Why doesn't Playstation have an iconic character that people actually care about?

GT Car is it I guess. :P

I can always count on you to have no counter argument because you know im right.

Now? PlayStation have always been like that. Mediocre to average, largely forgettable.

Asking the real questions here.

@TheEroica: The better question is, why wouldn't we be more interested in things like mascots.

Gamers have become too interested in things which are not our business such as sales performance and whether a game is exclusive or not, which only benefits the corporation.

Surely it's the things more involved in the games we should be interested in. Even mascots should be more important to us than who is 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

For example, MS is delivering for the gamers on Gamepass. But people are watching sales instead. :-S

Thats your opinion but it doesn't change the fact the characters have been around for nearly two decades and have sold millions of copies. Those are legendary characters. Honestly outside of Nintendo and Capcom Sony has created more legendary characters then just about anyone else.

@i_p_daily: What would I need to counter exactly?You have no argument just troll induced nonsense like usual.

I mean. Yes?

Iconography that can be ingrained and normalized into the public consciousness as something familiar evoking a positive feeling.

Like when the Nazis used the Swastica alongside Hitlers deliberately bizarre facial hair. Worked really well. Still ingrained today.

Or Donald Trump using the power of memes to become the first orange President.

Also consider the lack of Playstation IP in Smash has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not Playstation IP's would fit (they would). The lack-of has much more to do with licensing and also the fact that Sony runs competitive hardware.

It's a miracle that Microsoft is as willing to play with Smash, but just because one big company is cool with sharing doesn't mean they all are.

Steve was only the character reveal that broke the internet when he was announced.

@uninspiredcup said:

@Zero_epyon said:

@TheEroica said:

The real question is why we would obsess as a gaming community over mascots? Does the mascot equate to success in some way?

Asking the real questions here.

I mean. Yes?

Iconography that can be ingrained and normalized into the public consciousness as something familiar evoking a positive feeling.

Like when the Nazis used the Swastica and Hitler deliberately bizarre facial hair. Worked really well. Still ingrained today.

Or Donald Trump using the power of memes to become the first orange President.

I don't think the question is whether iconography in general works. I think the question is specific to the gaming industry. Sonic can be seen as an icon but Sega almost went bankrupt and had to go third party to survive. On the flip side, Master Chief is becoming less relevant, but MS is still thriving. I think it's a mistake to pick a character from a franchise and have it be the mascot for a gaming company. While the characters might bring more visibility to the brand, they don't have the staying power that other icons from other industries have. That's just the nature of the video game industry.

Na man. Sonic helped take on Nintendo. They had several icons before, Alex The Kidd, Shinobi but Sonic was specifically designed to be the opposite of Mario, appealing to the "edgy" generation and help cement Nintendos reputation as a kiddie console, helping them be a proper contender that Master System never was. Segas fuckup was largely due to Japan/US acting like enemies and general dumb shit decisions.

Even in their zombie state (I mean, Sega still Publishes good stuff obv) they still latch onto Sonic for dear life for some cultural relevance.

Mean, even outside of gaming, look at the huge success of the fairly mediocre movie. Still resonates.

Sonic has had so many bad games, but the character is so familiar to people, they still bought and supported it. In the end, Sonic Mania, specifically made by a fan turned developer basically rekindled respect.

Hitler for example, since this 100% pertains to the Nazis, died what? 600 years ago? Some bunker.

Yet having a shape vaguely look like him is a threat to civilization as we know it.

I think if anything the forum is underestimating how powerful it can be both as a positive and a negative.

MS has master chief and Marcus fenix.

nintendo has mario.

sony has sales.

you cant play sales

HaH

@uninspiredcup: @Zero_epyon: I'd dispute that Sony is the most progressive with how they handle their gaming mascots, and Nintendo is the most conservative.

Thing about Playstation is it has plenty of characters that have at once been iconic for the brand and considered a mascot for respective gens. Sony cycles through more mascots than any of the three companies, but that's the catch: they cycle through them, seasonal mascots.

Nintendo just happens to hold onto their oldest ones; they preserve and keep them updated to stay relevant. Every full moon Nintendo might introduce a new IP, but otherwise they stick with what they know works.

Smash has broken the Internet way more than we can count, they first did it with Snake and then Sonic (the official site went down for a while due to traffic) and if you go by later reveals, Sephirot gathered way more attention than Steve.

