How can Sonic sell better?

[Chaos Warp]

So the topic is: How can Sonic shift more copies? We all know that Generations didn't sell all that well, and Colours sold better but still nothing special. So how can SEGA and Sonic Team get him to sell better?

I'm honestly......not sure. They seem to advertise (With public demos and such) and they get good scores from critics now, so what's the issue? A curious case is Unleashed, which sold 2.8 million as far as I know. What caused that game to sell so well? Was it the Werehog that most of the fanbase hates? Does SEGA need to alienate it's hardcore fans to sell well? I honestly don't have any answers, and I hope you guys do.

Thoughts? Discuss!

Edited May 12, 2012 by Chaos Warp

[Jeffhog]

I find that Unleashed sold well because A: it was available on 4 platforms, and B: there was a lot of publicity involved. To differ it from Generations, it was basically hailed as a revival throughout its campaign after the trainwreck that was 2006.

I'm very surprised and very disappointed that Generations, of all titles, only just hit the 1 million mark recently.

[Tornado]

A curious case is Unleashed, which sold 20 million as far as I know.

Wat.

I also think people are dramatically overstating how much of a "failure" Generations was.

[sonfan1984]

Generations sold a million for all consoles right? I think that's pretty fair, it came out 6 months ago.

Edited May 12, 2012 by sonfan1984

[Patticus]

Sonic's reputation is still in tatters, it has been summarily dragged through the mud on so many occasions now that even if he has, "got good again," so to speak, very few people are willing to bet $60 on him any more.

If you want Sonic to sell well, you must acknowledge that a lot of reputation building has to happen first. That means a series of consistently high quality games (which S4E2 isn't giving me any confidence in), some very clever marketing, and that also means taking a leaf out of Nintendo's book: Make Sonic a true (friendly) rival to Mario again, advertise that rivalry, seek to produce more collaborative efforts with Nintendo in many more genres than just sports (piggybacking off of Mario's success could help him a lot!), and market the shit out of that Hog.

[Tornado]

Generations sold a million for all consoles right? I think that's pretty fair, it came out 6 months ago.

It sold over a million and a half within two months of release. The only reason people keep throwing "failure" around is because after the holiday season the rug basically got pulled out from under it, which is quite rare for a Sonic title; but then again Generations didn't have the long legs in regards to re-playability that modern Sonic titles usually have (which means delayed word of mouth would have an effect), and anniversary titles generally do sell best in the year that the anniversary is taking place.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Tornado

[Chaos Warp]

Wat.

I also think people are dramatically overstating how much of a "failure" Generations was.

Okay, I'll edit the OP. It's more like 2.8 mill right?

[Solkia]

Everyone buys ten copies of the new games.

[Soniman]

More bat boobies.

[sonfan1984]

Everyone buys ten copies of the new games.

lol, I'm buying 2 copies of SASR. Probably 3 if there's a Wii U versiion.

[Marcello]

Package the games with cigarettes.

[LunarEdge]

I would say try something different. Unleashed, Colors and Generations were virtually the same game but with minor gameplay tweaks here and there and different levels. Tbh, I felt nothing really stuck out in Generations or Colors, I felt like I was playing Unleashed (day time) version 1.5 and 2.0 if that makes any sense. Yea, Sonic 1-3&K were roughly the same formula as well, but at the time Sonic was fresh and hippity hoppity. Not to mention that for the time, every new Sonic game had something new on the table (spindash, tails and 2p mode in Sonic 2 and insta-shield, Knuckles, gliding, flying and twice the length of a normal Sonic game at the time).

Yea, with Generations we got to play good'ol 2D gameplay C.Sonic, but I personally felt it was the same as Modern Sonic's 2D sections without the homing attack and boost.

Sega has done nothing to make Sonic stand out and want people to buy it over everything else. Given, when they usually try something new, it tends to fail in a sense.

Edited May 12, 2012 by LunarEdge

[Badnik Mechanic]

How can Sonic shift more copies? We all know that Generations didn't sell all that well,

Urm... what? Wasn't it the most pre-ordered modern Sonic game to date? Hasn't it sold over a million copies despite it being released in the Winter of 2011, the same period which saw MW3, Dark Souls, Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Battlefield 3... do I really need to go on with this? End of 2011 was absolutely insane for game releases, everybody was talking about how it's going to be an expensive end to the year.

What exactly are we comparing the Generations sales figures too here? Yeah I imagine that it didn't sell that great compared to Uncharted 3 and Dark Souls...? Only if you compare generations to games like Ace Combat, Spiderman Edge of Time and Catherine, I think you'll find Generations has actually sold astonishingly well considering the climate it was released into.

