Master Chief and Mario are decidedly Microsoft and Nintendo’s respective “mascots” for their consoles. They’re both distinctive, have mass appeal, and I think we can all agree they’re just pretty awesome. What’s Sony’s answer? The closest to the equivalent of those 2 icons this gen are Sackboy, Kratos, Nathan Drake… and a car from Gran Turismo. All hail from popular franchises, but it seems none are definitive enough, distinctive enough, or just plain popular enough. Are they potential icons for the Orbis Vitae era? Well, LBP’s popularity is in steep decline, Kratos is too bald and angry, and a car from GT is a car, so we can write those off the list. That leaves us one potential candidate!

Nathan Drake.

Uncharted has been an incredible success commercially and critically this generation, and has showed no signs of decline in popularity, in fact it’s enjoying rapid growth. The franchise is Playstation’s biggest money-maker and thus one of their biggest assets going into the eighth generation. The opportunity here is outstanding, and to not take advantage of it to the fullest would be an egregious mistake on Sony’s part.

Uncharted 4 is going to exist, and chances are it’s going to be awesome, so we don’t need to dwell on that. What Sony need to do to develop an icon out of Nate, and expand his fan base beyond the hardcore Playstation folk  is accentuate that cocky wise-cracking attitude and distinguish his features more (Sir Frances Drake’s Ring, Nate’s mysterious heritage) in their marketing. Not only does the marketing need to better convey his image, but there also needs to be a lot of it. A marketing budget ranging between $50-100 million (for reference, these are AC3 or Halo 4-like figures) for UC4 could raise Drake to Chief levels of prestige and recognition. This isn’t cheap, certainly not for Sony in their financial position, but this is a long-term investment that will pay off with the franchise’s future software sales, and the system sales that will result from its popularity.

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Read the full article here: http://www.gamingcapacity.com/who-will-be-playstations-mascot-next-gen/

also, no offence meant turkish!

Does Playstation even have a mascot this gen?

nope

Nathan Drake is not a good choice since from what I gather he's a mass murderer. The same could be argued about Master Chief but the difference is he's killing aliens to save mankind and in some cases all life in the Galaxy while Nathan Drake kills people in pursuit of treasure.

I think Sackboy will stick around for next gen, he's a bit childish perhaps, but by his impressive customisations, he can fit every gamer :D

is it wrong that I lol'd at the Turkish option?

Anyways, I think Sackboy would fit the bill nicely.

Drake kills brown people or pirates, which are essentially aliens on the "is the public offended by this" scale.

Nobody take that the wrong way please, I'm not saying it's right, just saying that there wouldn't be some outrage by the public if he reached Chief's popularity.

could be drake or the last of us. or Jak and Daxter could make a comeback. even if made by the SLY4 guys.

LBP won't make any splashes next gen. i'm sure. in the end i'd count on someone new.

drake seems like it he could be it, if sony play their cards right with the franchise it could become a 10+ million seller in the future

I think UC4 has a good chance at hitting 10 mil if:

- It's critically acclaimed (85+ meta, easy by ND standards)

- PS4 sells well (8m-ish first year)

- Gets a 50-100m marketing campaign