Crash Bandicoot is no longer a Sony-owned franchise, and the series has branched off to multiple platforms, including Nintendo consoles. However, back in the 90s, it was a very different story. The console wars that kicked off at the beginning of the decade only intensified once Sony’s PlayStation arrived. Crash Bandicoot played a big part in the PlayStation’s success, and one of the reasons was the famous advertising for it.
That said, you may be surprised to hear that the advertising for the original Crash game in Japan were more complicated than it seems. In fact, former Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida recently revealed in an interview with gaming personality Kyle Bosman that PlayStation of Japan’s marketing team felt that Crash was too ugly, resulting in them having to redesign him for the 1996 commercials.
Yoshida said that Crash’s eye color was changed from green to brown, and his eyebrows were thinned. The biggest change of all was done to his fur. According to Yoshia, “Crash was hairy, right? On the surface. And that’s a bit scary – looks like an animal. So we asked [the marketing team], can you make it a bit, […], for our marketing materials, make it really plastic? Like a shiny skin”? Despite all of the changes, Yoshida did confirm that the commerical “worked”.
