Namco Museum Volume 2 review

[mappy mouse pd]

I'm not sure I understand most of what you just wrote. I didn't say soccer was a great sport, only that it's an example of something Americans haven't embraced, even though it's enjoyed around the globe. The same is true with Mappy.

I think many Americans are uncomfortable with what Mappy represents. As I said before, Americans just don't like the idea of a rodent in law enforcement. Also, you can score bonus points by trapping the cat's leader, Nya-mco, in a microwave. This is another aspect of the game Americans are uncomfortable with, because there's a common urban myth in the U.S. concerning pets being nuked to death:

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/techno/micropet.htm

[Tom B]

I thought of another famous mouse - the very originally named "Mouser" of Super Mario Brothers 2 fame. He was one of Wart's henchmen, and I think he could only be killed by throwing his own bombs back at him? I might be wrong on that, it has been a long time since I've played that game.

[Dennis]

Mappy Mouse PD, I have no idea why you're obsessed with Mappy, but the reason it's not popular has nothing to do with Americans' fears or perceptions or whatever. It's just that people didn't like the game, or have enough access to it. That's it. So get over it.

And Mouser ruled. Has anyone ever pointed out that Super Mario 2 could be the first video game to feature a transvestite boss? Read the instructions, Birdo (the egg-spitting mini-boss) is a male who wants to be a female.

[mappy mouse pd]

I don't think you understand how great an influence culture has on which games are embraced by the public and which are shunned. Do you think Missile Command would have done so well if it weren't for Cold War fears of nuclear annihilation? Likewise, Mappy just didn't do well in test areas for various cultural reasons (I think these are pretty obvious).

It's interesting that you bring up Super Mario 2. Did you know all the characters in the original Japanese version were Arab? It's true, the version we have is a product of American xenophobia. Nintendo knew the idea of Arab video game characters wouldn't fly in the states, so they hacked in the Mario guys.

[Dennis]

I knew the Mario characters were "hacked in" to Dream World, but I didn't know they replaced Arab characters. That explains the flying carpets, the sand stages, the Arab-based music, etc.

But I think Missile Command would have done well anyway. You really think all the teenagers who played that game gave a second thought to world politics before dropping their quarters? And if so, why did Pac-Man do so well? Were there giant multi-colored monsters threatening the U.S. in the early 1980s?

I'm not sure why Americans would care about a mouse police officer. Animal cartoons have been taking on all sorts of occupations for decades. Or, if you mean it's just too bizarre or "Japanese" for American tastes, what about the success of "weird" games like Wario Ware, Dance Dance Revolution or even Donkey Kong?

[mappy mouse pd]

Missile Command would have never been made if it weren't for the fear of the Soviets and World War III. The appeal of Pac-Man has nothing to do with this culture of fear. The ultimate goal of Pac-Man is to gobble up all the dots on the screen and avoid monsters for your own self-preservation. It doesn't take a genius to see why this would appeal to the greedy, self-serving American culture of the 1980s.

Games like Mappy, where the main character acts out of pure kindness, generally fail in the states.

In the early days, Nintendo was very aware of the effect culture had on a games popularity (and visa versa). This is why they turned a decent seal-clubbing game (Ice Climber) into a very bad platform game.

[Dennis]

Holy cow. You are reading way deeper into video games than is necessary. Did you write your graduate thesis on video games or something?

Seriously, there is NO LINK between sociology and what makes most video games popular. Most are popular because they're fun and/or they're well-advertised. To imply that people who like Pac-Man are greedy and people who like Missile Command are afraid of nuclear warfare is just silly.

[mappy land pd]

No, I didn't write a thesis on video games, though there's enough there to fill a dozen books on the subject. I'd better stop now before I start talking about religious imagery in Dragon Warrior and homosexuality in the Ys series. I could write a book on Shenmue alone.

[J.M. Vargas]

CHIDREN!!!

Go to your rooms and each of you play whichever games you feel like playing ("Missile Command," "Super Mario Bros. 2," "Mappy," etc.). Blow off whatever steam is propelling your need to vent off about Mappy's socio-cultural impact in the world of gaming, and then shake hands!

See? Isn't that better? Some people like garlic, others prefer potato. I'm personally not that infatuated with Mappy (played the "Namco Museum Vol. 2" version of Mappy, enjoyed it but haven't touched it in about a year), but can see why the little rodent would strike somebody's fancy! Namco obviously is fond of the character, and its return as bonus artwork in the "Ridge Racer" series ("R4" for PSOne in particular) proves that someone out there in gameland likes the little dude (i.e. 'mappy mouse pd').

Let's just agree that Mappy is a cool little mouse with videogame history. As far as its popularity being as high as other better-known mice in the media (Speedy Gonzalez, Mighty Mouse, Mickey Mouse, George W. Bush & Richard Cheney, etc.) to each his own. I personally haven't heard from Mappy until I stumbled upon this thread, but then again I wasn't really paying attention at popular mice in today's pop culture. Peace (please)!

[chickenwarrior1]

Not to break up the peace or anything Vargas, but Mappy: Honestly, are you a phyciatrist or something? But really, you should write an article about culture and video games and stuff. Like what you were saying about PM being popular in america and why. I'm not going to say I agree with this, or that I think it is true to any extend, but it would be a very entertaining, popular, and even contreversial read. You could put it on some GeoCities site or something (it's free), and if it was good, you'd probably get a few links from sites like Dave's. I'd read it.

http://www.geocities.com