Console mascots have long been a mark of identity and it might say something that Sony’s been searching for a spokesthing since the launch of the PSOne. Nintendo has Mario. Sega had Sonic, though it might want to stop pretending it ever did. Microsoft has finally settled on Master Chief.

Sony, on the other hand, has had some torrid affairs. There was Crash Bandicoot, Lara Croft, Kratos, but no personal property it was willing to call its own.

Until now. Sony has finally settled on a mascot: Sackboy the Hanged Man.

My husband’s horrified that I think of LittleBigPlanet’s cute little Sackboy as a hanged prisoner, but damn, people. He…just…has a sack over his head. He looks like something that Offred gazed at in the opening chapters of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale…if the Republic of Gilad had decided to prosecute all beings less than two feet tall in addition to women and Jews.

SCEA marketing manager Mark Valledor says, “We want LittleBigPlanet to lead the charge into a new genre of gaming and turn Sackboy into the next emblematic character for the PS3. This is a very big title for us.”

I respect that; every console needs a visual representation. And the further away we get from the ’90s saturation of furry mascots, the better. Sackboy is certainly the cutest little convict I’ve ever seen, I’ll give him that much.

(Image copyright Sony)

Post from: EveryJoe

Cuddly(?) Sackboy Will Be Sony’s Mascot