Meant to Appeal to Those with No Sonic Experience
Silly rabbit–Sonic is for kids.
In an interview Friday with CasualGaming.biz that is sure to alienate veteran Sonic fans even more, Sonic Team’s Tetsu Katano went on the record with how they and Sega determined the direction of the upcoming Sonic and the Black Knight. In short–they had to, in his words, “think like children.”
That was done, according to Katano, to appeal to kids with no prior experience playing Sonic games of past or present. This, according to the article, is the target audience for SBK.
Katano added this:
Sonic and the Black Knight is aimed at a younger, more casual audience. We’ve changed a lot of things, essentially. It’s thinking as children; approaching things from their point of view, thinking what they want to see. [....] Sonic is kind of a cheeky, edgy character, and so we like seeing Sonic challenge new things all the time. The Wii is a big part of it, because it appeals to a wider range of people who maybe have not played a Sonic game before.
The article notes that Katano was quick to point out Sonic Team does respect the old canons and traits of the blue hedgehog.
How do you feel about Katano’s comments? Will knowing that SBK is a game targeted towards young children change your decision to purchase the game? Let us know in the comments below.
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If you wanted to introduce Sonic to a new audience, why not just let them play the Mega Drive classics instead of giving them generic crap with Sonic’s name on it? That’s what I did when I introduced my little brother and sister to Sonic a few years back.
Though I do find it a little odd how Black Knight, with its dark, serious tone, is meant to cater to children when Unleashed, with its incredibly juvenile tone, was catered more to the veterans…
I think its more of ten to the teenage age nontheless im buying it
Oh yeah im 13 so im in that catagory for ” kids”
Kits’Okami: Okay! First, your Mega Drive idea for kids is subjective, because you obviously fail to see that fewer kids would like those kinds of games. Second, I doubt that you are preteen material, and the kids this game aims for as an audience was not around for the Mega Drive games, and I happen to know many preteen, teen or younger than preteen kids who love the recent 3D games more than the 2D games. despite what you may have hope would not be the case. Thirdly,
Get up to date with some current events and stop living int he retro past! What you think may attract a whole audience is far from flawless! Sega has better things to do than listen to old school fans like you! Plus, I know that you are older than anyone this game targets! Far older! Let Sega aim for their target audience! They have better things to do than try to please old school retro fans who should have better things to do than keep buying Sonic games that are not meant for those who should have grown up already!
Face it, your idea of pleasing younger audiences is more like an idea to please old school fans like you! I know what you may say is going to be BS reasoning! Just grow up and learn to accept, okay?
Anyway, like I may or may not have said before, the fact that this game is geared towards younger kids is a good strategy from Sega.
It’s my birthday! This game is gonna be so easy!
Sonication: You know why people want the games to be more like the retro games? Because those were fun and *shock* they appealed to EVERYONE. Jesus fuck don’t just bar off a good chunk of your loyal fanbase by making games that are so un fucking Sonic like that they can’t have fun with them.
The old games, they were easy enough that they could be accessed by anyone, yet challenging enough that older people could still have fun with it. Think about Super Mario Galaxy. It may target the younger crew but I’m sure that many Mario fans were satisfied with that game that were young and old.
Your reasoning is just as BS, if not more. You’re basically saying fuck you to the older fans. No Sega shouldn’t cater to the older fans who grew up with the formula that actually worked. Nah they can just target a certain percentage of their fan base, further alienating all of those who were loyal to the Sonic series since the beginning.
It’s just stupid to appeal to only one part of the fan base, because the more they do it, the more divided the fan base will be. Then they’ll have to make multiple games based on what different fans like and it’ll be insane. We already have 3 splits in the series right now (Retro fans, Adventure fans, post Shadow fans). Ya, let’s just add more that’s a great idea.
I could care less if Sonic is geared towards kids, cause thats what they were doing the entire time. I do think its sort of wierd that Katano is saying that. But I do wonder if he’s refering to the game’s story, difficulty, or just overall tone. Interesting.
PJMan: Say, wanna clean up the junk in that post of yours? It’s too crappy for a read for me.
Also, Sega is targeting Old School fans less because the old school fans are supposed to have “grown up”, Sega is trying to please a newer generation now; not some old school leftover fans. You seem to be forgetting, change happens. Sega is changing Sonic games to please a newer generation because as many would expect, the old school fans are supposed to have matured to the point that video games should not be a concern anymore.
