SEGA West CEO Sees Chances Ahead For Sonic to "arc out to do different things"

[Detective Shadzter]

Following comments on Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 a few days ago, VG247 has posted up their full interview with SEGA West CEO Mike Hayes, and it features a couple more pieces of discussion about Sonic. When asked what his standout moment for the company is, Hayes expresses his pride for SEGA and Nintendo’s bringing together of both of their mascots for the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series.

That’s not the only standout moment for Hayes, though. The SEGA West boss also talks about his fondness for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, which he admires because it does something different with the Sonic the Hedgehog brand.

With Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood in mind, Hayes thinks there are more chances ahead to arc Sonic out to do other things.

Hayes ends the interview by noting the success of Sonic Colours in sales, ratings and popularity.

Source: VG247

http://www.sonicstad...hings%E2%80%9D/

I don't know what to think about this. I enjoyed Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, so I'd like to see more of that, and Sonic and co were a nice fit to SEGA Superstars Tennis and Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. I think Sonic would work well exploring other genres, but I think some he may be better kept well clear of. Either way, it's nice to see Mike Hayes appreciates imagination and would seemingly like to see Sonic explore more genres.

[Marcello]

I'd like to see Chronicles' story to be finished, but the game would have to be massively improved in gameplay, music and graphics.

Edited August 15, 2011 by MarcelloF

[Vertekins]

Chronicles did something different for the Sonic brand but it didn't do it well. I like to see different genres in Sonic but I like seeing it done by competent studios. Sumo Digital was brilliant with S+SASR, Bioware's handheld division was terrible with Chronicles. If Chronicles was handed to a studio that actually bother to do the research and put in the effort, I personally would be very very eager to see a Chronicles sequel. Either that or Bioware's handheld division should get it's act together.

Colours did far more for the series than M+S and Chronicles ever did. The only thing M+S had over Colours was better sales and a possibly wider appeal.

[Octarine]

This is really good news to me. Chronicles was pretty lousy, but it turned out badly for reasons that were mostly unrelated to the basic idea of a Sonic RPG, and I'm glad that someone high up still sees potential in the idea. There's literally nothing I want more for this franchise than a Paper Mario-quality RPG.

Not that I'd say no to a well-done spinoff of any genre, really. We've already had Shuffle and Battle and Black Knight; there's precedent for Sonic doing practically anything at this point. As long as it means secondary characters appearing and/or sparkly new dialogue, I'm willing to give pretty much anything a shot.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Whilst I like Sonic Chronicles and I would like to see the story finished.

I'd also like to see it go to a studio that actually knows what they're doing and understands the franchise. Bioware demonstrated with Chronicles that they've not got a bloody clue.

Not to mention how the 'replay' aspect of the game was completely broken beyond belief, something which shouldn't have happened in any RPG game.

[Flyboy Fox]

I would LOVE to see another Sonic RPG - perhaps one on a home console rather than a handheld (or maybe on both). I really did enjoy Chronicles despite its flaws, and think there's real potential for either a sequel or an entirely new RPG set in the Sonic'verse.

I'd actually love a Sonic-based MMORPG, omg yes, despite the obvious recolour/fancharacter fuel. There's places in Second Life that are pretty much Sonic RPG zones, but I'd love a real ones *Hides in a bunker*

[Blue Blood]

This is really good news to me. Chronicles was pretty lousy, but it turned out badly for reasons that were mostly unrelated to the basic idea of a Sonic RPG, and I'm glad that someone high up still sees potential in the idea. There's literally nothing I want more for this franchise than a Paper Mario-quality RPG.

I believe Iizuka wanted to do an RPG a while back, and it eventually ended up as Adventure 1. A Sonic RPG could be fantastic, but like you said, Chronicles did everything wrong. I'd love to see them take on the genre again.

Whilst I like Sonic Chronicles and I would like to see the story finished.

I'd also like to see it go to a studio that actually knows what they're doing and understands the franchise. Bioware demonstrated with Chronicles that they've not got a bloody clue.

Not to mention how the 'replay' aspect of the game was completely broken beyond belief, something which shouldn't have happened in any RPG game.

