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Polygon Man

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Polygon Man
PlayStation mascot character
The original design of Polygon Man from 1995
First appearanceE3 1995
First gamePlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (2012)
Created byChiat/Day[1]
Steve Race[2]

Polygon Man was an early marketing character for the Sony PlayStation in North America.[1] He appeared in the consoles pre-launch ads commenting on various launch games but was dropped before the launch of Sony's first console[1] and replaced by a series of popular game characters starting with Sofia from Battle Arena Toshinden.[3]

History

In 1995, when preparing for the unveiling of the PlayStation to North American audiences during that year's Electronic Entertaintment Expo, or "E3", the American branch of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) came into conflict with the Japanese branch over how the console was marketed. Market research had shown their consumers had reacted negatively to the PlayStation name and wanted to use "PSX", a contraction of the console's codename. Concerns were raised to SCE President Teruhisa Tokunaka, who dismissed them noting a similar initial reaction to the Sony Walkman.[1] The American branch's President, Steve Race, was still concerned however, and felt the console would need an "edgy feel" to sell it to North American audiences.[2]

Chiat/Day, SCEA's advertising agency had conducted consumer research and identified a target age of 17, with younger audiences wanting to be that age while older audiences wanted to feel that age again. The American branch wanted to aim their advertising at that audience, so Polygon Man was conceived. A floating, purple spikey head with glowing yellow pupils in black eye sockets, the character and ad campaign were by the successful anarchic Pirate TV campaign in the UK by Sega in the early 1990s.[1] In an interview with Electronic Gaming Monthly, Race stated the character "from a U.S. perspective was the kind of spokescharacter that was leading edge. He never was expected to be a central character like a Mario but rather to be a master gamer who was hip and rather edgy".[2] Press kits, billboards and booth signage featured the character with a speech balloon that said in Japanese "ハマリ度MAX" (lit. "Addictive to the MAX") were utilized for the PlayStation's debut at E3.[4][5][1] Prior to E3, print advertisements were also ran featuring the character alongside full two page previews for games that would launch with the PlayStation, with a speech bubble above Polygon Man's head making a quip related to the game.[6]

However, Ken Kutaragi, global head of the PlayStation brand, reacted particularly harshly to seeing the character for the first time at E3. He was particularly critical of the PlayStation's limited budget being used on an alternative brand, but also the presentation of the character itself, which used flat shading instead of the gouraud shading the PlayStation utilized. Sony in Japan had intended minimalist branding for the console, and according to Chris Deering, former head of PlayStation Europe, they interpreting the ad campaign as the American branch fighting against the PlayStation brand.[1] Race stated on the matter "There was a large disagreement. [...] the Japanese thought it got in the way of the Sony brand. The Sony brand stands on its own—it never uses a character or celebrity endorsement, so culturally I didn't get that." Due to the Japanese branch having the final vote on the matter, the character was shelved and temporarily replaced with Sofia from Battle Arena Toshinden in the next print advertisement.[2] Additionally previous advertisements were quickly re-ran with with the same text but Polygon Man removed.[7] Race in an interview with GameFan sought other characters to serve as "spokepeople" for the PlayStation, even reaching out to Marvel Comics before he ultimately left Sony.[8]

In video games

In 2012, Polygon Man resurfaced as the main antagonist and final boss of fighting game PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. In an interview with IGN, Game Director Omar Kendall stated that while considering a final boss for the game, several concepts were considered, including the Helghan Army from the franchise Killzone. However upon consideration they decided rather than having a single intellectual property serve as they game's antagonist, "we wanted the final challenge to be against the entire PlayStation brand itself". Describing Polygon Man as "the ultimate manifestation of PlayStation", they felt he represented the system due to his grandiose statements in advertisements that came across not representing him as a villain but "the power and potential and what PlayStation represents", and further representing the game's events as happening within the "world" of the console itself.[9]

Given a slightly different appearance than the advertisements, Polygon Man transforms into a stage hazard seen previously in the game's stages and attacks, while the player must fight an AI-controlled opponent from the roster. Once the opponent defeated, Polygon Man will revert to his original form and ram the stage at which point the player may damage him. Afterwards the process repeats, with the player fighting now two opponents, then three. After Polygon Man is damaged a third time he explodes and the player character absorbs the energy within him as the game ends. Though the character has spoken dialogue, no voice actor is credited as providing lines for Polygon Man in the game's credits sequence.

