Sonic Boom (Working Title)

[Chili Dawg]

I know I'm beating a dead steroided echidna

 

but

 

WHY

 

why on earth would you do that to Knuckles...

 

Fuck this gay earth, Adventures and OVA are the only Sonic toons I need.

[Wraith]

That and Sonic, even as a silhouette is more iconic and recognizable even more more so than Mickey Mouse.

 

I wouldn't go that far. Sonic's doesn't have Mario levels of recognizable but plenty of people know him when they see him. 

[KHCast]

That and Sonic, even as a silhouette is more iconic and recognizable even more more so than Mickey Mouse.

I wouldn't say that...

[Tara]

You know... I'm going to put up an semi-orginal complaint about this...

 

Pretend, you know nothing about Sonic. Just pretend you know absolutely nothing about Sonic, you don't know what he looks like, who his friends are... you don't even know that he's a hedgehog.

 

I come upto you and say the following.

 

"This is our teaser image for a new TV show called Sonic Boom in which Sonic and his friends fight against a villain trying to turn their friends into robots"

 

 

Which one of those images do you think is Sonic?

 

Me? If you had asked me that? I would say... Knuckles... Why would I say that?

 

Well, for starters, we have 4 characters standing in a line, and due to the way these things work, we can discard the ones on the outside since they're never the main protagonist, it's always the 'central' character.

 

But we have 2 people it could be... So which one is it? Remember you know nothing about Sonic.

 

Which one out of those is standing like a stereotypical hero with the big muscles and the arching back? Which one of those looks like they fight robots? It's Knuckles, for me, I would pick him every time.

 

Does anyone else see a bit of a problem with this? Especially when it comes to marketting it? Fortunately I suspect that Sonic as a brand character is strong enough that virtually anyone who this is being pitched too won't be confused but, if you didn't know much, from that image, Knuckles looks like the main protagonist, not Sonic.

Sonic has twenty years worth of history behind him.  It's not as though that kids today don't have access to the internet, or the games for that matter.  I mean, I know you're saying it would be confusing to those who know nothing about Sonic, but it's not that hard to find out is what I'm saying.  If someone initially mistakes Knuckles for the leading role, then they'd easily find out they were mistaken.

Edited October 2, 2013 by Akito

[Lady Soniko]

I wouldn't go that far. Sonic's doesn't have Mario levels of recognizable but plenty of people know him when they see him. 

 

 According to a poll conducted during Sonic's height of popularity in 1990, the character was more recognizable to American children thanMario and Mickey Mouse. 

[Badnik Mechanic]

Oh yeah, something that was in the press release that I don't think we've really talked about yet since, well ever.

 

 

SEGA is actively seeking partners in support of the new series launch across a range of industries including broadcast and licensing.

 

More or less confirms Sega wants physical products like toys/action figures based on this show.

[Wraith]

According to a poll conducted during Sonic's height of popularity in 1990, the character was more recognizable to American children thanMario and Mickey Mouse. 

 

 

 

 in 1990,

 

 

Sonic is nowhere near that popular these days. 

[iDEATH]

Which one of those images do you think is Sonic?

 

Me? If you had asked me that? I would say... Knuckles... Why would I say that?

 

Well, for starters, we have 4 characters standing in a line, and due to the way these things work, we can discard the ones on the outside since they're never the main protagonist, it's always the 'central' character.

 

But we have 2 people it could be... So which one is it? Remember you know nothing about Sonic.

 

Which one out of those is standing like a stereotypical hero with the big muscles and the arching back? Which one of those looks like they fight robots? It's Knuckles, for me, I would pick him every time.

 

Does anyone else see a bit of a problem with this? Especially when it comes to marketting it? Fortunately I suspect that Sonic as a brand character is strong enough that virtually anyone who this is being pitched too won't be confused but, if you didn't know much, from that image, Knuckles looks like the main protagonist, not Sonic.

 

Like others have said, the Knux design looks like the big dumb muscle character, not really the main character.

 

Also, I'd say this teaser isn't really meant to whet the appetites of the general public. This is meant to whet the appetite of the Sonic community. Those that don't know a thing about Sonic will be introduced to the series when the proper character art is released.

[Lady Soniko]

Sonic is nowhere near that popular these days. 

 

It's not about his games, it's about the character himself, face it Sonic is literally so iconic in the gaming world.

 

I feel like doing a social experiment in my town to actually see the ratio of people who recognize Sonic from just his Silhouette

[Wraith]

It's not about his games, it's about the character himself, face it Sonic is literally so iconic in the gaming world.

 

 And as the new generation rolls into an era where Sonic is nowhere near the top, less people recognized him. 

 

He may still be plenty recognizable, but he's nowhere near Micky Mouse, let along PAST him. 

