Compare and Contrast

Things to compare and contrast are the design of video game characters over the years from the company Nintendo. These designs are made from different artist throughout the years, but all try to show the same original character. The pattern that all the characters follow is that every character gains more realism over time. This is due to the technological advancement in hardware to animate the characters. The growing realism of characters shows that game developers are trying making more interactive games to engage the audience.

                Every new evolution of a character has more pixels and more colors, eventually becoming three-dimensional. Not all of the evolutions work in this exact trend such in the “Legend of Zelda” where the green character Link goes through a cartoony style in the “Wind Waker.” But even Link becomes a realistic human character over time. The transformation in games is a lot like the transformation in company logos over time. They both try to shape their product according to consumer demand. All logos are now realistic and simple, similar to Nintendo’s characters.

                The consistent simplicity of these characters are no accidents, they are simple to give the audience imagination that the character can be in almost any situation. The pink character Kirby is the most simple. Kirby is a symbol of what humans generally look like. These generalized characters are to provide a link to both gamers and games. Most of these characters do not have recognizable voices because the players are meant to be the characters and not a guide.

                The evolution of Nintendo characters from pixilated to realistic, shows Nintendo’s intention of building a relationship between game and player. Gradually until now characters have become virtually real but embody no personality or background. The realistic graphics are increasing while the character personality decreases.