Stupid marketing trends, #253: Shadow the Hedgehog

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Okay, so you have a beloved platform mascot/franchise, one with an established fanbase of over a decade, and sales have been slumping due to poor design choices and lackluster sequels. So what do you do?

http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/2456/shadow9bu.jpg

http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=1528

You go "angsty", and give him gunz and nu-metal. Oh, this ain't your older brother's mountain dew-chugging cartoon mascot, this is the new EXTREMEY mountain dew AMP-chugging supercharged gangsta killa! Oh, he can't just run real fast now, he's now got his 9mm in the air, ready to start blastin' away at some fools!

From the SEGA site:

Features:

-Open-ended, story altering choices. Produce positive or dire consequences in Shadow's future by the paths you choose. Have a different experience every time you play!
-Intense high-speed action! Shadow has amplified speed and firepower, and can manipulate time and space with Chaos Control or create unbelievable destruction with Chaos Blast.
-Weapons, vehicles, and items! Draw from a huge arsenal of weapons including projectiles, firearms, bazookas, blasters and worm lasers. Speed away on a motorcycle, an alien craft or an SUV. AND, for the first time ever in a Sonic property – pick up and use environmental objects like poles, sticks and debris to plow your way through the mission.
-An all-star cast of characters! All of your favorite characters from the Sonic series, as well as an interesting lineup of new allies and adversaries!

Yes, it's Sonic gone grim n' gritty! Image Comics, look out!

― kingfish superman ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 02:39 (twenty years ago)

IN THE YEAR 2772...

also: "worm lasers"

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 03:39 (twenty years ago)

man, that completely blows my mind and flips my wig. Just like if someone had propsed a "three-dimensional" Dorito. I couldn't handle that.

― kingfish superman ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 03:43 (twenty years ago)

But Shadow is from those poor design choices: he's in Sonic Adventures 2 (and maybe 1)

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 05:53 (twenty years ago)

this is true. but then building a game around him, waving around an MP5 all the while, why not...

― kingfish superman ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 06:29 (twenty years ago)

See also Jak II, which I never bought despite loving Jak and Daxter.

― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 06:52 (twenty years ago)

If I'm correct, the demographic they're trying to go after doesn't actually exist. I have never heard anybody complain about Grand Theft Auto not being cartoony enough, except maybe elected civil servants.

Now if they made a game like Mario Kart, all ridiculous and cel-shaded and cartoon sound fx, then added a few of the open ended exploration/find-your-own-stunt-jumps/pick whatever car you like features that make GTA so replayable, that could be a game worth picking up. Sega appears to have done the complete opposite. Oh well. I'm sorry they're dumb.

― TOMBOT, Wednesday, 28 September 2005 13:50 (twenty years ago)

ihttp://www.the-simpsons.hpg.ig.com.br/figuras/poochie.jpg

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:02 (twenty years ago)

wait a moment.. this just looks exactly like all the other Sonic sequels, I don't see anything special about this at all.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:29 (twenty years ago)

but it's so dark & extreeeme!

― kingfish superman ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)

but it will play just as poo as the rest, non?

― Ste (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:46 (twenty years ago)

Forgive me if this is common knowledge and something of a tangent, but I just found out on the Wikipedia who did Sonic's voice on the cartoons: Jaleel White a.k.a. Urkel. My mind is sort of semi-blown.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 15:30 (twenty years ago)

Jaleel White's connection with video games has long been established. See also his advert for the Atari Lynx, the one where he shares the doomed handheld device with some white kid sporting a top-notch rat tail.

― kingfish superman ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 15:34 (twenty years ago)

if the mullet can be ironically revived why can't the rat-tail? people never seem to mention THAT part of the 80's.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 23:05 (twenty years ago)

somethings are better left unremembered i suppose.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 23:05 (twenty years ago)

see Jeri from Strangers With Candy...

― kingfish superman ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Thursday, 29 September 2005 01:04 (twenty years ago)

Didn't George Lucas try to bring back the rat-tail in those Star Wars prequels?

― The Yellow Kid, Thursday, 29 September 2005 03:10 (twenty years ago)

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=140

― Occam, Thursday, 29 September 2005 03:20 (twenty years ago)

I have never heard anybody complain about Grand Theft Auto not being cartoony enough, except maybe elected civil servants.

And if they did think that, there's always Simpsons: Hit and Run.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 29 September 2005 16:21 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

oh christ:

http://trailers.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/ad_shadowhog_preroll.mov

again, i find out that any of you went out and bought this, i'ma fly to your town and beat it outta you

― kingfish hobo juckie (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 04:15 (twenty years ago)

dude should not have a GUN. that is so wrong.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 04:24 (twenty years ago)

that's like seeing mario with a gun! WRONG WRONG WRONG

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 04:25 (twenty years ago)

the sonic games have always tried to look !!!EXTREEM!!, I don't see how this is worse. and shadow isn't sonic apparently, he's another character, like !!KNUKKLES!!.

― älänbänänä (alanbanana), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 21:49 (twenty years ago)

omg lies

― sleep (sleep), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 23:58 (twenty years ago)

Sonic characters always had "attitude" in the most Disney sense of the word - I don't ever recall them driving convertibles and waving machineguns out the window! Granted I haven't really played a Sonic game since... Sonic and Knuckles maybe. So I guess it's possible this was a gradual transition.

