Meant to “Increase the Value of the Brand”
We may have a reason the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog was pulled without warning from XBOX 360 Games on Demand recently–it and other less than reputable Sonic fare from past years no longer passes Sega’s quality muster. For that reason, the company will stop selling poor and average rated Sonic titles outright.
“We have to do this and increase the value of the brand,” said Sega’s Jurgen Post in an interview with UK based MCV. “This will be very important when more big Sonic releases arrive in the future.”
Post explained delisting has been determined based on the average Metacritic store of any given Sonic title. It’s a sign Sega is steering away from simply cashing in on its principal franchise of nearly 20 years.
“We could make a lot of money on back-catalogue Sonic titles, but let’s keep the number of Sonic games available under control,” Post continued. “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.”
The aforementioned 2006 Sonic and arguably Sonic Unleashed are prime candidates for the scrap heap. But for reference, Sonic Rush for the Nintendo DS has a Metacritic score of 82–far higher than many Sonic releases of past and present, and much higher than the recent re-release of Sonic Adventure to XBOX Live, which stands at a 47 Metacritic rating. Its PS3 re-release counterpart has a 51 rating. Sonic Rush Adventure, also cited by Post, isn’t far behind in those rankings with a 78 score–on par with both the Wii and DS versions of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, which was released earlier this year. Mixed messages much?
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Once again SEGA PR fails FAILS FAILS at namedropping Sonic titles.
Wow, really? If anything, the Rush series has gotten the most love lately, and in my opinion, it definitely deserved it.
Guess I’d better get my copy of SatBK once and for all before I have trouble finding it or the price goes up, eh?
It really boggles my mind why they would single out the Rush franchise. Most fans agree it is the strongest of Sonic’s recent fare.
Unless those titles aren’t selling as well as they’d like, there is some lapse in communication between fans and the company that, even with with appointment of a Sonic brand manager, needs to be overcome.
-T
I don’t know if the word I want to use is “ironic”, but… isn’t Sonic Colors for the DS ESSENTIALLY Sonic Rush 3 or something?
I’m happy to hear them speaking so frankly. Sounds like Sega’s finally getting things under control over there.
But make no mistake– this isn’t about sacrificing money for quality, this is about investing in quality to create even higher long run returns.
Please, dont Mix 2006 Sonic with Sonic unleashed in the same bag.
Sonic unleashed (360) is not perfect, but is way better than the 2006 crap.
Sonic 06 is not crap, it’s special. XD
Just WHAT is considered “average” in a Metacritic Score? I would say anything below 70 should be delisted. That means Sonic Heroes, Sonic Rush, Sonic Rush Adventure, and SASASR shoud STAY. I loved Sonic Rush and liked SASASR, but I haven’t played Sonic Rush Adventure.
If they are planning to delist all of the games below an 85 ranking, then Sonic Team NEEDS to raise their standards for creating a Sonic game. Plus, if anyone wanted to buy and play some of the games, they would have to buy it online….
Oh really? that’s pretty cool, now I kno-
“The aforementioned 2006 Sonic and arguably Sonic Unleashed are prime candidates for the scrap heap.”
>Sonic Unleashed
Okay wait just a god damn minute. >:(
I came into this article thinking “hey, what a great idea!” and finished it with a scowling “wat” :/
Noooooooo! I liked Sonic 2006 and Sonic Rush Adventure
Those Sonic games are not poor. People say that because they either don’t care, or they never played those games before and don’t know anything about them. Any game, movie or whatnot can have a poor-to-average review depending on different opinions, even that overglorified Kingdom Hearts (which I dislike).
Besides, any critic who bashes recent Sonic games is an idiot. That is all I have to say on that.
@Vulpine: Uhm, what?
You’re lying to yourself if you’re saying Sonic 2006 isn’t poor, or even average. It’s just BARELY playable, and I used to OWN the damn game myself. It was the first 360 Sonic game I owned, and, to be honest, ever since I got Sonic Unleashed I’m NEVER going back to that pile of shit.
But now you’re even going so far as to say that ANYBODY that bashes Sonic (or I guess we mean any Sonic game) is an idiot?
Wow bro, I mean, I’m all up for being positive and telling others Sonic ISN’T shit anymore but..jesus. Turn it down a notch.
Also Sonic Rush Adventure was okay, but a little heavy on the storytelling. though I will give it another shot maybe.
“Accept it, Vulpine accept it!!!1111″
So, people have to look on ebay if they want to get the games on the list that they liked? Seems a little mean…
Vulpine’s literal optimistic insanity frequently frightens me to no end.
@Vulpine
*facepalm* Where’s the BLACKBusterCritic when we need him!?
