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Forums - Sony Discussion - Why didn't sackboy become bigger?

kopstudent89 on 09 December 2013

I played the game and honestly felt it was massively overrated. Did not get why it got the appeal or the critical acclaim it had. It's a solid game but 95 metacritic for the first LBP was ridiculous imo. I guess that's part of it, the sales decline in LBP2 showed what people really thought about the game I suppose and it didn't catch fire with the Sony audiences.

Also he wasn't really that charming tbh, he looked cool but that was about it. It had no edge for me.



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Vertigo-X on 09 December 2013
Mensrea said:

Sony really pushed LBP LBP psp LBP 2 and LBP Vita. They were all fantastic, and some of the most unique, and fun games of last gen. Sackboy is a really likeable fun character, and with the sales of 1 and 2 he seemed poised to become a huge mascot for them. So why didn't he gain more popularity? Honestly he seems to have all the components for a good mascot. He's adoarable, his games are amazing, unique, etc. Why didn't sackboy, and LBP as a franchise, become bigger?


Sackboy needed some viagra. (;



The BuShA owns all!

adriane23 on 09 December 2013

It wasn't advertised on TV. If Sony marketed him to parents, he would've blew up. I don't ever remember seeing a commercial for LittelBigPlanet on TV in the U.S. Maybe it was different in Europe?



I am the Playstation Avenger.

   

Proxy-Pie on 09 December 2013
KylieDog said:
Because Sackboy and his world was aimed at kids while the nature of his 'game' and creating complex levels was not.

kinda like W101



snyps on 09 December 2013

Sry if it's been said to death... not gonna read every post. Sony can't keep it's franchises from waning in popularity. Gran Torismo is the only series the've handled with care.



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pokoko on 09 December 2013

The customization focus of Sackboy precludes him from being a true mascot character. It's really as simple as that.

A mascot needs to be immediately recognizable or it's not a mascot. That means strongly defined features and a readily identifiable style. It has to stand out, even if it looks dumb at first--constant exposure will stop people from thinking about the "dumb" aspect and instead simply jump to the association aspect.

Sackboy simply isn't cut out to be a mascot. That's nothing against the games or the character, that's just the way it works out. Sony needs a game/character that is more cartoonish and focused for that.



Lawlight on 09 December 2013

Sony gives creative licence to the teams on what to work on. The only reason Sackboy isn't as big as Mario is because Sony didn't choose to spam his games out for the next 30 years.



Lawlight on 09 December 2013

As for personality, Sackboy has more charm and character than an avatar like Mario or Link, for example.



d21lewis on 09 December 2013
code.samurai said:
I think we're getting off topic here. The OP's question is, why didn't sackboy gain enough popularity to be a big time Mascot like Mario for Nintendo, Sonic for Sega and 'Chief for Microsoft.

Some response says LBP did great and it did very well for a new IP. But let's go back to the main topic, which is why isn't Sackboy a household name like Mario, Sonic or 'Chief? This thread has several interesting answers that are on-topic.
1. Because he has no personality.
2. Because aesthetically, before even playing the game or seeing a video of him, his character looks like a crappy toy.
3. Too bland, there is nothing interesting about the character.
4. You need to play the game before you become interested in him, outsiders think he's "Just a character" nothing special.

The character design focused way too much on making him the "base toy" or the template for all the potentially awesome toy you can build. Thus they stripped away all character specific identifiers, like voice (not even a recognizable whimper), color and even movement (he just lumbers around like a marionette). In order to be memorable, he needs to be an interesting character even before you see him move.

Take a look at various media before looking back at games, the successful characters in films, TV, comics, and others are never generic. They have this quirk, something different that when you see it you'll shit bricks and never forget them anymore. Alas the unfortunately named Sackboy was not well endowed in that department and was thus ignored by the general public.

There you go, hope that satisfies. ;)


You nailed it as far as I'm concerned.



d21lewis on 09 December 2013
Lawlight said:
As for personality, Sackboy has more charm and character than an avatar like Mario or Link, for example.


Interesting.  So tell me about the character of Sackboy.  What does he like? Who is his/her love interest? What makes Sackboy afraid?  What motivates Sackboy?  

Sackboy, to me, is like a Lego block or a Mr. Potato Head.  You're required to use your imagination to turn Sackboy into what you want.  Media Molecule has provided Sackboy with nothing but the ability to play dress up.  As a kid, I was okay with playing with Lego Blocks or Mr. Potato Head....but I'd always be more excited to play with a Tranformer, GI Joe, or Batman figure.  Those where characters.

Good game. Good Premise. Lame protagonist.