Crash Bandicoot Was Redesigned for Japanese Ads As He Looked ‘Scary’

Previously, renowned Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida expressed thoughts on modifying Crash Bandicoot for Japanese promotion due to the character appearing ‘frightening’.

How Was Crash Bandicoot Redesigned for Japan?

In an interview through Games Radar, Yoshida shared insights about the marketing strategies for Japan regarding Crash Bandicoot and the challenges they faced, including redesigning the character. Yoshida clarified that Crash Bandicoot originally had green eyes and quite bushy eyebrows which were considered a bit intimidating, so the developers were instructed to change his eyes to brown, similar to Japanese people, and thin out his eyebrows for a less intimidating appearance.

Yoshida explained that since Crash Bandicoot initially had a hairy exterior, giving him a somewhat intimidating appearance resembling an animal, it was decided to give him a smooth, shiny skin for his promotional materials in Japan. This was done by the Naughty Dog team.

The marketing strategy for Crash Bandicoot in Japan involved a 15-second commercial featuring the game’s characters performing a dance routine to some music. Yoshida disclosed that Naughty Dog appreciated this concept, mentioning that Crash performs a dance during the opening sequence of Crash Bandicoot 3, and this idea originated from Japanese marketing professionals.

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2025-03-22 19:52