Is another fan boom gonna happen soon?

[TB100]

Now I'm sure some of us remember or at least know the day, that SEGA went third party. That day was huge for Sonic, because when SA2 Battle and Sonic X came out, a huge fan boom happened. A lot of people that weren't originally aware of Sonic, or were young at the time, got into Sonic, and thus it would go on and lead to the large and infamous fandom that we know today. Now something I'm starting to notice these days is that a lot of kids these days are into Sonic now, all thanks to one show, Sonic Boom. This show despite it being considered a failure by SEGA, has attracted a massive cult following by General audiences and fans alike. And has been for a lot of kids so far, their introduction to Sonic the Hedgehog in general, now what about Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic? Well Classic and Modern Sonic has become a lot of kids first Sonic these days, because of the Classic remasters by Taxman and Stealth, Sonic Colors and Generations, and I'm sure Sonic Mania and Project 17 will also be a lot of people's first Sonic game. So now I'm thinking, will Boom and Classic cause a another fan boom just as Modern did back in 2002-2004, will these and other forums receive a sudden influx of members five years from now, just as some Sonic forums did back in the day, will there be a boom of shitty fanart and shipping wars just like the days of Tailsmo vs Tailream and Sonadow vs Sonamy, What do you think, will  another fan boom happen in the next few years? or nah? (I never expected to be like the boom that Modern caused back in the early to mid 2000s. But I'm still curious seeing as how many kids are getting into Sonic thanks to Boom, Colors, Generations and the Classic remasters. (I chose those four specifically since they're the ones making the most impact on the franchise.)

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NewbieBoom for those who have no idea what i'm talking about.

 

[Your Vest Friend]

Honestly, I wouldn't think so but I'm not the greatest predictor of demographic trends. While Sonic Boom the show has been doing...stable numbers, I've not seen the same passion and fan discussion in the fandom of that show that I saw for Sonic X fourteen years ago. Sonic Mania primarily seems like it's not even aimed at newbies (I mean, it'll be appropriate for the primary kid demographic but it's really the people around my age or older that'll eat it up) so that won't bring them in either. I have no idea what Sonic 2017's plan is because we know so little about it. 

[KoDaiko]

Is Boom actually considered failure by SEGA? I don't follow much Boom-related news, is this based on the overall sale and views or SEGA seem to imply that?

Sorry, it just reminds me of that "rumor" of the comic ending because Boom was a total failure when the show is somewhat popular, the game is still being promoted in Japan, and hearing that the second game was decent.

 

[JezMM]

The franchise was a lot more consistent back during that third party boom, so for some reason I can't quite see it happening in the same way.  Mania is aimed at all fans, including those who fell out of touch with the series, but I can't see such fans being willing to look into the modern games due to it, since all the tropes that they relate to the modern Sonic that they dislike are still gonna be there once they're done with Mania.

Sonic Boom is hard to say since we're at a point where none of the recent games, both Boom and otherwise, haven't been particularly good or offered especially "involving" experiences like Sonic Adventure 2 did for a lot of new fans who jumped on at the third party point.  But times, and kids, have changed.  Maybe there are plenty of kids who have discovered Sonic through the cartoons, gotten a hold of fire & ice, lost world, and dash, and had a grand old time and now consider themselves big fans, etc, like, that's enough for them.

[Your Vest Friend]

37 minutes ago, KoDaiko said:

Is Boom actually considered failure by SEGA? I don't follow much Boom-related news, is this based on the overall sale and views or SEGA seem to imply that?

Nothing's been said explicitly (and given that companies tend not to talk about stuff like that, probably never will), but it surely must have fallen short of projected profits. The games tanked (all of them), the comic got done in by circumstances outside its control, the show hasn't exactly buzzed the franchise interest, and the merch is a quiet area, but I don't think we've seen the sheer amount of merchandise made that SoA told us would come out of it. 

[Meta77]

Very doubtful. While popular sonic will never have a huge boom. The movie could help if it's good. 

[Danj86]

Wasn't SA2 Battle a launch title on The GameCube? I remember getting it close to when I got my own along with Luigi's Mansion. Was there a boom in popularity back then? I didn't really notice. But then again, I never had access to the internet easily or a community I could follow that would keep updates on what's happening back then. I would've fought the boom happen when Sonic Heroes came out as that was the first multi-platform title. Meaning more people could buy and play it without needing a specific console.

Anyway, I'm sure a boom will happen again at some point, but I'd find it hard to credit Boom with any of it. Who knows how Mania and the mystery new game will turn out?

[CottonCandy]

I dunno. People jumped into the sonic wagon through different ways, whether it be a cartoon or a game. Plus, I'm a grown adult so I don't have the slightest clue to what kind sonic media is getting through with kids nowadays. It's really hard to say if one is happening or not.

Maybe 10 years from now, you got plenty of young adults who got into sonic through Sonic Boom, mobile games or the movie. It wouldn't surprise me.

[KoDaiko]

4 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

Nothing's been said explicitly (and given that companies tend not to talk about stuff like that, probably never will), but it surely must have fallen short of projected profits. The games tanked (all of them), the comic got done in by circumstances outside its control, the show hasn't exactly buzzed the franchise interest, and the merch is a quiet area, but I don't think we've seen the sheer amount of merchandise made that SoA told us would come out of it. 

Oh, ok. So it's a failure as in "not a big hit, didn't meet company's goal of success" and not the failure as in "everything sucked, no one likes them". 

 

As for whether it would cause a boom, I don't know. 

