Ratchet and Clank movie coming to a theater near you early 2015

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,038
5,920
126
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/23/ratchet-and-clank-animated-movie-headed-to-theaters

this is pretty cool news. i've always been a big fan of the series, and when i played the first ps3 game i was really impressed with the production quality of the cutscenes, especially the voice overs. and the future release after that continued it as well.

i'm pretty excited that they are using the same voices for the characters as well. that will definitely help with keeping the true r&c feel on the big screen.

2015 is very far away though but i'll be anxious to check it out. i hope there is a ps4 game in the works too.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
When I first read about this, I thought that a Ratchet and Clank movie could be fun, but I didn't think much more about it. A bit later, I started reading a bit of an interview on IGN about it, and it finally clicked!

So, the other day, I was pondering about the PlayStation 4, and one thing that came to mind was what Sony lacks to help move consoles: an icon. An icon, or rather an iconic mascot, can help sell consoles because people want to play their latest game. The easiest example of this is Mario. Hell, I was tempted to buy a Wii-U just to play the latest Mario game. The problem is that unlike Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft don't really have mascots at all. Back in the PlayStation era, I recall Sony using Crash (from Crash Bandicoot) quite a bit in images, but that push seemed to die down during the PlayStation 2's era (as Crash sort of died down). However, this sounds like a really good chance for Sony to push Ratchet and Clank as their iconic, kid-friendly game. It's a good platforming game with fun, whimsical humor. The only negative thing might be that the game is too hard for younger kids (younger than 10).
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
452
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When I first read about this, I thought that a Ratchet and Clank movie could be fun, but I didn't think much more about it. A bit later, I started reading a bit of an interview on IGN about it, and it finally clicked!

So, the other day, I was pondering about the PlayStation 4, and one thing that came to mind was what Sony lacks to help move consoles: an icon. An icon, or rather an iconic mascot, can help sell consoles because people want to play their latest game. The easiest example of this is Mario. Hell, I was tempted to buy a Wii-U just to play the latest Mario game. The problem is that unlike Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft don't really have mascots at all. Back in the PlayStation era, I recall Sony using Crash (from Crash Bandicoot) quite a bit in images, but that push seemed to die down during the PlayStation 2's era (as Crash sort of died down). However, this sounds like a really good chance for Sony to push Ratchet and Clank as their iconic, kid-friendly game. It's a good platforming game with fun, whimsical humor. The only negative thing might be that the game is too hard for younger kids (younger than 10).

Master Chief is absolutely the xbox mascot. It's not as kid friendly so it probably isn't the best choice but they've pretty much ridden Halo for a while. I do think that's going to change though.

The PS3 utilized Sackboy for a while but it didn't catch on as well as they were hoping. Ratchet and Clank has a decent shot at it I guess, but we'll see.
 

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
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Even with Master Chief leading the Xbox charge, there hasn't been a mascot war like the Mario vs Sonic since the SNES / Genesis days. I don't see Ratchet and Clank taking off as being that character that sells consoles anymore. The demographic of games are so broad now, no mascot will cover more than 2, and they'd have to force it for that to happen.
 

American Gunner

Platinum Member
Aug 26, 2010
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I also think it's a good thing for these consoles to not have a "mascot". To me it signifies that there are so many different games you can play, that you can find the style of game you want on any console.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Master Chief is absolutely the xbox mascot. It's not as kid friendly so it probably isn't the best choice but they've pretty much ridden Halo for a while. I do think that's going to change though.

I believe I considered talking about Master Chief given the prevalence of Halo when it comes to the XBOX, but I think my own bias in regard to my opinion on Master Chief as a "true" mascot got in the way. Even jumping to other realms such as cereal boxes, mascots have always been very cartoony, which doesn't describe Master Chief or any other Spartan.

I also think it's a good thing for these consoles to not have a "mascot". To me it signifies that there are so many different games you can play, that you can find the style of game you want on any console.

Mascots only limit games if the head company puts too much of a focus on propping the mascot up to give it a ridiculous amount of prevalence. To me, a mascot usually means that you get a quality game of a certain genre on a newer console. For example, if Sega were to jump back into the console game (that will probably never, ever happen), I would expect an awesome Sonic platformer... and probably end up disappointed by some junk like Sonic Unleashed. :p
 

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
79
86
I believe I considered talking about Master Chief given the prevalence of Halo when it comes to the XBOX, but I think my own bias in regard to my opinion on Master Chief as a "true" mascot got in the way. Even jumping to other realms such as cereal boxes, mascots have always been very cartoony, which doesn't describe Master Chief or any other Spartan.