What I mean to say is, you can’t expect Sega to please old school fans just beyond that. There is a lot more than you think. The old school fans are not supposed to spend their days playing video games. As an expectation of society, old school fans should have gotten jobs somewhere or gotten new careers that they wanted to be involved in, but playing video games isn’t any part of what those fans are supposed to do.
Even if you are not in college, you can’t stop trying to get an education now, because life throws much at you that may harm you more when you can’t stop playing games or do not work hard at school.
Me? I am a part time college student, with enough time to spend in the Sonic fanbase. That can change though.
But either way, Sega knows that the old school fans and even if many still play Sonic games; Sega still targets younger audiences rather than pleasing the retro fans. Why? That is a way to keep the series alive; and they make some changes that are rather aimed at the younger audiences than old school fans. Besides, not everyone loves to play the same thing over and over. That’s why Sega has made changes now and then to Sonic games, so that the gameplay does not end up as repetitive. And sadly for old school fans, all they can do at best is accept the way Sega is doing things with Sonic right now. Unless you have some kind of degree from school that will enable you to get Sega’s attention easier, you can just find yourself wake up one day to be laughed at by people who are far more successful in life than you.
Believe me, I am not trying to be mean or rude, but this is really how life works. If you think all of this is bullcrap, than that is just sad, because like many Sonic fans who are old school and still play Sonic games, you really should develop the ability to accept changes in things, regardless of how you like it. And whining about what you don’t like and moaning about how bad you see it when many other people like it does not really get you anywhere.
But unlike myself, the old school fans will end up having more to life than just video games; much more important. So if you want to let things go in life, you have to let go of your obsession in Sonic games, accept Sega’s changes for their target audience and move on with whatever else you have in life. You can disagree all you want, but as far as life works…
That is no BS, whatsoever. I assure you that.
I’m still buying this game.
Its E10 so wh c`ares still buying it and I will be happy March 3rd
(Who and cares) friggin keyboard
@Sonication: It’s guys like you who make SEGA think Sonic turning into a werewolf and travelling through fairy tales are good ideas.
Kits’Okami: Hmp! If you feel that way, fine. Though in actually, those ideas are not doing what you may think to destroy the series. No, it isn’t…
Kits’okami: Oh, how owned you are. For sonication hath owned you!
Rules of ownage, paragraph 15 subsection 3: The first to resort to direct personal attacks that do not relate to the current section of argument, has been owned with no exceptions.
Remember well, the rules of ownage!
All of you are big babies complaing too much if Sega wants to distribute to kids let them do their job and get over yourselves. Their hedgehog their rules
Sonication: “The old school fans are not supposed to spend their days playing video games. As an expectation of society, old school fans should have gotten jobs somewhere or gotten new careers that they wanted to be involved in, but playing video games isn’t any part of what those fans are supposed to do.”
So basically, you’re saying that since we’re “grown up” now, we’re not allowed to play video games. That’s some fine logic you’ve got there, Lou.
Heh he has a point Sonication
@Sonication: Just had another scan through your attacks on me and PJ. You’ve gotta be kidding, right?
By what I can make out, you’re calling me and PJ failures at life because we think the classics are better than this new shit? I gather, then, that you tend to weedle through life blindly agreeing with anyone who tells you that so-and-so is the best thing since sliced bread. And that, to me, is a nerd’s way of life.
I think it’s you who needs to shut up and grow up. Like it or not, there are a lot of us, Sonic fans or just casuals, who believe that the Mega Drive classics were where Sonic’s at. Sure, I’ve enjoyed most of the modern games (up until Shitfest Chronicles), especially those that have dared to stray away from high-speed Mega Driven platforming (Sonic Battle is, like, of the best Sonic games ever IMO and the only thing I hate about the Black Knight so far is the sound of the gameplay and controls and the lack of rings), but even n00bs like you have to admit that when you want to introduce the Sonic franchise to people new to it, young or old, you have to introduce them to where Sonic started in the first place.
And the last I checked, Sonic didn’t start in 2005. Good day and have a nice life being a Narutard!
GerbilSoft: It’s not that you are not allowed to play video games. Even though anyone still can, you have more things in life to worry about. Things like getting and maintaining a job, getting married, paying the rent for your house and such or anything that big in importance. How much time would you have to play video games with these kinds of things that you will have to deal with in life? Would you want to play video games more than doing your job or whatever in risk of losing them?