― sleep (sleep), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 00:01 (twenty years ago)

oh come on! the first one and first 3d one was technicolor overdosing; unicorns riding dolphins, shitting out rainbows and wearing Lisa Frank scarves

― kingfish hobo juckie (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 00:03 (twenty years ago)

http://amigos.amiga.hu/ancientoys/screenshots/sonic1.jpg http://static.gameparty.net/screenshots/93/22017.jpg http://www.vgmaniacs.com/vgm/downloads/screenshots/Sonic%20Heroes/Xbox/sonicheroes6.jpg http://www.rolemaker.dk/documents/Requirements/BA_GameReference/screenshots/sonic/sonic3.gif http://nekron.vimm.net/sonic2/Tails.jpg

http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/660/660402/shadow-the-hedgehog-20051103050647389.jpg http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/660/660402/shadow-the-hedgehog-20051103050655514.jpg http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/660/660402/shadow-the-hedgehog-20051103050652904.jpg http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/article/645/645487/shadow-the-hedgehog-20050825004601549.jpg

― sleep (sleep), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 00:05 (twenty years ago)

Where are the whores?

― kingfish hobo juckie (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 07:18 (twenty years ago)

So, is it true that Sonic+friends are going to be in the next Mario Party?

A true Mario/Sonic game would be amazing.

― Occam's Reznor (ex machina), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 18:44 (twenty years ago)

that would be one hell of a party!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 18:57 (twenty years ago)

KEEP SONIC PURE

― Dan (Videogame Eugenicist) Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

BLAST PROCESSING

― Occam's Reznor (ex machina), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 19:38 (twenty years ago)

roffles

― sleep (sleep), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 20:24 (twenty years ago)

http://sonicveg.digibase.ca/creative/hoaxes/psyrgery/CounterSonic.gif

― Laura H. (laurah), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 20:29 (twenty years ago)

Fuck a Carnival Nights zone, and the stupid bouncing-barrel puzzles associated with it.

― melton mowbray (adr), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 23:09 (twenty years ago)

it's funny because they have guns.

― jeffrey (johnson), Thursday, 24 November 2005 00:17 (twenty years ago)

No seriously melton otm, it was so pretty at the time but dumb patient pre-teen me used to spend HOURS just running out of time over and over again just trying to get those bounce things to work right.

Apparently Sonic Rush for DS has BLUE SKIES and is really fast with no knuckles stages and amazes and delights, though!

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Thursday, 24 November 2005 11:32 (twenty years ago)

http://www.sega.com/gamesite/shadow/base.html

― Laura H. (laurah), Sunday, 27 November 2005 15:57 (twenty years ago)

Try the flash minigame. Or better yet, don't!

I really hate that it uses the old Sonic coin sound effect.

― Laura H. (laurah), Sunday, 27 November 2005 16:01 (twenty years ago)

Haha, we rented the game last night out of curiosity (don't worry, it was free), and it is easily as bad as this thread makes out. It uses those old coin sounds too! I'm pretty sure it's satire though, like Sega's commentary on the state of games at the moment (or something). For instance, the intro actually starts with nice blue skies and green grass and then the sky clouds over, and Shadow pulls out his gun.

The best thing about the game is that you still collect rings, and the health system works the same as in the old Sonic games, but you steal guns from the corpses of soldiers! Bizarre.

― melton mowbray (adr), Sunday, 27 November 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

Oh, Shadow's also slow, clunky and on rollerskates! Well done!

― melton mowbray (adr), Sunday, 27 November 2005 16:19 (twenty years ago)

I'm pretty sure it's satire though, like Sega's commentary on the state of games at the moment (or something).

This might be giving them waaaay too much credit.

― Laura H. (laurah), Sunday, 27 November 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)

Oh completely, but it seems too awful to be real!

― melton mowbray (adr), Sunday, 27 November 2005 18:15 (twenty years ago)

i almost d0wnload3d this to see how bad it was but then i figured i didn't want to waste the bandwidth.

― jeffrey (johnson), Sunday, 27 November 2005 19:18 (twenty years ago)

that pic of him riding that bike looks like some sorta mash-up of DC's Lobo and the guy from Full Throttle

― kingfish hobo juckie (kingfish 2.0), Sunday, 27 November 2005 21:55 (twenty years ago)

If I'm correct, the demographic they're trying to go after doesn't actually exist.

My son wants it. I think his logic goes something like:

Sonic = Good
Guns = Good
Sonic + Guns = I MUST HAVE THIS GAME!

I watched a few clips and it looks like they didn't colour in Sonic Heroes properly. Having to shoot things usually = slowing the gameplay down, which is the worst thing you can do to a Sonic game.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Monday, 28 November 2005 10:23 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

shadow you are so cool

― a.hedgehog, Thursday, 26 January 2006 13:47 (twenty years ago)

you hush

― kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Thursday, 26 January 2006 14:48 (twenty years ago)

hi i like yoyo and sonic, love u sonic.

― Lionel, Friday, 27 January 2006 02:22 (twenty years ago)

and kanye west loves you too!

― kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Friday, 27 January 2006 03:27 (twenty years ago)

Holler at your boy!

― Kanye West (Kv_nol), Friday, 27 January 2006 10:28 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

what shoes does shadow have they sort of look like jet boots but also when he runs he looks like he's ice skating
hhhhiiii!!!!!!!!!

― victoria robson, Sunday, 12 February 2006 22:33 (twenty years ago)

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