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Visiting Tokyo with Arin (Game Grumps) & Jirard The Completionist!


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We took a trip to Tokyo to check out the new SEGA of Japan HQ, see Tokyo Game Show, play some Team Sonic Racing, and record a special song in the studio with Jun Senoue himself!

Big thanks to Arin from Game Grumps and Jirard The Completionist for joining us, as well as Jun Senoue and the team at SEGA of Japan for offering up their time to host us!

(Content on below channels is NOT created by SEGA so please note there may be mature content there that is not appropriate for children or younger viewers):

Check out Game Grumps: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Cu...

Check out The Completionist: https://www.youtube.com/user/ThatOneV...

Also, yes, we will release the full version of the Big the Cat song that we made up someday. It's pretty fantastic, and it was created in about 10 minutes.

P.S. - Aaron (from SEGA) would like you to know that he does perhaps have musical talent but that he is saving it for a special moment in the future when the time is right.

P.P.S. - Allegedly.

I'll be mad if that doesn't end up on the Team Sonic Racing OST.

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This game's marketing continues to confuse me. At least we hear some tiny snippets of music - Super Sonic Racing has a new remix. 

EDIT - shit even that's just from ASRT

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So this was actually marketing for the game? Okay… it sure is something unexpected. I totally didn't connect it with TSR until the end.

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I think engaging the critics in some jokey fun is fine.

But I think rather than "flying them out to Japan for event access and shopping trips" I prefer "sending them a giant Sonic Colours banner that barely fits in their back garden". 

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Neither of them looked happy to be there. Why did Sega even bother?

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48 minutes ago, PC the Hedgehog said:

Neither of them looked happy to be there. Why did Sega even bother?

It is, in fairness, a very awkward situation.

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This is bad. If I wanted to watch someone with an unkempt beard look fed up with Sonic games, I'd just film myself playing Forces. Or at the very least, I'd tune in to the The Completionist channel on YouTube. Christ...

Look, I get that SEGA's target audience for Sonic games these days watches crap like Game Grumps and The Completionist, and I would have absolutely no issue with this kind of audience engagement if it was supplemental to actual information on this game. But for all we know about the game, TSR is basically just an album of Sonic remixes. They pulled the same crap with Forces a couple of years ago; we got information drip fed for that game, but SEGA still did that really useless (and painful to watch) Sonic Forces Academy with The Completionist and other YouTubers to promote the game. The social media accounts for Sonic are a good way of getting attention and engaging with the community, but they cannot be the only method of promoting games. What is the video even supposed to do? Because I can't tell. They barely even discuss the game. It all seems to hinge on the (now tired) joke about Big the Cat, and slapping some YouTube celebrity faces around the TSR logo.

11 minutes ago, Pawn said:

It is, in fairness, a very awkward situation.

It is, in fairness, a crappy video to make in the first place. 😕

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3 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

It is, in fairness, a crappy video to make in the first place. 😕

Well yeah, that's the point. I don't think it would have made the video any less awkward for Arin or Jirard to show enthusiasm when this is such a bizarre idea in the first place.

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Wow. The Gamegrumps really are now a huge part of the Sonic brand. Well... maybe not huge, but they play a noteworthy role in Sonic's marketing now.  

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2 hours ago, Tornado said:

It never ceases to amaze that the company that once came up with "GENESIS DOES" and "Welcome to the Next Level" has decided that the best way to advertise their Sonic games (even above and beyond memeing how much Sonic fucking sucks on Twitter) is to fly YouTubers famous for shitposting about how terrible Sonic always was all the way around the world to so they can get that sick internet meme cred from the people who still think there's anything about Game Grumps that is still watchable. ARIN, PLAYING A SONIC GAME AT SEGA'S EXPENSE!? HIS SMUG IRONIC DETACHMENT AT THE PROCEEDINGS SURE PASSES AS HUMOR!

Arin loves Sumo Digital's Sonic Racing games and Jun Senoue's Sonic music. He's said so several times on the show.

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They could have invited a Youtuber like SomeCallMeJohnny or FTA or literally anyone but Arin Hanson. I don't have much experience with his work but I've always gotten the vibe he legitimately hates the Sonic franchise with a passion. 

