Disclaimer: The views in this piece may not reflect the views of TSS or other writers on the staff team. The intention of The Spin is to promote debate and discussion of an issue or something that’s happening in the fandom or the world of Sonic & Sega.
I have seen a number of comments, both on and off TSS as well as articles and forum posts both on and off TSS lately regarding the health of a certain company and a certain videogame icon. This has since increased following news regarding Sonic Booms sales figures. There seems to be an interesting if not unexpected reaction going on, it seems that if you are a member of a website or a commentator on a news site, or even a hired writer, everybody seems to have or be giving ‘their say’ on what’s going on and why it’s happening.
Well… I can do this too. But how should I do it?
Should I be like the alarmists? Write an article that says Sega is dead? That Sonic is dead? Should I do like some other websites are doing? That’s easy, just latch onto the popular opinion, say the same thing, watch how popular belief promotes the subject?
Or should I do it like those places which have an editor who hires a writer and says “Sega announces downsizing, I know you have no experience with them or their games, but write an article which somehow links one poor game to their downsizing.” Because that does happen, not just in the world of video games, but also in other journalism, editors hire freelance writers or house writers to write a story on something with a certain angle. Do they really look into the subject matter? Not really.
I could do that, it would be very easy, just take two things, link them together, make a snappy catching headline, watch the clicks come in.
Not sure that is the best way to go about it.
There have been two news stories in under a month which some people are mixing together, or somehow thinking they can explain one by the other. I’m not sure that’s quite how it works.
Boom is the Reason why Sega is downsizing?
Shall we get the obvious out of the way? Boom the game is terrible, it is, it’s terrible, if you think it’s not, you are wrong, don’t even bother challenging this in the comments, you are wrong even the executive producer has more or less admitted the game has problems.
On top of that. Sega predicted 600,000 units sold, it halved those predictions to 300,000 to one month before release. Based on North American NDP data and Sega’s own financial statements, we know that a conservative estimate for the Wii U version would be somewhere around a low 200k, if even that.
So… that’s the reason why Sega of America is downsizing?
I get it, I understand how some people think it works. They think that somewhere at Sega, there is a man, or a machine which prints out how well something did, this is then taken to the CEO or someone who has absolute power and suddenly something happens.
That’s not how it works, nor has it ever worked like that. Maybe if you are an indie or small developer and this is your first game, all your money is invested into it, then this happens, but for a company like Sega, that is not how it works.
How does it work?
This is a very rough example, my numbers might not be completely accurate and the description may vary, but in any organisation, you have a structure which looks like this.
- Board Members = people who are thinking 5-10 years ahead.
- Upper Management = People who are thinking 3-5 years ahead.
- Management = People who are thinking 1-3 years ahead (if even that).
So you have guys who are making decisions and plans to affect the business 5-10 years ahead. guys making plans for 3-5 years and the rest. In an ideal business which is making money and doing well, this all works and a company can go for a long time.
Here is the problem with the thinking ‘Boom caused this.’
Boom came out in November. The downsizing announcement came end of January… barely 2 months.
Take the belief for a moment, “Booms poor reception caused Sega to downsize”
Think of this logistically, not if it’s true, but as a logistical thing… here are the steps you need to go through.
- Collect Boom sales data.
- Process Boom sales data.
- Analyse/evaluate Boom sales data.
- Estimate/evaluate future sales data
- Draw plans based on that prediction/future sal…
Ok stop it right there. How long do you think that takes? You need to collect data, process it, then analyse it and work out what it means. You can’t do this in a day, this process takes a while. Depending on your data collect range, it can vary greatly.
So let’s do something else now, let’s say, Sega have in place a plan which they bring into effect if something happens, be it a really bad few years, a dramatic shift in consumer demand or… something, anything which would impact a company like Sega which means they need to downsize.
Whatever event that is has just happened… initiate the plan… Wait… Who seriously thinks that this would be completed in just a day?
From my understanding, if Boom is the sole reason, then this is how it works.
- Sega Boom is released worldwide
- Sales data is collected, processed and analysed, Boom bombs (this is your major event)
- Sega arrange and hold several (no way is it done in one) extremely top level meetings.
- A decision is made to cut jobs/close parts of Sega Sammy.
- A decision is made to close SOA
- A decision is made to re-locate SOA.
