Final-Fan said:
The fact that we're on Page 2 of this thread without a clear consensus emerging proves that the correct answer is "none".
At first, Sony tried to put Crash into the mascot position, but when that franchise faltered they never so much as tried to replace him as far as I can tell. Instead, they have the PlayStation brand in general, as KGB29 said, with an "elite" group of games sort of defining the brand; this group is always evolving, adding and dropping names, so it's not mascot material. GT, FF, GTA ... now maybe Resistance and KillZone among other possibilities. This is a big reason why losing FF exclusivity is such a blow to the PS3.
Sackboy would make a good mascot but I doubt it will happen. Only the craziest optimistic predictions -- if even those -- have LBP getting the kind of supermassive sales required to put it in the public consciousness like that in this generation. Even if Kratos had the awareness (which I seriously doubt since all his games combined have sold less than Halo 1), as others have noted he's not exactly family-friendly. SPARTAN 117 isn't really, either, but he doesn't seem as barbaric so I think people let it slide more. And Gran Turismo has no face.
(Perhaps part of the reason why Sony didn't develop a mascot after Crash was because: (A) they don't have as much in the way of first-party stuff; (B) GT doesn't have a face; (C) the PS1 and PS2 were both massively popular so there was a lot of competition for "iconic game" status -- perhaps too hard for a game to pull ahead enough to become a mascot. (A) and (B) didn't apply to Nintendo or Sega, and (C) didn't apply to Microsoft. [edit: with the exception of Halo -- and I consider the Xbox a special case -- it seems to me that most consoles which have developed mascots had the game in question as a pack-in.])
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I'm gonna go with C.
Sony has plenty of first party stuff that could be mascots. They just tend to develop new IPS rather than making the same stuff over and over again, so they never gain the notoriety of other franchises. Not to mention they are usually lost in a sea of games (something that hasn't happened so far this gen with games like Resistance). They're also usually not marketed very well. Mario is well known becuase of his age. Master Chief is well known because of Microsoft's intense marketing. Sony's franchises, outside of GT, benefit from none of this. God of War is really the only franchise that comes close, with Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank a ways behind.
Jak & Daxter could've replaced Crash if they had been advertised more, but then Naughty Dog moved on to Uncharted, leaving J&D in the dust (hopefully not permanently).
Sackboy has some real potential to become Sony's mascot, however, as they are REALLY pushing LBP this holiday season, and they will be selling actual sackboys along with the game.