All of this. Absolutely all of it. If anything, I'd like to see Chronicles' story remade. Same story, but executed much better. It was horribly done-

- The first time you meet Shade, reveals she's an Echidna. Should have been "WOW OMG" instead was like "oh hang on, I couldn't really tell what was happening".

- None of the characters had any relevance to the plot, except Sonic, Knuckles, Eggman and Shade. Everyone else was just thrown in.

- To say some characters were broken and over-powered is an understatement.

- "Hello rival Alien Slugs and Robots. Can you guys be friends now?" "Sure!" (any potential in the plot was constantly muted)

- Characterisation was dreadful.

- Battle system sucked.

None of that has anything to do with the genre specifically, it's all how it was pulled off. If Hayes is pleased with Chronicles for doing something different and want the series to continue doing different things, then I'm all for it really. Especially if it means another RPG is possible at some point.

I'd actually love a Sonic-based MMORPG, omg yes, despite the obvious recolour/fancharacter fuel. There's places in Second Life that are pretty much Sonic RPG zones, but I'd love a real ones *Hides in a bunker*

Oh goodness, not an MMO. The fancrap that would come out of it is ridiculous, and it would be perhaps too far removed form what the Sonic series is.

Edited August 15, 2011 by Blue Blood

[Kuzu]

Chronicles was really meh, but i would like to see its story wrapped up. If they do make a sequel Bioware better do iit themselves and not shove it off to a division that hasn't done a game before.

[Koopalmier]

Sonic Golf and Sonic Tennis are now in development. Also Sonic Strikers, Sonic Baseball and Sonic Shuffle 2. And Sonic & Mario at the Oly- owait

I liked Sonic Chronicles for being a Sonic game that was different from usual. It was executed very badly though.

I'd like to see more Sonic RPGs, indeed (but well done this time).

A Sonic RPG made by AlphaDreams would make me shit bricks though. Hey, I like dreaming.

Edited August 15, 2011 by Koopalmier

[Carbo]

Chronicles' problem for me wasn't what it did right or wrong, but more what it didn't do in general. I enjoyed playing Chronicles, it was a standard RPG title, had pretty fun dialogue trees, and was marred less by the fact what Sonic fans found disingenuous, and more by the fact that the people who made it were Bioware. "Standard" shouldn't be much of an option for those guys.

As such I'd gladly give Bioware the benefit of doubt and let them have a second chance, were they to return to the fray as the developers of Sonic Chronicles 2. Bioware is one of the most prolific and best of RPG developers out there, and with a track record such as KOTOR and Mass Effect it's hard to fault them for a lot, as game developers. Clearly the handheld dev team didn't exactly have much knowledge in terms of handling the platform it was constructed on what with them mainly being developers for stationary consoles. If they've learned from their experiences since, I'm looking forward to it.

[Diogenes]

Fire this man. Out of a cannon, into the sun.

But seriously. I'm open to new ideas, but a guy who admires Chronicles for being different, in spite of it being terrible, is worrying. Too many people start thinking like that and we'd right back where we were a few years ago, with the fishing and the treasure hunting and the guns and the aliens and the interspecies corpsesmooching.

Not to mention how the 'replay' aspect of the game was completely broken beyond belief, something which shouldn't have happened in any RPG game.

Broken in what way? Overpowered? Because Chrono Trigger did that and it was very nice; it let you power through the combat so you could quickly get to the different endings and safely try out different teams. I'd imagine it sucks in Chronicles because there really isn't anything worth seeing again.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Broken in what way?

Why am I more than three quarters of the way through new game+ and I've only managed to go up one level?

[Octarine]

It's kind of funny, actually; I wasn't much of a Sonic fan when Chronicles was first announced, and the only thing that made it interesting to me was that Bioware were developing it. At this point I consider it one of the weakest entries in the franchise and I wish it had been developed by anybody else. Bioware are generally pretty great, but I guess they just didn't give much of a shit about their handheld division. Does Bioware even have a handheld division anymore?

If anything, I'd like to see Chronicles' story remade. Same story, but executed much better. It was horribly done-

- The first time you meet Shade, reveals she's an Echidna. Should have been "WOW OMG" instead was like "oh hang on, I couldn't really tell what was happening".

- None of the characters had any relevance to the plot, except Sonic, Knuckles, Eggman and Shade. Everyone else was just thrown in.

- To say some characters were broken and over-powered is an understatement.