As JezMM said, at that time the main style was only Modern since Classic was a thing of the past. Now there's like three different styles. Boom has a completely different gameplay than the mainstream Sonic....Ok, even if the new fans didn't play the game and only watched the cartoon, mainstream Sonic is somewhat different in characterization and setting. Even Classic and Modern are similar yet still different in style and gameplay. The crossover seem to be an official attempt to mix in the target audience, but that doesn't guarantee Classic fans will get into Modern (which is where all the "material" for the fandom is).

At the same time, as CottonCandy say, you can enter a fanbase in any way. You could've played the game. You could've watched the cartoon. You could've read the comics. You could've saw all of them on the internet for free without helping the companies. That's what let people easily enter and enjoy a fandom to create fan material.  So sales would be uncertain, but the fandom may get a boom, the question being whether people are willing to give the different Sonics a chance.

But I can't imagine Sonic getting a large boom. I dunno why. (Also, I can't imagine there would be hoards of "shitty fanart and shipping wars" because...that's not new? There may be new members, but the Sonic fanbase is already quite huge, including both deep and shallow fans, and many are continuing the shipping wars and production of fanarts. Unless it's shown to be a visible repeating pattern it would be like throwing a match into lava. I think it would be more calmer than the original since the fanbase is already set up.)

 

[Badnik Mechanic]

How do we measure this? 

Because it's already happened if we look at the attention and retention that the social media accounts are getting. 

[NintendoSoul]

I don't think we'll see anything like the Sonic Adventure 2 explosion. That time has come and gone, and the Sonic game still has a lot to make up for in the days passed.

[Shadowlax]

If 2017 is amazing, maybe. I don't think there will be an sa2 type thing again, not because they can't do it. Sa2 was a specific type of lightning in a bottle. Sega has yet to actually learn this though, hopefully they do. Or we might have another " silver" situation with whatever new character they try to introduce in 2017 if there is one. 

Boom I don't think will be causing it, folks don't seem to care too much about that cartoon. I don't really see a lot of sonic, or cartoon commentators talk about the thing... it just sort of exists. 

 

On 1/10/2017 at 3:32 PM, Mayor D said:

How do we measure this? 

Because it's already happened if we look at the attention and retention that the social media accounts are getting. 

I don't think that's an actual reflection of any type of retention beyond " the sonic twitter said a funny" 

[Badnik Mechanic]

45 minutes ago, Shadowlax said:

don't think that's an actual reflection of any type of retention beyond " the sonic twitter said a funny" 

So when all those thousands of extra followers get the notification for the Mania trailer and start talking positively about the game and placing pre-orders.

Do we just discount that?

[AAUK]

15 minutes ago, Mayor D said:

So when all those thousands of extra followers get the notification for the Mania trailer and start talking positively about the game and placing pre-orders.

Do we just discount that?

They post actual news? Can someone tell them they have a TV series and a comic and stuff?

[Your Vest Friend]

The comic I can see not being promoted because Aaron's under obligation only to promote the stuff that SEGA actively have in the games. He has promoted comic covers before, but only specific ones (the Mega Drive series, Genesis of a Hero, and two of the Shattered covers, one being the Knuckles trapping Sonic variant and the other being the Arin-placating variant cover). He hasn't even promoted the Sonic the Fighters variant cover, because despite being a game ported only in 2012, it (and Honey) are not seen as actively part of the games today.

The TV series...I dunno. 

[SSF1991]

Fan Boom? I didn't know the sequel to Sonic Boom was made.

...*hides*

[FriendBot]

3 hours ago, VEDJ-F said:

The comic I can see not being promoted because Aaron's under obligation only to promote the stuff that SEGA actively have in the games. He has promoted comic covers before, but only specific ones (the Mega Drive series, Genesis of a Hero, and two of the Shattered covers, one being the Knuckles trapping Sonic variant and the other being the Arin-placating variant cover). He hasn't even promoted the Sonic the Fighters variant cover, because despite being a game ported only in 2012, it (and Honey) are not seen as actively part of the games today.

The TV series...I dunno. 

The Sonic Tumblr promoted 2 episodes from Season 2, Flynn's debut episode and last week's episode. They also posted the Season 2 trailer for Boom like a week after the season first aired.

[Shadowlax]

14 hours ago, Mayor D said:

So when all those thousands of extra followers get the notification for the Mania trailer and start talking positively about the game and placing pre-orders.

Do we just discount that?

Until we see how that actually transfers into sales, no. No it does not. 

I know people who follow the sonic twitter but think sonic is shitty, one of those people I have been friends with for a lot of my life. Who they follow on twitter and what they actually inadge in are a lot more separate than people actually think. And not just video games, either, musicians comedians ect, who follow them on twitter but don't actually engage in the product. That isn't to suggest however social media doesn't help sell things, to suggest that would be a denlial of reality. But what I am saying, every media follower doesn't translate to every sale, and even more so than that, how many of those people following sonic aren't already actively engaged in sonic and are following sonic because they already care to various degrees. Sonic is a world famous multimedia franchise, this isn't some indie game on the come up, shit games aside, sonic would problably attract followers regardless because he is sonic. Your claims have no actual basis, or numerical proof on the effect of sales besides conjecture. 

So as I said before " there is no proof of retention beyond ' sonic made a funny' " 

Hell I watch the super bestfriends who actively shit on sonic, at least pat and matt , but think the twitter is funny. Sonic twitter isn't sonic games. Which is the end goal of all this.