Mascots only limit games if the head company puts too much of a focus on propping the mascot up to give it a ridiculous amount of prevalence. To me, a mascot usually means that you get a quality game of a certain genre on a newer console. For example, if Sega were to jump back into the console game (that will probably never, ever happen), I would expect an awesome Sonic platformer... and probably end up disappointed by some junk like Sonic Unleashed. :p

Look at what Nintendo has done with Mario though. Mario, Mario RPG, Paper Mario, Mario Tennis, Mario's fishing, Mario garbage truck simulator, Mario whack a mole, Mario awful movie, Mario cartoon, Mario TV show. Now, a lot of that is unnecessary. Sega did that with Sonic to an extent as well. But they failed with 3d Sonic games after Sonic Adventure. Sony and MS shouldn't want their IP to have that broad of a reach. They don't want people to think "Playstation, oh you mean like <Sony character>" Console gaming has reached a point where you don't need to have association like that anymore. In 1993, people related to Mario and Sonic, because Nintendo and Sega weren't as large of names. It would be hard to find someone who has truly no idea what a Playstation or an Xbox is. At least people in developed countries.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Look at what Nintendo has done with Mario though. Mario, Mario RPG, Paper Mario, Mario Tennis, Mario's fishing, Mario garbage truck simulator, Mario whack a mole, Mario awful movie, Mario cartoon, Mario TV show. Now, a lot of that is unnecessary. Sega did that with Sonic to an extent as well. But they failed with 3d Sonic games after Sonic Adventure. Sony and MS shouldn't want their IP to have that broad of a reach. They don't want people to think "Playstation, oh you mean like <Sony character>" Console gaming has reached a point where you don't need to have association like that anymore. In 1993, people related to Mario and Sonic, because Nintendo and Sega weren't as large of names. It would be hard to find someone who has truly no idea what a Playstation or an Xbox is. At least people in developed countries.

I already talked about over-extending your mascot into different genres simply because of the appeal. Although, some of those games were excellent (Super Mario RPG), and others were still the same genre (Super Mario Bros vs. Paper Mario). As a bit of an aside, I loved the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon as a kid! Heck, I even used to wake up early on weekdays to watch other one (Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog), which wasn't nearly as good. :p To this day, the amount of Sonic that I experienced in my youth still influences me to prefer Sonic over Mario as we all know that Sonic is way past cool~.

Hmm that's convenient, because I think in talking about my own experiences with console mascots as a kid sort of brings to light the point that I was going to make. Regardless of the enjoyment that adults get from the games, console mascots are designed to appeal to kids. That's probably why I refrain from mentioning Master Chief as he doesn't really fit that mold as well as I'd like. Honestly, other than for accessing Netflix, I can't think of a reason why a younger kid would really want to use a PlayStation 3, but if you gave them a game that they've already grown a bit accustomed to (through this upcoming movie), they may look at the PlayStation 3 for more than just Dora reruns... or whatever kids watch these days.

I actually saw a comment on the IGN article for the movie where one guy said he was going to use the movie as a way to get his kids interested in playing the Ratchet and Clank games. That's the sort of thing that I'm thinking about here. Mascots are wonderful gateway "drugs" for console familiarity!
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,038
5,920
126
crash bandicoot is really the last true mascot that the playstation brand had. probably the only one they ever had to be honest. now it seems like there are "icons" but i wouldn't call them mascots - like kratos, drake, sackboy, etc. but none of them are iconic like crash was back when those games were out. those were great fun games too.

nintendo has a ton too though, but obviously mario is the biggest. i think it's simply because they have had the same icons on every single console they put out. sony has only put out 3, and i don't think they even have 1 who was on all 3 consoles that was really an icon.

sega had sonic back in the day. and microsoft is only 2 gens deep and i would definitely call master chief their mascot, but as mentioned, it's not on the kiddie level.
 

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
79
86
I actually saw a comment on the IGN article for the movie where one guy said he was going to use the movie as a way to get his kids interested in playing the Ratchet and Clank games. That's the sort of thing that I'm thinking about here. Mascots are wonderful gateway "drugs" for console familiarity!

The thing is, we are already at the point where we don't need mascots as gateway drugs for consoles. What kid doesn't know about Xbox360 or PS3? Amish ones. And ones living in countries without electricity. Consoles are reached the point that every kid wants or has one. They have friends who have them. They have older brothers / sisters that have them. Sony doesn't need some cartoon telling kids to beg their parents for a PS3. Chances are their parent already has one for themselves.

I get the Sonic love. Some of my favorite games were made by Sega and starred a blue Hedgehog. And I watched the cartoons, both of them. But I was already into gaming before I had heard of Sonic or the Genesis.