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I don't understand the logic in trying to buddy up with a guy whose online presence is based on not liking Sonic, and a guy who said Sonic Mania Plus is the only great Sonic game in 23 years, completely discrediting over a decade's worth of games. His opinion, sure. But he sure doesn't sound like the biggest enthusiast for the franchise out there. But it would make far more sense to maybe get people who are known for having a positive impact on the Sonic community out there?

Or, you know. Show us the fucking game instead of more concept art and music.

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I have friends who watch Game Grumps. They brought Arin up actually on Monday, saying he loves Sonic's design and was perplexed why they were changing it for the movie. I know nothing about Game Grumps really, I do watch Completionist episodes if it's a game I want to hear Jirard talk about though. I like his work.

This video though... there's virtually no content to it and no relevance to TSR. If you're not going to have your guests talk about the game, there's no reason to include them in the video.

Also, the Tokyo Game Show was last September. Even before the delay, why did it take so long to put this out? This is like early marketing material to try and get people ready for more info, not something for a month and a half from release.

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The youtubers are here because of their clout, not because of how much they like Sonic. That part kind of makes sense to me as much as I don't like Arin or the Completionist. 

The whole thing just kind of comes off as forced and awkward promotion for a game that's had a suspect promotion cycle to begin with. Like, there's no confidence or enthusiasm about the game they're covering. 

That's my biggest problem. Nobody involved with this whole PR side of Sonic seems to have much enthusiasm for the franchise unless it's Sonic Mania. Obviously you're not required to like every Sonic game to be apart of the SEGA machine, but your job is promotion. I doubt every Nintendo employee is actually hyped up to play the new Animal Crossing, but they bring positive energy to it at least. SEGA has never really been good at doing that from Lost World to now with Mania sometimes being the exception. 

I'm not invested in Team Sonic Racing but I'm just confused on what their thought process is here. I could at the very least see getting people who don't like Sonic involved to get an audience that doesn't care for him to look at the cool new game...but they're not showing the game.

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I understand the reason he goes easy on Arin since it has had a genuine effect on Game Grumps coverage. Arin actually said Mania was okay despite criticising games such as 3AK prior, and while he clearly played Forces more because it's an obvious 'bad Sonic game' to play upon, he was still much nicer to the game than I expected. He was much harsher to Adventure and other games. I do think that Arin's friendship with Aaron and Tyson Hesse has made him a bit softer on the Sonic franchise. I know Arin is not anywhere near as relevant as he once was, but Aaron's tactic to soften Game Grumps on the franchise seems to have worked. And seeing as it's helping the franchise, I don't see why he would stop doing a good job.

As for the Completionist, he's always been pro-Sonic. Jim Sterling gave Mania 95% and praised Forces, so no idea why he's being thrown under the bus despite nothing to do with the ordeal.

I think the core problem here is that Sonic fans have a strange persecution complex over the franchise being mostly lambasted over the last two decades, and so get really insecure whenever someone like Aaron doesn't act like a fanboy over criticism. When Aaron has acted unprofessionally, such as over IGN's Mania Plus review, the fans seemingly loved that. I think if Aaron acted like that to Arin everyone would be much happier, even though it would be far less effective in improving the franchise's reputation.

I think a lot of it is jealousy too. "Why did Arin get to go meet SEGA and Aaron while I don't and I love Sonic". Well, I'm afraid Arin is actually somewhat relevant and popular on Youtube, while you, aren't.

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6 minutes ago, do a barrel roll said:

That's it. I'm so fucking done. I have SEGA UK's phone number. I'm going to call them and tell them to get a new fucking community/social media manager and a new marketing team.

As terrible and embarrassing as SoA's PR for Sonic is, I don't think it's a good idea to go harassing companies over it.

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I'm actually one of the few people looking forward to TSR.

Alas I have literally no desire to watch this video.

That's how great the marketing for this game is.

