Yuji Naka announced at a Sonic X press conference today that two new, unannounced Sonic games will be showcased at the upcoming E3 games expo in May. With this news, and the anime about to hit Japanese TVs, Naka-san exclaimed that he sees the Sonic franchise’s main rival as not Super Mario, but Pokémon.
According to a report on ZDNet Japan (interpreted by The GHZ), the Sonic Team leader was present at a joint SEGA-TV Tokyo press conference to discuss the Sonic X show. Expressing that Japanese Sonic fans had never had a cartoon of their own to enjoy, Naka-san said, “I am very glad that, at last, after twelve years, Japan will finally be seeing a Sonic animated show.”
Asked about the future of the games series, the developer revealed that after Sonic Adventure DX, two more games are being prepared to show at E3 2003 besides the already-announced Sonic Pinball Party. We know that the next mainline Sonic game will be shown at E3, so could the other one be a spinoff?
“I see Pokémon as a rival of Sonic,” Naka said with a smile (writes The GHZ), before adding “Here’s to another 12 years!”