- "Hello rival Alien Slugs and Robots. Can you guys be friends now?" "Sure!" (any potential in the plot was constantly muted)

- Characterisation was dreadful.

- Battle system sucked.

If you take all of that out, is there anything left besides a Wikipedia article on Archie Sonic?

I dunno. Chronicles did a few things with its story and characterization that I really liked (referencing a few obscure character facts like Amy's tarot cards, visiting the destroyed-ish Station Square, some of the ancient echidna history), but not too many. Not enough to justify any kind of sequel or remake, at least for me. I think the better thing would be to start fresh under a different name and style, preferably something more lighthearted to match the main series' current tone (though not its level of story content, obviously).

Edited August 15, 2011 by Octarine

[Your Vest Friend]

Question; How much sway does SEGA West even have over developing decisions? From what I see, this is what he personally thinks of the franchise and how he sees it going. I mean yeah, they may hold some power when it comes to American/Not Japanese-developed stuff, but SoJ has to approve it too, right?

Edited August 15, 2011 by VEDJ-F

[Kuzu]

Fire this man. Out of a cannon, into the sun.

But seriously. I'm open to new ideas, but a guy who admires Chronicles for being different, in spite of it being terrible, is worrying. Too many people start thinking like that and we'd right back where we were a few years ago, with the fishing and the treasure hunting and the guns and the aliens and the interspecies corpsesmooching.

...Ya know I don't get this, when a guy wants to do something different its considered bad? I thought doing something different was needed?

[Shoot em up Capbusta]

I wouldn't mind a sonic battle 2 or a new sonic rpg but chronicles 2 naw. The only thing I liked about chronicles was the gameplay. I mean the story sucked, the art direction was horrible, the music damn near made my ears bleed and the characterization of Sonic and co felt out of place to me.

[Diogenes]

...Ya know I don't get this, when a guy wants to do something different its considered bad? I thought doing something different was needed?

I thought I explained my point pretty well. I'm open to new ideas, but this guy is praising a bad game simply because it did something new. That's bad thinking.

[Kuzu]

I thought I explained my point pretty well. I'm open to new ideas, but this guy is praising a bad game simply because it did something new. That's bad thinking.

Praising something new, and being a bad game are two different things. Its not like he said it was a good game, he just said he liked that it was different from the norm.

[Diogenes]

“But in terms of imagination, I actually thought what we did with Chronicles was pretty good, which was actually trying to do something with Sonic that wasn’t just about speed and getting from A to B as effectively as possible. And that, I thought, was a pretty good game.

VV Edited August 15, 2011 by Diogenes

[T-Min]

VV

Aw, c'mon, opinons. (Even though I utterly despised it too XD)

Anyway, I don't mind if Sonic arcs out into other things. I just hope I end up liking said other things better than the previous spinoffs. And SEGA, don't even think about making Shadow the Hedgehog 2: First-Person Shooting Angst Action.

[Kuzu]

VV

He said in terms of imagination, not in gameplay.

[DarkLight]

A game that was basically the Archie comics in disguise and it's later half seemingly straight out of the 3rd Season of Sonic X is very imaginative.

[batson]

The only thing that really bothered me about Chronicles was the music, which is hardly enough of a reason to dislike the game. So sure, i would like a sequel to it.

Also, i think its really petty to dismis the game simply is because it brought in a few elements from the western interpretations of Sonic (which is precisely what some people do, even if it hasnt come up in this particular thread yet). Its not like this is the only time that some element new to the game series has popped up in the Sonic universe and been presented as something that has "always" been there (looking at you, Cubot and Orbot!).

[DarkLight]

I was dissmissing the western elements for being unimaginitive, not for being western elements themselves.

[Blue Blood]

If you take all of that out, is there anything left besides a Wikipedia article on Archie Sonic?

I dunno. Chronicles did a few things with its story and characterization that I really liked (referencing a few obscure character facts like Amy's tarot cards, visiting the destroyed-ish Station Square, some of the ancient echidna history), but not too many. Not enough to justify any kind of sequel or remake, at least for me. I think the better thing would be to start fresh under a different name and style, preferably something more lighthearted to match the main series' current tone (though not its level of story content, obviously).

I'm saying everything was done badly, not that it should be taken out.