Not saying Steve reveal wasn't important ... just saying that by Smash standards, it was ok.

MS owns them ... but nobody thinks of them as MS characters, specially not when Steve has been in pretty much every platform available, how many think of Steve the MS mascot ??? Again, who gives AF that they owned Banjo for over 2 decades if the best regarded games are still the N64 ones.

Yes, Kratos as much as i don't like his early persona, is way more relevant today than Marcus Fenix or even Master Chief which are the only MS "mascots".

@jaydan: no offense, but that news "breaking the internet" is pretty dumb. I guess I'm the one out of the loop and behind the times, but I was playing Minecraft when it was first Flash in beta and there was no such thing as all this quest+NPC nonsense, and I haven't kept up with the skins and adventures and whatever the hell else they've added. I boot it up and just play it solo like an adventure in a Lego set the same as I've always done. And likewise I've been playing Super Smash since N64 and don't find any of these new cameo things exciting - it's just noise and doesn't make the game better for me

Maybe it "broke the internet" but I am fairly confident I've been exposed to the fact that his name is "steve" multiple times and yet somehow I've never been given a reason to care. I don't think he's iconic and his entry to SS doesn't move me. I'd go so far as to say this rando from Minecraft, now that it's been brought to my attention, is one of the least exciting I've seen... who has sat at the console with their friends fantasizing about fighting kirby and samus with steve?

Don't get me wrong: more power to you if you follow that stuff and find it exciting. But to me it's lost in the noise with all the saturday-morning-cartoonish fads that are constantly coming out for youth consumer gluttony.

Minecraft is one of the biggests game franchises is why the whole Steve reveal broke the internet aka its a meme but still, Minecraft gamer kids know Bedrock better than others.

• Nobody plays Minecraft for Steve.
• Nobody gives a damn about Steve.
• Steve isn't the face of Minecraft, because Minecraft doesn't need a face.
• Minecraft is its own icon.

But it's still Steve, get it? Steve is more recognizable and iconic than 95% of the roster in SSBU.

Who's "nobody thinks of them as MS characters" you mean a group of internet neckbeards? No one cares about what someone THINKS. What you THINK is irrelevant, what is FACTUAL is that they're MS characters and that they're OWNED by MS

Don't like it? Tough shit....you can argue "symbolism" as much as you'd like, at the end of the day facts don't care about your feelings

And no Kratos isn't relevant because God of War in general isn't as major a franchise...it's basically had one successful game in the last decade and until it hits the 10 billion mark it isn't in Halo's league and likely never will be...

no one is asking for Kratos in Smash because no one outside of God of War fans give a shit about the character and there's nothing remotely iconic about him and the only place he'll end up is if God forbid Sony brings back Playstation Flop Stars

He is? I mean - again - I guess I'm out of the loop here. He clearly isn't to me. Whereas I have strong associations with most of the "traditional" roster, I didn't even know who "steve" was referring to in the OP until I_P reminded me it was the "minecraft guy".

-confusedoldmanfrog

Considering Banjo's last original game was 13 years ago, do people think of him at all, let alone as a "Microsoft character"?

Also

10 minutes in

Congratulations, Banjo has the equivalent of "Comic Con" buzz, but what about the mainstream? It's easy to get hyped up about something in a bubble -- that's what convinced Universal the Scott Pilgrim movie would be a success -- but the big bad world has a way of deflating all that.

That's right move that goal post....that's not what you said...you said

"do people think of him at all"

Now all of a sudden

"bu buh but teh mainsteeeamzz!!"

Take that L

You're thinking way too hard over what's figurative speech.

Usually when people refer to "break the internet" it happens when sites actually do crash when high traffic occurs.

In the case of Steve's reveal, his reveal did in fact result in Twitter crashing during the morning of his reveal, due to a sudden high volume of traffic. That's why Steve "broke the internet."

I didn't invent this language; go ahead and watch Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Why leave out Kazooie? She is a character in the Banjo-Kazooie games as Banjo. They are inseparable.

If we go by Youtube reveal trailers and their views, the biggest reveal for Smash Ultimate was...

Banjo & Kazooie with 5+million views, followed by Steve with 4+million and then Sephiroth with 2+million.

