Do you thinkSonic the Hedgehogsucks these days? If you’re over the age of twelve or notretarded, you probably think so. Sega is aware of our disappointment,and has promisedthat the blue shambles will get better with time, rather than simply admit that his credibility is finished in this industry.
“The quality is something that will be fixed over time,” claims marketing VP Sean Ratcliffe. “It’s not something where you wake up one morning and say, ‘You know what, we’re going to improve our quality on this franchise,’ and it magically happens. A lot of hard work goes into striving for quality. Interestingly, I thinkSonic Unleashedwas very well received by the kids.
“… I think older, die-hard Sega fans who grew up with the franchise and the firstSonic the Hedgehogassociate Sonic more with 2-D side-scrolling super fast, and they liked the daytime gameplay, but when it came to the slower paced gameplay they were fairly critical of that, and that’s fine – they have their opinions.
“The point in terms of quality is that we’re constantly trying to improve the quality. When we were in Tokyo recently there was talk about several Sega properties and how we can best make sure we’re constantly pushing that quality bar onSonic. … Yes, it’s always a challenge to raise that quality bar, but our competitors are trying to put the best product out there and we’re no different. Given that it takes a couple of years to make some of these games, it’s not surprising that we’re not going to see the effort that’s being put in over the past 12 months until another 6-12 months.””
I don’t know. It seems to me that Sega realizes it can force a tired and weary Sonic Team to cobble together a poor product and the stupid kid demographic won’t know any better. Sega can pay old school Sonic fans all the lip service in the world, but let’s face it — the current destruction of Sonic’s legacy is making Sega money. Why would they stop that?
