Philips Magnavox Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution Trigger Happy - Manual (Page 256)

Trigger Happy
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was ranked overall favorite by equal proportions of
men and women CESA respondents). Videogame
developers in the future will appeal to more men and to
more women only as long as their games mature
aesthetically.
Character building
Let us return to one clear aesthetic preference of the
female (and many of the male) CESA respondents: for
videogames which have good characters. What exactly
does this mean, and why are good characters desirable
in a game? How does a false idol induce real worship?
It is a commercial fact that successful game characters
really do shift units, especially those, like Mario, that
pop up in a whole series of different games over the
years. Already by 1990, an American survey
determined that the virtual Italian plumber was
recognized by more American children than Mickey
Mouse. By 1995, Mario games had sold a total of 120
million copies worldwide. A star character in a
videogame also enables spin-off merchandising: Pac-
Man duvet covers and television series; Lara Croft
utility-wear; Solid Snake figurines.