Sad, in a way...

aso · Post by **aso** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 8:39 pm

All right, so this story begins with my younger sister. She's 3, and she's an indirect Sonic fan. My fault, as I was the one who exposed her to the license. She's permanently attached herself to an old Sonic bank I have, and she always prefers I play one of two games: either a Sonic title, or Silent Hill 3. Go figure.

So, she eventually makes a sort-of friend. This girl is eight years old. Surprisingly polite, rather nice, and intelligent for her age. She plays with Aleria, dealing with the typical 3-year-old behavior in stride. Eventually, while they're playing over here, the topic of Sonic comes up from the Sonic bank.

What does the girl say?

"Oh, from Sonic X."

Yes, the kid only knows of Sonic from that little cartoon show on the Fox Box. She's never played any Sonic video game (or any other game, for that matter). It was kind of interesting, seeing someone who's been so shielded from a matter like video games, but it's a bit of a shame that she doesn't know the full history of Sonic, or how he used to be a lot cooler... how, at one point, there was no Rouge the Bat, Cream the Rabbit, or any of those other characters.

Radrappy · Post by **Radrappy** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:14 pm

hmm . . .. does anyone know how SOnic X did here in the US? Like was it very popular at all?

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:20 pm

I've heard that a lot of people really didn't like it that much. Me, I like it, but I despise the dub. Personally I think the dub is unwatchable. I'm going to end up watching it in pure Japanese.

Btw, that story is tragic. It is very sad.

Ash Holt · Post by **Ash Holt** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:21 pm

:'(

Baby Jesus is crying somewhere.

...So is Jaleel White.

Post by **Delphine** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:34 pm

Your post inspired an angsty rant about things being better when you were a kid. (Not that it takes much to inspire angsty rants in me.)

Post by **Esrever** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:35 pm

Well, at least she didn't say, "Oh, from that Archie comic."

aso · Post by **aso** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:39 pm

Esrever wrote:Well, at least she didn't say, "Oh, from that Archie comic."

To my knowledge, any popularity the Archie comic ever had had swiftly gone downward, so I don't need to worry about that.

On a positive note, my sister knows who Nights is and loves the games. She can sing along to "Dreams Dreams". So there is a happy note to all of this.

Post by **Squirrelknight** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:53 pm

Eh, I wouldn't be too worried. With the way Sonic games have been recently, it's probably better than he's known for a mediocre cartoon than a crappy game (by which I mean Heroes)... Still, get that kid a Genesis so they can experience the good times.

While I'm often floored by the un-l33tness in most of today's youth... I was playing Capcom Vs. SNK 2 when one of cousin's younger friend's walked in and said, "Oh, it's the guy from KOF".... The fact that a 14 year old, who is relatively unl33t knew about KoF gave me hope for the future.

Of course, he thought I was crazy when I started talking about obscure KoF story plots and about attack priorities and frames, but still...

Titan · Post by **Titan** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:07 am

aso wrote:
Esrever wrote:Well, at least she didn't say, "Oh, from that Archie comic."
To my knowledge, any popularity the Archie comic ever had had swiftly gone downward, so I don't need to worry about that.

On a positive note, my sister knows who Nights is and loves the games. She can sing along to "Dreams Dreams". So there is a happy note to all of this.

Wow, that's freakin' awesome o.o

BlazeHedgehog · Post by **BlazeHedgehog** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 3:54 am

It was said that Sonic X was Foxbox's top-rated TV show, beating out even the (absolutely awesome) new Ninja Turtles show. Considering that as Sonic X neared it's "season finale" (the halfway point of the series, episode 26) FoxBox continually pumped up the hype machine for Sonic with a continually larger advertising blitz with the show's exploits, I wouldn't doubt that. What puzzles me is why we haven't seen any Sonic merchandise yet from the series - I'm betting Foxbox and 4KIDS are cooking up some mean toys to launch when the new season kicks back into action this fall.

Comic book dorks, at least ones that follow Archie Sonic, say that the Sonic book is infact one of the top selling comic books in north america (largely to it's distrobution practices - supermarkets and whatnot, where most niche comics aren't ever sold. This also would explain why Sonic never ranks very high on sales figures from actual comic book stores, because he gets most of his sales from places like Safeway and King Soopers and whatnot).

Anyway, her friend is what, 3? So she hasn't played Sonic. Big deal. Sonic X is on every Saturday morning, freely watchable by anybody who's got a TV and willing to wake up before 8am - which pretty much means most of the planet earth can see Sonic X.

Owen Axel · Post by **Owen Axel** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:12 am

Over here in Norwayland the comic crashed and burned almost instantly and the TV show has never been heard of. I'm guessing I should be happy.

Ngangbius · Post by **Ngangbius** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 7:24 am

Yes, the kid only knows of Sonic from that little cartoon show on the Fox Box. She's never played any Sonic video game (or any other game, for that matter). It was kind of interesting, seeing someone who's been so shielded from a matter like video games, but it's a bit of a shame that she doesn't know the full history of Sonic, or how he used to be a lot cooler... how, at one point, there was no Rouge the Bat, Cream the Rabbit, or any of those other characters.

Not exactly sad, but expected. Televised merchandise(cartoons based on an existing franchise) is more accessable than the original video games. Especially true when said show airs on Network TV--seeing that it is free and all, like Blaze said. That's how many kids got into Sonic in the first place in '93 through those cartoons.