It’s not that you can’t play video games, because you can still do so in any point of life. Rather, it is how much you play video games and how it can affect or interfere with your life. Playing too much video games (which I do not do, BTW), not to mention still being obsessed with a single video game series that you have been upset with lately (Sonic, in this case) is one thing that should not be a big focus in your life, if you know what I mean.
The rings are fairies though that convert into rings
@Trigger: That… Makes no sense whatsoever.
@Sonication: Get off your high horse, ‘cos you’re not intimidating anyone with your supposed superiorty. You think that we complain about new Sonic for a living? That we spend every waking moment in front of the computer screen rocking back and forth to an image of the Werehog whispering “unclean, unclean” angrily to ourselves like some prats from Retro or CuLT?
@Keydown: Oh, I see. Still, it’s a dumb idea.
Kits’Okami: *Gives a loud laugh* I never claimed to be superior, nor did I try to be intimidating. My last few posts did not aim to be intimidating. You are just taking what I said so seriously, you miss more than what is the actual situation. Do not think I was trying to act or be better than you, because I wasn’t. I was just stating the reality and consequences of the old school fans behavior. You may not see it directly, but this is the reality of the situation and what may happen if you keep this attitude up. That attitude gets you no where in life. You may not see this as reality, but there will be a point in your life where you have to accept it all, no matter how much you dislike it.
So don’t tell me I need to grow up just because you don’t like what I say. As far as you have acted, which is pure immaturity, you should be the one growing up. Not me.
Heh…..I don’t care.
You can argue all you want, I’m not changing my opinion like I almost did with Unleashed, which I ended up loving. Black Knight looks like fun, and I think letting some extremely stubborn members of the fanbase knock each others brains out over a fictional character, by all means go ahead.
I still hope the sword thingy is fun.
Why are you gys screaming about something that dosen’t even excist? Sonic is not real, it’s just a character. Calm down, the most important thing is that the game is fun. Isn’t it? Another important thing is that there must be some classic elements, of course. The important thing is speed! Running on water, loops and all that. It would be boring if it was 2D all the time and the same thing only new stages, woulden’t it?
The thing is that everything in a game are good ideas, IF you make it right. Werehog could been better, less fighting and more fun platforming maybe, I don’t know. I think ther’re many tha liked the werehog.
But anyway, stop talking about it, I see these comversations everywhere.
Well, looks like I am gonna back down.
Time to cease arguing. I have better things to do, you know.
Do the same, Kits, because I will not continue arguing with you. I am done now.
And i forgot.(Sorry for posting 2 comments) Of course you can have your opinions.
Now I’m done.
@Sonication: As have I.
Pf, I don’t care whether this game is for kids (whatever they count as “kids”…). Even when the actual difficulty is made for kids, I guess itwill be like Wii-Unleashed: Levels themselves easy, but clearing them fast just painful and difficult. Hidden challenge ftw.
Yays the arguing has ended the war is over….for now…
The End?
@Sonication… a couple posts ago:
Do I think change in Sonic is bad. Absolutely not. I loved Unleashed (mainly the day levels, but I enjoyed the werehog levels for what they were. Plus the bosses in the day levels were some of the funnest bosses I’ve ever fought in a game ever). But this is just a stupid idea. Werehogs, treasure hunting, swords, guns. These things are not Sonic. I don’t care who you’re appealing too, you don’t just go off and rape a character.
It’s the ideas I’m pissed off about. They’re trying to appeal to kids in the wrong way. Rather then appealing through the colorful and bright landscapes and the interesting level designs, they’re appealing through gimmicks which are just not Sonic.
BTW I’m a senior in high school and while I may care about Sonic a tad bit too much, it’s not like it gets in the way of my life (Only once it did when I was rushing to complete my entry picture for the Sonic and the Black Knight contest. Hypocritical yes, but I’ll take any game if it’s free. That way if I hate it it’s only profit =P) . I know very well there are times for Sonic and times not for Sonic. Basically I have a life. Don’t assume that I don’t because I prefer one thing over the other, that’s just stupid.
Oh whoops didn’t know the argument was over. Just take what I said in stride and don’t bother going beyond that.
