Andrew House on Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, as quoted by Telegraph:

In concept, it is something we’ve been thinking about and discussing, and this is a shift for us. We’ve started to say that maybe there isn’t anything wrong with going back and looking at characters that people still talk about, that were a big part of their childhood or their youth. I definitely wouldn’t close the door on that.

I’ve mentioned before that Microsoft needs to invest in aged Rare IP such as Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, and Conker (now coming to Project Spark). Blinded by their “success,” I however neglected Sony’s need to do the same.

It goes without saying that Nintendo is on the upswing. The value of their family friendly franchises are at the heart of why you can never count them out of the console race.

Mascots are identity. At the very least, Microsoft can lean on Master Chief but that only scores them a slice of the audience. (Granted a very big slice.) Sony has… Nathan Drake? Kratos? Sackboy and Sly Cooper are nice and all but hardly recognizable outside of Sony diehards. This all became very apparent with the release of Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Nintendo’s franchises, like Disney’s, are approaching timelessness. As the HD Twins continue to struggle in setting themselves apart, Nintendo is only going to gain foothold with releases that focus on familiar faces. Microsoft and Sony need to adopt color and a little family franchise flair.

I’m sad to hear that working with Crash Bandicoot and Spyro would be “a shift” for Sony, but good on House for acknowledging this question. Great on Telegraph for asking.

Update: Prior to the launch of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 ,circa 1992, as excerpted from “Console Wars” by Blake J, Harris:

According to a recent national survey, Sonic was now a more recognizable American icon than Mario, MC Hammer, and even Mickey Mouse.

Relive the biggest plays from the 2014 World Cup with Matheus Toscano’s 8bit Football blog.

Toscano, as quoted by The Verge:

People want to see how their favorite players and teams would look like in 8-bit style. Whenever they can recognize someone, even if it is only represented by only a few pixels, that usually makes them laugh.

Most people who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s could experience playing football video games with such graphics. Whenever we see something similar, it brings back memories from childhood.

Worth relinking to my previous post on pixel art.

Jeffrey Jaques, writer and illustrator of Questionable Content, as quoted by The Guardian:

Playing with jerks, is no fun. Having a stoned college kid tell me I suck and can’t fucking shoot when I’m just learning an FPS is no fun. Being stuck at level 40 in World of Warcraft when all my friends are level 60 and don’t have time to help me catch up is no fun. Having to play any multiplayer game for 25 hours a week to remain competitive … that’s not fun, that’s an unpaid part-time job.

Likewise, I don’t have 40 spare hours to dedicate to the story of a single game. I grew up awed by Final Fantasy and dreamt of having the time to play a full story. Since seeing FFVII, I’ve completed two: FFX and FFXIII.

I’m coming to find that games with dailies such as Hearthstone or with “three star” achievements such as (famously) Angry Birds or Mario Kart 8 allow for quicker bouts of manageable playtime.

Perri Blake Gorman, co-founder of Unroll.Me:

Personally I love being a woman in tech. There is nothing that has helped me be more memorable than being a woman. Our first piece of press happened when Courtney Boyd Meyers (@CBM), then at The Next Web, reached out to us. She asked to write a piece because she had seen me tweeting about it. As a female founder you get on people’s radars. That press was followed by a post by Lifehacker which generated over 26,000 signups in 24 hours.

A great outlook on the ongoing and magnified diversity problem in the tech (and gaming) industry. Just unsubscribed from 85 newsletters, rolled up 29. My favorite part are the Most Unsubscribed / Most Rolled Up awards.

A half-true game about half-truths.

Danielle Riendeau, Polygon:

No matter how many pride parades I attend, or how much volunteer work I do, or how long I live in the generally accepting city of San Francisco, a part of me will always be that terrified 17-year-old, worried that her family won’t love her any more. Case’ game hit me right there.

Just completed a play-through. In the span of 10 minutes, I felt my blood boil, heart race, and gut wrench. Very brave and inspiring sim. Brought me back to this post.

Well done, Nicky Case.