who are these people? People with over 17 years old.
These are the people who buy Metal Gear Solid 4, people that know what is Metal Gear Solid, cause they played the previous Metal Gear Solids.
Everyone heard of Super Mario. He is the number 1 most recognized video game character in the world. He is a staple in gaming. Everyone knows Super Mario, even my mother knew who was Super Mario and she never touched a game in her life.
How many people outside gaming knows Solid Snake? Theres a reason why you must explain the "Snake? SNAAAAAAAKE!" joke and not the "Its a me! Mario!". Cause everyone knows who is Super Mario.