Polygon Man

Short lived marketing character for PlayStation in North America

infobox character
| name = Polygon Man
| image = File:Polygonman sony. png
| caption = The original design of Polygon Man from 1995
| series = PlayStation mascot
| first = E3 1995
| firstgame = PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale (2012)
| creator = Chiat/Day

Chiat/Day, SCEA's advertising agency had conducted consumer research and identified a target age for their market of 17, with younger consumers wanting to be that age while older consumers wanted to feel that age again. The American branch sought to aim their advertising at that audience, and created the characters of "Polygon Man" to this end. Influenced by Sega's successful anarchic "Pirate TV" campaign in the United Kingdom, Polygon Man's appearance was a floating, purple disembodied head with glowing yellow pupils in black eye sockets and spikes protruding from his scalp. 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". Meanwhile, at the event itself, press kits, billboards and booth signage featured the character with a speech balloon stating in Japanese "ハマリ度MAX" 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 SCEA.

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. In game, Polygon Man will transform into a stage hazard seen previously in the game's stages and attack the arena, 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 Polygon Man in the game's credits sequence. In 2022, a digital statue of Polygon Man was included in a series of "digital collectibles" as part of Sony's "PlayStation Stars" loyalty program. The collectible was obtainable by partaking in one of the program's campaigns, and afterward could be displayed on one's profile in the related smartphone app.

As a mascot, Polygon Man was poorly received, with PlayStation Magazine commenting that "a lot of consumers found him way too creepy." 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". 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". Kotakus Carolyn Petit 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." 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." 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 [PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale]." 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. 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. 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, and the staff of Official U. S. PlayStation Magazine stated that while those who 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." Eurogamers Simon Parkin praised the character's role as the villain and final boss of PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, and Edge called 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.