SEGA Launches New 'Fearless Year of Shadow' Marketing Campaign

I find it incredibly odd that Sega went out of their way to remake Sonic Generations, and spend resources to tie the game in with this Year of Shadow campaign, when they could have just remade SA2 and been on their merry way. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic event idea! I always viewed Shadow as this Vegeta to Goku type of character, so a year celebrating him is really exciting!

2 hours ago, Shiny Gems said:

You know, I think one of the things that makes Shadow likable is how relatable he is, not that other Sonic characters aren't so relatable, but if being a character with a dark backstory wasn't enough, he does seem strong, and he kind of goes through things that plenty of people in real life may go through, and that said, he has gone through  a lot. I think Shadow is a very relatable character.

The thing is, aside from the other reasons as to why, I think that one reason people don't like Shadow is because of how relatable and strong he is. I mean, there are many people who put down others and try to bash, criticize or otherwise pick on other people, and there are plenty of people in this world who do that. In fact, some people may not want others to get stronger so that they can control those people for the sake of power. I think that this might be one of the reasons (not THE reason, but a reason) as to why others don't like Shadow because of how he inspires others or is relatable. Shadow's strength, what he has been through, being independent and other things, along with perhaps other things like any bad characterization and other flaws Shadow may or may have had of course, might be, to me, why there are those who don't like him. Sure, this may be more of a theory, but still...

Anyway, Shadow is not just about edginess. Like what @SupahBerrysaid, and what @Maple Syrupsaid in a status update, there are reasons why Shadow is a strong, independent and most of all, relatable character. I also think that given how the world is today and how many people go through difficult times, and other things, I could be wrong, but it makes sense why most people in today's world could like Shadow. I think Shadow is that inspiring.

Exactly! Shadow, to me, represents a key aspect of the franchise, and that's being independent, standing on your own two legs and not doing what anyone tells you. Standing out from the menu, and inspiring others to do the same. That's why the franchise was successful in the first place, because it stood out amongst the rest, and it was cool! Sega in my opinion may have lost this mindset during the 2010's, but having Shadow be the primary focus will hopefully steer the boat in the right direction.

The Ultimate Life Form Hedgehog has been release!

4 minutes ago, KingSonicFan134 said:

Exactly! Shadow to me represents a key aspect of the franchise, and that's being independent, standing on your own two legs and not doing what anyone tells you, standing out from the menu, and inspiring others to do the same. That's why the franchise was successful in the first place, because it stood out amongst the rest, and it was cool! Sega in my opinion may have lost this mindset during the 2010's, but having Shadow be the primary focus will hopefully steer the boat in the right direction.

I can see what you mean in terms of standing out from the menu. I mean, yes, that was how the series became successful, after all, by looking cool, having speed and momentum, those kinds of things. I do think Shadow does go with what the series was originally trying to do when it was first made by standing out.

This is more of a confirmation than an announcement. Between the climax of Prime, Superstars DLC costume, Generations and the movie, it already was a year of Shadow.

Plus 2022 was a rebuild of Sonic himself (Frontiers, Sonic 2 movie, etc). 2023 was more about Tails/Knuckles/Amy (frontiers DLC, superstar, prime), so I suspected 2024 would belong to Shadow.

The whole 'fearless' thing is a bit cheesy, but maybe we need this angle to avoid 2005.

Now I hope for 3 things
1) IDW to do something for Shadow, they weren't always the nicest to him
2) For Sega to figure out how to write Shadow
3) For something emotional. Competent badass Shadow is great (Prime), but I want Shadow with more than 2 emotions. Preferably without Maria, but I won't be picky.

This is so exciting! I love the new renders of Shadow and Sonic, they're so cool.

It’s gonna be an Ultimate year! 

Shadow in Fortnite, please. That's all I want. Especially with the leaks claiming a Persona 3 collab is coming there and that SEGA were working with Epic for stuff within the game.

