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Sega hopes Sonic can help revive Wii U

S

shinobi602

Member
The irony. It is too much.
In a twisted turn of fate, SEGA says that it hopes Sonic will be able to help revive sales of Nintendo's flagging Wii U with the release of Sonic Lost World this October.

Speaking in the latest issue of MCV, SEGA Europe president Jurgen Post explained that the console's slow start "is a concern. But I certainly hope Sonic can help".

"The Lost World might just be our best Sonic game yet," he continued, "it is one of the games that can help them. I saw Nintendo's briefing at E3 and it has a very strong line-up of games for Wii U. I think it's helping people think that things might change."

Post argued that Sonic was a "good fit" for Nintendo platforms, despite the rivalry between the two firms in the early 90s.

"Historically, Sonic games have always sold very well on Nintendo platforms, so it's a good fit," adds Post. "And Nintendo and SEGA have always worked together in a positive way – the first game Sonic debuted on after we stopped making hardware was a Nintendo platform."
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Videogamer via MCV
 
Really, it's not about Nintendo's success anymore. It's not about actually having a good Sonic game anymore.

It's about ending the Nintendo is doomed articles.

Come on Sega. Help end those articles.
 
urfe said:
Really, it's not about Nintendo's success anymore. It's not about actually having a good Sonic game anymore.

It's about ending the Nintendo is doomed articles.

Come on Sega. Help end those articles.
Click to expand...

Even when the Wii was selling like hotcakes, the narrative just shifted from Nintendo is doomed to "The fad will be over any day now"

Sonic won't change that.
 
I don't get the obsession some people have with Sonic. He's really not that likable and his games aren't very good.
 
Sonic saving a Nintendo console. Now I've heard everything :lol

Seriously, the game looks great :D
 
"Historically, Sonic games have always sold very well on Nintendo platforms, so it's a good fit," adds Post. "And Nintendo and SEGA have always worked together in a positive way – the first game Sonic debuted on after we stopped making hardware was a Nintendo platform."
Click to expand...

My 12 year old self is completely mindfucked to read these words.
 
From this year's lineup of games I think Sonic World is the game I'm most interested for the Wii U, and if it is indeed as good as it looks and sounds, it may very well be the title that gets me to pick the console up.

Then again, I know we're deep inside the "Sonic Cycle" and this could all lead to disappointment again when Sonic turns into a blue monkey and does a blind rhythmic challenge for 20 minutes after running through an excellent 3D stage.

With Sonic Team right now we just can't be sure until the title is out. We can only hope that they maintain the quality of their last two titles or perhaps even improve upon them.
 
I'm surprised they haven't started releasing all their PSN/XBLA/Steam Sonic stuff on the eShop yet. Stuff like the Mega Drive games, Taxman's Sonic CD port and the HD remasters of the Adventures.
 
fabricated backlash said:
Even when the Wii was selling like hotcakes, the narrative just shifted from Nintendo is doomed to "The fad will be over any day now"

Sonic won't change that.
Click to expand...

I'll with happy with lowering the frequency of them.

Although I kind of dread the "Why Nintendo is smarter than you" articles if they succeed.

Maybe Sonic can change my bitterness? Cheer me up blue boy.
 
I'm skeptical that a new Sonic will actually move a lot of systems, but it's refreshing to see a developer with confidence that their game might do so. It shows a lot of faith in their title.
 
Avallon said:
It's going to take some new IPs and better games, not just new Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong.
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True. I was just saying if they were to rely on established IPs alone, then it would take all of them. Even then, I am not sure they would be able to save the WiiU. I don't think WiiU sports will be too impactful either.
 
Sonic Lost World will be between big Wii U games, it'll help to build a strong momentum.
And Sonic games generally sells better on Nintendo hardware anyway.
 
