2014 is The Year Of Sonic "& Sports tape" *see post 1*

[Dejimon11]

12 PM to 3 PM, Wil348.Also, hate to crash the optimism of the New York City residents, but I'm pretty sure this event is trade only; you were supposed to RSVP by January 30th and it was invitation-only.Basically it's an E3 but for Sonic.

Aww man I wanted to go after school

[Diogenes]

Hopefully they won't do something as stupid as changing Uekawa's awesome design for the kid oriented Sonic Boom designs.

As if Sonic's current design isn't kid-oriented...

[Tani Coyote]

Aww man I wanted to go after school

Kind of sad for the NY fanbase that this was a trade show but... who knows, maybe Sonic Boom 2014 will still be in the Northeast? Who knows what they'll do with the con after last year's plot twist.

[azoo]

As if Sonic's current design isn't kid-oriented...

 

Which for this reason alone is why I find redesigning the cast to be one of the dumbest decisions ever made.

[Soniman]

Which for this reason alone is why I find redesigning the cast to be one of the dumbest decisions ever made.

Seriously. Whats the point of it? What does it add? There is no need for it at all. It's just so frustrating to think about

[Diogenes]

Seriously. Whats the point of it? What does it add? There is no need for it at all. It's just so frustrating to think about

Trying to appeal to more people, trying to shake off people's current negative perceptions and clearly defining the new direction as something apart from previous mistakes...

[Tani Coyote]

Never mind practically every brand undergoes redesigns to try and be more appealing to whichever demographic.

A redesign is never really needed, I think, but more or less every series undergoes it at some point.

[Soniman]

Trying to appeal to more people, trying to shake off people's current negative perceptions and clearly defining the new direction as something apart from previous mistakes...

 

Then just make better games, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the designs of the core cast of Sonic characters and I seriously doubt changing it now will suddenly gain wider appeal.

[Diogenes]

Then just make better games, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the designs of the core cast of Sonic characters and I seriously doubt changing it now will suddenly gain wider appeal.

Making better games doesn't increase the appeal of Sonic's design nor does it make a clear visual break between the past and the present/future.

[Tara]

Seriously. Whats the point of it? What does it add? There is no need for it at all. It's just so frustrating to think about

In addition to what Diogenes said, it also helps that it will grab more attention than the current designs by virtue of being different.  At this point in time, people are used to seeing Sonic in his current form.  Strictly from a marketing standpoint, it's not going to gather much attention when non-consumers have already made up their mind about it.  That being said, I'm not saying I support the new design changes, but it certainly isn't without a grand, overall effect.

[KHCast]

If you believe that changing their designs will change people's perceptions on the series, then I just gotta ask why. Sonic had his model and gameplay changed after 06 and he still got flack for that title.

[Nepenthe]

Redesigning Sonic doesn't ensure he will be more visually appealing because designs can be shit. It just means you will gather attention. And redesigning Sonic isn't the only way to gather attention either.

[JaidynReiman]

If this is a reboot I'll be sorely disappointed. It can be argued that Sonic's design changed from Classic to 3D, but that's not really a full reboot or redesign or anything. Its just a slight update.

 

Despite this, overall, the new designs other than Knuckles aren't significantly different. Its Knuckles that bothers me.

[Wraith]

If you believe that changing their designs will change people's perceptions on the series, then I just gotta ask why. Sonic had his model and gameplay changed after 06 and he still got flack for that title.

 

Because Unleashed wasn't good enough for most people to shake off 06

[SuperLink]

Diogenes is right in that a full redesign of Sonic and Co is the best way to not only grab attention but also throw off the ugly stigma of the series' past. It's the most effective way to persuade people that a "fresh start" is a real thing that's happening and that it might actually be worth giving another shot.

 

If and only if it's successful and praised from point one, which let's be honest is the main concern here. If the TV show or first few games of said reboot are no good, things are going to just be even worse than before, the reboot will forever be associated with poor quality, and the series is more likely to die altogether. Fun!

[Drunk Michael Myers]

New game for PS4/XBO is all i want.

