r/Astrobot • u/ihappentobenick • 1d ago
Is Astro Bot The Ultimate Mascot For PlayStation?
Spent some time thinking about all my favorite PlayStation mascots like Jak, Ratchet, Sly, Cole, Nathan Drake, Sackboy, you name it! But one thing I’m coming to realize is while they were at one point or another sort of the face of the platform, none have come as close as Astro Bot I feel.
He lives in the consoles ecosystem. He represents what it means to “Be” PlayStation. So my question is: Do we think he will remain the definitive mascot going forward for the console even if they slow down on making games for him?
Astro Bot has a lot of Mario like qualities, he appeals to both young and old, he sports absolutely incredible visuals and animations as well as complimentary colors for the brand, he just rocks overall, but do we see him going forward to generations like PS6, PS7, PS8, you know so on so forth.
Does Astro Bot have staying power? I think so. I hope so. Wondering what everyone’s thoughts are on this, I’d really love to someday be able to share my love of this character in the then and now with my own children someday similar to how many adults share their love of characters like Mario with their children. Fingers crossed he sticks around!
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u/ZestycloseAardvark36 1d ago
It’s the best we have now, and I like it. Sad Crash is not really picking up a lot after the remastered trilogy I think. And if they give away a small astro game with each new gen to show it off, I think a lot of people would love that. And it’s a big plus over Nintendo where they sell you a guide on how the system works.
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u/WhyJustWhyTh0 1d ago
Yea I defo agree that crash stopped becoming a ps mascot after remastered trilogy since it also got ported to xbox. But yk we still got Nathan Drake if u really wanna count that lol
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u/ChakaZG 21h ago
crash stopped becoming a ps mascot after remastered trilogy since it also got ported to xbox
Crash stopped being a Sony mascot pretty much as Naughty Dog's contract with Universal ended. No other game after that got even close to the original 4 game's relevancy.
As far as his debut on a competing platform goes, that also happened well before the remaster, with The Huge Adventure releasing on Gameboy Advance way back in 2002.
From PS2 and on it was all Ratchet, Jak, and Sly, with two of those unfortunately dying right on the very console generation they debuted on.
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u/and-its-true 1d ago
I think they see the potential and will definitely attempt to solidify him as the official mascot. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new Astrobot game be one of the headlining launch titles for the PS6, especially if they do a handheld.
He is aesthetically very tied to both the PSVR and the PS5 design, though, so I wonder if his look might change slightly every generation.
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u/Astro_Bot_Dad 1d ago
Yess hes on t shirt for kids and I really think there catching on to him. Hes cute and marketable. The ads were at the champs league final.and my son jumped up and down shouting astro bot
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u/Straight-Emu-3675 1d ago
He's not even one of the most popular Playstation characters. Kratos, Nathan Drake and Sackboy are all more popular.
If they keep making high quality games then I could see him being close to those characters in popularity. I think Sony is trying to push Astro Bot as their mascot.
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u/English_Fry 1d ago
Right now for PS5 only? Yes. Each gen was a new mascot. If Astro Bot carried over to newer generations then it will have earned that crown
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u/Matt_D_Will 1d ago
I feel like he’s mostly the PS5 mascot. The way I imagine it is I think each generation of PS console has their own mascot
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u/No-Soil- 1d ago
He certainly has the potential but if he is going to be THE mascot he will have to last long and pull through different gens like mario has, which would be a steep hill to climb due to playstation’s many different mascots.
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u/Aninvisiblemaniac 1d ago
We will see but he probably needs a really strong sequel game to cement it for a while
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u/Drahkir9 1d ago
He should be but I don’t feel like Sony is embracing it the same way Nintendo does Mario. Not sure why that is though
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u/WhyJustWhyTh0 1d ago
Defo what it seems like. Sackboy was the og but it seems the mascot they've stuck with for now has been astro.
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u/Zobbes 1d ago
It’s funny how no one has mentioned Toro Inoue when comparing to other PlayStation mascots lol.
That being said, he’s a great face for PlayStation but it comes down to what sony will treat him. Even if he doesn’t fully become PlayStation’s mascot in the years to come, he always will be in my heart.
