Gah....How out of touch can Sega Be?

[GodofHardcore]

From Kotaku

Sonic the Hedgehog fans (read: masochists) will be delighted to learn that, should Sega see fit to subject them to another Sonic Unleashed title, the lumbering, stretchy "werehog" is almost guaranteed to return. Sonic and the Black Knight director Tetsu Katano tells Videogamer "You will see the Werehog again." That's despite the general shunning of the Werehog version of Sonic by many longtime Sonic the Hedgehog fans and mixed reviews from critics.
"In principle, I think that the users are always right. They're the ones paying the money and playing the games. If they don't enjoy it, they're not going to buy it," Katano tells Videogamer. "I don't think that producing the Werehog was a mistake per se, but there were a lot of things we could have done better if we had more time and resources."
Katano kind of backs away from confirming a Sonic Unleashed sequel later in the interview, but we have a good feeling Sega sees a winning combination in expanding the Sonic the Hedgehog market to furry enthusiasts. That's something that can only be done with either more Werehog or some disturbing Miles "Tails" Prower spin-offs.

and I thought SNK ignored fans.


For every Awesome Japan only reissue and VOOT remake for 360 and Virtal Fighter 5 there's a Sonic 2006, Sonic Unleashed warehog stages (The Speed stages are great), Nights Wii, Golden Axe Beast Rider and so on.


So....the question


What the fuck is wrong with Sega?

[Twimfy]

Nothing.

Blame Ben 10, blame the CGI version of captain scarlett, blame the remake of Ninja turtles.

Sonic Unleashed was a success due to all of the little kids out there who worship the sold-out extra character ridden moral drenched storyfests that are games today.

The only way Sonic will be pleasing again is if it is in 2D with an ambiguous story and no voices or text, we all know it and so does Sega but they won't make the franchise head back to that because there is no money to be made from it. The main market for games with colorful characters is kids and many of them were born long after the original series of games, give them a copy of Sonic 2 and they don't give a shit about the perfect gameplay or creative sprites, they want a CGI movie full of explosions and filler.

Another problem the developers have is that Sonic's speed doesn't translate well to modern 3D based consoles, Mario is lucky because the pace was always slower from the start.

Everyone keeps asking...why aren't Sega listening to their fans? Well the thing is...they are, the fans are the buyers, the buyers are todays 7 year olds and as long as they carry on tugging mummy and daddys sleeves as they wander through the game store then Sonic is more fucked than Helen Keller wearing red in a bull fighting ring.

[Gaming]

They should make a 2D Sonic gameplay with 3D graphics. The voice actors sound awful but so were the Sonic Adventure series and I liked those games. A lot of spin off games though, but the games aren't 100% unplayable, looks like Sonic needs something that will build back its fan base.

[GodofHardcore]

When Sonic started to have a story that was it's downfall. A back to basics
old school sonic will sell just fine. Sonic Rush is a good example of that.

Sonic unleashed got it half right at least but the warehog stages were so boirng and terrible I didn't care enough to clear them and get to the good parts plus the speed stages were good but not Rush Good or Sonic CD Good.

These same young kids MUST be buying the compilations too and more kids than you think appreciate old school.

So I really think it's a case of Sega being out of touch. Or maybe Sega wants to take sonic in a new direction and they just can't figure out what that new direction is.

The template for a modern sonic game should really be Sonic Rush. That's the best of the new Sonics IMO Not Rush Adventure though I found the jet ski and boating sub games fun Rush Adventure wasn't as good as Rush.

[Twimfy]

They should make a 2D Sonic gameplay with 3D graphics. The voice actors sound awful but so were the Sonic Adventure series and I liked those games. A lot of spin off games though, but the games aren't 100% unplayable, looks like Sonic needs something that will build back its fan base.

I think it's too late.

The post '98 character redesign looks shit.

The main games are awful.

The spin-off games are awful.

The US comic is twenty-odd pages of pure crap (scourge the green hedgehog - WTF?)

HD versions of the originals (maybe with a few extra levels or something) and then call it a day.

[GodofHardcore]

But what about Sonic Rush?
To a lesser extent too the 3 Sonic Advance games.
Those all got it right.

Rush just got everything right, Level design, Use of the DS, Fun boss fights, Great Music. It was the complete package.

[Twimfy]

I didn't enjoy Sonic Rush at all.

Sonic Advance 1+2 were actually pretty good, wasn't impressed with 3. Handheld iterations just don't cut it though they're not the same.

[GodofHardcore]

Yeah I haven't played Advance 2 and 3 but I have 1 and I'm not really feeling it.

What if Sonic Xtreme came out?

