Are Gaming Mascots Coming Back?

If you think of the PS1, chances are you’re thinking of Crash Bandicoot, Spyro etc. If you think of any Nintendo console, you probably think of Mario or Link. Who do you think of when I say PS4 or Xbox One? That one gruff white guy from that shooter you like? Gaming mascots used to be incredibly important to sell consoles and games, being heavily used in advertising. Just look at how Sony incorporated Crash Bandicoot for their commercials for the game and even for the PS1. One example: They had a guy dressed as Crash Bandicoot outside a Nintendo building calling out Mario. Classic.

PS1, Dreamcast and N64 Era

I feel that this era was when game mascots were at their peak. We saw the start of Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Gex and PaRappa the Rapper. Sony came out swinging with their mascots, fighting off already existing mascots such as Mario and Sonic. However, they seemed to favor Crash Bandicoot. Crash was their baby. They used him in adverts for the console where Crash had that 90’s attitude and a voice (which was weird. Also kind of weird that a guy’s face was sticking through Crash’s teeth). Gex and PaRappa were nowhere near as popular but have gained a cult following since.

SEGA and Nintendo haven’t really changed their mascots since this era. Instead of creating completely new characters with new games, they kept the ones that already had a following and expanded them. They added characters that accompany their pre-existing mascots and found new ways to keep their games innovative and fun for new generations. Well, except SEGA. They’ve been falling down a steep hill with their recent Sonic releases. We’ll see how Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania plays out before we can say anything for definite.

If you haven’t realised by now, all of these games are platformers. Platformers ruled the 90’s whereas now, it’s first and third person shooters. Games have matured as well as gamers, but where did the mascots go?

Disappearing Act

Whilst gaming mascots were prevalent during the 90’s and early 2000’s, they started to disappear around the 360 and PS3 era. Nintendo still made their bread and butter from mascots, they had a different approach than Microsoft and Sony. Instead of ditching characters they already had (which were really successful and had a massive following) they found new and innovative ways to keep them relevant. For Mario they released the hugely popular Super Mario Galaxy games, which shook up the gameplay like no other Mario game that came before (I guess you could make an argument for Super Mario Sunshine). Now Mario was in space. He could jump between planets, play with gravity and so much more. What was clever about this was that it still felt like a Mario game, they didn’t change it so much that it became unrecognizable (I’m looking at you Sonic) but they changed it enough so the game wasn’t stale. Nintendo also released The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which was a much more mature take on the Zelda franchise which saved it from feeling like we’ve played this game so many times before. This kept gamers happy and also gave them a reason to buy the console. Nintendo gave players games and characters that they were familiar with but changed them up enough so they felt new.

Sony and Microsoft did the exact opposite. In Microsoft’s defense, they didn’t have a bucket load of mascots to begin with going into the 360. The only noticeable mascot they had in their arsenal was of course: Master Chief. Microsoft carried on using Master Chief as the face of their company and later introduced a new mascot: Marcus Fenix. Other than that however, that was it. Microsoft had two big guns (literally and figuratively) and had them front and center on the Xbox 360 brand.

Sony on the other hand, had many mascots that were born during PS2’s lifetime: Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Kratos, Sly Cooper and PaRappa the Rapper just to name a few. Two mascots that were huge on PS1 were seemingly dying on the PS2: Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. So what happened to these two giants? Well, the original developers left. Naughty Dog developed the Crash Bandicoot games on PS1 and Insomniac developed the Spyro the Dragon games on the same console. Once the PS2 launched, Naughty Dog and Insomniac were finished with their respected franchises. They started working on new games with brand new mascots (Ratchet & Clank and Jak & Daxter) and new developers moved on to work on Crash and Spyro. Sadly, those games didn’t match the fun and quality of the previous entries and therefore lost a lot of fans. The two giant mascots were now dying and being replaced.

Going into the PS3, Sony carried on publishing Ratchet & Clank games and God of War games but other than that, the main stays from PS2 and even PS1 were starting to disappear. Insomniac, whilst still developing Ratchet & Clank games started putting more focus on their new series, Resistance. Naughty Dog stopped making Jak & Daxter games and moved on to Uncharted (giving Sony a new mascot, Nathan Drake). But fun, cartoon mascots stopped being a trend and instead started being replaced with realistic characters. However, even with this new plan of realistic mascots, there was still love for silly cartoon mascots. This is proven by the popularity of Sackboy who was arguably as big as Nathan Drake.

Present Day

What I’ve noticed with Sony and Microsoft (mostly Sony considering Microsoft don’t really seem too bothered about mascots) is that they like to constantly change the face of their consoles in an effort to keep up with trends and the ages of gamers. We’ve come from talking purple dragons to human treasure hunters. What does the landscape of gaming mascots look like today? Well, pretty exciting.

Nintendo haven’t changed since day one. Sure, they’ve been adding new characters here and there but they’ve kept the main players: Mario, Luigi, Link, Zelda, Kirby, Yoshi and so on. This keeps fans happy as they constantly try to reinvent classic game series’, just look at Breath of the Wild.

Microsoft have seemingly dismissed their most famous mascot, Master Chief. Once the proud face of the Xbox brand, you wouldn’t know it if you’ve played or seen anything from Halo 5. You don’t even play as Master Chief through the majority of the campaign. Instead you play a character called, “Locke” who spends his entire time hunting down Master Chief and needless to say, fans weren’t happy with this decision. Their other main player, Marcus Fenix also wasn’t the main character in Gears of War 4. You play as his son, James. Whilst Fenix does make an appearance in the game, he isn’t the center of attention. Whilst I can understand this tactic as it’s one that Sony pulls. They’re replacing they’re old mascots, with new ones. Or attempting to at least as it seems fans didn’t take to James or Locke the same way they connected with Chief and Marcus.

Sony on the other hand, have been bringing back old friends. I guess in an attempt to continue with being in fans good books and continuing their promise of PlayStation 4 being, “for the players”, PlayStation gamers have been seeing old favorites making a return and saying goodbye to others. Uncharted 4 had gamers wave goodbye to their favorite treasure hunter, Nathan Drake in a very elegant and personal way which is sure to tug at gamers heart strings who’ve been there since the start. Insomniac remade Ratchet & Clank in a way that took the original game and improved upon it in every way (in my opinion, feel free to argue with me in the comments about it) which left the door open for promising sequels. Sony showed off a new God of War game last E3 and took Nintendo’s approach where they took an already existing character and revamping it to keep it new but also familiar to gamers who’ve played the God of War games. But the biggest one of all and the most important (to me): Crash Bandicoot is coming home. Sony’s baby is coming home to PS4 due to fans (and my) pleas for years and years. The original trilogy is being fully remade with modern graphics and I couldn’t be more excited. PaRappa the Rapper (also a mascot of the PS1) has also been given the remaster treatment on PS4. Sony also announced Knack 2. The first Knack wasn’t a critical or commercial success but they’ve been trying hard to make the character Knack their new mascot.

I think cartoon mascots could be making a comeback and I really hope they do. They’re just fun and make me all nostalgic. I think Sony is testing the waters with releasing Crash and PaRappa. If they’re proven to be a success, don’t be surprised to see new games with the lovable mascots. I may be going into conspiracy theory territories here but if there were no more plans for new Crash games, why is the remaster called the “N Sane Trilogy” and not just “Trilogy”? Nobody really knows, Nintendo will continue what they’re doing, Microsoft aren’t really sure what they’re doing and Sony are bringing back classic mascots. So maybe we’ll see a resurgence of cartoon mascots? I hope so.