(BEFORE ANYONE SAYS ANYTHING I AM A FAN OF BOTH PLAYSTATION AND NINTENDO SO I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO THINK THAT I'M MAKING THIS FOR A FLAME WAR OR AN EXCUSE TO BE A FANBOY)

 

I have a belief that one of the best things that sell a console is it's games and/or exclusives. Now matter the power of the system or history. Nearly every company has that one character...

 

Nintendo - Mario, Link, Pikachu, ect

Sony - Kratos, Ratchet, Parappa

Microsoft - Master Chief & Banjo-Kazooie

PC Gaming - Anything Valve related or Indie

Capcom - Megaman, Ryu, Dante, ect

Namco - Pacman, Lloyd Irving, Heihachi

SEGA- Sonic, Bayonetta, ect.

 

But there's one probably with Playstation and most of it isn't their fault. Characters come and go. Some Nintendo fans may go on how the Wii U hasn't been selling that well but hey at least fans of Nintendo get to keep their characters and see them a lot. With the only loss being Rare.

 

But as a Playstation fan it's always more of a "I wonder how long it will be before we have to say goodbye this guy"

 

Crash Bandicoot - Owned by Activision

Spyro the Dragon - Owned by Activision

Cloud - is coming back to Playstation...first and will be multiplatform later and is in Smash (not to say that is a bad thing sense he is my best character in that game)

Croc - Who knows?

Abe- Came back once on PS4 but doesn't show his face a lot

Dante - Only comes back for crossovers and special ocations and it seems that Capcom doesn't care about him

Gex - Who knows?

Parrapa, Spike, Sir Danielle - Fell of the face of the earth and only came back for re-releases and Playstation Allstars

Tomba, Cpt. Blasto - Who knows?

Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy - Multiplatform

 

The only ones we've still got are Ratchet & Clank, God of War, Uncharted, InFamous, Killzone, LittleBigPlanet & The Last of Us. But how long will it be till they're gone?

 

Nintendo to this day still has Mario, Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Metroid, Starfox, Yoshi, Fire Emblem, Earthbound, F-Zero, Xenoblade, Smash, Punch-Out, ect. Some are seen more than others but we at least can still know that they're still with Nintendo.

 

Plus, Smash Bros Wii U/3DS has Sonic, Megaman, Pacman, Ryu, Cloud & Bayonetta, Project X Zone 1 & 2 use many famous characters from SEGA, Capcom, Namco & some Nintendo.

 

The closest thing we got was Heihachi, DMC Dante, Raiden, Big Daddy & Isaac Clarke in Playstation Allstars, Cole McGrath, Toro & Kuro in Street Fighter X Tekken & Kratos in both Mortal Kombat and Shovel Knight.

 

And the most recent games with Cloud & Dante are on Nintendo systems even though they started on Playstation.

 

It's hard to be a Playstation fan in the sense, for there are some many faces I miss and might not ever see again. And the only ones I still can see are on every other system imaginable. I'm not claiming Nintendo or Microsoft "Stole" our characters. In fact, I'm glad those characters are at least still alive unlike Croc, Gex, Crash & Spyro.

i'm not really too attached to the Playstation mascots. I think it's because when you go into Playstation you learn that the mascots don't stick around forever. They come and go and the ones that are above average in popularity stick around for a little while longer or they get a reboot years after their original game. That's fine with me. Honestly Kratos is a good example of what would happen if Sony kept their mascots around forever. Game after game and each one begging the question: when will it end.

 

i think another thing Nintendo has going for it is most of its characters exist in a very flexible state. it's as if they're designed in such a way that they can stick around forever. When you create a series that relies on a continuous story, keeping the characters around becomes difficult. Take Mario, for example. That guy has been around for 30 years and he's been doing about the same thing over and over. People let it slide though because you don't play a Mario game for the story (typically), you play for the gameplay. Same with Legend of Zelda. Story is pretty much the same every time but the gameplay changes. It's actually funny, because nowadays you could easily make the argument that the gameplay is becoming formulaic, as opposed to the story. Seems to suggest that maybe characters can't stick around forever. If you focus too much on story then you have to start coming up with contrived excuses to keep things going and if you go for gameplay then eventually you'll have done all you can do with it and that itself will become boring. 

