Third party accessory maker Mad Catz has just announced that they have signed a multi-year agreement with SEGA America to produce peripherals using the Sonic the Hedgehog license. Naturally, as is the case with these press releases, everyone’s really happy about it as well.
This week’s happy quote comes from Mad Catz President and CEO, Darren Richardson; “Sonic is one of the videogame industry’s most popular and enduring characters and we are thrilled to initiate this relationship with Sega to create Sonic-branded videogame accessories. We look forward to offering unique and exciting accessories to fans of this truly iconic videogame and popular culture character.”
It’s likely, with Project Needlemouse around the corner, that Mad Catz saw an opportunity for a potential hedgehog rebirth and tried to jump on the chance of uber profits. And who could blame them? The agreement gives Mad Catz rights in North America only, which opens the question as to whether we might see them in Europe at all. Importing might be your best bet.
Mad Catz Press Release (heads up by Joystiq)
Nice. I can say I’m at least excited about this. I was never too pleased with Mad Catz’ “Rip offs” if you will. (Their PS2 controllers were horrible and couldn’t talk to the multitap) But hey, things with Sonic’s adorable mug are always welcome. Still reserving judgment for “Needlemouse” though. I don’t want it to fall prey to the Sonic Cycle again, but if it does, Mad Catz might lose some money in this endeavor. I doubt they won’t make a nice sum of money, I’m just still on the fence about Needlemouse. Good for them for jumping on a good opportunity though.
i should have got that shadow the hedgehog ps2 controller when i had the chance! it had a glowing ring in the middle D=
Did it have a button to make the game not crap?
(Sorry, name typo first time)
SERIOUSLY? How come I never get any word of wicked cool controllers and special offers and crap? Man…Oh well, now I know. AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!
G.I. JOE!
Sorry about that…
@Matriculated: Ooooooh, somebody didn’t play it for the laughs, I’m guessing.
potential hedgehog rebirth? I still don’t like the sound of that…
I played it because Shadow had a FREAKING GUN! 😛
Seriously though; I’m looking at the box art now and thinking “how did SEGA or the fans ever think this was going to turn out well?”
Matriculated: Well, at least we got some interestiong backstory for him.
If only we could see that for more characters…
We were all warned about Shadows game in advance, so we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Never did own a MadCatz accessory.. the only third party controller I own is a HoneyBee 3 button turbo controller for the Mega Drive.. that thing still works YEARS after my original controller stopped functioning properly.
Hey, if the accessories look good enough, my room can always use more Sonic flare 🙂
@Matriculated what? shadow was awesome! u must not have played expert mode, that mode is a fast dash and a hella fun!
Finaly! US only!
Wow, praying works..
madcatz made those awesome Raving Rabbid wii-mote chargers! Imagine if they made a big ol Sonic that could charge Wii-motes in his hands. Better yet, Super Sonic.
HOLAS: ™
@thewafflefactory
“@Matriculated what? shadow was awesome! u must not have played expert mode, that mode is a fast dash and a hella fun!”
do you have to complete to boring normal game to unlock that super duper awesome mode?
if the answer is yes, there you got 😉
BTW, i’m exaggerating things on purpose, i don’t have shadow the hedgehog and i don’t plan to have it anytime soon, not because i hate the game, just because it doesn’t appeal to me, so i really can’t complain about the game, i just tried to answer in the perspective of someone who played it and for some reason didn’t like it….
back to topic:
i don’t think needlemouse is the game that will return sonic to the glory days (as a matter of fact, i don’t think this days will ever come back, not beacuse of the games, it’s just something with the gaming community… something that my lack of english couldn’t explain so i will have to keep my rant to myself 😛 ) it’s just too soon to asume something like that….
nevertheless this are really great news, i hope to get some of this goodies in my poor country dominated by pirates (srsly, i just can’t find a store who sell non pirated things in my city D:, not even “that otaku stores”… )
i dream….. ):
Matriculated Says:
September 21st, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Did it have a button to make the game not crap?
HAHAHAHAHAHA
I’m feeling excited. 🙂
Too bad I’ll have to order them.
Ya see….its shit like this that puts me in debt! I’m probably going to buy all that crap just ’cause…
…then again, I live in Canada. :B I don’t even SEE anything like this in my stores. There’s hope yet for my paper or plastic! 😀
Argh. They did this with Nintendo too. Does that mean branded Wii-motes for whichever side you are on in Mario and Sonic?? are they bringing up the old ‘ninty vs sega’ fight??!!
i have the shadow controller and i brought it from HMV, beat that!
jokes
Great, now I can use a broken-out-of-the-box controller with my broken-out-of-the-box Sonic game.
Seriously though, I’ve never bought a MadCatz product that worked. In their defense, though, I haven’t bought anything from them for a few years so maybe they’ve upped their game.
Now I can Hedgehogize my DS!
Yay, a little something for us here on the west hemisphere.
I can’t see them not releasing the things in Europe. It wouldn’t make sense.
Can’t everyone just be logical and just admit that Shadow the Hedgehog was a pile of awfulness? He handles like the world is made out of icey soap, the camera is just awful and the story was pretty moronic and had (once again) rubbish voice acting. Naturally the guns felt like a gimmik and it didn’t help that they all had limited ammo and an auto aim system that focused too much on the ‘auto’ part. It didn’t help that Shadow was cool in SA2 either; it just made it less bearable.
Anyway on this article have to say that I’d be intersted if Mad Catz bring out some nice Sonic branded shirts. I don’t really buy toys o models anymore so Sonic shirts are the way to go.
@ P. Zuel:
Mad Catz makes video game accesories (?). T_T
Also in retrospective, I wanted the Shadow the Hedgehog Gamecube controller, just because it was the closest thing to a Sonic controller I was going to get. Never did find one.
Yeah, see that’s the thing. If you think about it there’s not that much Sonic merchandise out there anymore. Sure there’s everything pertaining to Halo from UNSC wristbands to remote control Warthogs, but when it comes to the Sonic series there isn’t much to find. So as for myself I would love to have Sonic-themed controllers even if they are made by Mad Catz. As for the game series I honestly don’t see it being as popular as it was in the ninties even if they do try to go back to the original formula with this “Project Needlemouse.” One reason is I think they’re trying too hard to get back to that success by adding too many gimmicky gameplay options such as the guns in Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic’s “Werehog” form in Sonic Unleashed and not focusing on Sonic himself. A better creative approach + focus on Sonic could really be beneficial for Sega in the long run.
Or maybe just focus on what they already have. They have so many characters in the franchise now, it’s ridiculous (?). What’s even more annoying is how every new game has to have a new character to focus on. DEVELOP WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE, & be happy with what you got.
The fact that it’s Mad Catz has me worried. I stopped buying their controllers once they crapped out on me after maybe a couple of weeks’ use.
But hey, “accessories” could mean other stuff too, like skins or something, so maybe there’ll be something to buy that won’t be a factor in terms of actually functioning. : P
STULF the 20X6 Hedgedog: To be fair, there hasn’t really been any new one since Marine. Chip seemed more like a one-off character to me, like Elise or Shahra.
Sonic/Genesis/Saturn styled Fightpads, like the Street Fighter 4 ones? I’d buy one.
@ Humble Fellow:
You might be right about that, but even then. They really teased with Metal Sonic in Heroes, and they never picked the idea back up after showing Shadow and Omega standing next to him, defeated.
Stupid bloody permissions…North America only? That sucks…it’s not like America doesn’t get everything anyway…OH WAIT!
Hope to see it in Europe sometime, or at least see some way of importing it.
@ Wick:
You get Summer of Sonic, enough said.