Sega prez: Sonic to go MIA for make-over treatment

Yep, you read the title right. We won’t be seeing Sonic for quite some time in the future. When talking about the recent announcement of the Nintendo–Sega collaboration, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Sega president Simon Jeffery told Newsweek that they’re planning to give their blue hedgehog a bit of a make-over, meaning no new Sonic titles in the near future.

We are actually undergoing a fairly considerable refresh of Sonic as an intellectual property, as a character. Sonic on the Wii is probably the first product that’s come to market that reflects that. We’re not going to be bringing another game out on the other platforms for quite some time, because we feel that it is time to reinvent Sonic, to make Sonic contemporary again. At the same time, even the recent 360 and PlayStation 3 games have sold extremely well.

Reinvent Sonic, eh? Wonder how that’s going to end up. Well, they already have started going back to “the original Sonic” with Sonic and the Secret Rings. I say that’s actually a good start. Of course, before you give someone some make-over, you’d have to revisit your roots first. It’s going to be interesting to see how they will “make Sonic contemporary again” though.

We fished the picture above from a Neoseeker forums thread on Sonic art. Well, let’s just hope that “Sonic In a Dress” remains as a fan’s concept art, and not make it to the final drafts of Sega. (pink looks sooo good on blue though)

Yep, you read the title right. We won’t be seeing Sonic for quite some time in the future. When talking about the recent announcement of the Nintendo–Sega collaboration, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Sega president Simon Jeffery told Newsweek that they’re planning to give their blue hedgehog a bit of a make-over, meaning no new Sonic titles in the near future.

We are actually undergoing a fairly considerable refresh of Sonic as an intellectual property, as a character. Sonic on the Wii is probably the first product that’s come to market that reflects that. We’re not going to be bringing another game out on the other platforms for quite some time, because we feel that it is time to reinvent Sonic, to make Sonic contemporary again. At the same time, even the recent 360 and PlayStation 3 games have sold extremely well.

Reinvent Sonic, eh? Wonder how that’s going to end up. Well, they already have started going back to “the original Sonic” with Sonic and the Secret Rings. I say that’s actually a good start. Of course, before you give someone some make-over, you’d have to revisit your roots first. It’s going to be interesting to see how they will “make Sonic contemporary again” though.

We fished the picture above from a Neoseeker forums thread on Sonic art. Well, let’s just hope that “Sonic In a Dress” remains as a fan’s concept art, and not make it to the final drafts of Sega. (pink looks sooo good on blue though)