Would 3d Sonics be any different now?

[Twimfy]

Perhaps. Looking at Chris Senns design notes it looked as if there was a story and a few extra characters planned but for some reason that doesn't stir me.

For me, Sonic Adventure was too new too soon.

[GodofHardcore]

The best of the 3d sonics was Adventure 2 but even then there was too much going on.

[PhreQuencYViii]

Sonic Rush kicked ass. That game had me hooked start to finish, special stages rocked.

I think a good 3d Sonic is possible. I really do. We just won't see it from Sega.

For the record I don't know any kids that play Sonic games. They play COD or whatever. I wish Unleashed was a good game. Presentation wise it's really nice.

[Stuart.C]

Everyone keeps asking...why aren't Sega listening to their fans? Well the thing is...they are, the fans are the buyers, the buyers are todays 7 year olds and as long as they carry on tugging mummy and daddys sleeves as they wander through the game store then Sonic is more fucked than Helen Keller wearing red in a bull fighting ring.

That sadly too true, my 5 year old lad loves watching the Sonic Underground cartoon. I let him have shots of the original MD games but he just doesn't get it because there's none of the BS in them that gets shoveled down their throats nowadays. When he was 3 i gave in a let him have Shadow the Hedgehog, Never again will i ever buy a sonic game. It's over i'm afraid, Sega have gone too far with their 3D sonic games and i for one am putting down my foot.

[7Force]

Yuck. How hard can it be to make a good Sonic game anyway? All you need to do is make it about running fast and collecting rings. That's it, no collecting gems, no beat 'em up sequences, no guns, no stupid anime story and definitely no fishing!

A lot of people liked Sonic Rush, but I thought the level design had a lot of the same bad things from other Dimps Sonic games (spikes suddenly appearing while you're running, bottomless pits everywhere). I gave up at the skydiving stage.

[PhreQuencYViii]

Yuck. How hard can it be to make a good Sonic game anyway? All you need to do is make it about running fast and collecting rings. That's it, no collecting gems, no beat 'em up sequences, no guns, no stupid anime story and definitely no fishing!

A lot of people liked Sonic Rush, but I thought the level design had a lot of the same bad things from other Dimps Sonic games (spikes suddenly appearing while you're running, bottomless pits everywhere). I gave up at the skydiving stage.

Collecting gems needs to be there because of special stages! They should be like the extra stars in Mario or something.

True about some of Sonic Rush. The sky stage was the toughest because of the stupid bottomless pits. Blaze the cat was stupid too but the game was still pretty fun. The bosses were cool.

[7Force]

Collecting gems needs to be there because of special stages! They should be like the extra stars in Mario or something.

True, and don't forget about playing the regular stages as Super Sonic, that was always awesome!

True about some of Sonic Rush. The sky stage was the toughest because of the stupid bottomless pits. Blaze the cat was stupid too but the game was still pretty fun. The bosses were cool.

It was definitely pretty fun at times, but as a whole I thought the game relied too much on memorizing the stages. Agreed on the bosses too.

[Twimfy]

If anybody wants a new 2D Sonic game to play. Check out Sonic Fan Game HQ. There are some really high quality fan games there, some of which continue nicely from the originals.

I don't recommend trying to post there however, the place is full of 10 year olds and one of the mods is a an egocentric nut.

[GaijinPunch]

Looking at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtYLeQwjqis
It looks fun. Where does this gay ass werehog come in?

[PhreQuencYViii]

At the second or third level. Then it gets boring and the later levels with Sonic always have a stupid looping part, i.e. you run around in circles till you make a certain jump. That level in the demo was the funnest level so far. I got the game for sexmas =(

[retro]

Yeah, I agree with Twimfy. It's not that they're not listening to their fans. Sonic has always been targeted at a specific age group. Just because WE were in that age group at the beginning, doesn't mean we have a right to dictate what happens to him now. Sega are aiming it at the CURRENT people of that age range, and things have changed. Whilst it may not make Sonic fun for our generation any more, he is still a popular character with kids - our kids, and we should be happy about that.

I thought Sonic Adventure was OK, but a little weird. It had a funny feel to it... I dunno, like a kinda sterile atmosphere? I think perhaps the music contributed to that - too arcadey. I think Mario 64 got it perfect for atmospheric music, but SA fell a bit short.

[GodofHardcore]

ultimately though Who buys the game?
Usually the parents.

Hardcore old school sonic seems relegated to Handhelds though. That's ok though.

Sega could always do 2 sonics. 1 for Girzzled angry old men who want an Old school styled game and another for the Kids.

Capcom does it for Mega Man right?