Kits’okami: Forsooth! The owned hath forsaken the rules of ownage for fear of being able to commprehend English! Woe are those who forsake the rules of ownage!
PJMan: i really think the same
sonic past games: is true sonic with most successful for kids
sonic present games: is new sonic with less successful for kids
so…sonic unleashed is the best way for new fans because have a lot ideas for any game of sonic and a new ideas, maybe the werehog’idea is not the best but is fun…
sonic with sword in “medieval” story is fine like “arabic” with flame and genies. or with extreme gears like riders is fine BECAUSE is a SPIN OFF
sonic unleashed with funny music, colorful stages is fine like sonic rush/heroes/1,2,3…genesis time. because is a main series BUT sonic is free now…since unleashed. i trust in the future games…i trust.
@Trigger: OK, you’re starting to piss me off. No one was owned. We agreed to disagree. Go back to 4chan.
What is a 4chan
@Keydown: Trust me, mate, you DON’T want to know. >_<
I’m not fussed either way. Some people spend too much time dwelling on the past.
I wish some people would just realise that – guess what – 2D platformers no longer catch people’s attention unless they’re handheld games. Even Little Big Planet is actually a 3D platformer, just with side-on camera and stilted movement going backwards and forwards towards said camera. People want to spend lots of time exploring an environment as fully as possible, and 2D doesn’t allow people to do that. People also believe that 2D is less immersive or realistic, while we live in a 3D environment.
Not only that, but if you notice the current trend in animation, 2D is no longer used for theatre animation. That’s because, with Flash, lots of people can create 2D animations at home, and it no longer looks like a ‘professional’ art. 3D animation, and especially HD, look more professional and less ‘homebrew’. This is why video game designers no longer make 2D games for home consoles.
As for the games, SEGA realised after the Adventure series that it is completely impossible to perfectly reproduce their original games into 3D unless they limit Sonic to a track, which removes the theme of ‘freedom’ that Sonic’s character is about. That, and ‘sam-old-same-old’ will get boring no matter how ‘good’ the fanboys consider it to be. This is why SEGA are hopping from genre to genre.
Let’s also not forget that fans are directly to blame for this as well, as they cannot make a unified decision about anything without arguing. We have the worst internet fanbase in the world. (Funnily enough, the fans in London were the most civil people I’ve ever met.)
PJMan: “Werehogs, treasure hunting, swords, guns. These things are not Sonic. I don’t care who you’re appealing to, you don’t just go off and rape a character.”
The thing is, Sonic’s universe was never fully established anyway, so anything is possible. The Werehog thing, for example, is one of the effects of the planet’s own energy – this same planet produced the Chaos Emeralds. The Werehog did nothing to change Sonic’s character at all, just give him different abilities for the moment. The Chaos Emeralds have positive and negative effects, remember?
And also, guns have existed in the Sonic universe since 1993. Also, Fang used to use guns, GUN (obviously) used them in Sonic Adventure. It wasn’t like they popped up out of nowehere. And it’s completely in Shadow’s character to pick up weapons if he believes them to be of use to him. It’s even more in character if he does it because of the irony factor and because of Sonic’s reaction.
Swords have been explained away already as not being used at the moment in Sonic’s world, although they were in the past as part of the Middle Ages; hence how they crop up in the stories of Arthur and the Round Table. If Sonic can travel into these stories, he has complete freedom to wield a sword. He might personally only have negative feelings about using guns because Eggman and the military use them to get their own way, while he can fine with swords because of the heroic connotations that guns do not carry.
I’m not sure if they’ve ‘raped’ a character or a series exactly; they’ve just expanded on Sonic’s world and because it’s not all happy fluffy bunnies, tropical islands and ancient temples (well, not all of it), you’re not happy about it. If you only want to play really brighty-coloured fun games, I recommend Mario instead. I thought that was the general consensus when it came to this kind of argument anyway.
Kits’Okami: “I’ve enjoyed most of the modern games (up until Shitfest Chronicles)”
Sonication is right, you -are- immature. Just because you don’t like RPGs… the funny thing is, that game was designed to -appeal- to older fans, especially in the storyline, the on-the-mark characterisation, the designs, the references dotted in nearly discussion in the game. If you didn’t like that, there’s no reason to swear about it.
Kit’sOkami: “…when you want to introduce the Sonic franchise to people new to it, young or old, you have to introduce them to where Sonic started in the first place.”
