This whole thread is filled with so much fail that I can't decide what to quote and attack =)
Whether Sony or MS has better exclusives/1st-party is subjective, so stop arguing over it. And if you think 3rd-party exclusives don't help increase brand power and recognition, well, that's just silly.
Which games have the more recognizable characters could be objective but there are no studies out to cite information from. I can say that I think Kratos is more recognizable than Nathan Drake to casual and non-gamers, but there is no way to back that up. There are some very obvious "mascots" though like Master Chief and Mario.
Having a recognizable mascot gives you a lot of brand power, people see said mascot and say "oh I know who that is, I heard about them game before". That is a part of brand power.