- A decision is made on the new location for SOA
- A decision is made on the new building for SOA
And according to some people, all this happened in two months?
All of this requires a lot of data processing, it requires a lot of business analysis, there is no way you can do all of this in two months.
Let’s just look at one part of that, Sega is going to relocate to a new premises. How long does this take just to find and pick a site. From my understanding this is probably an accurate series of events.
- A list of sites is drafted up a based on a number of factors.
- That list is shortened.
- A visit to each site is conducted.
- A that list of sites is shortened.
- A second visit is done.
- That list is shortened/a site is picked (depends on the business/location).
- Dialogue opens between business and the building owner/landlord.
- Dialogue opens with the intent to buy/rent the building.
- Details of dialogue fed back to board/upper levels of the company.
- Contract/agreements are drawn up.
- Both the landlord and company send contracts/agreements to legal team.
- Company board agrees to the terms/authorises the money to buy building/agree to the rental contract.
- Landlords legal team agrees to the terms.
I’ll stop there shall I?
How long do you think that takes? Months is the answer, not weeks, months. Remember about two years ago when Aaron Webber and Kellie Parker went on that roadtrip and were posting tweets of Sonic in different cities in America? And everybody thought it was a game announcement? Only it turned out to be scouting for a venue for the Sonic Boom Event? That trip took a week, then the announcement came a few months later.
Think about how long it takes to find a new headquarters for a global office… that is going to take a while.
But the main delay is the negotiation with the landlord and the scrutinising of the contracts with the legal team, this process can take weeks if not months depending on the detail.
Yet some people believe that it took 2 months and Boom is responsible? And that’s without factoring in rival parties also interested in the building?
Do you start to see the point here? Do you see the problem? How can Boom be the reason when from a pure logistically standpoint, it couldn’t have been the reason. This decision was not made in two months, this decision was made long before Boom came out.
“Well they knew Boom would Bomb so…”
You now might be thinking “Well they knew Boom would be bad, so they pre-empted their losses and made the decision then.”
Your right, they did know Boom would bomb, hence the sales prediction reduction, however if that were the case for the downsizing, how do you explain the following huge purchases being made.
- 1: Sonic movie deal.
- 2: TV Show/movie deal.
- 3: Acquisition of Atlus.
- 4: Sonic Boom.
- 5: Plans to have an online store for Football manager merchandise
- 6: Plans to stock that Football Manager store with merchandise specially commissioned.
- 7: Football manager movie/documentary.
- 8: That theme park thing which some thought was a new console.
- 9: Acquisition of Relic.
Some of those are very recent, all of them are expensive with some being several million.
Does this sound like a company who is in financial trouble?
On the one hand, “We have no money so must downsize” on the other “Let’s spend millions and invest into television and the film industry.” This makes absolutely no sense. You would not buy Relic, you would not be making movies/documentaries and you certainly wouldn’t be getting involved with a theme park.
So why are they downsizing?
Because the videogame industry is changing, like it or not, the industry is changed, it’s happened quite rapid and radically, but it’s changing and if you don’t think it’s time for a wakeup call.
Compare the industry today to how it was when the PS3 and Xbox 360 came out. it’s so different, most people wouldn’t believe it. We now live in a time where the mobile market has overtook the console and won’t be touched for a very long time.
How do you get games on mobiles? Digitally.
The PC era was once considered dead by the high street retailer, now there isn’t a single one which doesn’t sell Steam vouchers.
Playstation Plus subscriptions continue to expand, it’s popularity has more than shown people are more than open to digital games.
Microsoft’s Games With Gold effectively tried to copy PS+, a move unthinkable 2 years ago.
And Nintendo… … … well they’re taking the Skylanders route for now. But you can bet they’ll have some kind of digital subscription service soon, especially with the closure of their loyalty thing.
The physical retailer isn’t dead, but it’s not going to last in its current form, or it’s going to radically change.
You want proof of this? Ok. Go into any GAME, or if you live in America, whatever your major video game retailer is and just look at it. Look at what they now sell. My local store is considered a ‘flagship store’ it has huge statues of characters from Skyrim, Sonic, Fallout and Lara Croft, all positioned next to… toys. My local store, a flagship store is now full of toys and merchandise, Skylanders toys have their own huge section, videogame merch is vast, Amiibos now have double the store space of the entire Wii U game section. And digital codes have their own section too. Actual games… that floor space has shrunk, it’s still the dominant, but it has noticeably shrunk.