Listen. I like the fact that you LOVE Sonic. It’s good to have optimistic fans, old or new, but that’s no excuse to bash everyone else and calling people idiots for not liking Sonic games. It makes you look no better than the fanboys that bitch about characters, voice actors, character models, etc.
“Any game, movie or whatnot can have a poor-to-average review depending on different opinions, even that overglorified Kingdom Hearts (which I dislike).”
Then, the reason why many Sonic games got poor-to-average reviews is BECAUSE most reviewers hated the games. It’s their opinion about the game, just like you have your opinion about the game, except their opinion is professional (or at least most of it) and they get paid for making reviews. I like Sonic Unleashed. I LOVE Sonic Unleashed. Even today, I can’t stop playing it on my Ps3, but just because I love it doesn’t mean other people will. That’s why critics give professional reviews to let people know whether or not it is a fun game to play. They hated the werehog. They DESPISE the werehog, so they gave the Hd version low ratings because of the pace-breaking gameplay addition, as well as with other flaws (collecting medals, framerate issues).
The point is: If someone wanted to buy a certain game from a franchise, who are they going to trust more? A proffessional middle-aged person that gets paid for doing his job, or a crying wannabe fan that supports it no matter how good or bad the game is?
I know that there are assholes in the fanbase that refuses to acknowledge someone else’s opinion if they just happened to like a certain game, a certain character, or whatever. However, when you say that anyone that bashes Sonic games are idiots, then you ultimately prove that you are just as low as they are. Hell, there may be SOMEONE out there that loves Kingdom Hearts. To be honest, I never played any KH games, so I don’t know. But what will you do if someone proclaims that they love Kingdom Hearts? Are you going to bash him for liking that franchise? From the looks of your comment, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did.
Have fun playing your Sonic games every day and blindly defending them no matter what, and say hi to Sonic for me when you’re dreaming of him every night…..
@krazeekidd:
Holy shit, that’s the perfect post to say what has had to be said to Vulpine for awhile.
Kudos.
Wouldn´t be easier to stop making mediocre Sonic games once and for all? You know, you can´t just hide all the last games because they had a low score. I can understand about Sonic 06, but come on… They just need to start making good ones, and people will forget about the bad ones. But if they keep making the same mistakes, then they shouldn´t hope good critics at all.
“The point is: If someone wanted to buy a certain game from a franchise, who are they going to trust more? A proffessional middle-aged person that gets paid for doing his job, or a crying wannabe fan that supports it no matter how good or bad the game is?”
About how many “professional middle-aged persons” are there that have the exact same taste in video games as the average Sonic fan?
…wait, that’s a red herring. There IS no “average Sonic fan,” there’s just a whole lotta diversified groups that seem bent on destroying each other. Obviously the only professional who could understaqnd them all would have to be a professional psychiatrist. And even than, that’s pushing it.
And incidently, if you want to sound more mature than your opponent, it helps to use a lot less swear words that he/she does. That goes for everyone here. “Mature language,” IMHO, is a complete misnomer the way it’s currently used. In fact, I have yet to find a mature Sonic the Hedgehog fan who uses that kind of language in every third sentence, like some of you guys appear to.
I don’t agree with Vulpine’s “idiot” comment, but I also don’t agree with repeatedly (and rudely) bashing someone’s opinion just because it happens to be biased and most likely wrong. Whatever happened to “turn the other cheek”? (And no, that does not mean “moon your opponent”!)
You people are wasting your time complaining at each other, because losing an argument doesn’t necessarily make you wrong, and having the last word in an argument definitely doesn’t make you right.
@ Vulpine
I have to admit, that whole “idiot” comment was pushing it way over the edge. :/
I’m not sure that this is the best strategy. It’s good that SEGA recognizes that some of these games leave more to be desired. However, pushing them under the rug and forgetting about them seems a little unprofessional. And there are people who still may want to buy these “lackluster” titles. Heck, as soon as I get a 360, Sonic Next Gen is the first game I’m getting for it.
@Vulpine: I really hate how critics have bashed recent Sonic games and don’t ever have anything good to say about them. Always being nothing, but negative. These games do have good points to them that are never pointed out. They really are idiots.
It pisses me off when games series like Kingdom Hearts, which I totally despise everything its about, can have no faults to it at all. No one complains about these endless spin-off titles that keep coming out every single year. Talk about a franchise that is being run into the ground and yet people talk trash about Sonic.
The sad thing is that the Internet is full of corrupted, depressed people and critics. They can’t even appreciate a series as a whole anymore, because all they do is cuss, argue and write negative reviews. Their mouths are shaped like a toilet when they say a cuss word, I am serious.
And to be honest, not everyone is going to believe those negative reviews, and they might as well do the opposite: Write their own “positive” review that is the exact opposite what those negative reviewers say. Opinions do not equal facts, and of course, even Sonic 2006 has good points.