BlackJace said:
God forbid people have an opinion.
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God forbid I have an opinion? Sonic just never clicked with me, and people still defend his games even after Sonic '06, Black Knight, Secret Rings, and Werehog. I don't see how he could bomb so many times and be liked by so many (or still relevant for that matter).
 
Avallon said:
God forbid I have an opinion? Sonic just never clicked with me, and people still defend his games even after Sonic '06, Black Knight, Secret Rings, and Werehog. I don't see how he could bomb so many times and be liked by so many (or still relevant for that matter).
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Probably since he's on a backend of having some releases most view as good to great, and Sonic is likely afloat in big part that he is popular among kids. His comics, games, and the like do well with children (his games sell well, and the comics are some of the best selling children comics). This hit me recently when I went to go see Wreck-It Ralph in theaters and literally the whole theater got ecstatic when the children in the audience (quite a few) got excited at the Sonic cameo; of all things in the movie, it was that cameo of him talking the first time that got the biggest reaction, and most were notably children. Could of been just the audience I was with, but I find it unlikely.
 
Haha. Sincerely good luck with it, but I can't help but chuckle at this. Wish I could go back in time and show this statement to my younger self during the rivalry years.

As ever in retrospect: it's a funny old world.
 
Dusk Golem said:
Probably since he's on a backend of having some releases most view as good to great, and Sonic is likely afloat in big part that he is popular among kids. His comics, games, and the like do well with children (his games sell well, and the comics are some of the best selling children comics). This hit me recently when I went to go see Wreck-It Ralph in theaters and literally the whole theater got ecstatic when the children in the audience (quite a few) got excited at the Sonic cameo; of all things in the movie, it was that cameo of him talking the first time that got the biggest reaction, and most were notably children. Could of been just the audience I was with, but I find it unlikely.
Click to expand...

YES.

Also for some reason his grown up fanbase never went away either.

So yes, something that megaman never mastered.
 
StiLt said:
Haha. Sincerely good luck with it, but I can't help but chuckle at this. Wish I could go back in time and show this statement to my younger self during the rivalry years.

As ever in retrospect: it's a funny old world.
Click to expand...

I think saying "Sonic is going to save Nintendo!" 20 years ago would have been blasphemy for both 'sides'.
 
phosphor112 said:
Did Sonic even revive Sega?
Click to expand...
It made Mega Drive a viable competitor in North America (sorry I meant "Genesis").

That said it did require hardware bundling (a pretty absurd thing bundling the killer app with the hardware....to imagine NCL were going to make Wii Play the US hardware bundle for Wii)
 
Starwolf_UK said:
It made Mega Drive a viable competitor in North America (sorry I meant "Genesis").

That said it did require hardware bundling (a pretty absurd thing bundling the killer app with the hardware....to imagine NCL were going to make Wii Play the US hardware bundle for Wii)
Click to expand...

The NES was bundled with Super Mario Bros. The SNES with Super Mario World. This was common in North America.
 
I think financially this game will be painful for sega, I know colors sold well with 50+ million wii's but wiiu just doesn't have enough units in the wild.
 
If you'd have told me this when I was 8, my 8 year old self would kick you in the balls and then he would run away crying.

#rightinthechildhood
 
andymcc said:
The NES was bundled with Super Mario Bros. The SNES with Super Mario World. This was common in North America.
Click to expand...

not the same scenario at all, though...master system had like 4% market share due to nintendo's monopoly practices, and genesis struggled to up that number before the SNES even dropped. SOJ in particular (as i recall) was opposed to bundling the single biggest seller they'd yet had, but i believe Cerny was part of the formula for pushing that initiative. from their perspective, it probably felt like gambling some lost revenue, but certainly didn't turn out that way (some claims are that they got nearly half the marketshare around the time of sonic 2, not sure how accurate that is but they clearly gave nintendo a run for their money)

SamuelSupreme said:
If you told me in the 90s the nintendo console would be looking at a Sonic game to end their struggles....I would have laughed
Click to expand...

haha...yeah
 
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