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3 hours ago, Tornado said:

It never ceases to amaze that the company that once came up with "GENESIS DOES" and "Welcome to the Next Level" has decided that the best way to advertise their Sonic games (even above and beyond memeing how much Sonic fucking sucks on Twitter) is to fly YouTubers famous for shitposting about how terrible Sonic always was all the way around the world to so they can get that sick internet meme cred from the people who still think there's anything about Game Grumps that is still watchable. ARIN, PLAYING A SONIC GAME AT SEGA'S EXPENSE!? HIS SMUG IRONIC DETACHMENT AT THE PROCEEDINGS SURE PASSES AS HUMOR!

 

 

What will they think of next? Paying Jim Sterling to throw copies of Sonic Mania Plus into a woodchipper that has "Sonic 4 Green Eyes" spraypainted on the side? HOW WACKY!

In fact, sorry to pick you out specifically, but your point perfectly encapsulates the fanboyism I'm talking about and it's highly upvoted so a lot of people here clearly agree with it.

The central point of the post; your statement that the current marketing has degraded because SEGA is flying off people to their HQ who shitpost about Sonic never being good is untrue and complete hysteria.

The Completionist doesn't constantly go on about how much Sonic was 'never good'. In fact, he's typically praising Sonic as one of his favourite franchises and featuring many games from the franchise on his channel.

Neither does Sterling, although I'm really not sure why you'd bring him up, seeing as he gave Mania 95% and has a more favourable view of Forces than probably anyone on this forum. Shows how little you know about his opinions, since you are seemingly conflating his modern coverage with his earlier Sonic 4 reviews' criticism of the fanbase (which were positive reviews I might add, the only negative Sonic review I've known him give is for Colours).

So, yeah, Arin does shitpost Sonic, but that's one Youtuber. And as I've said, his opinions on Sonic have softened over the years after he's become friends with Aaron and Hesse. That's one person, not some huge marketing problem of flying multiple people out like you are claiming.

 

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29 minutes ago, do a barrel roll said:

That's it. I'm so fucking done. I'm tired of the Sonic social media shilling people who bash on the franchise when they should instead collaborate with fans who actually love this series. I have SEGA UK's phone number. I'm going to call them and tell them to get a new fucking community/social media manager and a new marketing team for the series because this is beyond stupid.

I would highly advise against that, lest you end up like that guy that called up Sega to give a 30-minute review of the IDW comics and has a weird hate boner for Ian Flynn for some reason. Don't be that guy.

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1 hour ago, SBR2 said:

I don't have much experience with his work but I've always gotten the vibe he legitimately hates the Sonic franchise with a passion. 

It is more a love-hate-relationship he has with Sonic. Kinda like many people nowadays. They love to hate Sonic. 

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I can honestly see what they were trying to go for with Jirard as, from what I’ve seen, his videos have often been way more fair and balanced than anything. Though Arin on the other hand... yeah, probably not the brightest idea in having him be the face of your game/brand at any point. The guy is known for shitting on the frnachise. Even if he is an actual fan of the series, he sure doesn’t portray that side all that often. Hell, both him and Jirard don't even look remotely interested in what’s going on for most of the video.

This whole “get critics in to promote content” thing only works when the brand is healthy and actually has good content to promote. I can tell you right now that the first of that isn’t remotely in Sonic’s favor currently and TSR doesn't look to be shaping up any better. Ya know, from what they actually choose to show of the damn game.

They spent more time going over what they brought at that store than showing the actual game. The actual fuck?

Like I'm sorry. I want to be optimistic with this game but literally just about everything they do with it outside of the music has been trying its hardest to get me turned off. I get the draw of having two big YouTubers in your video but someone should've seen that this wasn't the right move when filming it. Let alone going over the footage to edit it. Sure, go ahead and get that short amount of spotlight with the stars of the vid looking dead throughout 95% of it and not even showing the damn game.

What does it say about my feelings towards this entire thing when I think that the delay might've been some of the best news they put at this point?

... this isn't good...

 

44 minutes ago, do a barrel roll said:

That's it. I'm so fucking done. I'm tired of the Sonic social media shilling people who bash on the franchise when they should instead collaborate with fans who actually love this series. I have SEGA UK's phone number. I'm going to call them and tell them to get a new fucking community/social media manager and a new marketing team for the series because this is beyond stupid.

Literally never be that guy. You'd just be yelling at some poor person trying to make ends-meat that can't do a bloody thing about it (and probably hasn't even seen the video).

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