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Sonic's differing US and Japanese design throughout the 1990s is well-documented, but Yasushi Yamaguchi appears to have inadvertently added a new piece of trivia into the history books. The original designer of Miles 'Tails' Prower recently revealed that, of all the issues SEGA Japan had with SEGA America's take on the company's mascot design, one of the most persistent was over Sonic's little American crooked legs. The strange factoid came as Yamaguchi was answering a question related to the recent discovery of an early Tails look and colour design. The creative expressed confusion that so much media had been created with Tails' design being based around that super-brown sprite, as he noted that he quickly discarded the colour palette after being unsatisfied with the results. But after being shown photos of SEGA America marketing vehicles and materials featuring a brown Tails based on the old design, Yamauguchi decided to let it be known that SEGA Japan was often annoyed that the US office would ignore the Sonic Team's design notes. SEGA of America's maverick approach to marketing and game development in the 1990s is well-documented - and it's no secret that during the 16-bit console gaming era, the US and Japanese SEGA offices often did not see eye to eye, with the former often ignoring style, design and product guidelines from the latter headquarters. The offending articles. Via @Linkabel Sonic the Hedgehog was regularly in the crossfire, with package art and various multi-media projects featuring artwork that differed from the original Japanese design. Most infamously, an entirely new backstory to Sonic's origin was created by SEGA of America, seemingly without the knowledge of Sonic Team or SEGA Japan at the time. This had been made apparent in recent years with former Sonic Team alumni such as Yuji Naka expressing confusion at hearing stories about 'Dr Ovi Kintobor' at the Summer of Sonic convention. Yamaguchi later added that SEGA Japan actually did not have the adequate resources to fully manage the company's characters until after the release of Sonic CD, which might explain why there was suddenly a lot more cohesion between the East and West markets after in the late 16-bit era. Despite all this hubbub in the 90s, it turned out that, according to the SatAM Historian, Sonic co-creator Naoto Oshima was apparently a big fan of the bow-legged American rendition of the hero! So, swings and roundabouts, I guess. Via @Linkabel [Twitter] View full story

Jeff Fowler, Director of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, has today acknowledged the largely negative feedback the movie trailer has received over the last 48 hours. In a tweet today, Fowler states, "Thank you for the support. And the critisism. The message is loud and clear... you aren't happy with the design & you want changes. It's going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be..." It is currently unclear as to what extent the character will, or indeed can be changed, with less than 8 months left until the film releases. This is not the first time that a movie character's design has been altered in a movie due to fan backlash; the first Michael Bay Transformers movie received similar treatment in which Megatron, the main antagonist of the movie, saw alterations after complaints from fans that his appearance was too far from the source material (thanks for the reminder, @TransistorSynd on twitter!). More Sonic the Hedgehog movie news as it comes! View full story

Okay, what is this fuss about Sonic's design? I'm aware that a topic exists for this before, but I had to get off my chest on this one. I mean, you got the "classic" Sonic fans who hate the modern design and want nothing more then a complete remake of the Genesis trilogy, and even if that were to happen, they would still find something to moan about (Just look at Sonic Generations, SEGA gave them the "classic" Sonic game that they wanted for years, but now they're whining over the fact that "classic" Sonic is mute and doesn't have a voice as opposed to his modern counterpart). Then there are the "modern" Sonic fans, who are not familiar with the classic games as they are with the modern ones. And seriously, "Porcupine Man"? That's one of the most screwed-up things that unpleasant classic fans call modern Sonic, and I wish they'd stop that and start respecting others' views. Besides, SEGA is making Sonic Generations where you get to play both versions of Sonic, so you should be happy about that. I may like the modern Sonic games, but I also like the classic games, too. I don't go around whining over what is supposed to be the creator's choice. Sonic is SEGA's character, not mine. I am only a fan of the series, nothing more. All I ask you is to feel the same way, fellow Sonic fans. It's not hard. Personally, I think Sonic has just gotten better with age. However, just because I like the modern design the best does not mean I hate the classic design. I appreciate both designs. Besides, if you waste your time away whining over a character design like it's a real person, then you have issues. Designs evolve with time as well, they need to, or otherwise they get old. I doubt that Sonic would have gotten all the popularity if he has keeping his old design and never updating it. I don't know what the big deal is. He's still blue, he still runs at high speeds, and he is still a hedgehog. Character design does not affect the quality of gameplay. Both designs are the same Sonic the Hedgehog that we all love and recognize, so if you can't stand one of them, then how can you be a Sonic fan? Love Sonic for who he is, not fight over his design.