 

Sony seems to focus on the story with most of their characters and so it's probably better in the long run that they don't try to keep their mascots around like Nintendo does. You have to enjoy the characters while they last and look forward to new ones. Even though the new ones may be more shallow and not as fun. The Ratchet and Clank series sort of hit a rough patch after Crack in Time but that was the cost of having them stick around longer than needed. It's like Sony has mascots that are best enjoyed in one sitting, and Nintendo has mascots that are like a buffet where you keep going back for seconds of the same food. 

 

or something. 

i'm not really too attached to the Playstation mascots. I think it's because when you go into Playstation you learn that the mascots don't stick around forever. They come and go and the ones that are above average in popularity stick around for a little while longer or they get a reboot years after their original game. That's fine with me. Honestly Kratos is a good example of what would happen if Sony kept their mascots around forever. Game after game and each one begging the question: when will it end.

 

i think another thing Nintendo has going for it is most of its characters exist in a very flexible state. it's as if they're designed in such a way that they can stick around forever. When you create a series that relies on a continuous story, keeping the characters around becomes difficult. Take Mario, for example. That guy has been around for 30 years and he's been doing about the same thing over and over. People let it slide though because you don't play a Mario game for the story (typically), you play for the gameplay. Same with Legend of Zelda. Story is pretty much the same every time but the gameplay changes. It's actually funny, because nowadays you could easily make the argument that the gameplay is becoming formulaic, as opposed to the story. Seems to suggest that maybe characters can't stick around forever. If you focus too much on story then you have to start coming up with contrived excuses to keep things going and if you go for gameplay then eventually you'll have done all you can do with it and that itself will become boring. 

 

Sony seems to focus on the story with most of their characters and so it's probably better in the long run that they don't try to keep their mascots around like Nintendo does. You have to enjoy the characters while they last and look forward to new ones. Even though the new ones may be more shallow and not as fun. The Ratchet and Clank series sort of hit a rough patch after Crack in Time but that was the cost of having them stick around longer than needed. It's like Sony has mascots that are best enjoyed in one sitting, and Nintendo has mascots that are like a buffet where you keep going back for seconds of the same food. 

 

or something. 

Adding to this, a lot of Nintendo's games that do have more of a complex stories tend to switch off protagonists after a few entries. Fire Emblem doesn't focus on Marth anymore, and both of the Xenoblade games take place in very different settings. Mother had a different protagonist for each entry, too. For the games that have more of a focus on story like Sony's games, mascots don't have as much of a place. Sure, Marth represents Fire Emblem and Ness represents Mother often, but they don't appear in every single entry in their respective series.

 

(BEFORE ANYONE SAYS ANYTHING I AM A FAN OF BOTH PLAYSTATION AND NINTENDO SO I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO THINK THAT I'M MAKING THIS FOR A FLAME WAR OR AN EXCUSE TO BE A FANBOY)

 

I have a belief that one of the best things that sell a console is it's games and/or exclusives. Now matter the power of the system or history. Nearly every company has that one character...

 

Nintendo - Mario, Link, Pikachu, ect

Sony - Kratos, Ratchet, Parappa

Microsoft - Master Chief & Banjo-Kazooie

PC Gaming - Anything Valve related or Indie

Capcom - Megaman, Ryu, Dante, ect

Namco - Pacman, Lloyd Irving, Heihachi

SEGA- Sonic, Bayonetta, ect.

 

But there's one probably with Playstation and most of it isn't their fault. Characters come and go. Some Nintendo fans may go on how the Wii U hasn't been selling that well but hey at least fans of Nintendo get to keep their characters and see them a lot. With the only loss being Rare.

 

But as a Playstation fan it's always more of a "I wonder how long it will be before we have to say goodbye this guy"

 

Crash Bandicoot - Owned by Activision

Spyro the Dragon - Owned by Activision

Cloud - is coming back to Playstation...first and will be multiplatform later and is in Smash (not to say that is a bad thing sense he is my best character in that game)

Croc - Who knows?

