GatorDeb

I've noticed this happening more and more. The most recent games I've played are Golden Sun, Pokemon, Phantasy Star Collection (all three GBA with the exception of Pokemon Red which is GBC), FFX (PS2), and Wind Waker (GC). All of them let you name your character. I think it's horrible because if this had been the trend from the beginning, there wouldn't be a Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Link, Zelda, Samus, etc. I think the game characters should come with predetermined names and stay like that. I let Tidus be Tidus in FFX. I can be Debbie in real life - being other characters add to the escape.

Thoughts?

joshd2012

I never change the names of the characters unless I am going online with them. There is no real reason to otherwise.

Gideon68

I don't change the name either, but it's not a big deal, it just gives everyone another option when playing. It would be worse if the characters didn't have names and you had to name them yourself.

I can't recall the option to change a character's name in any genre other then RPG's. This is probably because you're more involved in these games then any other.

I also don't recall being able to change your characters' names in the original Phantasy Star games, the feature may have been added for the GBA, but it's also been a long time since I played them.

young

is this a serious thread?

JNielsen

I also never change the names, but I don't have a problem if companies give you the option.

Breakfast with Girls

And some NES games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior don't even let you choose default names!!! We must stem this tide! Quick! To the time machine!

Outlaw

I don't change it either, but I suppose its nice to have the option for people that want to do it. For games like Animal Crossing and Pokemon though, I like having to put an original name in because in those games the character is you (I never use my real name though, too boring). Especially in pokemon when you trade with other people you can identify where you got it from.

But I like having a set name for RPGs. It gives the characters more personality. Otherwise there would be no Chrono, Terra, Ness, or Vyse . I don't think its becoming a trend to name characters, it just works better for certain genre's like rpgs and its always been that way. If I recall, Tidus is the only character in FFX that they give you the option to change the name.

nickdawgy

changing your name is fun....

I always put something stupid, so it'll look funny

nick-tdi

If I never changed the names I could never play as Mr. Happy Pants, and that would be a shame.

Groucho

Actually, from the very beginning you were able to name your character in the Legend of Zelda games, up to and including Wind Waker.

But seriously, where have you been? I've been gaming longer than most folks on this forum have been alive, and naming your character is not a new feature in the slightest, nor is it a fly-by-night "trend."

Jackskeleton

I will have to side with Groucho. Were exactly have you've been? Fromt he get go of pretty much gaming at home you could change the characters name. It's part of role playing. The ability to change the name of the character. Especially with Role playing games.

As for "there wouldn't be a mario, luigi, sonic, Link, zelda, samus, etc"... Uh, yeah, they would still be around. Just because i could change CLOUDS name in FF7, doesn't mean that he isn't cloud anymore. the markers have trade mark characters but still, Zelda's name has been able to be changed. it's a trait with RPG's mostly, but the choice to rename your character has always been around. This is why it's such a great feeling to change the character name to ASS and see how it fits in the text of the story when they say "only you can save the world now ASS" either way, it's not new.. the only thing new to these games is you.

laserdogg

I know PSII allowed it. I used the name Bozo when I originally played it in '89. Still has the saves on it to this day. Most of the RPG's allowed you to change the character names as I recall.

WepaMan

victant

I'm Pro Choice in the matter.

WOWZY

Ha Ha!!

That reminds me of when I used to play "Secret of Mana" and you could name the girl and sprite that follow you around. The second time I played it I named the girl "Dumb B****" and the Sprite "Little Bastard".

I did that because it would make me mad as heck while they were following you, they would get stuck behind some rock or tree and you'd have to back track.

Outlaw

lol!

actually you just reminded me of something. Back in the SNES days I rented the awesome game known as Harvest Moon. Anyway I played it non stop with our neighbor's daughter who was over at the time but eventually had to return it. After a few days we were having Harvest Moon withdrawels so we rented it a few days later hoping that our saved quest was still on the cartridge because we put a lot of work into it (the store only had one copy).

Anyway, I put the cartridge in and powered on the system. The neighbor's daughter (about 10 years old) comes in the room hoping that our save file was still there. After I went to the save screen, I hear her say "awwww nooooo....not f**k!" I looked at the screen in horror as the people before us saved over our file and had named their character F**k.

She kept saying stuff like "I can't believe F**k erased our quest" I was trying not to laugh because it was so funny but I wanted to be serious and give her a talking to because as you can tell, she had no idea what it meant.

Ahhh the good old days of cartridges, I'd like to give a sincere thanks to whoever did that, after I saved over f**k's quest with family friendly name and passed the controller to her, I had to run to my room to laugh in privacy.

sn9ke_eyes

good story outlaw

victant