Also, isn’t introducing modern gamers to the classics the whole point of the compilations they release every few years, -HMMM-? It’s not like you can’t pick up the old games for a new console. It’s not like anybody’s being forced to play recent Sonic games. People have a choice of playing any of the games. They can be introduced to any point of the series they want. It’s lucky that Sonic games nowadays have plenty of genres to choose from – for example, I started out with Sonic Riders, when previously I didn’t like Sonic that much, because I like SSX. And now I’ve played many of the games released so far in the series.
Kits’Okami: “And the last I checked, Sonic didn’t start in 2005.”
Gee, I didn’t know -that-! Course it didn’t, you idiot. -Everybody- knows that. The more you talk like that, the less of an opinion we all are going to have of you.
when you want to introduce the Sonic franchise to people new to it, young or old, you have to introduce them to where Sonic started in the first place.
Kits’Okami: “Good day and have a nice life being a Narutard!”
And isn’t Naruto a ridiculously-popular anime series about ninja? A lot of people will dislike you for using the phrase ‘Narutard’ as an insult, you know. The same way I do when people use Jason Griffith as an insult rather than the script-writers or the directors that control every line. (He isn’t a bad actor. They force him to be that way. If Funimation took over direction, everybody would realise that. It’s not like Ryan Drummond was exactly Hollywood material, either.)
—–Responses to previous comments end here—–
Anyway, it’s great for people to notice that Sonic is in fact still a kid’s series, especially the developers (who seem to have gone in a bit of a shounen-seinen direction recently), but some of the older fans still don’t recognise that and probably won’t because they -were- kids when they first played the games. People often do forget they used to be children themselves as they grow up. Think something along the lines of the pirate kid ghost in Danny Phantom: only those who realise they were his age once and can still connect to that old mindset can see him, right?
Basically the developers want players to go back to that age, when they didn’t take things too seriously and could just go with the flow of whatever was introduced at the time. If it didn’t ‘fit’ exactly, that didn’t make a difference. And the point of the Storybook Series is that Sonic is the thing that doesn’t fit; that’s pretty much the idea anyway – how you, the player, can learn to get around that and just… go with the flow.
:confused: okay >.>
What Sonic game ISN’T for kids? 0o
Shadow and Sonic 06
Oh wait those games aren’t for anyone.
You think that Sonic Team is going to try to cater to the same old fanboys for the rest of the franchise’s run? Children are the future, hence you have to market to THEM and not just eighteen to twenty somethings with way too much time on their hands…myself included…who will either eventually lose interest or die!
The kids at New York Comic Con seemed to like it…and just because its “for kids” doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be bad for adults! I mean, if was pure unadulterated censored 4kids anime land, then yeah, that’s a problem but…this game, well, it doesn’t look to be that way! Heck, Nintendo Power praised the plot, so I’m guessing that it isn’t some infantile crud. And they praised the hidden depth in it, so its obvious that they’re actually putting sometime and work into it, not just shoving something out so the kids lap it up without knowing any better like most publishers due. The fact that they’re thinking like children and not like idiots is a good thing. XD
@PJMan – You’d be surprised…>_______>;;
@PJMan: I dunno Sonic 06 WAS epic, the gameplay was rubbish to say the least but the game itself, the mood the tone (okay that got a little dull too cos of lack of humour and….elise…) but another epic game like for Sonic ould be excellent.
Of course then we got SU…. which was still epic but somehow not as epic in 06 in my opinion….
Meh, all sonic games are for kids…
Sonic games should be designed for kids, not for hardcore fans. That’s how all extremely prolific franchises progress. They are designed actively with new gamers in mind, because otherwise developers(who are often Sonic fans, as the Black Knight staff is) are apt to create games with a specific audience in mind. This is nothing inherant to Sega, the Black Knight staff, or “kiddie gamers”. Square Enix actively tries to attract younger, new Final Fantasy gamers. Nintendo does that for Mario and Zelda.
When companies fail to do this…franchises become niches.
Oh, and Kits…Don’t insult Retro. They’re not that bitter and angry. TSS is more so, really.
I thought all sonic games was for kids. But i’m still buying it, i need a new game for my wii.
I thought s
Stupid computer I meant to say I thought all sonic games is for kids.
TailstheHedgehog: You gotta be kidding me the story sucked and the tone there was nothing epic in there… >.>