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Sony Fans, Meet Your New Totem: Sackboy

Posted by Nadia Oxford

Your dear mother has undoubtedly told you at some point, "You need to have a wife. It's good to have a wife." Maybe you agree or maybe you disagree, but either way, singles feel pressured to hunt down a mate even while insisting to themselves that the single life is totally rad.

Sony's adopted your mother's stance on companionship, but instead of spouses it's talking about mascots. "Every system needs a mascot. It's good to have a mascot. Here, Sackboy now represents Sony."

"Gee Sony, Sackboy is awfully cute, but is it a good idea to make him the spokes...doll for the company? We don't actually know how LittleBigPlanet will sell. And honestly, I'm okay with Sony's lack of a mascot--"

"It's good to have a mascot. Now start making babies."

If you feel wary, it's okay. Sony's previous attempts to match us up with digital companions resulted in lukewarm relationships before sputtering out: Crash Bandicoot, Lara Croft, Kratos. Even Microsoft fared far better by branding itself with Master Chief.

What do you think about Sackboy as Sony's new representative? LittleBigPlanet will undoubtedly be awesome, but even though we gamers are a grasping, superstitious lot, there's never any guarantee of a title's success. LittleBigPlanet might launch with gusto and burn brightly before crashing to earth like a failed science project. Also consider that the Internet's favourite hobby is to adore a big-name title for a few months, then dump on it (cough cough Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Grand Theft Auto IV cough hork).

I initially thought Sackboy looked like a hanged gingerbread man. He creeps me out a little. My husband was horrified at my comparison. I haven't yet told him that I changed my mind and decided that Sackboy looks like the Gimp from Pulp Fiction...if the Gimp was supremely happy about his position in Zed's shop, I mean.

Related Links:

LittleBigPre-Order Confusion
E3 Opinion: Because It's Cool To Complain


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Comments

Roto13 said:

He looks like he might be filled with worms like Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas.

August 15, 2008 6:43 PM

Nadia Oxford said:

Ha ha ha! A charming mascot indeed.

August 15, 2008 7:47 PM

Nemo Incognito said:

I think this might be the most drastic sign yet of Sony's eroding grip on sanity.  Their PS1 was the system that showed you didn't need a mascot to be successful in the first place and now they want to go back to this old practice in an era when Nintendo, who started the concept, have achieved more success by downplaying their mascots?  Crazy.

August 16, 2008 6:32 AM

Derrick Sanskrit said:

So first they tell us how their console is the utmost of cutting edge home technology, a device that people will work towards buying because its so fancy and upper-class, and now they're going to market their high-end fancy console with a stained and beaten-up rag doll...

OF COURSE! That makes perfect sense. Bully to you, Sony.

August 16, 2008 7:33 PM

Demaar said:

Glad I'm not the only one that thinks he looks creepy. To me he looks like a disproportionate corpse in a sack with blood spatter and grime all over the outside.

I love the idea of the game and all, but that would have to be the worst mascot ever.

August 17, 2008 11:40 PM

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about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia's prized possession is a certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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