Abe- Came back once on PS4 but doesn't show his face a lot

Dante - Only comes back for crossovers and special ocations and it seems that Capcom doesn't care about him

Gex - Who knows?

Parrapa, Spike, Sir Danielle - Fell of the face of the earth and only came back for re-releases and Playstation Allstars

Tomba, Cpt. Blasto - Who knows?

Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy - Multiplatform

 

The only ones we've still got are Ratchet & Clank, God of War, Uncharted, InFamous, Killzone, LittleBigPlanet & The Last of Us. But how long will it be till they're gone?

 

Nintendo to this day still has Mario, Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Metroid, Starfox, Yoshi, Fire Emblem, Earthbound, F-Zero, Xenoblade, Smash, Punch-Out, ect. Some are seen more than others but we at least can still know that they're still with Nintendo.

 

Plus, Smash Bros Wii U/3DS has Sonic, Megaman, Pacman, Ryu, Cloud & Bayonetta, Project X Zone 1 & 2 use many famous characters from SEGA, Capcom, Namco & some Nintendo.

 

The closest thing we got was Heihachi, DMC Dante, Raiden, Big Daddy & Isaac Clarke in Playstation Allstars, Cole McGrath, Toro & Kuro in Street Fighter X Tekken & Kratos in both Mortal Kombat and Shovel Knight.

 

And the most recent games with Cloud & Dante are on Nintendo systems even though they started on Playstation.

 

It's hard to be a Playstation fan in the sense, for there are some many faces I miss and might not ever see again. And the only ones I still can see are on every other system imaginable. I'm not claiming Nintendo or Microsoft "Stole" our characters. In fact, I'm glad those characters are at least still alive unlike Croc, Gex, Crash & Spyro.

 

Spyro isn't dead. That's what most people believe beacuse of his role in Skylanders, but he isn't dead, yet.

If that's all we have to worry about we're pretty much fine. Nintendo and Xbox have much bigger things to worry about.

If that's all we have to worry about we're pretty much fine. Nintendo and Xbox have much bigger things to worry about.

Well, it's not the only thing. just one of the biggest in my opinion.

I wish they bring Croc back.... I miss him... 

Spyro is still alive and so is Crash Bandicoot (I guess). I know Spyro is still alive because of Skylanders but Crash, I'm not so sure. 

Sir Daniel Fortesque, I only played the demo of the first Medievil game. Would be nice to see him again.

Gex, only thing close I played was the first game. Would be great to see him again. 

It's not really much of a problem. PlayStation has always been on a constant changing path. I mean, Uncharted 4 is the last Uncharted game and it may be the last we see of Nathan Drake from Naughty Dog. There are a lot of characters, all as memorable as Mario, Link, or Master Chief. They just have a set path ahead of them, where as Mario is constantly running through simple platforming levels, and Link is a different reincarnation almost every time and there is always a story to tell. PlayStation is more on the cinematic side. They have a story to tell, but just like movies or books, they all have an end some where along the way. It's to be expected, but at least you can look at these characters and say they represent a generation of PlayStation. 

By the way, Sony has been dropping casual hints toward Crash Bandicoot for awhile now. Just earlier this week, the official PlayStation Middle East twitter page posted a wanted poster for Crash. Everyone has a feeling Crash is getting a revival and it's all but confirmed. To be honest, I'm on board. I really want a new Crash game.

That's actually something i like about Playstation, they always move onto new IP's and never really milk the successful franchises often, they know when to stop and move on

 

Usually, When they keep continuing a franchise it usually starts getting worse, or we just get sick of it, Just look at Assassins Creed; heck I hear even Halo 5 wasn't that well-received by some. Another example: Crash. remember those last few terrible games from Activision? Sony let him go at a high point and it seemed to have worked out in their favour, while Activision was trying to keep Crash popular, Naughty Dog had moved onto Jak and Daxter.