TSA Advent Calendar: Day 2

What, or should I say, who is hiding behind the door today?

Published 02/12/2009 at 18:00.
By Lorcan H [Lorcan].

Related stories (more)
TSA Advent Day 22: The Console Nativity [31]
TSA Advent Calendar: Day 7 [19]
TSA Advent Calendar: Day 5 [25]
TSA Advent Calendar: Day 4 [20]
TSA Advent Calendar: Day 3 [19]

day2

The idea for the TSA advent articles hit me at half past two in the morning on the 2nd of December 2009. How then did Tuffcub manage to start off the whole thing 24 hours ago on the 1st of December? Well, time-zones, I’m in Australia. Being in such a country has brought about a few changes in my appearance. I’ve got my shorts on, I wear sunglasses and, like all Brits abroad, I’ve turned a good few shades redder. So this ties in nicely with today’s superultramegafuntimezsurprise topic: the changing appearances of gaming mascots.

First off, let’s take Lara Croft. Did you know that she was originally supposed to be a man? With a whip and a hat? Unsurprisingly it was asked that his design be changed to avoid trodding on the toes of some other “famous” explorer. Can’t think who it could have been, but regardless, the design team went in the complete opposite direction and Laura Cruz was born. A South American woman with a taste for adventure! However, it was thought that a more British name would make the character more easy to relate to so the team opened a UK phonebook and found the closest, most British alternative to the name that they could and Lara Croft was born. Her appearance then went through many changes from being a sociopath, a muscle woman and a even nazi militant. Even once her now familiar design was chosen, it was a “slip of the mouse” that increased her breast size by 150% of their original size. If only it were that easy in real life…

It doesn’t stop with Lara though, as Crash Bandicoot was originally supposed to be a Wombat called Willy. Spyro was supposed to be green, but they didn’t want him to blend into the grass. Master Chief was supposed to be much less bulky and had an antenna on non-green armor but was seen to look to effeminate. Kratos was supposed to have hair, a mask and a child on his back, but they wanted less “flowy things” and to make him look more greek and brutal. Sonic was also going to be everything from an armadillo to a man in pajamas before the blue hedgehog was finally settled upon as it reflected the Sega logo. Even Pac-Man was inspired by a pizza with a missing slice and was created to appeal to women because Pac-Man eats a lot and so do women apparently.

Then to top it off, there’s Mario who was named after the landlord of an early Nintendo warehouse, Mario Shigali. Mr Shigali was a demanding landlord and following a particularly heated debate about when he would be paid his rent, the development team decided to name the character after him. His hat and mustash are there becase they didn’t want to animate hair or a mouth, and his big nose is there to show that he’s human. His blue and red outfit is also there to help him stand out against the background. He’s come a long way from “Jumpman – That animal cruelty guy who drove his pet ape to insanity leading it to kidnap a princess and throw a lot of barrels down some slopes”.

I’ll be honest, when I pictured this feature, I never thought that the articles would be as long as this, but there we go! There’s a lot planned for the month, and it’s mostly surrounding gaming triva, and no matter how much we have, we’d love more! So if you have any fun, little known facts or stories about the gaming world, email them to me at: lorcan[at]thesixthaxis[dot]com with “TSA Advent” in the subject. If your fact gets used, there’ll also be a nice handful of points in it for you. Don’t make stuff up though, I’ll be checking!

Happy 2nd!

Comments

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Tuffcub | 02/12/2009 18:09
Team TSA: Writer
5711 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008

There will also be poetry and hymns.
gazzagb | 02/12/2009 18:14
Master of speling mitakse
4274 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009

I thorght you lived in New Zealand Lorcan!?!
Nice one, bring on day 3… :D
- Lorcan | 04/12/2009 06:00
  Team TSA: Writer
  1517 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
  
  I live in Shetland!
  But yeah, I was in New Zealand, but have now moved on to Australia!
  Off to Japan next week before I go back to my real home for Christmas.
BIGAL-1992 | 02/12/2009 18:27
Member
3075 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009

So a slip of the mouse increased Lara’s breast size, shame that can’t happen in real life.
waddo_89 | 02/12/2009 18:29
Member
870 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009

Interesting read :D
yogh_wayne | 02/12/2009 18:37
Member
3144 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008

Ah, I love gaming trivia :D I knew the stories about Lara Croft (except for the phone book part) and Mario, but the rest was new to me. Really, Kratos was supposed to have a child on his back?
- Lorcan | 04/12/2009 06:02
  Team TSA: Writer
  1517 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
  
  Yep! There’s concept art of it and everything.
  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Kratos_God_of_War_concept_art.jpg
BerackyWack | 02/12/2009 19:41
Member
317 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2008

Pac-man and women eating made me smile. Great article. Bring on the third.
bunimomike | 02/12/2009 20:36
Member
8860 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009

Top stuff, Lorcan. The only truly disappointing thing I find about Lara Croft (other than the average games she lends her name to) is the unrealistic body proportions. I realise it probably did them a great service when ensaring teenagers across the land but I just felt like it was completely off the chart and not in a good way. Only in the most recent version have I finally thought “ah… a really good looking lead lady in a game”.
aerobes | 02/12/2009 21:05
Member
2020 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2009

I can see this feature is going to be a fun read coming up to christmas.
Interesting to learn how characters form and game ideas come about.
Pitcher-T | 02/12/2009 21:05
Member
577 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009

Wasn’t the nose on Mario there to also help you know which way he’s facing?
Hank The Slayer | 03/12/2009 09:14
Member
387 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008

Well all these facts are new to me.. as i always say “Everyday is a School day” you learn something new everyday..