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[Helena]

This just came to mind while reading that "why aren't Nintendo games selling?" thread.


With the PS the undeniable mascots were Crash 7& Spyro (even though they weren't Sony-made).

For the PS2 it's got to be Jak & Ratchet and to a lesser extent Sly.


Now If you think about how C & S were dumped off you can think that maybe Sony doesn't want their "mascots" becoming "old" like Mario & company has.

So the question is: Will the Sony dump J & R and come up with new platforming series for the PS3?

 

[whytemyke]

Well, critically, both Jak and Ratchet and Clank have gotten better with each new iteration of the game. I really don't see them getting rid of their mascots unless the mascots stop bringing in money, like Crash did. That's just my personal opinion/guess though.

 

[fennec fox]

Of course since the PS2 came out the very definition of "mascot" has changed. It's not quite as important anymore, you could say. People laughed at the concept of some green metal guy being the "mascot" of the Xbox, but now it's undeniably happened.

They will probably be reset in order to create some sort of identity for the new system from the get-go.

 

[bjork]

I would think it'll probably end up with J+D and R+C appearing first on PS3 in the first year or so, and then perhaps being shelved for a couple of years to maybe test out some new franchises.

Personally though, I just want a sequel to Kya: Dark Lineage, especially considering

Spoiler

the game's ending actually hints at it, and then there's been zero news about it

 

[fennec fox]

I don't think "the game's ending is inconclusive to open the path for a sequel" is much of a spoiler, as it applies to pretty much every damn story-driven game this generation (and is a personal pet peeve of mine).

Spoiler

Yes, Whiplash is the same way

 

[Rhindle]

It's pretty unlikely in both cases, given that both dev teams have other priorities. I suppose Sony could revive both series somewhere in the PS3 life cycle.

 

[bjork]

I don't think "the game's ending is inconclusive to open the path for a sequel" is much of a spoiler, as it applies to pretty much every damn story-driven game this generation (and is a personal pet peeve of mine).

Spoiler

Yes, Whiplash is the same way

It actually says something like

Spoiler

to be continued in Kya 2

or something to that effect, though.

The only other one that's been that blatant about it was

Spoiler

parappa

, and we got that sequel, so I want a new Kya

 

[mrklaw]

if they are at a loss for new platforming suggestions, may I recommend Jumping Flash? I don't know if it was a Sony game or not, but I want one on any platform.

 

[Midas]

if they are at a loss for new platforming suggestions, may I recommend Jumping Flash? I don't know if it was a Sony game or not, but I want one on any platform.

Yeah, give us some more games with that rabbit robot! I loved the first one. Maybe I would hate it now though, was a while ago I played it.

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

Well, critically, both Jak and Ratchet and Clank have gotten better with each new iteration of the game. I really don't see them getting rid of their mascots unless the mascots stop bringing in money, like Crash did. That's just my personal opinion/guess though.

Crash "ended" because Naughty Dog was done with the series and the rights were acquired by another company, making it no longer sony exclusive. Same with Spyro. If you haven't noticed, there are still crash and Spyro games to this day. It's not that they sold like crap so they sold the rights.

Naughty Dog and Insomniac may be tired of these franchaises and start anew with PS3 again. I think its a safe bet, considering the characters aren't terribly compelling anyway. Sly has the best chance to continue in some form, I think.

 

[Amir0x]

Naughty Dog has already say Jak III was the end of there work with the Jak series. Jak and Daxter is effectively done. They have said they're working on new projects for Sony.

So with this trend, it's relatively safe to say that the "dumping unofficial mascots" will probably continue.

I'm not sure what Insomniac has said about Ratchet and Clank, but I would not be surprised if they too would start working on something else soon for PS3.

And I like that trend. It keeps things fresh every generation.

