The logo blast at the start of every game's boot phase has become so homogenous that you're generally better off just scrolling through Twitter for a few seconds before reaching the main menu. Sony tried to inject some personality into each of its first-party titles by personalising the PS Studios logo drop with the characters from the game you're about to play, and it feels like the newly-announced Astro Bot for PS5 is the first time that slice of individuality will actually get a proper smile out of you.
While it didn't feature in the actual State of Play livestream (so the surprise wasn't ruined), the PS Studios logo intro for Astro Bot has been neatly personalised with the many different variations of the mascot, all led by the cape-wearing character itself. The clip has been posted by Twitter user @realradec and can be viewed below.
If you pause the action to take it all in, you can spot Astro Bot versions of Aloy, Nathan Drake, Ratchet, and Spike from Ape Escape chasing after a monkey. Given the fact there are 80 fully-fledged levels in the new PS5 instalment, the logo treatment is just a very small tease of the familiar faces that could appear throughout the campaign.
Do you like the way Team Asobi has handled the PS Studios logo animation? Let us know in the comments below.
[source x.com]
Comments 41
Rejoice! Japan Studio lives through Team Asobi!
That’s a neat little thingy
Looks cute. But they showed Ape Escape reference makes me wish for Sony to let Team Asobi developed a new Ape Escape.
Well...hopefully Astro Bot will sell well and give Team Asobi more leverage to proposed a new Ape Escape game or maybe other dormant IP like Jumping Flash, Alundra, Legend of Dragoon, Wild Arms, Legaia, or Arc the Lad...
Neat but at what point is this not depressing also? Why can't sony push out a small <£20 title for Ape Escape, Parappa or even Toro Inoue once or twice a year? Would bring a fun side to an otherwise darkly over serious Sony. Astrobot currently being the only relief from that.
@PuppetMaster might be selfish, but I don't want Team Asobi to touch anything else except Astro. They need to ride this success and make Astro Sony's Mario, instantly recognizable.
However, Sony should look at this and give other first party studios "a licence to kill by fun".
What’s this PS Studios you speak of? Are they some new entity working from the shadows?
@PuppetMaster Exactly what I was thinking. It’s interesting that the monkey doesn’t seem to be a bot dressed up… could it be a tease for their next game? A new Ape Escape? Can only hope. I think I read somewhere that some of the devs who work on Astro come from the team within Japan Studio who worked on the old Ape Escapes.
Leave it to their remaining few Japanese developers to carry the soul of the brand.
@BlaizeV "£20 title for Ape Escape, Parappa or even Toro Inoue"
This is a good idea. Ive thought for a while that Sony should be sprinkling in some smaller more basic titles in between the bangers. Something to keep things fresh and put a little magic in to gaming because its starting to get stale and boring.
That is very cool. 😅
This game is proving that Sony need more in house Japanese teams like Asobi
Honestly, Astro beats some big IPs in fun and creativity. It really packs gamers from all ages. I do not pre-order, but I will now.
At least somebody at PlayStation still remembers the old PlayStation magic. The company has almost entirely lost that, but at least Team Asobi still exists.
That was excellent.and nostalgic.astro bot definitely feel like a classic platformer.word up son
Imagine if we could bottle this game's charm.
Astro Bot’s the only for sure game I know I’m buying in the second half of the year currently.
The amount of charm this little robot has is just delightful.
When the trailer started w/ all the on rails flying shooter sections I died a little inside, but the great deku tree resurrected me. Then I saw him dressed as all those other characters and realized this is just LBP4, or 5 if you count Sackboy Adventure. Though I suppose that makes it Sackboy Adventure 2. 🤷🏻♂️
Wish it had co-op but it looks like they kept the same camera angle from the VR game so co-op probably wouldn’t work. It would have been day 1 w/ co-op, will probably just wait and borrow it from the library w/o. Unless my kid wants it for their birthday. Seeing a game just 3 months before release is also very Nintendo.👍
Astro bot is genuinely one of Sony's best franchises, and I hope this game sells well so that we get future Astro games. It's the best none Mario platformer (easily) and has potential to be a great Sony mascot
Really hope this performs well. Will be ordering my copy as soon as I can
@AK4tywill
Thats not a good thing since Japan Studio didnt want to work.