Think I’m wrong? Here are some stills from a random youtube video from 2013 showing a typical GAME store in the UK.
We start by entering the store. Notice the PS4 section on your left, the Xbox 360/One section on the right… the middle two isles? Well…
Skylanders & Disney Infinity… Those two isles are full of toys, not videogames… but wait, what’s that slightly further down the middle isle?
Even more Skylanders toys, with movies above them. You can just make out the video games along the left and right wall.
This is supposed to be a computer game shop, yet it’s full of toys and accessories, they take the prime space, not the games. This was late 2013, since then, we have a new Disney Infinity and I’m pretty sure Skylanders have expanded and now we have a potential amiibo space in that store too.
Who still thinks game stores only sell games? Who still think that games are given the main focal points of the store?
What does this have to do with Sega?
Let me ask you a really simple question. A question which should be very simple to answer.
What does Sega of America actually do?
They make games?
Do they? Can you name me one game that Sega of America has made? I can’t. Maybe if I went through their entire catalogue I could find one game which Sega of America have made, not published, made.
Think about those random cancelled Sega games which pop up every year, the Streets of Rage remakes, the Golden Axe reboot, even Castle of Illusion, none of them were made by SOA.
So what do they do?
If you put aside marketing for North America, they act as a publisher for physical retail titles… and that’s about it. Ok if anyone from Sega of America reads this, I don’t mean to be insulting with that, I know that there is some Q&A which goes on and lots of community work (though technically this is promotional). But if you are an outsider looking in, this does look like it’s the only thing that SOA does, publish and promote… within North America only.
They’re not making content, they’re promoting and distributing it.
Spot the problem yet?
Here we have an industry which is more focused on digital titles and distribution, which retailers are giving less and less space to physical products, yet we still have a main HQ who deals in the distribution of physical products and promotion?
This can’t last. So long as the industry is moving more and more towards digital distribution, as well as console gaming becoming less dominant, a company whose primary focus is physical distribution and promotion in one region will have to radically adapt.
In fact, have you taken a look at who is affected by the downsizing?
120 people from Sega of America, primarily publishing (not the full 300 as many people are claiming).
180 from Sega of Japan (primarily the arcade side of the business).
It is not as many believe “300 people from SOA lost their job” It’s split between SOA and SOJ. What do these jobs/roles have in common? They are positions which are hard if not impossible to transfer over to a digital focused future. Why would they remain?
Think about this for a moment, Boom bombs, a SOA project… so why is the Japan side affected by this? Really isn’t a good business practice if your SOA project fails so the SOJ branch takes the bulk of the damage. Boom is never the sole or primary reason for the downsizing.
In fact, the title of this article is wrong, drop the ‘America’ from the title, focus it on just Sega, but low and behold, given fan and media reaction and ‘spinning’ of the news, everybody forgets the Japanese arcade branch, we all think those 300 jobs are from the US and due to a certain Blue Hedgehog who wears a scarf.
Have you heard the phrase “It’s nothing personal, just business?” This is it in action, if Sega was your business, you have to keep it running, you have to adapt as well as compromise as your market changes, this is that in action. Sega is changing to meet the market, a digital one, a market which goes to the game store to buy special physical editions and toys.
“But Boom is a failure!”
So maybe this should be its own edition of ‘The Spin’ but I keep seeing this being brought up when people discuss Sega’s downsizing. Boom is often being used as a scapegoat for Sega’s decision to downsize and some have said it should be completely scrapped altogether, as if that will make things all better again.
Here is my problem with that, I’ve already explained that Boom was unlikely the reason for Sega’s decision to downsize, though I suspect it didn’t help their bottom line, take away the fact that Sonic Boom is the worst selling Sonic game ever, because shock horror, people don’t buy terrible games. You are left with the following.
- Comic Book.
- TV Show.
- Merchandise.
Something strange is happening… the Comic Book is apparently selling really well and getting a lot of good feedback. The TV shows is doing remarkably well, it’s continuing to get very good ratings and viewer numbers, the drop-off is far below what is expected for a show, even the fan reaction for each episode is overwhelmingly positive, this is unheard of for a Sonic cartoon.