Critical reception

As a mascot, Polygon Man was poorly received, with PSM magazine commenting that "a lot of consumers found him way too creepy."[10] They elaborated further in a later issue, with Randy Nelson calling the campaign one of PlayStation's biggest blunders and adding "We'd bet there are still people at Sony Computer Entertainment that, to this day, still wonder the same thing we do: What the hell were they thinking?" Nelson further stated the character "looked scary, displayed no emotion, and shouted meaningless phrases in Japanese. That's how you sell your totally unproven game system".[5] Other outlets shared similar sentiments, with the staff of Edge magazine calling the ad campaign "tacky" and describing Polygon Man as "surely the antithesis of PlayStation's abilities."[11] Kotaku's Caroyln Petite echoed a similar statement, calling the character "a sloppy jumble of spikes whose aim was apparently to depict the system as a home for ugly 3D character models."[12] Jeremy Parish in an article for Electronic Gaming Monthly felt that Sony "mercifully came to their senses" by ditching the character prior to the PlayStation's North American release, and further stated "Farewell Polygon Man. We'd miss you, except you sucked."[13]

Sebastian Moss and Dan Oravasaari of PlayStation Lifestyle both bemoaned the reveal of Polygon Man as the antagonist of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, with Moss in particular noting that the choice was baffling due to not only the North American exclusivity of the campaign, but also concerns that the reference would go over the heads of much of the game's target demographic. More importantly Moss emphasized that Sony themselves had rejected the character, adding "Polygon Man didn’t represent [PlayStation graphics], and he shouldn’t represent PSASBR." Oravasaari on the other hand felt that while those concerns were minor, the character reminded him too much of the character Master Hand from Nintendo's Smash Bros., a franchise he felt the game was trying to distance itself from. He further added that while Sony did not have a particular main flagship title, other characters from PlayStation-related titles would have made better choices and still fit the game's identity.[14]

Not all the reception was negative, with Game Players magazine stating that the campaign had "dominated" E3, and the staff saddened to see it stopped.[15] The book The Golden Age of Video Games cited the ad campaign as a positive example of Sony's willingness to "address the teenage crowd" in a direct and aggressive manner,[16] and the staff of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine stated that while those that recalled Polygon Man "have few kind words to say about him", in light of the showings from Sony's competitors at E3 1995 they felt the company's advertising "seemed remarkably strong."[17] Other sources praised the character's role as the villain and final boss of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale,[18] and Edge calling him "a wonderful symbol of the schisms that characterise both Sony's corporate structure and the game that has been designed to celebrate its output," and demonstrated welcome self-deprecating humor on the part of the developers.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "The Making Of: PlayStation - Edge Magazine". Next-gen.biz. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "Sony Loses Race". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 77. December 1995. p. 81.
  3. ^ Taves, Scott (1 December 1996). "Crash Course". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. ^ Keighley, Geoff [@geoffkeighley] (21 March 2021). "Came across these today in a box! The original @playstation press kit from @e3 1995 and the press kit from launch that September!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 21 March 2021 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ a b Nelson, Randy (May 2006). "PlayStation's Biggest Blunders". PSM. No. 110. pp. 24–25.
  6. ^ "Advertisement". Next Generation. No. 8. August 1995. pp. 22, 34.
  7. ^ "Advertisement". GameFan. Vol. 3, no. 9. September 1995. p. 1.
  8. ^ "An Interview with: Steve Race". GameFan. Vol. 3, no. 9. September 1995. p. 95.
  9. ^ Moriarty, Colin (8 November 2012). "Polygon Man: PlayStation All-Stars' Final Boss - IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on 20 May 2020 – via www.ign.com.
  10. ^ "Wha' Happened?". PSM. No. 88. September 2004. p. 37.
  11. ^ "Hip or Hype". Edge. No. 28. January 1996. p. 60. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  12. ^ Petit, Carolyn (29 September 2022). "How Sony Launched The OG PlayStation And Brilliantly Won The Console War". Kotaku. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  13. ^ Parish, Jeremy (November 2005). "EGM Retro: PlayStation Turns 10". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 197. p. 172.
  14. ^ Moss, Sebastian (8 November 2012). "Daily Reaction: PS All-Stars Bosses we Want Instead of Polygon Man". PlayStation Lifestyle. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Game Gossip...". Game Players. No. 87. August 1996. p. 18.
  16. ^ Dillon, Roberto (2016). The Golden Age of Video Games: The Birth of a Multibillion Dollar Industry. A K Peters/CRC Press. p. 154. ASIN B008KZUPNE.
  17. ^ "PSOne: Happy Birthday PlayStation". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. No. 96. September 2005. p. 100.
  18. ^ Parkin, Simon (12 November 2012). "PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  19. ^ "Post Script". Edge. No. 249. January 2013. p. 100.
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