I believe this same sales technique is also responsible for Pokemon's mega-success in the U.S.(the anime still gets high ratings on KidsWB).

As for the Archie comics, none of the places around my area(supermarkets, comic shop, drug stores) sell them. Not that I care.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 8:09 am

When I was looking for issue #134, I had to run all around Lafayette. There's a comic book shop not far from campus, so I figured I'd just stop and pick it up on my way back from school, but they didn't have a trace of Sonic anywhere. I had to cross town before I finally found some at Books a Million.

The biggest mystery to me is how a comic book series that's so evidently horrible by the accounts of nearly everyone who reads it can continue for so long.

Ngangbius · Post by **Ngangbius** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 8:14 am

^Because it outsells the continuing struggles of a blonde girl's and a brunette's rivalry between a redheaded boy.

The Almighty Bunghole · Fri Jun 18, 2004 8:37 am

Kids these days are growing up with different games. Kids these days are growing up PS2's etc. Since Sonic hasen't made such a big impact for years, kids may only know him from the tv. Unless they have older siblings who grew up with Mega Drive's and SNES', they probably don't even know what it's like to play a 16-bit game.

It reminds me of kid of cam into my work (I work in a video game arcade) and he was looking at some of the prizes and he asked me "what's that?" pointing to a portable cassette player, and I told him it was such, and then he turned to his mum and said "What's a cassette?" It's a thing called the generation gap, it comes in many forms.

Post by **Delphine** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 9:52 am

...there is a child in the world who doesn't know what a cassette tape is? B-but, but they still sell them, and, and...

Oh lord. I'm OLD.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 10:04 am

YOU'RE old? We still have stone tablets lying around in the garage.

Post by **Delphine** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 10:20 am

Yeah, well we have a pet dinosaur.

Post by **Esrever** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 11:26 am

The Archie Sonic book is definitely not the highest selling comic in North America. It IS the highest selling Archie comic, and at one time, it did outsell X-men roughly 2:1, but if you look at the circulation numbers they publish every year, its readership has gone way way down since then. It still is selling pretty decently, given the current woes of the comic book market, but there are still plenty of other books that are outselling it now.

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 12:09 pm

Does that include Manga comics? I'm sure that those outsell plenty of other comics, besides the really popular ones.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 12:19 pm

The comic industry is on the way up, thanks to the graphic novel/trade paperback market, the rise of interst in indie comics, great talent on mainstream Marvel and DC stuff (Bendis, Vaughan, Millar etc) and the huge and ever growing popularity of Japanese comics.

If anything will be the death of the Sonic comic it's the lack of trade paperbacks.

Okay, so they've got one which reprints the very first few issues from 1993. And they only did that for the 10th anniversary of the comic.

Archie should start putting out some of those cute little full colour digests, starting with the Home storyline that WB penciled the last chapter of.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 12:24 pm

Spazz wrote:Does that include Manga comics? I'm sure that those outsell plenty of other comics, besides the really popular ones.

Single issues of Japanese comics sell like shit in America. Most companies have stopped publishing them - the only one I see on the racks any more is Dark Horse's Oh My Goddess. The trade paperbacks are phenomenally popular though, and rightly so.

aso · Post by **aso** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:53 pm

Squirrelknight wrote:Eh, I wouldn't be too worried. With the way Sonic games have been recently, it's probably better than he's known for a mediocre cartoon than a crappy game (by which I mean Heroes)... Still, get that kid a Genesis so they can experience the good times.

I'm somewhat convinced the mother would never allow any video games in that household. I'll have to ask the kid to be sure.

BlazeHedgehog wrote:Anyway, her friend is what, 3? So she hasn't played Sonic. Big deal. Sonic X is on every Saturday morning, freely watchable by anybody who's got a TV and willing to wake up before 8am - which pretty much means most of the planet earth can see Sonic X.

Nope, the friend is 8, my sister is 3. I just think it's a pity that she doesn't know that Sonic was a lot cooler once... I'm not weeping about it, though.

I think part of the surprise was that I was expecting this kid to have played Sonic on the Gamecube or somesuch. Given that she lacks video games, I suppose it isn't much of a shock that her only exposure is through TV. Still, a pity...

And I don't care, at all, about the Sonic comic or most other comics for that matter (Bone is an exception) so I really don't have much else to say.

daytonafathead · Post by **daytonafathead** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:24 pm

This is the single sadest, most depressing topic i've ever seen! Tell me where the little girl lives, and i will teach her in the ways of the old, classic sonic games. Or if you don't want me to do anything illegal, take matters into your own hands. Buy her a gamecube and a mega collection for the LOVE OF BOB STEAL THEM FOR HER! This story must have a happy ending! This is like a bad dream!

Glenda the Good Witch: It is a dream, daytonafathead. This would be a sign of the apacolyps if it wasn't. Just tap your shoes together, use them to stomp on DVD of Gigli, and say "There's no game like Sonic 2" 3 times really fast.

Daytonafathead: Wait, your not the good witch, your... WITCHCART!

to be continued...

plasticwingsband · Post by **plasticwingsband** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:28 pm

Speaking of dreams, I had a dream last night in which I was looking at Sonic Team's website and they had a listing for an upcoming game called "NiGHTS Final", and I was almost crapping my pants with excitement.

And then I woke up.

Reality continues to ruin my existence.