As for the merchandise, it’s a bit too early to say, but as a litmus test, if you take the TSS reports/tweets on stuff spotted at toy fair, again it’s positive.
Boom the game/s = Horrible in all areas.
Boom the idea/everything else = surprisingly positive/good/decent.
I would not like to be the one who tries to pitch Sonic Boom 2, especially due to the fact as a game the brand ID is poison, but as a brand, Boom is actually doing a lot better than it should be given how terrible the game was.
Why would they cancel it when based on all reception, the show, the comic and the merch, the main pillars of the franchise are actually doing pretty good?
Edit: In order to be as up to date as possible. The time between finishing this article, formatting it for the web and posting it, new data was released which does in fact show the comics have had an audience drop off.
Make of that information what you will, though they might see a slight increase if the megaman cross over event is successful.
And what of Sonic?
I don’t understand the following…
Sega said, “We are reinforcing Sonic to generate stable profits” in other words, Sonic is getting more focus and attention in order to generate a good revenue.
So why are so many people saying “Sonic is dead” and to another extent, “No more Sonic games.” Erm… they just said the exact opposite. Sonic isn’t going anywhere, there’s nothing to suggest there won’t be any more console games or Sonic games for that matter. What that digital/PC thing is freaking out some people? Well guess what, that’s the direction this industry is going, odds are if we still have a console industry in 10 years time, the only reason you’ll go to a retailer is for a special limited edition game, or a physical toy to use Skylanders/Disney Infinity/Amiibo style with your game.
You either adapt, or you decline, Sega are starting to adapt, let’s just hope they actually follow through with their adaptations.
A very interesting read.
I’ll admit, when I first heard that SEGA was focusing on mobile games and “reinforcing Sonic to generate stable profits” as well as the Runners game announcement, I got worried. But after reading this, I see why there really is no reason to panic and I’m extremely grateful for this. Thanks.
To be honest, I never linked the two events of Sonic Boom having bad sales and Sega downsizing together. Sure, it probably helped, but the game itself couldn’t possibly make Sega say, “Shoot, we don’t have enough money, better lay some people off.”
Thanks for your input on the whole fiasco. Nice to see someone do a lot of extensive research before they spout something about the situation. Ignorance definitely doesn’t help someone win a debate, but I digress.
No disrespect to those who lost their jobs. I was pointing out an example. I give my condolences to them.
Then… if Sonic Boom wasn’t the culprit… then it was Sonic Lost World!!!
Just kidding, in all seriousness this is a pretty fricking great article Hogfather, I don’t really like you but this a great piece of journalism that most fans should read nowdays, kudos to you!
My man Hoggy, putting up the facts!
Great read man, I was very confident that this restructure is going to be a good thing for SEGA and Sonic. Granted the layoff was rather saddening and it’s a shame to see people like Frost and Kellie gone but you have to do some hard decisions to make long-lasting good impacts!
I shall see what the future has to offer for the series and I shall remain positive till the end. That’s just how I roll.
“Shall we get the obvious out of the way? Boom the game is terrible, it is, it’s terrible, if you think it’s not, you are wrong, don’t even bother challenging this in the comments, you are wrong even the executive producer has more or less admitted the game has problems.” Eesh. A bit much there. I don’t deny that the game was bad, but to call others’ opinions out as “wrong” seems kind of harsh and overly defensive of your own viewpoint on the game(s) (which we have seen, a lot), especially given what I think this article is trying to say. That’s just me not wanting any bad chemistry between author and viewer, though.
But I’m not here to challenge anything. I actually think this article is EXACTLY why I am not freaking out over SEGA’s announcement. For years now, fans have been jumping on the “Sonic’s dead” train, and even journalists have been hopping aboard. Even when Sonic Boom was announced as just a TV series, people were quick to flip their desks and call it quits for the blue blur. Then, the games come out, and Rise of Lyric gains the horrible reception it was doomed to have (with Shattered Crystal, in my honest opinion, unfairly sharing the blame for something that wasn’t its own fault.) Thanks to this uncanny change of events, it’s now blamed for SEGA “dying.” But as you said, this was “a thing” long before we got the big announcement, probably before Sonic Boom was even announced. You cannot possibly have 300 people get laid off in less than two months thanks to one game’s bad reception. I find the concept of “Boom dooming SEGA” to be ridiculous, and if anything, SEGA’s taking a wise initiative by grabbing their bearings while they can, adapting with the market. I’ll be honest, I got a bit jumpy at shifting focus to mobile and PC, but it is true that it’s the industry that has pushed that shift.