 

[Azrael]

Naughty Dog has sent mixed messages about what they're going to do after Jak 3. On the one hand, they claimed that Jak 3 was the end of the Jak trilogy. But they've since backed off somewhat, saying that although Jak 3 closes out the story of the PS2 games, that doesn't mean they won't necessarily revisit the same characters and settings for future games. The Jak 3 ending suggests they very well may continue the franchise.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Naughty Dog now, since Jason Rubin announced he was leaving the company after Jak 3 and Amy Henning was brought in. I would imagine if Jason Rubin starts a new developer that a lot of Naughty Dog talent would migrate over.

 

[Nick Laslett]

I hope that Sony kill J&D and R&C.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a real fan of J&D, but I would prefer to see Naughty Dog and Insomniac work on new IP.

I don't care if someone else codes future J&D/R&C games, it's what ND and Insomniac get up to that interests me. I'm a fan of the developers not the IP.

It is a bit like Bungie, I really liked Marathon on the MAC, but I'm sure glad they stopped developing Marathon games and created Halo instead.

 

[Idiot Member]

#1 - They were not mascots. People tend to believe platforming characters = mascots for some reason. Many characters were "poster boys" for the PlayStation.

#2 - They were both published by Sony, so in an extent they were in fact sony made.

#3 - If I'm not wrong Ratchet's sales aren't all that much better than sly's.

#4 - Crash and Spyro were "dumped off" because Universal owned the rights to them, and Sony didn't want to deal with them anymore. Sony owns the rights to Jak and Ratchet and both series will continue.

I suggest you research things before you speak about them.

Mega Man, the rights never shifted.

Amir, Naughty Dog said that Jak 3 was the end of this trilogy. That does not make it the last crash game, just as Star Wars Return of the Jedi is not the end of the star wars franchise.

 

[sonycowboy]

I expect we'll see Jak some more, but I don't know about Ratchet. I think Insomniac might want to go a slightly different route based on interviews where they want to diverge a bit from what Naughty Dog is doing.

I think Sony would have clearly kept both Crash & Spryo going if it weren't for Universal. The initial deal profited both handsomely, but from what I've heard, Universal was trying to take too big a piece of the pie, so Sony just said so long and took their dev teams

 

[Azih]

Amir, Naughty Dog said that Jak 3 was the end of this trilogy. That does not make it the last crash game,

It makes it not a crash game at all :lol,

anyways, none of these characters are 'mascots' for the Playstation. The 'mascots' for the PSX was Gran Tourismo and Metal Gear Solid. The 'mascot' for Playstation 2 is Grand Theft Auto.

 

[Idiot Member]

Azih i mistpyed, it was obvious that i meant jak.

GTA is hardly a mascot for the PS2. Just because a game sells well does not mean that when people think of PS2 they see GTA as it's sybol or vice versa.

P.S. it's gran turismo not gran tourismo

 

[SolidSnakex]

The one advantage Ratchet has over Jak in terms of sales is that its actually fairly popular in Japan while Jak really isn't at all.

Sony should get Insomniac and ND together for an online launch kart racer for the PS3 that'd have the characters from several of their other games also. Crash Team Racing was pretty popular and got great reviews so ND knows what they're doing in that area.

 

[Idiot Member]

SolidSnakeX Ratchet is hardly popular in Japan, and it actually got bundled with the PS2 at one point.

Making a cart racer would be a waste of both time and resources of both teams.

Crash Team racing sold well because Crash Bandicoot was at the time one of the most popular franchises in gaming.

I would like to see Naughty Dog and Insomniac collaberate on a large scale online/offline character adventure game with a concept of "Jak versus Ratchet", temporarily combining two popular characters into one game, finally recapturing the two player character mode lost since mario on the super nintendo.

 

[SolidSnakex]

"SolidSnakeX Ratchet is hardly popular in Japan, and it actually got bundled with the PS2 at one point. "

Ratchet 2 without being bundled sold 223k in Japan. Ratchet 3 has sold 65k in its first 3 days. The best selling Jak in Japan is the first one which sold 145k.

