GWAHAHA! Did someone just page the king of awesome?

[rynling]

There's a project in the works to put together an anthology of "The 100 Best Video Game Characters," and I got invited to submit a piece about Bowser. Sweet.

Apparently they received over 400 abstracts, but someone took them aside and said, "Listen, I know you're under a lot of pressure here, but you really need to get this woman to write about Bowser."

I'm very honored, of course, but... How do people know this about me?

Comments

[renegadefolkhero]

The thrill of being chosen, the terror the streams may have crossed somewhere without your knowledge.

[rynling]

I think I figured it out.

I was out drinking with some people this past summer in LA and talking about intellectual property, as one does. I brought up Nintendo's general policy as an example of a sustainable model and used Bowser as an example of how the company is clever about keeping a tight control on its IP even as it seems to be relatively loose and open.

Specifically, in order for Mario to function as the cynosure of the brand, he needs to be all things to all people and highly visible. Thus, no worldbuilding can occur through Mario. However, there needs to be some level of worldbuilding in order to maintain the fanbase, which Nintendo relies on to carry it through the valleys between its successes. (Unless there is "insider knowledge," there can be no insiders. See also: Star Wars.)

The character that carries the brunt of the worldbuilding from game to game, taking on the strongest personality and driving the story, is Bowser. However, in order to ensure that Bowser remains both malleable and an object of desire (as the elusive final boss, an intense fight that generally makes full use of any given system's potential and needs to be earned by the player), he can't be circulated on the same sort of scale.

This is why it's very easy to find Mario branded products and difficult to find Bowser - although word on the street is that Bowser products sell out quickly at the Nintendo World Store in Manhattan, and that people actually offer to pay for the Bowser-themed paper shopping bags they sometimes carry.

I was explaining this in detail, and someone at the table was like, "Wow, you sure know a lot about Bowser."

I was like, "....yeah."

[renegadefolkhero]

That is fascinating.

Also... wow, you sure know a lot about Bowser. Haha.

[rynling]

.......yeah.

WAIFU FOR LAIFU