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Second in our 3-part lot of Summer of Sonic interviews – the one and only Takashi Iizuka! Pictured with him up there are his translator and Sonic’s Brand Director – David Corless. Anyway, onto the interview!
Continue reading Summer of Sonic 2012: Takashi Iizuka Interview
Founder of The Sonic Stadium and writer at SPOnG Svend “Dreadknux” Joscelyne got to speak with SEGA Europe Brand Manager David Corless recently and received some sad news for Classic Sonic’s future after Sonic Generations. Continue reading SEGA Has No Plans to Bring Classic Sonic Back After Sonic Generations
Who saw this one coming?
In an unprecedented move that will surely leave a few people scratching their heads, SEGA told MCV today that they will no longer be selling Sonic games that receive “poor or average” Metacritic scores at retail. So… basically… every game released in the last decade? *rimshot*
I wish that were me making a joke, but it legitimately looks like every Sonic game we’ve seen recently will be vanishing from store shelves. SEGA’s SVP of EMEA Jurgen Post said the following:
We have to do this and increase the value of the brand. This will be very important when more big Sonic releases arrive in the future.
We could make a lot of money on back-catalogue Sonic titles, but let’s keep the number of Sonic games available under control. Otherwise you can have cannibalisation. If there are ten Sonic games on the shelves, with people seeing Sonic Rush DS or Sonic Rush Adventure, this may not help our overall strategy.
Out of all the crap released in Sonic’s recent memory, the Rush games have been critical highlights and fan favorites. The Metacritic average for Sonic Rush is 82. Last time I checked, 82 is a damn fine score. Why single these two games out? There are way worse Sonic games to make examples of. If Sonic Rush is cited as “average,” it looks like everything will be disappearing.
With this news, what does that mean for recent critical bombs, like Sonic Adventure for XBLA and PSN? Will they be going away soon as well? We will keep tabs on this situation as it moves forward.
For now, SEGA’s plan is to appeal to the core fanbase from the 90s and the young crowd with their upcoming holiday release schedule while curtailing the sheer amount of Sonic games available.
“Colours will play well to our younger Sonic fanbase, but should also appeal to the older fans once they realise there are no unwanted surprises,” added brand director David Corless.
“It’s the first console title for a while that’s clearly influenced by Sonic’s platform past but also keeps the series moving forward with new ideas and innovations that complement that legacy. Sonic 4 on the other hand is old school and primarily for those core fans who remember the originals. But there are also a number of younger gamers who’ve recently discovered the classics on the iPhone or XBLA, PSN and WiiWare so it’ll appeal to them as well.”
So, they’re making games targeted at specific audiences that should appeal to both audiences. Yeah.
Original Story: MCV
EDIT: The guys at NeoGAF have made a list of the games that will remain on store shelves. Keep in mind that this is speculation at the moment:
OK, just looking through metacritic, these games are being pulled (current gen only):
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006
Sonic Unleashed
Sonic and the Black Knight
Sonic Classic Collection DS
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
Sonic Rivals
Sonic Rivals 2and these are staying:
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Sonic Rush
Sonic Rush Adventure
Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection
Thread here.
SEGA’s new Brand Director for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise David Corless has spoken out to MCV about his visions for the franchise, current marketing strategies and pleasing Sonic fans, new and old. With the 3 titles on the way in the next couple of months, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1, Sonic Free Riders and Sonic Colours, Corless feels that Sonic Team has performed well.
“Sonic Team has done an amazing job,” says Sonic’s new brand director David Corless, who took the role this summer. “They have gone back to the original games for inspiration and come back with three games that, so far, we’ve only had positive feedback on.”
Corless goes on to speak about SEGA’s strategy of appealing to the core Sonic fans, while also trying to attract the mainstream audience, something we’ve heard Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka speak about many times before. Corless feels that pleasing the core Sonic fans isn’t too hard, but pleasing both those fans and new ones is a tough job.
“I don’t think Sonic fans are hard to please. There is just a lot of them and they are all hugely passionate and have their own ideas on what the ideal Sonic game should be,” continues Corless.
“The core fans are very vocal and get a lot of attention but we also have a huge, younger fanbase that we need to consider too. So it presents a challenge. It’s hard to please everyone.
Corless wants to assure fans that he and SEGA respect Sonic’s heritage and want to create games that live up to that heritage, while also taking the series forward.
“We want to create games that respect the heritage of the brand whilst also moving it forward.”
Where does our new Brand Director see Sonic in the future?
“Daft Punk put it well – better, faster, stronger,” concludes Corless.
For the full article, head over to MCV.
What do you think of David Corless’s statements? Let us know in the comments.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5NC24NDxRQ[/youtube]
After the original leak, SEGA have now officially unveiled the third trailer for the hotly anticipated Mario & Sonic Olympics sequel which this time round see’s them join the Winter Games in Vancouver. This new trailer officially reveals Silver the Hedgehog and Bowser.Jr as new playable characters to go with the last trailers revelations of Metal Sonic and Donkey Kong.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEBqwXoty6o[/youtube]
SEGA Europe have also had an exclusive interview with David Corless, Head of Marketing on the game who reveals the differences between this game and the first one and his favourite events among other things. Check out the full interview in the video above.
Source: Sonic City Blognik
SEGA have also revealed many new screenshots from both the Wii and DS versions of the game including new areas like Sonic Adventure 2’s Radical Highway level, some new Dream Events and even Dream Snowball Fight. You can find more screens over at Official Nintendo Magazine’s website.
