Naughty Dog have a knack for creating iconic characters, it seems. The undisputed original mascot for the PlayStation brand, Crash has Mario and Sonic to thank for his existence. No, his design certainly wasn't inspired by either character, but he was Naughty Dog's answer to Nintendo and Sega's celebrities. The poor Eastern-barred Bandicoot ultimately lost the 'War of the Mascots' (yeah, I just made that up) and has lost a good chunk of his fame in recent years, but he's still a fond childhood memory for Sony fans across the globe. The tribal tattoos and more pronounced Mohawk hairstyle changes green-lit by caretaker studio Radical Entertainment (meant to reignite interest in the character) didn't exactly go down well with, well, anyone and Crash has sunk further and further from favour ever since. There's still every chance for Crash to make a glorious return, but considering he wasn't even present for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale due to licensing issues, he may already be resigned to history.
Joe is a freelance games journalist who, while not spending every waking minute selling himself to websites around the world, spends his free time writing. Most of it makes no sense, but when it does, he treats each article as if it were his Magnum Opus - with varying results.
