Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Sega Wants Embarrassing Sonic Games Off Shelves
Sonic hasn’t aged as well as Mario, and Sega has executed interesting tactics to try to remedy this over the years. Namely, Sega releases a landfill’s worth of garbage Sonic games, and the company is finally acting to cleanse the hedgehog’s sullied name. This brand revitalization will be accomplished by pulling average Sonic games from the shelf and focusing on quality in the future.
“Any Sonic game with an average Metacritic has been de-listed,” explained Jurgen Post, Sega’s senior vice president of Europe, Middle East, and Africa. “We have to do this and increase the value of the brand. This will be very important when more big Sonic releases arrive in the future."
Sega’s big cheese goes on to assert that they could make boatloads of cash on old Sonic games, but he doesn’t want them to overpopulate the shelves. “If there are ten Sonic games on the shelves, with people seeing Sonic Rush DS or Sonic Rush Adventure, this may not help our overall strategy,” he explained.
Despite Sega’s assertion that it will focus on fewer, better Sonic titles, three games are on the holiday horizon: Sonic 4, Sonic Colors, and Sonic Free Riders. Sega’s push to minimize physical media presence could tie in with its recent restructuring emphasis on digital distribution.
Source: MCV
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
