[PC2]

In three years, it will be Sonic's 20th anniversary. Now, it may not sound like anything special, but this means a couple of things, and is an important landmark for the series. For one, 20 years is often considered the official timespan of 1 generation. What do you think Sonic will be to the next generation? Will he have the same effect on the next generation as he had on ours? Will he still be cool to the children of the future? Lately there has been a lot of talk about changing Sonic's image. It seems fairly obvious that SEGA are trying too hard to change Sonic to make him seem cooler and failing hard. How could that effect the next generation, though?

In three years, SEGA's next move could make all the difference in the world to the franchise. It's not just about "saving the series" or anything like that, but how kids will view the series. There are so many different, interesting turns the games image could take in terms of how it will effect kids, who it will effect, and what the "fanbase" could possibly turn into. With RPGs like Sonic Chronicles popping up out of no where, perhaps the series could rake in more female fans? The display of demonic creatures and violence in some recent games may change the thoughts of both kids and parents in the future. There was a thread here about people's first impressions on Sonic. When we think about Sonic, we think, "whimsical, fast, cool, blue, 'dude with a 'tude', etc.". What will be the first thing that the next generation thinks when they think of Sonic? Will they think of him as "futuristic", "sword-wielding", "babyish", "inappropriate", just plain uncool, or will they think nothing at all? It's really something to think about...

For all we know, Sonic could be the next Barney, or even the next Awesome Possum to tomorrow's youth.

This post has been edited by PC2: 21 August 2008 - 12:41 PM

[GasparXR]

PC2, on Aug 21 2008, 01:36 PM, said:

In three years, it will be Sonic's 20th anniversary. Now, it may not sound like anything special, but this means a couple of things, and is an important landmark for the series. For one, 20 years is often considered the official timespan of 1 generation. What do you think Sonic will be to the next generation? Will he have the same effect on the next generation as he had on ours? Will he still be cool to the children of the future? Lately there has been a lot of talk about changing Sonic's image. It seems fairly obvious that SEGA are trying too hard to change Sonic to make him seem cooler and failing hard. How could that effect the next generation, though?

In three years, SEGA's next move could make all the difference in the world to the franchise. It's not just about "saving the series" or anything like that, but how kids will view the series. There are so many different, interesting turns the games image could take in terms of how it will effect kids, who it will effect, and what the "fanbase" could possibly turn into. With RPGs like Sonic Chronicles popping up out of no where, perhaps the series could rake in more female fans? The display of demonic creatures and violence in some recent games may change the thoughts of both kids and parents in the future. There was a thread here about people's first impressions on Sonic. When we think about Sonic, we think, "whimsical, fast, cool, blue, 'dude with a 'tude', etc.". What will be the first thing that the next generation thinks when they think of Sonic? Will they think of him as "futuristic", "sword-wielding", "babyish", "inappropriate", just plain uncool, or will they think nothing at all? It's really something to think about...

For all we know, Sonic could be the next Barney, or even the next Awesome Possum to tomorrow's youth.

Well, SE will team up with SEGA to create a FF/Sonic crossover. *shot*

I really don't know; it seems like every game they're coming out with has weird ideas that don't fit the Sonic universe. Sonic Chronicles being an exception from what I've seen, though, besides the RPG factor, but it seems like it'll be a good game. Even if not, I'm still getting Chronicles.

[Metal Man88]

At this rate, if Sonic Unleashed doesn't turn a corner away from the mediocrity that was Sonic 360, then Sonic will simply be dead to all of us. Maybe not financially, as the games will continue to be made, but like Crash Bandicoot, played out by one useless game too many.

I predict, whatever happens, Sega will mutate the character until nobody cares anymore, then move on to another franchise; Simon Jeffery clearly hates Sonic and wants him to die, so I wouldn't be surprised if he's eventually cancelled.

[TKB]

At this point, the only hope of Sonic making a comeback is Sonic Unleashed. Things just look bleak for our blue friend as they are; Sega doesn't seem to care about their mascot anymore nowadays except when it comes to money.

