The GHZ Forum

New Game has Old Name
New game simply called Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic’s next-gen game is to be simply titled Sonic the Hedghog. Announcing the game in a press release, Sega Japan state that the new game aims recapture the thrill of speed and graphical advancement that was present in the original Sonic game. Reusing the title is Sega’s way of communicating its desire to return to the starting point of the series.*

Sonic the Hedgehog was originally announced at Sega’s Consumer Strategy Exhibition 2005. Watch Impress have these pictures and a report of the event:


TGS Gifts
Meger selection of Sega gifts for this year’s TGS

As with previous Japanese gaming events, visitors will receive a free gift for playing the Sega games on display at this year’s TGS. However, in contrast to previous years where Sega offered a different gift for each game on display, the selection of freebies available this time around is fairly limited.

Visitors who play any of the Sonic games on display will receive this rather bland Sonic Channel sticker:



This Puyo will be given to all visitors who try out the Puyo 2 demo:


In addition, attendees that bring their DS will be able to download a demo of Sonic Rush allowing them to play as either Sonic or Blaze on the first forest level.*

More information can be found here

Sonic X-treme Demo for sale
Early build of cancelled Sonic game uncovered.

An anonymous former Sega employee managed to procure a demo of Sonic X-treme and is now selling it to whoever can make him the highest offer, which he expects to be at least a four figure sum.

Stored on an ordinary CD-R disc, the playable demo mostly consists of a basic test level. It was originally produced to demonstrate the concept to Sega Japan and is also the same build that was shown when the game was first announced at the 1996 Gamer's Day event.

Pictures of the disc, together with details of how to make an offer, can be found here.

[*Disclaimer: Information obtained via machine translation and so may be partly inaccurate].

This is all good.

The next-gen Sonic game really is going to be called "Sonic the Hedgehog"? That's going to be confusing, if not just highly bizarre.

I don't think it will be too confusing as most people refer to the original game as 'Sonic 1'.

Sonic Team certainly seem to be fond of the name, as the Sonic game in Sega Superstars was also called 'Sonic the Hedgehog'.

^_^

What better name to call the game is it's stupposed to be a fresh start?

PSMad wrote:What better name to call the game is it's stupposed to be a fresh start?

Well, giving your new product the same name as your 15 year-old first product doesn't seem particularly indicative of either a 'fresh start' or a 'reinvention' to me. However, despite its weirdness (because it is weird) it at least seems to suggest that they're dedicated to taking the concept back to its basics, which is what we've all been praying for for some time.

Afterburner coming back after 18 years with the same name doesn't strike me as weird.

It's not like you'll be confused between the two... in both cases.

Great, now I'll have to call them "Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)" and "Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)" respectively.

Or not. Whatever.

Eitherway, MY EXCITEMENT BUILDS. My more rational side doesn't feel it should be though.

That's not an uncommon trend, but yeah, you usually only see it with series that have been dormant for a decade or more, such as After Burner and Shinobi.

Either way, I think it's a good idea. It certainly gives the impression that they're jettisoning alot of the extra baggage the series has picked up over the years. Either that or they're just flat-fuck out of nouns that make sense with "Sonic".

It makes sense to me, especially if they're planning on giving the "storyline" a restart as well.

But on the other hand, it's a tragic loss for all those great subtitles in waiting. Now, we may never see Sonic Ultra, Sonic Max, Sonic Next, Sonic Quest, Sonic Exploits, Sonic Speedsters, Sonic Explosion, all of Sonic A through Sonic Z, and of course, Sonic Herios: the Breakfast of Champions.

Or Sonic Herpes.

Maybe we should just call it by its codename, Sonic Next, then.

No.

I tried.

I don't think 'Sonic Next' was ever anything other than an uninspired fan nickname.

I always thought Microsoft should name their newest console neXtbox.

I was secretly rooting for Y-box.

I don't think that most people figured that "X-Box 360" stands for 360°, or a full circle. But again, I might be wrong.

What the hell else would "360" stand for?

Nintendo and Microsoft seem to name their consoles similarly. Game Cube and X Box have a similar concept to their names as do the X Box 360 and Revolution. First a box theme now a revolving theme.

Sonic Next

I was actually seriously prepared for this. The breakfast one sounds yummy, though.

"Sonic the Hedgehog"

Does this mean we get to play only as Sonic without any crazy-ass gimmicks? *hopes*

They'll probably chicken out at the last minute.

PSMad wrote:Nintendo and Microsoft seem to name their consoles similarly. Game Cube and X Box have a similar concept to their names as do the X Box 360 and Revolution. First a box theme now a revolving theme.

It's called the Xbox 360 because Microsoft's marketing department was afraid Xbox 2 would sound older or less powerful than the Playstation 3. That's it. They were looking for pretty much any excuse to attach a number to the name that would make it sound bigger then the new Sony system.

It's a good thing that was the reason, too, because otherwise the name makes absolutely no sense. A 360 degree turn leaves you back exactly where you started, as does the expression "full circle". It's not exactly the best metaphor for an advancement in technology.

It's funny, though. By being the first to adopt the console numbering system, Sony has basically prevented any other company from ever doing the same. With the PS3 already on the horizon, it's basically impossible for any other company to catch up numerically, and none would ever consider a name that was numerically lower than Sony's console.

Years from now, when the PS8 hits the market, other companies will still be struggling to come up with random combinations of names and verbs and numbers and symbols that imply progress without actually resorting to regular numbering. I don't know... I just think that is kind of funny!