Why didn't Sony make Spyro and Crash official PlayStation franchises?

[WiiCube_2013]

Spyro and Crash Bandicoot were what defined PS1's era (besides Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo and Tekken) so why the fuck not? These two 3D platformers still feel like a breath of fresh air compared to let's say, Mario or Sonic games!

Activision owns Spyro and Crash and rather than torturing them Spyro was turned to some weird defected dragon for the Skylanders series. Crash Bandicoot? Last I remember he was in a game called "Crash Mind Over Mutant" which really never felt like a true Crash Bandicoot game at all.

I in fact recently bought the Crash PS1 games and Spyro's just to play it again because there's really nothing like it on today's modern consoles (Knack is like a poor man's Crash Bandicoot, imo).

R.I.P Spyro and Crash.

 

[Jayro]

Spyro had a fun game on the PS3, and was even voiced by Elijah Wood. It was a great game, very fun to play, colorful and vibrant. The puzzles were a decent challenge, and overall it had a lot of replay value to it.

 

[GameWinner]

It's time to let go, my friend.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

Spyro had a fun game on the PS3, and was even voiced by Elijah Wood. It was a great game, very fun to play, colorful and vibrant. The puzzles were a decent challenge, and overall it had a lot of replay value to it.

Dawn of the Dragon?

I'll see about getting this one then but getting it for the PS3 costs as much as a new retail game so I'll just go with the other platforms unless a cheaper price pops for PS3.

 

[Sakitoshi]

(Knack is like a poor man's Crash Bandicoot, imo).

Implying than a PS4 is cheaper than a PSone.

Anyway, you said it, Activision owns both characters and more likely never would let them go. Spyro is even less likely to appear elsewhere as the Skylanders franchise prints money.

 

[Harsky]

Probably the same reason why Crash and Spyro never made an appearance on the Playstation Allstar Battle Royale. Even surprised that Lara Croft couldn't make an appearance but they were able to get Dante and Big Daddy as one of the fighter even though they weren't even a major part of Playstation's history.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

Implying than a PS4 is cheaper than a PSone.

Anyway, you said it, Activision owns both characters and more likely never would let them go. Spyro is even less likely to appear elsewhere as the Skylanders franchise prints money.

Not to go off-topic but PS4 was at one point cheaper than a brand new PS1.

In London during 2014 there was a PlayStation retro store event selling PS4's 20th Anniversary Edition for £19.94 whereas a brand new PS1 go for £70-£140. Hard to believe? Definitely but it happened.

Sucks that I read this a little too late and missed the train to get a PS4 super cheap.

 

[chavosaur]

The Legend of Spyro series wasn't a horrible disembark to the Spyro franchise, it was actually rather interesting to see a serious take on the dragon lore, and a neat little reboot.

Anything afterwards obviously isn't anywhere near on par with the standards we had for older Spyro games, and I too wish we could get back to that kind of standard for Spyro, but with the success that Skylanders has, I doubt we will ever see that day.

Crash Bandicoot had a hard time staying fresh sometime after wrath of cortex i'd say. There's been rumors floating about for ages that there will be a new game, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised to see him slapped onto another kart racing game.

 

[Vipera]

Spyro grew up. To an inbred midget dragon, but it grew up.

Crash took the money and left. Saw way too much shit.

The only dude that stuck with us is Rayman. He let the rabbits get into his games, then the rabbits kicked him out, he was at the bar every night until he said FUCK NO and came back making two epic games.

 

[Hyro-Sama]

I miss Crash. There was another reboot being planned after the Clash of Titans series by Radical, but the game was ultimately cancelled.

 

[Joe88]

Activision isnt giving up spyro anytime soon seeing how its a cash cow for them, they will milk it till the cow keels over then sell the franchise after a few more failed reboots, insomniac originally sold it because they couldnt do much new with the series, and judging by all the terrible games that came after it you can see why

now as far as crash goes, its sitting in limbo right now but there is always a possibility that naughty dog can work on a reboot for ps4 there was alot of hints & rumors but nothing definite, but they are a bit busy with uc4, and the tlou movie, of course people are asking for a jak and daxter reboot also

 

[RodrigoDavy]

Naughty Dog had a contract with Universal Interactive Studios when Crash Bandicoot were made, UIS provided the money and ND provided the games. Of course, the new IPs belonged to UIS. I think by the time Crash Bandicoot became famous, it would be too expensive to buy the rights from Universal...

But, heck, Naughty Dog continued to make amazing games... And although I've never played it, I think Jak and Daxter was what Naughty Dog had in mind for the Crash Bandicoot franchise in the ps2 so you could try giving that a shot.

Nothing to say about Spyro because I didn't find the game fun at all...

These two 3D platformers still feel like a breath of fresh air compared to let's say, Mario or Sonic games!

I beg to disagree, good franchises don't make good games, good games make good franchises. People give way too much value in keeping ip's alive. We don't need companies ruining classics any further... Shakespeare didn't make a sequel to Romeo and Juliet for a reason.

I'm sure there are plenty of good current-gen 3D platformers you haven't tried, just try to open your mind a little and you might find more games you love