People trying to romanticize Japan Studio for some reason.
Will the teasing for Ape Escape 4 ever endddd?!
@AdamNovice yeah if only we could bottle it then make the execs at Sony drink it!
It's so sad that Sony's "charm" has been reduced to a single studio.
When Sony decided to take the approach that every game needs to be a "Hollywood production", I think it lost the whole "games are supposed to be fun" mentality (not saying Sony games are bad, I just play them because I am vested in the story, not necessarily because it's "fun").
There is a reason why, if a Nintendo game and a Sony game release at the same time, I choose the Nintendo game to play first, and the Sony game gets put on the backburner: because of these kinds of charming gestures that remind me that it's okay to be a kid sometimes.
If a small thing like an intro sequence makes me smile and the rest of the game follow suit, that's the game I want to play over and over again.
@Neverwild Japan Studio was great, but almost all the games sold horribly. Hopefully Astro Bot sells well.
It felt like an announcement that they were putting PSVR2 on the discontinued shelf.
Astro Bot genuinely revolutionised platforming on VR, and having this as a standard screen game makes it feel like just another Mario 3D World clone.
This state of play has honestly made me seriously consider getting rid of the PS5 and PSVR, it no longer has anything worthwhile for me, I may as well stick with PC.
Gutted.
Oooh nice intro for the PS studios logo.
Really hope we get a remastered Ape Trilogy one day
Genius game. Shame it was a demo first, although what a demo! This will be a must have going forward.
@RainbowGazelle
Probably happen after a remastered Ape Escape Trilogy if they do one, hoping they do
@PuppetMaster : I give you a gold star for mentioning Jumping Flash and Wild Arms.⭐
Also agree on Ape Escape.
@IamJT
So great that they didnt want to work.
So most of people got fired and those that wanted to work started with Asobi.
@VeldinX Yeah some Team Asobi devs was people who worked on Ape Escape.
@Cikajovazmaj Team Asobi is a very talented studio and i feel their talent and creativity should be spread to other Sony IP's. But that's just my wish since we don't know what will happen with Team Asobi if this game failed to sell...
@Coolmusic thank you good sir 😊
@Neverwild If you look at Japan Studios catalog they were great, the best at their craft. You say they didn't want to work yet looking at all the games they made they put most other PlayStation studios to shame, just imagine if they did want to work 😁
@Neverwild Okay I just took at look at their wikipedia of games they made and are you okay?😅 they developed and co-developed a couple of games EACH year without fail! Every single year they had something to show so what are you talking about?
@Tecinthebrain
But that was after those games they didnt wanted to work so they did nothing.
@Neverwild Your comment implied they were always a bunch of bums just sitting in their couch eating Cheetos and watching tv. Their last games were in 2020 and they were closed in 2021 so in the best case scenario they went a year without making anything and that warranted studio closure?
Well that's in the past I guess at least there's a couple of those guys left making the charming games they are well known for! now to see if the general public will support Astro Bot like they didn't the other Japan Studio games.
That's soooo adorable!
@BlaizeV Because as sad as it is to say it. None of them would probably sell enough numbers to the mainstream to warrant it. Which seems to be what they all aim for these days, outside of Nintendo at least.
@Jaxx420 In terms of selling well no but I mean Splitterhead will be at Summer Game Fest and well is by ex Siren/Gravity Rush staff.
Claphands was Everybody's Golf/Tennis games.
No idea about the others.
They did have a large output but yes they were smaller games that only a small percentage of the PS audience cares about and that shows in low sales yes we know that besides our appreciation of their work.
I'm not being funny...
I'm all for a fun little romp but is this really worthy of an article? Like... Someone please explain.
Is the rest of the news that dry at the moment that we're getting hyped about what is essentially a Pixar lamp animation (I don't know what these are called but this is literally what we are doing here, lads. It's embarrassing)
@PuppetMaster Legend of Dragoon and Legaia would be a dream come through. 🤗
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