As you know, Sonic 4 comes out today on the Xbox 360 and PS3. (It came out two days ago on the Wii, and last week for iOS.) I haven’t bought it yet, but my time with it last week left with me with the impression, well, the game is certainly a fun romp. Can’t ask for more than that. But what we can ask less of is less trashy Sonic games. You know, that game where Sonic transformed into a werewolf. I mean, come on.
Sega knows this, too.
In an interview with Joystiq, Sega’s US vice-president of sales and marketing, Alan Pritchard, says that Sega, in the past, had “probably been guilty of bringing too many Sonic games to market too quickly.”
It’s not only that, but too many rubbish Sonic games.
You had the werewolf one, the other one, and the other one that I can think of off the top of my head that I looked at and thought, “Yikes, pass.”
As such, Sega is trying to put less of a focus on a its back catalog and put more of a focus on its current crop of not-bad games.
Basically, Sega is trying to get people to forget some of the past mistakes and instead think of Sonic only for the good times: Sonic 2, Sonic Adventure, and Sonic 4.
It’s sort of the same strategy that EA has adopted in recent years: less games in general (certainly less so-so games), but makes sure the games you make are of a high quality.
Far-out strategy: making good games. Imagine that.