Why PlayStation 4 architect Mark Cerny’s Knack could appeal to hardcore gamers and broad audiences (preview)

Mark Cerny has been busy as the system architect for the PlayStation 4. But he has also built a game to show it off with a cute character called Knack, who starts as a 3-foot-tall mascot and then grows into something bigger.

Knack is an imaginative launch title that is designed to show off  the graphics and physics capabilities of the PS4. At the same time, it’s a “mashup of a Pixar-style family film and a character action game.” It has plenty of cutscenes where the characters talk to each other that advance the story. It’s a 3D platform game, reminiscent of Cerny’s (and Naughty Dog’s) Crash Bandicoot on the original PlayStation, which he described as a brutally difficult game.