Shadow Outfit with Super Shadow style and a built-in Emote to transform like Goku can. They were able to make characters like Frieza and Cell be the same height.

Doom's Eye Back Bling that floats and follows you around like Baby Yoda.

Chaos Spear Pickaxe with a design similar to an actual spear (like IDW and Archie) with the Donatello Bo Staff animations.

Shadow's Glider from '06 as a... Glider, obviously.

And a tiny Dark Rider Emote like Deadpool's scooter. It should play ""All Hail Shadow" in the background.

(Art by WrenchMaster4)

2 hours ago, KingSonicFan134 said:

I find it incredibly odd that Sega went out of their way to remake Sonic Generations, and spend resources to tie the game in with this Year of Shadow campaign, when they could have just remade SA2 and been on their merry way. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic event idea! I always viewed Shadow as this Vegeta to Goku type of character, so a year celebrating him is really exciting!

I guess it might not be, say, a Pokemon Legends Z-A level of hype surprise, but for the Sonic franchise it's not bad.

9 minutes ago, Lorekitten said:

Pokemon Legends Z-A level of hype surprise

Honestly, what’s the hype behind Z-A? I mean, don’t get me wrong: a new legends game? Sign me UP, but like, is it REALLY that good? Maybe I don’t have the nostalgia like others, given that I started WAY later than anyone I know, but still. If I were to phrase this, I would say “it’s not Sonic Superstars/Mario Wonder level of surprise“ totally my own opinion, but still

1 minute ago, Cyb3rkn1ght said:

Honestly, what’s the hype behind Z-A? I mean, don’t get me wrong: a new legends game? Sign me UP, but like, is it REALLY that good? Maybe I don’t have the nostalgia like others, given that I started WAY later than anyone I know, but still. If I were to phrase this, I would say “it’s not Sonic Superstars/Mario Wonder level of surprise“ totally my own opinion, but still

The hype is that we have been waiting for "Pokemon Z" for a literal decade, and just when we've believed it was never coming, Game Freak dropped the trailer out of nowhere and the fandom collectively lost their mind.

But any further discussion probably belongs elsewhere, so as not to derail the thread.

That was quite possibly the most confusing promotional video I have ever seen from this series, and considering it's Sonic, that's saying a lot.  It also suggests SEGA still has no good idea of how to use Shadow.

As much of a laughing stock as Shadow's self-titled game was and still is, it's obvious why it existed.  Shadow was an edgy and badass character, and games starring edgy and badass characters were popular back then, so they made a game starring Shadow and had him shoot guns, hijack vehicles, be morally flexible and cuss a lot, because that's what the other edgy and badass characters were doing in games at the time.  It being so obvious what their logic was is why it was so obvious that their logic was wrong, but here their logic doesn't seem wrong, or right, because their logic seems to barely exist.

It might be possible for writers to turn tragic figures into inspirational figures in some cases, but you can't just downplay the tragedy and make them generically inspirational.  At what point did anyone, anywhere, think Shadow the Hedgehog was a role model for aspiring stunt cyclists?  Why would anyone in this series besides Sonic himself be the go-to role model for people who want to march to the beat of their own drums and/or do extreme sports?  It almost seems like they gave that girl a backstory of moving away from her old friends just so they could force in a connection to Maria's death, and made her inexplicably prejudiced against her new neighbors so they could tie it back to the "lash out at society" themes in (some of) Shadow's plots.

It's so weird living in a world where a lot of Sonic games are still confined to what @Roger_van_der_weidecalls the "Schrodinger's Cat Canon".  Most series that destroyed their reputation as thoroughly as Sonic did in the mid 2000s would have rebooted if not just ended, but with this one they just chose to mostly ignore the games that wrecked their vibe without erasing them, presumably in an attempt to fix their mistakes without having to admit they made any.  It kind of worked when there was no impetus to use Shadow for anything else, even if occasionally they did, but now that the movies have brought his fans out of the woodwork and all but forced him to be important again in the games' canon, it's just pitiful to watch them reopen the door as slowly and cautiously as possible.  They want to use bring Shadow back because he's popular, but they don't want to bring his self-titled game back because it's cringe, but they don't want to retcon his game out because that would be admitting fault, so they just cherrypick non-cringe things from that game, and so now Shadow's theme and vibe are just...bike?

