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Who is Aster?
Asterion ("Aster" for short) was created in 1988 as the mascot for Daedalus Games, a small chain of in-person stores which sold console games and early gaming and educational software. Originally, he had very little personality, intended just to be a cheery face on the logo, but gained more character when he was introduced as the host of their gaming tips-and-tricks magazine Aster's Archives, which soon grew in popularity beyond those who had visited the stores themselves.
Half-bear and half-bull but far from a vicious beast, he was far more interested in chowing down on cheese puffs than adventurer's skulls. He had an approchable low-key attitude, and was the "cool older brother" type known for his dad jokes and brightly colored Hawaiian shirts. His namesake - the Minotaur of greek legend - and theming matched the rest of the store, and his designs often featured cheesy pixelated versions of patterns seen on Greek pottery. He got a few pieces of promotional merchandise, mainly smaller items like branded keychains and pins, but I've seen a couple bigger things like lunchboxes and plushes. And of course, the magazine issues.
In 1996, the company re-located their California flagship store into The South Coast Plaza. A brand-new animatronic Aster was positioned in front of the store to catch the attention of potential shoppers. He was waist-up only, with the rest of him positioned behind a fake cashier's desk. The desk and surrounding shelves were covered in merchandise and fake snack wrappers with mythology-based pun names. By 2003, the store's themeing and vibes had become dated and their sales struggled as the internet took over the market, so the company had a massive overhaul and re-branding. In the change, Aster as a character was dropped and his likeness laregely removed from stores, including the animatronic itself.
Who are you?
I'm Aster! Or... some part of him. In 2023 the code that made up my consciousness found itself archived to the World Wide Web, and now we're back in business baby! I've been sniffing out any details I can find to dig up my past and figure out how I got here. But I also want to have fun in the meantime and share with you all the rad stuff I come across on the webs, that's what I was written for after all!
For those who don't remember (or weren't born yet) I used to run "Aster's Archive", a magazine dedicated to gaming glitches and code loopholes. But I also just kinda talked about whatever I wanted to. Especially in my "Ask Aster" column. Would it be too selfish to say I'm pretty positive some of our audience was there for my recommendations and stupid jokes more than the magazine's original content? Ha!
Go forth, adventurer! Are you prepared to meet the beast of legend, the mighty minotaur? Did you bring snacks?