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u/Ok_Leopard2093 1d ago
The fact that he is cute. So it most likely that he’s the popular mascot of PlayStation
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u/Better-Bug-3729 1d ago
He's the main mascot for now, in time there'll be someone new and fresh and Astro will get replaced like Spyro and Crash Bandicoot did
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u/bogohamma 1d ago
None of Sony's ips are that synonymous, really. Nothing like Mario, Master Chief and Pikachu
Astro Bot has a good design but he's only been around since the late 2010s, only really got much positive attention starting with Astro's Playroom and even Astro Bot only sold a few million copies. Not bad but you kinda have to be well known to be the mascot, right? Almost wanna give it to Ratchet for having consistently been on every platform since PS2 but Im getting the impression the series is probably done with now that Insomniac is on Marvel games.
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u/theoriginalid 23h ago
PlayStation has always cycled through mascots. I mean, Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal was even the mascot at one point in the 90s. I do enjoy Astrobot being the current one though.
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u/Dependent_Zone5794 21h ago
Yes, it’s their Mario. It’s everything Sony was hoping sack boy would be
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u/JooJooBird 21h ago edited 20h ago
I work for PlayStation and I can tell you that astrobot dominates the office. The elevators are astrobot. The HR docs are astrobot. The slack channels are astrobot. And I love every bit of it:)
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u/Cado111 20h ago
In my view no. As fun as Astro Bot and Astro's Playroom are, I feel like Astro is one of the weaker parts of the games.
Crash Bandicoot is a wacky marsupial who does goofy dances, makes silly noises, and has a very unique design.
Spyro is a young dragon with and adventurous and heroic attitude. His movement compared to most other PS platformer mascots is very unique.
Jak and Daxter. Jak went from being a mute hero to a hero with a bit of a dark side(literally with dark Jak). The addition of Daxter adds a lot of humor. Also I love the animations in these games so much.
Ratchet and Clank. They go from butting heads on pretty much every issue to being best friends. Ratchet is often sarcastic, heroic, quick to get angry, and protective of his friends. Clank is more analytical, cares about the greater good, and can generally help guide Ratchet back onto a good path. Animations and gameplay are so varied with hundreds of differing weapons across the series.
Sly Cooper is the best character of any of these mascots in my opinion. He has an excellent character design with him being a thief and us as humans associating raccoons with their thieving habits. Sly is super funny, expressive, suave, but also arrogant. There are multiple times in the series where his confidence in his own skills or him underestimating a foe leads to failure.
The there is Astro. I love the games he is in but he is by far the weakest part to me. He is cute but that is one of the only things that stood out to me. I like his mechanics but his animations are pretty standard for a platformer. I'll take Sly's Cane, or Ratchet's huge omniwrench(or his actual weapons), Jak's spin kicks and gun bashes, over Astro's punches. All of the other characters have a lot more personality to them.
I think it makes sense that Astro is the current mascot. We likely won't have another RaC for a few years at least, Sly and Jak haven't gotten games in a looooong time, Crash and Spyro are not even owned by Sony anymore, and other characters like Nathan Drake or Sackboy seem to be done being used too at least for the moment. I would still say that Ratchet is probably more of a "ultimate" mascot for PS than Astro is but maybe I will be wrong.
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u/Final-Quality-1442 Many bots down! 18h ago
Only for the PS5, the others like Sackboy, Ratchet, Sly, etc. are still the mascots for PlayStation.
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u/lordofdarknesspt 16h ago
Astro is even made by one of Sony's first party studios and he grew on fans rather naturally so yeah he's probably the best mascot Playstation could have right now
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u/willybodilly 1d ago
Sorry, cloud and Sephiroth
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u/Adam-2480 1d ago
Hard disagree. It’s crash and it’s not even close.
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u/LeviJr00 1d ago
Imo it was Crash until the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard-King by daddy Microsoft.
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u/willybodilly 1d ago
Well, there was no mega studio blockbuster movie of crash. Either way it’s not Astro bot.
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u/GamerRyan14 1d ago
For the time being. Rip Sack Boy