The Mobius Fallacy

I have mentioned this before, in this thread, but I felt that it needed a little more attention.

There is currently a mistaken notion that the name Mobius, for Sonic's home planet in the Sega of America canon, originates from a mistranslation in this Yuji Naka interview. This is simply untrue, as I will demonstrate, but it's even mentioned on Wikipedia. I edited the article to remove the mistake, but the next morning my edit was undone. Mysterious. It said "unreliable source". So now Sonic Retro isn't a reliable source, and somehow Concept Mobius is? I think not.

Furthermore, the edit I made to the Sonic Retro article on the interview, was also rendered impotent. The citation link to Concept Mobius I had removed was restored. This is less egregious, because it is simply listing a second possibility for the mention of the word Mobius, and not suggesting that it is the origin of the name. Still, I feel that it is misleading, not the least because it implies Concept Mobius as an authority (the site has a more speculatory bent).

Now I will attempt to prove my case. But first I have to make it clear that there are two issues here, intertwined. The first is where the name Mobius came from. The second is the question of why Yuji Naka mentioned the word, when it is not consistent with the Japanese canon.

I am not certain of the origin of the name Mobius. Perhaps someone like Dean Sitton can better answer that question. But I can certainly demonstrate that it is not from this interview.

First, a couple quotes from Concept Mobius.

This is stated baldly as fact, not as his opinion.

Another dubious claim, stated as fact.

How does he know what inspired the level artists? Has he spoken with them? Again, this is pure opinion.

How does he know this is a misinterpretation or a mistranslation? Was he there when the interview was conducted? Does he have a taped recording, does he even speak Japanese? Where is the evidence for these claims?

Also, this is insulting the man who developed the games this person's site is dedicated to. And hey, isn't the site called Concept Mobius?

Moving on....

The name Mobius is used in this Promo Comic from 1991.

I was very young at the time, and personal anecdote is not reliable anyway, but I read this very interview when it first ran in Sega Visions, in 1992 (in fact, it was the first time I'd ever seen or heard of Yuji Naka). I feel sure I was already referring to Sonic's home as Mobius before then, perhaps because of the above comic only, or other material from SoA at the time (such as other Sega Visions articles).

Also, the Sonic Bible.

It is entirely possible that the name Mobius was given to Sonic's world by SoA due to the loops and twists in the Zones. But it was in use long before this interview, and to think that SoA would base their canon on an interview is a silly notion, anyway.

Now for why Yuji Naka said Mobius.

First, there is no proof he ever did. Many interviews with Japanese game developers are conducted through a translator, who could easily have said Mobius for the Americans' benefit. Furthermore, even if there was no translator and Yuji Naka was speaking English (which there is, to my knowledge, no evidence for), he could have used the word himself, knowing that he was speaking for an American publication. We must bear in mind that Sonic 2 was developed in Palo Alto, California, and his American colleagues perhaps used the name Mobius on a daily basis during development. It would not be hard for Yuji to employ the name himself, without believing it to be Sonic's home at the end of the day.

As for the whole "translation error" idea, that he was referring to the corkscrews in Emerald Hill, is certainly possible. But it is not probable. Read the interview. Yuji Naka is not vague or ambiguous in any way throughout. The language used is clear, informative, and precise. Furthermore, the quote itself ("...the new Mobius worlds are brighter, crisper, and much more detailed") is crystal-clear as well. To assume that somehow a reference to an object can be construed into a sentence of that nature reminds me of Bible interpretation. Read with no bias, you'd have a hard time believing that sentence in any way referred to a corkscrew in the first zone. I have a theory that, since a screenshot of the corkscrew is featured prominently on the page with the interview, a strong subconscious connexion has arisen. Check the caption of the screenshot, however, and you'll see it clearly labeled as a "corkscrew".

Bear in mind that the corkscrews in Emerald Hill bear no legitimate resemblence to a true Mobius strip, either. To claim, as Concept Mobius does, that a Mobius strip was their inspiration, is wild speculation, unwisely stated as if it were fact.

It is possible that this mention of Mobius, perhaps by Yuji Naka's own lips, since it is the only one of its kind, has become a sort of "holy book" to those who wish to establish Mobius firmly as Sonic's home planet in all regions' canon. We know better, of course - Earth is Sonic's home in Japan, and always has been - there is plenty of evidence but I won't take up more space with it here. I really wish people wouldn't distort the truth, make things up, and put words in other people's mouths to support their theories.

I would like to raise your consciousness on this issue, and finally get it resolved. If anyone else feels as strongly as I do about it, let's make sure that the citation link to Concept Mobius is either removed, or clearly labeled as only one person's un-informed, un-researched, opinion. On Wikipedia, and certainly here at Sonic Retro, which I feel is a respected source of information on Sonic.

A healthy Sonic community must challenge the current views, and overturn them when new evidence comes to light. Continuing to repeat, or support, old, unproven claims only takes our attention from new challenges and mysteries that need to be solved. How can our body of knowledge improve, how can we learn, when specious arguments are prominently displayed, un-attended by dissenting viewpoints?

In summation:

A - The corkscrews are not Mobius strips.

B - It is extremely unlikely that a mistranslation occured.

C - Sega of America did not mine an interview from the future for ideas on what to name their planet.

Wake up and smell the hedgehog, people.

(If it's not entirely clear, I'm not trying to imply that anyone here at Sonic Retro believes the "Mobius Fallacy" - I'm simply saying that if it is not combatted, the average person may start to).

So - your opinions?

 

I have virtually no experience on this subject, so correct me if I'm wrong:

When I look at disassembly code, it seems to be full of object and routine names that are in English. Where do these names come from? Are they embedded in the ROM somewhere, or does the disassembler have to rename everything themselves?

Anyway, if the object names are somehow in the ROM, then it would be interesting to look at the code for the corkscrews in Emerald Hill and see what they're called. That would help us know how they were referred to during development.

I assume Yuji programmed most of the game himself. If there were something like ObjMobiusStrip somewhere in the code, that might tip the case one way or another.

Just a long shot. Does anyone know?

 

In ye olden days, it was quite common to call levels in a video game, "worlds". So he's saying, "Mobius worlds", in the same way you'd say "Mushroom Kingdom worlds" if you were talking about Mario.

Remember, we have no proof Yuji even said these words. Interviews are commonly conducted via a translator, as I mentioned.

 

Here's something rather interesting:

This is from Sega Force, July 1992, talking about Sonic 2 as it was premiered at the CES that year on May 28th. From what is said about it, it sounds like the build that was shown off was the Alpha (just Emerald Hill, with Starlight's BGM), or very similar.





(full scan)

We can be pretty certain that this guy is referring to the corkscrew.

And this:



(full scan)

Here's a bit of a new theory: Maybe, instead of the obstacle name being applied to the whole planet, it's the exact opposite. The Sega Force guy could have heard Mobius said at the show floor and tied it with the corkscrew. I know how confused things can get in the aftermath of a show like CES or E3.

Either way, what's with that sketch? If we didn't have the Alpha build, I'd almost say "lost object"...

It will interesting to see what conclusions can be drawn from this.

I remade the edit, and explained myself a little better, and it's stuck this time, thanks to Haipa Doragon at Wiki.

EDIT: What Dean points out is wise - Yuji (or the translator) said Robotnik instead of Eggman, so why not Mobius?