Even then, I don’t exactly think this means Sonic will be PC/Mobile exclusive. Not yet. No one ever said “SEGA games will only be available here from now on.” We’ll have to see, though. Good article as a whole, sir.
And this is why I put my trust in the sensible side of the Sonic fanbase.
Bless this post.
Amazing article. It’s good to see some rational thinking done and not jumping into bandwagons.
Regarding the reinforcement part of the Sonic franchise, I believe it means that there will be continuous production of Sonic-related stuff (games, toys, shows etc) but not exactly in the form of what some of the old-school Sonic fans want it to be; In the form of high quality 3D action/platforming console titles. We will be getting mobile spinoffs which I personally fear will become the norm.
Whatever. It honestly doesn’t matter to me, anymore. I can’t *ever* expect SEGA to consistently make a good series. I don’t care if they they ‘keep Sonic going’ because I know they only continue to disappoint. Even when they get something *so* right, they screw it up. I don’t get this company. I’d honestly just rather have Sonic die as a franchise so I don’t have to see anymore ‘Sonic Boom’s’. After Generations, I was so excited to see what they were going to do with the boost formula and how they’d take Sonic in yet another good direction… But, time and time again, SEGA has shown horrible marketing strategies and awful game choices. I don’t get…
I don’t ever want to see Sonic die. If Mario can continue, why shouldn’t Sonic. And no, a recent amount of terrible games does not automatically make Sonic Bubsy or warrant his end. Sonic has large fanbase, and the series deserves nothing but good games (and other nice things).
Instead of giving Sonic the axe, just take the time to make good games based on excellent well thought out ideas. And if you (SEGA) have a hard time doing that, enlist some help from the fans that keep Sonic (and SEGA) alive.
It’s time to put all pride and ego aside, and do what’s best for the Sonic series and its fans.
Two corrections to this article:
1. I think Steam vouchers are actually exclusive to GAME.
2. Castle of Illusion was never canceled, or even in any trouble. It was released in 2013 and was a pretty decent game.
Aside from that, good article. I had no idea people were jumping to such silly conclusions. If a video game company that has been the market leader multiple times has to downsize because of a single underselling game, they have major issues.
Steam Vouchers can be purchased at other stores, I got some in a deal at Curries last Summer.
As for Castle of Illusion, yeah I know it wasn’t cancelled, probably just my poor wording/placement of that particular title which gives the impression it was.
Am I dumb for thinking Sonic Boom is just “bad-ish”? It’s not worth playing or paying any price for, but I’d say if someone literally gives you the game as a free gift, it’s not bad enough that you shouldn’t even touch it – unlike some Sonic games that I’d not even play all the way through if I was paid for it (Looking at you, Secret Rings).
Maybe that makes me stupid. I don’t know. I played and completed the game, I didn’t hate my time… I’d never do it again, but I also don’t wish I could go back in time and tell me past self to stop playing. Is that only me? Probably, right? I feel confused.
Basically, what I’m saying is:
It’s not “terrible”, it’s just “bad”.
Well, if you’re stupid for thinking that way, then I guess that means I have the brain capacity of a 6 year old, because I find the game to be bad, but not.. awful. I can think of over 10 Sonic games I find worse. Much worse.
I’m kind of in the same boat. I didn’t really like the time I had with the game, but I wouldn’t go as far to say I despised it and was robbed 10 hours of my life. I probably won’t play it again for a long, long time, but I didn’t absolutely loathe playing it either.
10? Wow. I mean…
For me… 06, Secret Rings, Shadow the Hedgehog… Sonic Labyrinth? Where are you getting 10 games from? XD
But yeah, I’m glad I’m the not the only one, I guess.
Well, I’ll tell ya (but I don’t expect agreement.)
Sonic Blast, Sonic Drift, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic Spinball (Game Gear), Sonic 06, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Genesis (though I understand if one doesn’t count that, as it’s a port), Sonic and the Secret Rings, and Sonic Free Riders.
