Master of the universe

As the PlayStation 3 gets cheaper, Sony is banking on its mainstream characters to make the console more appealing to casual gamers and kids. One recognisable figure who’s quickly becoming the spear-head for that strategy is Sackboy. The burlap buccaneer has already appeared in two titles this year – LittleBigPlanet Vita and LittleBigPlanet Karting – with a final cameo set to occur at the end of the month via PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. With such a focus on the loveable soft toy, the platform holder can’t help but agree that the character is becoming something of an icon for the PlayStation brand.

"He's fast becoming an iconic mascot for Sony,” admitted Sony XDev Europe’s Tom O’Connor in an interview with Eurogamer.net. “That's what we're really happy about. Sackboy's almost bigger than the brand. People know who Sackboy is but they might not have played the game. They've seen him in stores as plush dolls and merchandise.”

Despite the popularity of the character, and the frequency of recent releases, Sony is aware that it can’t overuse the protagonist. "We'll always be very careful," O’Connor added. "We're not going to start putting him all over the place. And it has to be quality titles as well. We're very protective of him still. We only want him in quality games."

Across the first three titles in the series – LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet PSP, and LittleBigPlanet 2 – Sackboy has sold 8.5 million games. Furthermore, the series has an average Metacritic rating of 91 thus far. It looks like LittleBigPlanet Karting’s going to pull that tally down a touch, but the consistent quality across multiple releases is still staggering.

For plenty more about Sony’s plans for the popular character, point your browser towards Eurogamer.net. In the meantime, let us know whether you think the adorable icon deserves a rest in the comments section below.

[source eurogamer.net]