News over the weekends usually comes to a halt, with the exception of Blend Games’ unintentional tendency to pump out noteworthy reviews for big-name games. So once you get done taking a gander at the Sonic and Empire: Total War reviews, you can check out a brief history of two popular mascots and how they made Sony and Nintendo what they are today.

The Game Reviews is currently running some editorials regarding both Sony and Nintendo: What made them famous and how they got started. Iconic mascots are revived in the written word, giving gamers an obvious taste of what has sustained both companies when it comes to mascot gaming.

For Sony, the article doesn’t pin the success of the PlayStation brand on Jak, Ratchet, the pathetic Crash Bandicoot or Lara Croft. Even more so, TGR points out that not even Solid Snake was the reason for the PlayStation brand becoming what it has among the gaming community. Instead, the success is attributed to the foul-demeanor, and violent disposition of God of War’s Kratos. Personally, I still think ‘ole Snake helped a bit more with establishing brand recognition over Kratos (besides, Snake is more commercial) but you certainly can’t argue with the success the God of War series has given to Sony’s PlayStation brand.

Nintendo, on the other hand, is given praise to success with a different kind of mascot over at TGR. For everyone who is going to shout “Mario!” you might want to hold thy tongue. According to the piece, Link and the Legend of Zelda franchise is actually the culprit for much of Nintendo’s success. Most Legend of Zelda games have always been on the end of gamer encomium and the article points out that the next outing – The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks – will continue the success that the previous handheld and console games have already established.

You can check out both pieces at TGR. If you agree or disagree with whether these now iconic mascots played a bigger role than other mascots for Sony or Nintendo's success, feel free to comment below or drop by the CB Forum. For more gaming news, info and insight, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.