But you're right, Smash has "broken" the internet plenty of times. Definitely don't underestimate the power of Steve, though.

@jaydan: where did I say you invented it? I know what it means - I said it was dumb that it happened. What a nothingburger for people to get excited over

@iamthetruth101: Bwahahaha, holy hell you're one angry, and completely wrong, alt.

i think kratos or nathan drake fits the bill. or sackboy or astro boy. tbh dont really care about this game so whatever. i played this once and give it to me nephew after.

@TheEroica: It can be argued that it has equated to success for Nintendo.

What do you mean they don't have iconic characters...! They have three: tormentos, solid and quad! Some character those are.

🤭

I made a comment, and YOU replied to me with your butthurt as usual, you can try & deflect the conversation, but in the end it just further proves you have no counter argument.

See i get it, im talking the truth and it makes your Godny not look so good, so you must attack.

Just sad & pathetic on your part.

@i_p_daily: "I made a TROLL post"

There fixed it for you, nothing else needs to be said. 😉

No its fact that none of Sony's characters are iconic. GT Sport sold over 8 million, so tell me which character in that game is iconic because "it sold millions of copies"

Minecraft has sold more copies than every one of Sony's games, no one plays it because of Steve, he's just the generic dude you play with in the worlds you create, so please stop with the because a game sell millions the characters are iconic.

Sony's characters are crap, those are the facts.

You can try and deflect, but you're just losing the argument, like always. Now go get butthurt over someone elses comments for a change.

Kratos and Nathan Drake obviously.

Can maybe toss in Sweet Tooth, but he's been retired for a while.

Sony's characters are far better then Microsoft's and among the most iconic in the industry... those are the facts! See? I said it so it must be true.

Regardless you have no criteria for what makes an iconic character you are just randomly spouting your opinion.

@i_p_daily: Weird how you don't even understand the word "fact" and continually misuse it. 😂 See this is why you're a troll that isn't worth the time to argue with but perfect to laugh at and point out your stupidity.

Playstation got Kratos he killed Zeus and all the Greek God's.

Kratos is the character that I would say represents Sony as the mascot. PlayStation has had a few characters from other games that fit the role.

@iamthetruth101: Wait ... changing narratives so soon ??? that's it, you are done and i'm going to just leave it here because there is no reason to keep going. I never disputed MS ownership of this characters, only that very few sees them as MS mascots while MS true "mascots" have lost the mainstream audience which is the only one it matters when it comes to being iconic, there is a reason why at this point in time, GoW Ragnarok is one of the most hyped games this year while Halo Infinity is meme worthy and Gears is, well yeah ...

Have fun trying to spin your arguments over and over in this thread.

Again that's irrelevant, how you see something and how something actually is are 2 different things and only the latter actually matters. You keep crying and repeating yourself over and over again, that doesn't change the facts

Doom Slayer is a Microsoft character

BJ Blazkowich is a Microsoft character

Dovah-kin is a Microsoft character

Corvo Attano is a Microsoft character

only that very few sees them as MS mascots while MS true "mascots

There is no such thing as a "true" or a "false" mascot...your either an MS character or you're not...you're trying to spin a narrative and use irrelevant conclusion logical fallacies because you want to wank Sony's irrelevant characters when no one gives a shit about them

GoW Ragnarok is one of the most hyped games

No it isn't lmao we haven't seen anything aside a j-peg...God of War Ragnarok is about as hyped as Metroid Prime 4 is

@iamthetruth101: God of War Ragnarok is not being hyped ??? 🤔 In what delusional world you live in. And yeah, you are out of anything meaningful to say to your original topic saying that Sony has no iconic characters 🤷

Iconic characters would imply that people outside of the fanbase care about the character. Even non Halo fans want Chief in Smash, no one wants Kratos in Smash because no one outside of God of War fans give a shit about Kratos

Sonic has barely had any good games over the last 20 years and he's still far more iconic than Kratos or anyone at Playstation.

@vfighter: I don't want hear your excuse, stop crying and make an actual counter argument you troll.

@silentchief: So you used sales as an argument as to why these characters are "iconic" and when i presented a counter argument as to why that's flawed your go to is, you're just spouting your opinion.

Well duh, everyone posting in this thread is posting an opinion including you, its just that some opinions (mine) are more factual than others (yours) you're just gonna have to deal with that cow alt.