[Diogenes]

If you believe that changing their designs will change people's perceptions on the series, then I just gotta ask why. Sonic had his model and gameplay changed after 06 and he still got flack for that title.

Redesigning Sonic doesn't ensure he will be more visually appealing because designs can be shit. It just means you will gather attention. And redesigning Sonic isn't the only way to gather attention either.

No one is saying this is guaranteed to make things better. It's an attempt. Whether it'll succeed, fail, or somewhere in between, we won't know until it's been out in the open for a while.

[azoo]

Sonic's last redesign (back in '99) was a minor one at most, with giving him longer limbs and a slightly more streamlined design helped broaden the demographic appeal a bit as well as make his design more flexible and easier to work with. And once again, like said before, no matter what retro fanboys will tell you the design differences between pre- and post- 1999 are not nearly as extreme as they were originally made out to be.

 

Redesigning them by adding clothes, changing the noodly cutesy style will do nothing good for this franchise. Sonic's design has always had a massive appeal to it, its one of the reasons this series is even still functioning because people found him worth salvaging.

 

Sonic's image in the past year or two has essentially been "the little hedgehog went through some problems but he's better now that Sega's decided to stop changing everything about him", and now that they're changing him to a more extreme extent than he's ever been changed, people aren't gonna be so happy.

[Tara]

Redesigning Sonic doesn't ensure he will be more visually appealing because designs can be shit. It just means you will gather attention. And redesigning Sonic isn't the only way to gather attention either.

No, but it is one way, and it happens to be the way that Sega's decided to go about doing it.  You're right in saying that there's a good chance the designs will be a massive failure, but assuming the characters really will be redesigned, what this means is that Sega is willing to take that chance for the sake of exposure.  They're currently operating under the fallacy that "exposure" = "sales."  I never said it was a good marketing tactic, after all.

[Nepenthe]

No one is saying this is guaranteed to make things better. It's an attempt. Whether it'll succeed, fail, or somewhere in between, we won't know until it's been out in the open for a while.

 

I'm not arguing a redesign's chances for success. I'm arguing why a redesign is unnecessary. Literally no one asked for this shit.

 

No, but it is one way, and it happens to be the way that Sega's decided to go about doing it.  You're right in saying that there's a good chance the designs will be a massive failure, but assuming the characters really will be redesigned, what this means is that Sega is willing to take that chance for the sake of exposure.  They're currently operating under the fallacy that "exposure" = "sales."  I never said it was a good marketing tactic, after all.

 

Of course not, and that's the problem. It's arguably been the problem for awhile, of them just throwing things at the wall and seeing what will and won't stick without regard for the strength of the concepts they already have at hand.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Nepenthe

[frokenok3]

Super skeptical and really worried about all these. I really dont know what to think about it.

At one point we have the games and keeping the designs the same. The other we have Sonic Boom, then we have this whole brand stuff. Year of Sonic & stuff as well.

Hoping for the best & expect anything. Whatever they will show and say i will take it calmly and move on...

 

[Diogenes]

I'm not arguing a redesign's chances for success. I'm arguing why a redesign is unnecessary.

Everything is unnecessary, this no more or less.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

I'm not arguing a redesign's chances for success. I'm arguing why a redesign is unnecessary.

All redesigns are technically "unnecessary". Doesn't mean they can't work for the better though.

[Tani Coyote]

I think we'll definitely see a package of announcements. It doesn't make much sense to invite a ton of gaming people and then solely discuss a cartoon, after all.

I'm trying to think what a Year of Sonic would really entail... beyond a cartoon or film it's not that drastic a change, is it?

[Nepenthe]

Everything is unnecessary, this no more or less.

 

Which is a broad statement that doesn't account for the context of whether or not a decision's necessity or lack thereof can be detrimental on this basis. In short, a sweeping redesign that no one asked for and has been negatively received on top of being unnecessary seems like a stupid fucking idea to me.

All redesigns are technically "unnecessary". Doesn't mean they can't work for the better though.

 

Schwarzenegger Knuckles really is working for the better. xP