I find all those to be worse games than Rise of Lyric, I’m sorry.
Oh. Well, I haven’t played many of these, but yeah, those are probably all worse.
It’s interesting how many of the really bad Sonic games come from the era that most people think of as the only time Sonic has ever been good. I’ve never really thought about this… Back then, one failed spinoff game didn’t make people think SEGA or Sonic is dead.
Exactly. I tend to notice that as well, and that’s why I really don’t think Boom is much to freak out over.
I really hate it when people call games like Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic and the Secret Rings terrible games. Of course, everyone has the right to have an individual opinion and I’m not expecting everyone to like these games, but I feel like many people (not all of them) who call these terrible games have their minds way too much manipulated by outside influences and matters that are not entirely relevant and thus are not able to see many of the qualities of these games, and many haven’t even played any of them extensively enough to be able to have a rightful judgement about them. I could write a lot more about this, but unfortunately, I don’t have the time right now and almost no one would read it anyway.
In the following list, I have rated all Sonic games that I have extensively played. Any Sonic game that is not included is missing because I believe I have not played them extensively enough to have the right to make an almost absolute judgement about.
9.5 out of 10:
01. 1994) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
02. 1993) Sonic the Hedgehog CD
03. 1991) Sonic the Hedgehog 16-Bit
9 out of 10: Sadly none.
8.5 out of 10:
04. 2007) Sonic Rush Adventure
05. 2005) Sonic Rush
06. 2005) Shadow the Hedgehog
8 out of 10:
07. 2009) Sonic Unleashed HD Adventure Packed
08. 2001) Sonic Adventure 2
7.5 out of 10:
09. 2007) Sonic and the Secret Rings
10. 2011) Sonic Generations HD
11. 1992) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 8-Bit
12. 1991) Sonic the Hedgehog 8-Bit
7 out of 10:
13. 2013) Sonic Lost World Wii U
14. 2003) Sonic Heroes
15. 1996) Sonic 3D Blast
16. 2010) Sonic Colors DS
6.5 out of 10:
17. 1998) Sonic Adventure
18. 1993) Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball 16-Bit
19. 1993) SegaSonic the Hedgehog
6 out of 10:
20. 2002) Sonic Advance 2
21. 1995) Knuckles’ Chaotix
22. 1997) Sonic R
23. 2003) Sonic Battle
5.5 out of 10:
24. 2004) Sonic Advance 3
25. 2001) Sonic Advance
26. 2006) Sonic Riders
27. 2008) Sonic Chronicles The Dark Brotherhood
Amazing article! This just put my mind at ease, well not that this isn’t bugging me but I feel better about it, and this should keep the fanboys quiet for a while (till they find something new to knitpick at).
Umm, was it really that difficult to remember that Nintendo’s closing “Loyalty thing” is called Club Nintendo? That aside, this article is very awesome. It, once again, clears everything up. I should spread the word to some of my friends about this and probably even link them to this article to save myself the talking. The effort you put into this article was worth it Hogfather. Cheers.
Thank You for this Article Hogs!
Great article. While 300 employees losing their jobs was pretty depressing news, I don’t think Sega is “dying”. Like it or not guys the gaming industry is changing and people have to adapt with those changes. The digital world is booming and mobile games are the next big thing. Also the whole “sonic is dead” stuff is an over-exaggeration of the Boom games. Yes, they’re not good games but it’s not the nail in the coffin.
I fully agree. Thank you, one member of the sonic fanbase who is looking at things from a logical perspective
Great article. I guess with “reinforcing Sonic”, we hopefully won’t be seeing any more Nintendo-exclusive deals. It kinda sucked as a non-Wii-U owner. In the past few years, I’ve been leaning towards playing Sonic games much more often on my PC due to the combination of being away at college not having consoles, not having to switch discs or consoles or worry about backwards capability, and the available mods for Generations and SA2’s Chao Garden. So hopefully Sega does start focusing more in that direction.
As a sidenote, I can’t say I’ve ever been a huge fan of the mobile Sonic games, except for Sonic Dash a bit. But that’s where the industry is heading I suppose.
Does this imply we’ll be seeing more Sonic titles (3D or 2D) in eShop form?