Pathetic.  This is like the difference between looking at a communist city hosting a loud and colorful military parade in its prime, and looking at a communist city after the economy and government collapse, time seems to slow as people move out, and the never-pretty architecture only gets uglier as it rusts and crumbles.  If people are going to build something on an erroneous vision, then you'd better hope they stay dedicated to making that erroneous vision look and sound as spectacular as possible.

Yea, this is just a generic "Believe in yourself and move forward" message. You don't have to look at it any deeper than that.

9 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Yea, this is just a generic "Believe in yourself and move forward" message. You don't have to look at it any deeper than that.

To me, it is not something meant to be generic. It may be generic to you, but it is something that can mean a whole lot to others, like teenagers and such. @Bobniksaid it best above, and I said in a previous post on this topic that Shadow is very relatable, and the message you find generic goes along with him being relatable, especially to teenagers and those who like Shadow as a character and such.

Though it may be relative, there is always deepness in something, like how I find this message to be deep for plenty of people. If it were generic, how many people would even care? Shadow has gone through a lot, is strong and independent and so on, and a lot of people can relate to that. Even if it is all relative and depending on the person, there is enough deepness in the message for plenty of people to make it not universally generic.

Honestly, given Shadow's own history, overthinking or not, he could be considered a good enough role model for the message.

6 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon said:

Honestly, given Shadow's own history, overthinking or not, he could be considered a good enough role model for the message.

Exactly! That is something along the lines of what I have been trying to say. I’d say he is that relatable.

All Hail Shadow!

9 hours ago, Shiny Gems said:

To me, it is not something meant to be generic. It may be generic to you, but it is something that can mean a whole lot to others, like teenagers and such. @Bobniksaid it best above, and I said in a previous post on this topic that Shadow is very relatable, and the message you find generic goes along with him being relatable, especially to teenagers and those who like Shadow as a character and such.

Though it may be relative, there is always deepness in something, like how I find this message to be deep for plenty of people. If it were generic, how many people would even care? Shadow has gone through a lot, is strong and independent and so on, and a lot of people can relate to that. Even if it is all relative and depending on the person, there is enough deepness in the message for plenty of people to make it not universally generic.

Its generic to me, because I recognize I am not the target demographic of who its directed towards. 

8 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Its generic to me, because I recognize I am not the target demographic of who its directed towards. 

Well, that is all good to know, then. I would have respected your opinion either way, but I do definitely respect this.

10 hours ago, Kuzu said:

Yea, this is just a generic "Believe in yourself and move forward" message. You don't have to look at it any deeper than that.

But we're presumably still allowed to express our hatred for generic "Believe in yourself and move forward" messages if we hate generic "Believe in yourself and move forward" messages, right?

4 minutes ago, Scritch the Cat said:

But we're presumably still allowed to express our hatred for generic "Believe in yourself and move forward" messages if we hate generic "Believe in yourself and move forward" messages, right?

Yes, and we are also allowed to express our dislike of said hatred if we harbor dislike of said hatred.

We are also allowed to express our hatred of said dislike of said hatred if we harbor hatred of said dislike of said hatred.

However, once it gets to the point where we are expressing our dislike of said hatred of said dislike of said hatred, it's kind of a vicious circle, so maybe we should just agree to disagree and move on before we start repeating ourselves (and creating sentences that would make as much sense backwards as forwards, although to be fair that's entirely on me).

