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NWR Interactive => TalkBack => Topic started by: NWR_Karlie on October 07, 2010, 01:09:00 PM

Title: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: NWR_Karlie on October 07, 2010, 01:09:00 PM

Sonic games with a below average Metacritic score will no longer be on sale.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/24235

Sega have announced that they have de-listed Sonic titles with average or below average Metacritic scores. From now, such titles will no longer be available to buy new at retail.

"Any Sonic game with an average Metacritic has been de-listed," Sega’s SVP of EMEA Jurgen Post told MCV in an interview. "We have to do this and increase the value of the brand. This will be very important when more big Sonic releases arrive in the future."

He stated that the number of Sonic games should be kept under control to avoid cannibalising the brand, citing that if there are ten Sonic games on shelves and people see titles such as Sonic Rush DS or Sonic Rush Adventure, it may not help with overall strategy as multiple Sonic titles targeted at different demographics will be released this holiday season. 

Judging by Sega's criteria, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity and Sonic and the Black Knight will be among the de-listed games.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: broodwars on October 07, 2010, 02:10:49 PM

So they're removing all Sonic titles from retail then?   ;)

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on October 07, 2010, 02:20:27 PM

Quote from: broodwars on October 07, 2010, 02:10:49 PM

So they're removing all Sonic titles from retail then?   ;)

www.instantrimshot.com

the joke everyone was gonna make, but waited so that someone else would do it instead.
seriously, I almost typed it out twice but decided against it both times.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: BeautifulShy on October 07, 2010, 02:34:10 PM

What Sonic and the Black Knight is going to be delisted?

Doesn't make any sense. The only reason it was scored low was because it wasn't what they were expecting. They compared it to Unleashed which isn't even part of the same series.

Black Knight is part of the Story Book series so they should have compared it to Secret Rings.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: NWR_pap64 on October 07, 2010, 02:46:57 PM

Black Knight is still part of the Sonic franchise and it's still a low scoring game.


This is a rather surprising move on Sega's behalf. Do they believe that Sonic 4 and Sonic Colors are so good that they want to erase every other game released? I don't want to get my hopes up because every time they say they understand that Sonic has issues they just add more to it.


Still, this stuns me... Is this the first time a company has asked to remove a game from store shelves due to low scores?

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: King of Twitch on October 07, 2010, 02:59:45 PM

If people can't buy our product, they'll never know how bad we are at making games.

-Sega

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: Ian Sane on October 07, 2010, 03:24:44 PM

I'm blown away that Sega actually acknowledges that they've made shitty games.  Most companies act like everything they've ever touched turned to gold.

Nintendo re-released Urban Champion on the VC for God's sake.  And Donkey Kong Jr. Math.  They re-introduced those games to the market.  It's the exact opposite of what Sega is doing. :)

Though why isn't Sega smart enough to just quietly do this?  Unless this is a "we're getting our **** together" statement I don't see why they couldn't do this on the sly without admitting publicly that you've made **** games.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: Killer_Man_Jaro on October 07, 2010, 03:31:04 PM

Right. It does seem to be quite a vote of confidence in Sonic Colours and Sonic The Hedgehog 4, as this seems to suggest that Sega thinks these two will redefine the market's view of the series. It's also strange because their attitude over the past decade never indicated that they cared what people thought of Sonic.

I disagree with the article's point that Sega would probably remove Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity from retail -- that wouldn't set a very good precedent at all for Sonic Free Riders, a similar game coming to Xbox Kinect sometime soon.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: Ceric on October 07, 2010, 03:46:00 PM

I enjoyed Sonic and the Black Knight.  Even though I felt it was to far a departure from Sonic and the Secret Rings, which I really enjoyed once the control scheme clicked.  I will buy day 1 another in the Sonic Story book series with not hesitation day 1.  Anything else with Sonic in the name I'll need some hardcore convincing.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: Caterkiller on October 07, 2010, 04:01:14 PM

Well how about that huh? I hope this means good things for the future. I guess the only Sonic game left will be Brawl.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: MegaByte on October 07, 2010, 04:14:22 PM

What I don't get is, why did he mention the Sonic Rush games?  Those are two of their highest-rated games.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: NWR_pap64 on October 07, 2010, 04:20:15 PM

Quote from: Ceric on October 07, 2010, 03:46:00 PM

I enjoyed Sonic and the Black Knight.  Even though I felt it was to far a departure from Sonic and the Secret Rings, which I really enjoyed once the control scheme clicked.  I will buy day 1 another in the Sonic Story book series with not hesitation day 1.  Anything else with Sonic in the name I'll need some hardcore convincing.

While I thought the game was flawed in terms of controls I too enjoyed it. I like the overall idea of Sonic in classic stories and hope Sega doesn't abandon them and instead they refine it.

Regarding Sonic 4 and Sonic Colors, I admit I am cautious about them, but I watch the videos and screens and don't feel anything wrong with them. What I mean is that I usually pick up on something that I know will ruin the game. When I first saw video of the Werehog stages in Unleashed I knew that the gameplay would be repetitive and drag the overall solid game down. With Black Knight I realized that the strong focus on combat would be a turn off for many.

But with Sonic 4 and Colors, I don't see that. Of course, there might come a point where all of their flaws come out at once, but for now I see that they look good. Again, I am still cautious.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: Kytim89 on October 07, 2010, 05:16:52 PM

Would this include Sonic Chronicles?

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: BeautifulShy on October 07, 2010, 05:30:01 PM

I was reading on another site and this really only applies for the UK.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: Mop it up on October 07, 2010, 05:33:30 PM

Hopefully this results in massive discounts. It's finally time for me to check these games out.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: Ian Sane on October 07, 2010, 06:40:49 PM

Quote

What I don't get is, why did he mention the Sonic Rush games?  Those are two of their highest-rated games.

Maybe we misinterpreted what Sega is doing.  They want to get the GOOD Sonic titles off the shelf so that they do not make the new Sonic titles look bad.  Their theory is that it's all a relative thing and if people are unaware of how good Sonic can be they won't notice the flaws of the current games.  ;D
 
I joke but this IS Sega.

Title: Re: Sega Removing Low-Scoring Sonic Titles from Retail
Post by: KDR_11k on October 08, 2010, 04:43:54 AM

They said they're pulling the games with average scores, i.e. the better Sonic games.

Quote from: Ian Sane on October 07, 2010, 03:24:44 PM

Nintendo re-released Urban Champion on the VC for God's sake.  And Donkey Kong Jr. Math.  They re-introduced those games to the market.  It's the exact opposite of what Sega is doing. :)

Sega released Sonic Adventure on XBLA a few weeks ago. The content of the Gamecube game is 50% extra.