I want to be happy, not sad or depressed. It is much healthier to have an open-mind instead of flaming and cussing at each other through thick and thin. Just chill out, guys. I am not here to cause any trouble. I am here to express myself much like everyone else does.
@Vulpine:
“I am not here to cause any trouble”.
You and Tristan would work wonders together with the way you two say one thing one minute and then try to act all innocent or like you didn’t do anything the next.
“Opinions do not equal facts” and yet here you are trying to defend even shoddy programming and poor excuse of a video game that is Sonic 2006 just because people disagree with you and you had to spaz out?
God I can’t even begin to understand how you think.
Let’s just agree 06 is a low-quality game, but the fun factor is love-hate.
@Haru
The reason why you don’t understand how I think is because either you didn’t do enough research or that your IQ is low or something.
Sonic 2006 is not a poor excuse of a video game. Sonic Rivals 2 is worse then Sonic 2006 will ever be. It may be more challenging then some of the other games, but it is still fun despite what critics think.
Hmm, looks like I’ll be buying the PS360 version of Unleashed sooner than expected.
@Tommy
Exactly. Part of the fun I have with that game is finding out just HOW broken it is, completing the stages with the wrong characters and what not. Playing with Blaze, Silver, and Tails usually provides decent fun too. The music is arguably the greatest point of the game though, the rest of the game is forgettable unless it’s just outright frustrating.
And yet another chapter of how SEGA fucked up Sonic
The Rush series? How odd. Perhaps the frequent mention of Rush’s physics engine in an unfavorable light caught their attention?
At any rate, I don’t quite think Unleashed deserves de-listing, and arguably the Advance games and possibly the Rush games could all remain on the backlog and nobody would really complain, but, um, beyond that I don’t really see anything of value being lost. (I kind of liked Black Knight, but not really because it was good, per se, I just had fun with it.)
@krazeeKidd102
Oh please, my opinion is far more professional then what those “idiot” negative reviewers say anyway. At least I play the games before even saying a word about them.
The WHOLE game because IGNorant didn’t even complete Sonic Unleashed or Sonic 06 when they released their reviews on them.
Sonic Unleashed isn’t crappy COME ON!!! Unleashed is one of the best Sonic games ever!!!
@Vulpine
“Oh please, my opinion is far more professional then what those “idiot” negative reviewers say anyway.”
And this is why the fanbase is terrible. Everyone thinks they’re a smartass…
Sonic Died after sonic 3.
We had four good games
Sonic 1 (Even un-completed)
Sonic 2
Sonic cd (Real Sonic 3)
Sonic 3 (Real sonic 4)
Sonic 4 (I mean 5) Looks gay as shit
What about the 16 bit lovers of sonic? We do not need high def to play a fucking game
@krazeeKidd102
The Sonic fanbase is already corrupted, and it is not my fault. Stop pinning the blame on me just because I told you the truth. If you can’t appreciate the Sonic franchise as a whole then why are you even posting here? Not everyone is going to agree with you no matter how much you wish.
Telling the truth? You call reviewers and people that disliked your precious Sonic 360 idiots and accuse them of never having played them, you didn’t ONCE showed any proof, you never ONCE told us why those games weren’t shit, you just keep saying “those games are good because I liek themz!11″
@Krazeekid
“*facepalm* Where’s the BLACKBusterCritic when we need him!?”
…Don’t get me started on that guy. He’s given my friends and I a lot of crap over these past couple months.
Anywho, while Vulpine has the right to have this opinion, it’s a tad bit extreme. And yes, the fanbase is pretty corrupt, but it’s not the only one that’s in this state. While it could be a whole lot better, there are much worse fanbases as well.
I checked the whole list on Metacritic, as well as the site’s definition of the score ranges. If SEGA is to be taken literally with the plan to delist “average” games, that includes everything 74 and below. I think we can all agree that’s a bit extreme. They should just give us an actual list of affected titles instead of this generalized BS, especially when they’ve only succeeded in contradicting themselves with the whole Rush thing.
@Silverwind: Nobody said Kingdom Hearts is without its faults, not even the huge fans. 358/2 Days is a relatively weak entry in the series, I freely admit…and the single least necessary thus far story-wise. Birth By Sleep, on the other hand, is a prequel, not a “spin-off,” and it’s a darned good game for those who like that kind of thing.
The difference is that the worst Kingdom Hearts game is repetative and bland at worst…the worst SONIC games are pretty much BROKEN. And the KH fanbase is generally less vocal than Sonic’s one way or the other.
Vulpine is one of the few people I can think of who wouldn’t be able to tell giraffe shit if it was staring him straight in the eye. It could literally be raining on him, and he’d be dancing in it with splendor and joy with a big smile etched on his face. A true fanboy if I’ve ever seen one. Seriously man, get off the hedgehog’s nuts, will ya?