Quite frankly, I don’t mind not seeing any physical disc or handheld cartridge Sonic games for a while, so long as they’re still released on Nintendo systems as digital downloads, like Sonic 4: Episode I was, or the Episodes II and Metal we never got.
Or maybe a digital version of an Adventure game, Rush game, or a sequel to Sonic Colors.
Yeah it would be sweet to have the Rush games for dugital download!!
But the Adventure games have been re-released constantly over the past years, don’t get me wrong I love those games but if they want to release them again they should remake them in the same vein Zelda Wind Waker HD was remade; improved graphics, improved animations, more content and features and hopefully the correction of some of the game’s flaws like the camera, etc etc etc.
It all comes to go where the money is. Last gen it was the Wii, but now it’s mobile devices. I was saddened about the restructure when I heard the news, but I thought it as the right decision. Now reading this, I’m feel more comfortable about it and i’m sure Sega and Sonic will rise again from the restructure and Boom (games).
yeah i thought this might happen i guess people are concern that sonic might be dead and they think SEGA is trying to killed sonic wow yep this won’t end well SEGA needs to get back on putting sonic games on consoles and handhelds but still if only sony and nintendo help SEGA with this sort of problem they are dealing now man they should never make sonic boom in the first place they should stick to something else instead on making sonic boom they need to work on other sonic titles instead of making sonic bomm i mean really if the company is gonna work on PC digital and smart phones then i guess i can’t argue with that i mean really i have to get a PC game you know i have not played a PC game for a while so i guess its time for me to play a PC game now all because of this situation they are in now man i know about the downsizing part but still what choice do they have if they get help from sony or nintendo then SEGA will have huge stack of cash now and get 300 employees there jobs back and also i guess this is just effecting everyone for this case of that matter i mean really if SEGA would have an idea for making other sonic game titles instead of making sonic boom then another sonic titles will be a huge hit for them in 2014 but now the year is over
geez i just wish people like sonic fans and SEGA fans that give SEGA money and help them out so they can stay in business and make sonic games for consoles again so that why people won’t hate on SEGA and they will not hate crap about them i mean really i just wanted that to happen i have fate in SEGA and i have more fate then sonic games i was love with that series for 2 decides now and i founded that SEGA is letting the fans down all because of sonic boom and the downsizing so i see more experience about whats going on with SEGA now even that SEGA been around sense the 40s after it was founded yeah i guess SEGA is not gonna be doing well with the sonic games all because of this situation if they have more profits and making other sonic games then we will have the best sonic game in history base on sonic generations and sonic unleashed i want those kind of elements combine them together to we will see how the graphics feels like
i guess SEGA is just being a little helpful because they are trying to keep the Sonic The Hedgehog Series going but i understand that now if SEGA goes out of business right about now they i will lose fate in them and i will never see another sonic games and sonic characters ever again but still i feel bad about SEGA situations about this downsizing problem 2 weeks ago 🙁 if only nintendo and sony know about this.
I think another problem is that Sega doesn’t use of their IPs to give the hedgehog a break. Such as Phantasy Star Online 2. But at least Sonic Team are doing that Phantasy Star Online 2 survey on facebook. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/PSO2.EN?fref=nf
you know dude your right even so that the IP is ok but still people just keeps on complaining that SEGA needs to stop making sonic games thats what some people are saying besides there is a rumor about that on youtube if they can’t even make a good sonic games then people just keeps on complaining about this type of situation i just want SEGA to get there asses back in gear and start developing a new sonic game project with the studios but still people just keep on complaining that SEGA never do things there self and they think this is there fault because they always got help from other companys like sony and other projects.
There is truth in the idea that one must adapt or die. However, it can easily be said that if Sonic’s reinforcement and Sega’s focus on mobile primarily revolves around games like Dash and Runners, then he is most certainly dead.
Stringing Sonic along as as soulless shadow of his former self (ha) and reinforcing your efforts to milk him for all he’s worth with an increased focus on merchandising or spinoffs is hardly keeping his legacy, reputation, and spirit alive and healthy.
Funny that the Amiibo figures were mentioned as I received my Sonic one today and its lovely 😉
Great article, I couldn’t understand the press’ negativity to the future of Sonic either, when Sega say digital/Pc no one seems to remember that the Xbox one and the PS4 have digital stores and built in hard drives.