[ninjajuice66]

If Unleashed is a sucess, we may finally get a Sonic Adventure 3; If it fails, we'll probably get Sonic's Minigame Blast.

[Soselocke]

I don't think SEGA really gives a fuck anymore or if they even did. As long as they get at least a little bit of cash out of it, they could care less what the fandom thinks.

In the next three years, Sonic will be either just as or even more lame than he is right now.

This post has been edited by Soselocke: 21 August 2008 - 02:31 PM

[Shibunoa]

Sonic will suck even more than today.
And I think new generations of people need a bit of fresh air, Sonic's getting too old, and a new series is what they need.
I don't want Sonic to continue for dozens of years and become another Mickey Mouse, thanks.

[Eviltaco64]

He'll have a mini-game in Wii 2 Tennis :p

[Sik]

People, do you figure out that Unleashed will be a failure but Black Knight will be a success? Because gaming demographics are like that today. And the fact you're in favor of Unleashed is a good proof of this, because this means this isn't Sega's vision.

But seriously: will Sega still be alive when that time comes? =/

[PC2]

Sik, on Aug 21 2008, 03:51 PM, said:

But seriously: will Sega still be alive when that time comes? =/

It's only three years. I'm pretty sure SEGA will still be around. But this is rather interesting, now. Will Sonic still be around? Mario managed to last 20+ years and is still quite the success. SEGA stopped making consoles and now Sonic does appear to be somewhat losing his original "cool factor" - but then again, that's only to us, the young adults. But how do kids view Sonic? He's much more of an obscure character than he used to be, but still seems to be a fairly known icon for kids who play videogames.

I think if things don't "shape up" or SEGA comes up with a new mascot, perhaps the entire franchise will just take the backseat of the bus the way Donkey Kong did when Rare was bought... A few sports cameos here and there, etc. Another idea is that Sonic could possibly "evolve" into something we've never imagined, which we already see beginning to happen. Could Sonic one day end up completely overhauled the way Crash was? I'm sure many of us veteran fans would be disappointed, but you really never know how it could turn out for tomorrow's youth.

It's a little tough to know what to predict these days... Guns, hoverboarding, pirates, genies, and a sword? To us it seems wild and ridiculous, but to the average child, there must be some appeal. I think that perhaps the games are just going to continue moving with the tides this way until the series is canned altogether. If the series stays alive and SEGA's current mentality continues, I think there will be more party and sports games, among other seemingly-ludicrous concepts. At this point, I'm not sure I'd be all that suprised if we saw Sonic running around with a buster or having different elemental superforms (and no I do not mean shields) in the near future.

[Chimpo]

He'll merge with some whiny kid and have RPG adventures in radio wave space.

[muteKi]

I think that the guys at Sega have actually wanted to stop doing Sonic since SA2 -- that's probably why there's such a big change in style with there.

Sonic was supposed to be the mascot of the Genesis the way Alex Kidd was for the Master System.

[Travelsonic]

I think SEGA should take a page from Konami/DDR, and get user/fan input.

[GasparXR]

muteKi, on Aug 21 2008, 04:34 PM, said:

I think that the guys at Sega have actually wanted to stop doing Sonic since SA2 -- that's probably why there's such a big change in style with there.

Sonic was supposed to be the mascot of the Genesis the way Alex Kidd was for the Master System.

That's a really good theory; But he was such a success that they kept him. Maybe they want something different(unlike Nintendo, who are always trying to make the games different so we don't get bored).

"If only" is pretty much all our hopes are.

This post has been edited by GasparXR: 21 August 2008 - 04:43 PM

[FinalBeyond]

Travelsonic, on Aug 21 2008, 10:38 PM, said:

I think SEGA should take a page from Konami/DDR, and get user/fan input.

Nah. We've had enough collections of the Mega Drive games. That's the only thing that'd satisfy the fanbase.