17 hours ago, Scritch the Cat said:

It's so weird living in a world where a lot of Sonic games are still confined to what @Roger_van_der_weidecalls the "Schrodinger's Cat Canon".  Most series that destroyed their reputation as thoroughly as Sonic did in the mid 2000s would have rebooted if not just ended, but with this one they just chose to mostly ignore the games that wrecked their vibe without erasing them, presumably in an attempt to fix their mistakes without having to admit they made any.  It kind of worked when there was no impetus to use Shadow for anything else, even if occasionally they did, but now that the movies have brought his fans out of the woodwork and all but forced him to be important again in the games' canon, it's just pitiful to watch them reopen the door as slowly and cautiously as possible.  They want to use bring Shadow back because he's popular, but they don't want to bring his self-titled game back because it's cringe, but they don't want to retcon his game out because that would be admitting fault, so they just cherrypick non-cringe things from that game, and so now Shadow's theme and vibe are just...bike?

Begging your pardon, but does the Shadow part of Sonic X Shadow Gens not involved Black Doom coming back?

Isn't he deemed one of the biggest "cringe" parts of the Shadow game? And from the looks of the city backdrop in this shot, the implications are that might be Westopolis. 

That doesn't sound to me like they're still trying to bury anything related to ShTH beyond... "bike". And not to mention that songs originally made for that game reappearing here and there, including "I Am All Of Me" in the Sonic Symphony, who as part of this campaign will have more Shadow songs, potential meaning songs related to ShTH.

56 minutes ago, Scritch the Cat said:

But we're presumably still allowed to express our hatred for generic "Believe in yourself and move forward" messages if we hate generic "Believe in yourself and move forward" messages, right?

You're free to hate it, but unless you're a weirdo cynic, I cannot imagine why you would. 

2 hours ago, SupahBerry said:

Begging your pardon, but does the Shadow part of Sonic X Shadow Gens not involved Black Doom coming back?

Isn't he deemed one of the biggest "cringe" parts of the Shadow game? And from the looks of the city backdrop in this shot, the implications are that might be Westopolis. 

 

That doesn't sound to me like they're still trying to bury anything related to ShTH beyond... "bike". And not to mention that songs originally made for that game reappearing here and there, including "I Am All Of Me" in the Sonic Symphony, who as part of this campaign will have more Shadow songs, potential meaning songs related to ShTH.

I was pretty surprised about Black Doom coming back.  I don't necessarily have an opinion for or against it but I was under the impression that until recently, there was an internal ban on using Black Doom ever again and a desire to downplay the fact that Shadow used guns; ostensibly SEGA had a statue of him with a gun in their office that they taped plushies around to hide. 

Obviously in an action video game, you need more conflict than just "my new neighbors scare me and so I need to prove I'm talented so they accept me", or whatever they were trying to convey, but it still seems weird that chose to take anything at all from that game to put in the motivational video when they needed to cherrypick to get to an optimistic message.  There may be a power fantasy to characters like Shadow, but an optimist, he is definitely not.

2 hours ago, Kuzu said:

You're free to hate it, but unless you're a weirdo cynic, I cannot imagine why you would. 

Saccharine corporate motivational blurbs annoy me, but to get deeper, I feel "Be Yourself" is very overrated advice in media.  I would prefer our culture made people more conscious of their flaws and inspired them to improve themselves, as well as considering that sometimes, the "haters" have a point.

And that last bit might be a big part of why it seems so odd they're using Shadow for this.  Because he has a substantial hatedom, there are some very clear and sensible reasons people hate him, and depending on the game, it feels like up until recently SEGA was in on that gangbang, too.

2 hours ago, Scritch the Cat said:

Saccharine corporate motivational blurbs annoy me, but to get deeper, I feel "Be Yourself" is very overrated advice in media.  I would prefer our culture made people more conscious of their flaws and inspired them to improve themselves, as well as considering that sometimes, the "haters" have a point.

Yes, without wishing to derail the thread (more), "be yourself" tends to stop applying when "yourself" is actually really awful.  But that's a subtlety I wouldn't really expect a Shadow the Hedgehog ad campaign to touch on.  Or most media, really.