 

[sonycowboy]

SolidSnakeX Ratchet is hardly popular in Japan, and it actually got bundled with the PS2 at one point.

platform title publisher this week total
1 PS2 Dragon Quest VIII: Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himigime Square Enix 2,167,072 new
2 PS2 Ratchet and Clank 3: Galactic Star Rangers SCE 65,957 new
3 PS2 Momotarou Dentetsu USA Hudson 56,894 178,735
4 GC Mario Party 6 Nintendo 49,646 148,393
5 PS2 Slotter UP Core 5 Dorart 44,641 new
6 GC NARUTO: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3 Tomy 44,071 161,035
7 GBA Dragon Ball: Advance Adventure Banpresto 21,910 70,032
8 GBA KIDOU SENSHI GUNDAM SEED DESTINY Bandai 20,881 new
9 GBA Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Square Enix 19,235 258,274
10 GBA GameBoy Wars Advance 1 + 2 Nintendo 18,590 new

You were saying... :lol

 

[Idiot Member]

SonyCowboy debuting at under 70k is hardly what I would call popular... It''ll be lucky to sell more than 150k copies...

Ratchet and Clank 1 sold over half a million, but was bundled with the Ps2.

Ratchet and Clank 2 sold about 140k units...

 

[SolidSnakex]

SonyCowboy debuting at under 70k is hardly what I would call popular... It''ll be lucky to sell more than 150k copies...

Well it's selling better than Ratchet 2 sold already. That sold 61k in its first week on sell (ended up selling 223k), Ratchets already at 65k.

 

[Azih]

Azih i mistpyed, it was obvious that i meant jak.

GTA is hardly a mascot for the PS2. Just because a game sells well does not mean that when people think of PS2 they see GTA as it's sybol or vice versa.

P.S. it's gran turismo not gran tourismo

Yup yup it was a joke, and thanks for the spelling correction.

But GTA IS the PS2 mascot. It's the most compelling exclusive the PS2 has, and it only gets released on other consoles after it's stopped doing crazy business on it. If you want to play GTA games you get a PS2.

 

[Idiot Member]

GTA is not synonymous with PS2 nor is PS2 with GTA. Thus simply because it is the best selling game on the system does not make it a mascot.

SolidSnakeX never did I claim that Ratchet 3 couldn't possibly do better than 2, although it's very likely that it won't.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Naughty Dog has already say Jak III was the end of there work with the Jak series. Jak and Daxter is effectively done. They have said they're working on new projects for Sony.

So with this trend, it's relatively safe to say that the "dumping unofficial mascots" will probably continue.

I'm not sure what Insomniac has said about Ratchet and Clank, but I would not be surprised if they too would start working on something else soon for PS3.

And I like that trend. It keeps things fresh every generation.

IAWTP. Hope they change it up again and keep it fresh. Switching away from Crash has kept both companies creative, and they were able to do more with the new games this gen than if they stuck with Crash and Spyro. I want them to build new characters and new gaming worlds based on the new specs of the PS3. Oh, and how about a hero who doesn't need a friggin buddy? I hate buddy games. PEACE.

 

[Azih]

GTA is not synonymous with PS2 nor is PS2 with GTA.

Look not only is it one of the best selling games on the system, but it's also the most important piece of exclusive software (timed or otherwise) for it, the game that's gotten the most mass gamer and mass media attention, not to mention critical acclaim. It's not synonmyous? If so then Sony has failed miserably in their marketing and their efforts to keep DMA Design's flagship series tied to the PS2 has been for naught. GTA IS the Playstation killer app of this generation just like GT and MGS were for the last one.

 

[kaching]

I expect we'll see Jak some more, but I don't know about Ratchet. I think Insomniac might want to go a slightly different route based on interviews where they want to diverge a bit from what Naughty Dog is doing.

Just because Insomniac says they want to diverge more doesn't mean they want to ditch R&C. They've clearly enjoyed creating and refining the R&C universe, so I can't imagine they'd just walk away from it willingly.