Lawlight said:
And Nathan Drake doesn't have any distinctive characteristics? Do you want him to wear the same coloured shirt in every game? I think you're forgetting that Sony let's their devs decide what to work on, which is why many create new IP or new characters. |
I know that. But Sly Cooper series never got enough push. 3 -> Thieves in Time took 8 years according to Wikipedia, they didn't push advertisement, nor did a media mix up. I do like him as a character, but he never got the constant push that he needed to shine on the main stream.
Kratos is memorable. Constantly serious and has solid character. I should have mentioned him. But he isn't exactly likeable character. His anger, brutality, self-centric personality gave him depth, and he is popular for it. But with my limited sense of humor and intelligence, I can't really spin him in interesting way that doesn't result in someone getting killed. (Without being out of character.)
Heard about Twisted Metal, but didn't noticed any characters. This is likely due to my personal taste. I will look into it. How much media push this game got? Did characters from this game was actively marketed and focused? I'd like to know about it.
When I said distinctive characteristic. I'm talking about his appearance feature. As I said, is he someone who pops into your eyes if there was no context of him being 'Nathan Drake.' Which is a great character. But he is a average human with average name, and logical attire choices. Obviously, 'Average' I'm mentioning here isn't actual people. I'm comparing with other games and media. This made Nathan Drake more relatable for people playing the game, but dull to the people who just played the game and forgot the details that made Nathan Drake, or someone who didn't played the game yet. This means Sony have to put some serious effort to make him iconic, but they are not spending money on that. 'Uncharted' is iconic name everyone remembers, not Nathan Drake.
Well, all three of them above are just speculation. A made up reason to explain why they didn't become a main stream figure. So if you have a good reason to disagree, you are probably right.
For final question,no, I do know Sony gives more freedom to their first party developers. But creating a main stream mascot requires very long time, or an constant and effective marketing strategy. Once business decision no longer touches development, secondary option is out of the window. However, since Sony is dabbling on media mixes, it is likely something will catch on. Only media mix that I currently know of is for the Ratchet and Clank. Ergo the reason why I suggested they will eventually gather enough fan to create such fandom.
I do respect their choices to think outside of the business. But that is exactly why they don't have sizeable franchise fandom like Microsoft does. Who focused their marketing to Halo. And Nintendo had 3 decade worth of head start.
