Sony has announced that Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds will be getting an adorable new player: Sackboy! Starting tomorrow, gamers can use the LittleBigPlanet star in any of the game's eight courses. To get Sackboy, players simply have to download the latest patch for the game.

I like that Sony is adding a new feature to Hot Shots Golf. It encourages players to hit the links in an old game, adding new fun. More importantly, it also helps Sony market LittleBigPlanet. Gamers seeing Sackboy all over the place might think about buying LittleBigPlanet, if they haven't done so already. Even if it doesn't lead to many new sales, it's just good branding.

With any luck, Sackboy can be transformed into a major icon for Sony's PlayStation brand. While I don't think he'll ever reach Mario or Sonic levels, I believe he's a better mascot for Sony than Crash, Spyro, Ratchet & Clank, or Jak & Daxter ever were. He's super cute, which appeals to the mainstream, but he's also part of an incredibly imaginative game, which appeals to enthusiast gamers and the development community.

What do you think? Should Sony push Sackboy to further heights and make him the PlayStation mascot?

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