[Badnik Zero]

I'm wondering how many of us hardcore fans are still buying used copies of games.

Old games sure, no question if that's the only way you can buy them. But as a new PS3 owner, would I be tempted to go for the $14.99 used copy of All-Stars Racing at Gamestop? You might want to, but the difference is probably only five dollars. One putting money into the ever-expanding Gamestop racket, and one sending money and sales numbers up to Sega. As a community the best way to directly impact sales is to stop buying used. Games like Unleashed and ASR are available in large used quantities. Go for the new copy am I right? How many agree. (lol Sonic activism)

Edited May 12, 2012 by Badnikz

[Solkia]

I'm not much of a huge Sonic nerd anymore. I used to get the games brand new every time. I think Generations is the first Sonic game I bought new in years.

[LunarEdge]

I bought SaSASR new myself, but I bought 5 of my friends a copy for Xmas 2 years back and a vendor on Amazon was selling them for $15, so I bought them from him. I'm killing Sonic slowly

[Danj86]

Is there such a thing as too many joke posts?

I was just gonna say, put Marios name in the title, and leave it at that...but it doesn't seem right to do it for some reason...maybe I'm thinking too much...

Besides, I still don't believe Generations did that bad. 1 Million is an excellent achievement for any game. And maybe things would've been different if the PC and 3DS versions were released at the same time as the console ones...

[...]

Okay, I'll edit the OP. It's more like 2.8 mill right?

Actually, Unleashed sold 4.33 million copies so far on all platforms. Generations has hit 1.98 million. Though this is from VG Charts, so it might not be reliable.

[Diogenes]

Now this is a pretty radical suggestion, and it's way outside their usual MO, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway: Maybe they should try making good games?

But seriously, like Patticus said, Sonic has lost a lot of the good karma he had built up, and it's going to take a lot of time and effort to repair that. At the most basic level they need to make consistently good games (better than what they're making now), and give it time to rebuild their reputation. I think they could also benefit from rethinking the characters and storytelling (again); they've shied away from anything too serious after '06/Unleashed, and that was a good move, but they've settled into something bland and lifeless. I think they'd really benefit if they could do something bold that still fits the context of the series.

[Stritix]

Make better games.

[sonfan1984]

I think they could also benefit from rethinking the characters and storytelling (again); they've shied away from anything too serious after '06/Unleashed, and that was a good move, but they've settled into something bland and lifeless.

I don't agree that Generations is bland and lifeless, there's love and effort put into it. It just feels way too safe.

[Stritix]

I used to look forward to the music, the story, character development, etc. Nowadays all we get is half decent gameplay.

[sonfan1984]

^And the music.

[Rusty Spy]

I'm of the opinion that SEGA needs to, or are probably, gonna make some bold moves in the near future.

If not a revamp of the core gameplay (most logically dialing back towards the Adventure/Classics formula), then bigger story and character focus, something that'd grab peoples attention.

[Kuzu]

They need to start taking risks again, they're so damn apprehensive about having backlash, but its only hurting them in the long run.

Stop. Sucking. and actually make good on your ideas, I mean how hard is it to have an ambitous idea that doesn't go against the context of the series and is developed to its fullest ability? The current games, while incredibly fun in their own right, are really nothing special that hasn't been seen before; Unleashed was a racer with a God of War esc brawling, Colors is 80% generic 2D platforming, and Generations is just a retread at best. notice how almost none of this stands out to the public.

Ratchet & Clank is a third person shooter/platformer hybrid with some quirky weapons(and surprisingly well written stories), Jak & Daxter is a post apocalyptic world on the brink of destruction(in stark contrast to the first game, and its praised for it), and Mario has a legacy of great games on his side.

Not only is Sonic's reputation still sour, his games aren't exactly "appealing" I mean when you look at Sonic, what draws you in? People expect to go fast in a Sonic game, but that's all the last three games have been "Speed, Speed, and more speed" and that gets boring after a while, you want something refreshing; How can I use the level to go fast, what is the best route for me to take, and how can I use Sonic's abilities to do so. Players should be involved in the gameplay, have them think about their next move.

I think Sonic has the potential to be a best seller; despite his shaky reputation, he does have a legacy almost as big as Mario's and Sega should use that to their advantage. But right now, Sonic is just another platformer that goes fast as far as the public is concerned, and its going to continue unless Sega actually grow some balls and take a chance be it with stories, gameplay, characters, you name it, and not fuck it up.

Edited May 12, 2012 by The Batman