[Willsy]

To be honest, I think that teaser we got was concept art. I don't think the actual show will look like this. All characters will probably look true to their game designs with minor tweaks, as Iizuka is over watching this to make the characters "true to their game forms".

[Frogging101]

Also, when reading the press release, this sentence stuck out to me:

 

"In the New Business & Licensing Side, we are proud and excited to handle the representation of Sonic which counts among the leading characters loved by kids. Thanks to our 360° platform which includes Digital Activities, Magazines, Indoor Parks, Grass Root events, we will push Sonic and the Consumer Products to a new level.”

 

It sounds like they're going to market this to the moon and back, which is good for Sonic, I suppose.

Why can't they market actual games like this? Jesus Christ, SEGA...

Edited October 2, 2013 by Frogging101

[Blue Blood]

It's not about his games, it's about the character himself, face it Sonic is literally so iconic in the gaming world.

 

I feel like doing a social experiment in my town to actually see the ratio of people who recognize Sonic from just his Silhouette

 

Actually now that you say that I can say one thing in favour of these designs: Sonic's rendered in 3D 99% of the time now and his silhouette absolutely sucks. Seriously, what is this thing?

'scuse the sparkles, it was the first suitable image I could see on Google.

 

You can only really identify him from a side-on perspective, and even then the spikes on his head are a bit too complicated to make it easily replicated:

 

When you look at 2D Sonic art, he's almost always shown with 3 spikes going off to the left or right. If this teaser image is anything to go by, we might be seeing something slightly more discernible.

[Indigo Rush]

Was gonna say, Blue Blood, that's a bit too fabulous for my tastes.

[Kuzu]

So you guys think that its not really a redesign, but rather a changing in proportions?

[Lady Soniko]

So you guys think that its not really a redesign, but rather a changing in proportions?

 

Amy seems to be suffering from a receding hair line too...

[Celestia]

I could see that, actually. Something based heavily on the source material, but with an original twist. Maybe the animators/designers didn't want to use the same body shape for nearly every character (although most animators would probably embrace that, lol).

[Tenko]

I get the feeling we will see more of these comedy type simple design shows with less of an overall plot and more self contained episodes with the popularity of MLP and shows like Adventure Time etc that have really taken off.

Its easy to see why Sega wants in on it. Even the latest rumor of Transformers Prime's replacement with its run concluding seems to point to a more kid friendly, comedy with simple designs.

It's the new in thing, like FPS and social crap has been to gaming the last decade.

[Willsy]

Was gonna say, Blue Blood, that's a bit too fabulous for my tastes.

Want a t-shirt of that silhouette now. Blingee Sanic tees FTW.

Again,this could be concept art. I don't think they'd depart so far from the games like this.

[Strickerx5]

I'm actually pretty psyched for this. Sure knuckles looks... bad(can't really find a better word) but keep in mind that this is just a silhouette. The overall design could still look decent for all we know. As for the whole comical approach, it could definitely work. It's really the writing that's going to make it or break it. I'm actually surprised at the amount of backlash that fact is getting. It wasn't but just a couple of months ago when I saw dozens of comments ranking a comical sonic plot over a serious one. Here I thought I was in the minority who wanted the opposite. Though, for 11 minute episodes, I'm going to have to say that I'm perfectly ok with this approach. Maybe after they find a solid footing they can go into deeper plot elements. But, I'm going to hold my opinion of it till I actually see it. It wouldn't be the first time a show aimed for the 6-11 age demographic entertained me...

 

Anyways, has it been confirmed what animation style their using?

[Diogenes]

So you guys think that its not really a redesign, but rather a changing in proportions?

A change in proportions (especially as drastic as Knuckles) is a redesign.

And I think it's pretty clear that they've done more than change their proportions.

[iDEATH]

To be honest, I think that teaser we got was concept art. I don't think the actual show will look like this. All characters will probably look true to their game designs with minor tweaks, as Iizuka is over watching this to make the characters "true to their game forms".

 

Highly doubt that. The show must be well into development by now, it wouldn't make any sense to promote it with designs they won't be using. I guess there's a precedent for it with Sonic cartoons what with the White moustache robotnik images and Nazo but I don't think that's happening here. Pretty sure this is what we're getting.

[Kuzu]

A change in proportions (especially as drastic as Knuckles) is a redesign.

And I think it's pretty clear that they've done more than change their proportions.

 

Ok, a drastic redesign then, gawd.

[RisingForever]

I think the third Nintendo-exclusive game is going to be based on this cartoon, especially if the third game is launching in October, which is looking more likely as we get closer to 2014 and the usual spring announcement of a new Sonic game.

 

Excuse me as I pray that this doesn't happen and Knuckles's new design returns from the horrible dimension it came from.

[DGam'r]

So Sonic has fingernails now and Knuckles has fingers in this show....I don't know whether to like or hate this yet.

 

 

I really wanna know why they want to aim the show at 6-11 year olds? Like, I just want to know