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Preview  Sonic Cubed
- By Andrew Weatherton
Now that Sega has given up the console business and become a third-party developer, they have the freedom to develop their well-established gaming franchises on the ‘competition’s’ gaming systems. With this change comes the luxury of choosing a specific system to develop for based on demographical appeal. I feel strongly that Sega will have great success as a third-party because of their many popular gaming franchises --- Sonic, Phantasy Star, Penzar Dragoon, excellent sports titles... They’ve slipped up in the hardware business several times, but their software is what sets them apart and being a third-party will allow them to concentrate on what’s most important; making great games.
Sonic has been a huge asset of Sega’s over the past 10 years. He gives the company attitude and mass-market appeal. So, what sort of assurance can we have that Sega’s blue blur is headed to Nintendo’s GameCube? Firstly, Sonic the Hedgehog Advance is already in development for Nintendo’s powerful new portable. Secondly, Sonic fits very well into Nintendo’s demographic. His appeal reaches both young and old gamers in a way that Nintendo’s other characters like Mario, Samus, and Donkey Kong do. Additionally, Sega has a respect for Nintendo as a game-making company.
The strongest proof available as of yet comes from an answer that Peter Moore, president and COO of Sega America, gave us in an interview at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference:
“…if you were to look at a Sega franchise that fits well on the GameCube then, obviously, Sonic is at the top of that list. And from our point of view, we'll be looking very seriously at what GameCube has to offer, and I know that Yuji Naka, the creator of Sonic, really likes the GameCube hardware. So ultimately, it’s not going to be a shock to anybody if Sonic shows up on GameCube. I think the demographics match, from what I understand, [towards the people that the] GameCube will appeal to. Sonic certainly is a character everybody in the business knows.”
This comment is very exciting, not only does it support all of the points mentioned above but it also shows that Yuji Naka (the driving force behind all things Sonic) is excited about the GameCube’s hardware. So, I have good reason to be optimistic that a Sonic game will be coming to the GameCube.
Why would a Sonic game on the GameCube be important? Nintendo needs to have high quality games on their new home console. They’re not going to be able to compete with Sony or even Microsoft in sheer amount of software available, they need to take a different stance. At E3 2001 the company began to plug their new slogan; the “Nintendo Difference.” This difference is found in the company’s software, which will be of greater average quality than what Sony or Microsoft have to offer. Having Sega making a Sonic game for the system would be perfect. If you haven’t already, go play Sonic Adventure or Sonic Adventure 2, these games are excellent examples of what Sega’s renowned ‘Sonic Team’ can do with their mascot in 3D worlds. With the GameCube, Sonic Team will have even greater creative freedom.
- 7.13.2001 |
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