Sonic Colors Not Meant For "Core" Audience
- Thread starter Tom Goldman
- Start date
Invasion of the capital letters! Run! (Please, use correct grammar)aaronx83 said:
OT: That sounds a bit lame. Games should be able to be played by everyone. And if they mean it's going to be easy, it shouldn't be. When I was young, my first game was Super Mario Land, the most tormenting Mario game in existence. And by young, I mean that I played it from that I was 2 years old, up to the age of 6.
It looked very fun at E3 and more interesting than Sonic 4, so I think it will be a decent game.
Well at least they're honest about it. To be fair the whole franchise is distinctly "kiddy" so this isn't much of an issue I suppose.
Hmmm, well I will be honest in saying that I think there have been plenty of high quality kids games. I think one of the big problem with developing "kids games" nowadays is simply that kids generally resistant to doing kid things, they want to grow up and do the things the older kids are. I think the rate at which interests mature, along with the increasing capabilities of our offspring along with the increasing capabilities of humanity (each generation being stronger and faster, and breaking the unbeatable records of the ones before it) are something society is having trouble with to begin with. I do not think targeting the "kids" demographic is a great idea because I think it increasingly doesn't exist as people understand it. Successful sales by such products usually seem to be more a representation of parents buying products they think are safe for kids or whatever more than what the kids themselves want, will play seriously, or are interested in.
That said, I will also say that assuming they are right in having a big demographic to target, that I think "Sonic" is not a character that should be directed at kids anymore, but instead should grow up with his core fan base.
Let me be blunt, the furry fandom has ensured that any perceived inherant innocence to anthromorphics that came from the Disney usage is gone. I will not be too judgemental of anyone's chosen lifestyle or interests, but if you start looking around the internet for stuff related to Sonic, or even most anthromorphic characters, a good portion of what you find is going to be furry porn, and it's incredibly easy to find even by accident. Irregardless of what he and his friends used to be and represent, this paticular franchise has been ruined by it's fetishistic adult fan base.
Making a game like this directed at kids with the intention of turning them into Sonic fans, is (if it works) going to probably get them looking for more Sonic, and he is an affable little guy. This is great from Sega's perspective and what they want, so they can sell more merchandise. On the other hand those same kids are going to get on the internet, go digging around, and wind up coming into contact with literrally terabytes of furry porn in the guise of evertying from artwork, to comics, to fanfiction, there are entire websites full of this stuff.
The problem is nothing intristic to Sonic himself, but more with the fan base, and honestly I'm not sure if I'd want my kids telling me "Oh hey, Sonic isn't just kids stuff, I met this 45 year old guy who is a huge fan and has everything involving him ever made...". At one time that might have been eccentric but harmless, like a guy collecting "Superman" or "Batman" stuff as a sort of hobby. Today it's anything but, but then again probably because I've been on the internet long enough to know that "everything ever made" includes fursuits with special accesibility flaps for one's naughty bits.
I think they should keep Sonic to adults and "core gamers" irregardless of what the intent was to begin with.
For that matter I increasingly stumble over stuff that makes me think that we REALLY need to get over the whole "anthromorphics are for children" thing, and stop producing this kind of thing for a generation or so until a lot of the oddness dies down with time.
That said, I will also say that assuming they are right in having a big demographic to target, that I think "Sonic" is not a character that should be directed at kids anymore, but instead should grow up with his core fan base.
Let me be blunt, the furry fandom has ensured that any perceived inherant innocence to anthromorphics that came from the Disney usage is gone. I will not be too judgemental of anyone's chosen lifestyle or interests, but if you start looking around the internet for stuff related to Sonic, or even most anthromorphic characters, a good portion of what you find is going to be furry porn, and it's incredibly easy to find even by accident. Irregardless of what he and his friends used to be and represent, this paticular franchise has been ruined by it's fetishistic adult fan base.
Making a game like this directed at kids with the intention of turning them into Sonic fans, is (if it works) going to probably get them looking for more Sonic, and he is an affable little guy. This is great from Sega's perspective and what they want, so they can sell more merchandise. On the other hand those same kids are going to get on the internet, go digging around, and wind up coming into contact with literrally terabytes of furry porn in the guise of evertying from artwork, to comics, to fanfiction, there are entire websites full of this stuff.
The problem is nothing intristic to Sonic himself, but more with the fan base, and honestly I'm not sure if I'd want my kids telling me "Oh hey, Sonic isn't just kids stuff, I met this 45 year old guy who is a huge fan and has everything involving him ever made...". At one time that might have been eccentric but harmless, like a guy collecting "Superman" or "Batman" stuff as a sort of hobby. Today it's anything but, but then again probably because I've been on the internet long enough to know that "everything ever made" includes fursuits with special accesibility flaps for one's naughty bits.
I think they should keep Sonic to adults and "core gamers" irregardless of what the intent was to begin with.
For that matter I increasingly stumble over stuff that makes me think that we REALLY need to get over the whole "anthromorphics are for children" thing, and stop producing this kind of thing for a generation or so until a lot of the oddness dies down with time.
If you google anything with safesearch off most of what you'll find will be porn. This is the internet, Rule 34 is called a rule for a reason.Therumancer said:
This buisness strategy is like tightrope walking the edge of a razor-sharp ornate blade made of fan expectations. If they maintain a good balance, they'll look fantastic, but otherwise they'll be slashed wide open.
There is *some* truth to that, but the point is that there is a lot more of this than for most things, rather than dealing with a few isolated pervss your dealing with what could actually be considered a subculture dedicated to it.GloatingSwine said:
Like many things coming from /B/ "Rule 34" is an exagerrated meme. Part of the entire joke is the "no exceptions" bit, where you can take something totally innocent or impossible to generate sexual arousal with, and use a "kit" to shop in someone's penis and a cum splatter. Or take something where it would be unusually sick to think of it being porn and "rule 34" it for lulz. The bottom line is that if your in any place that knows "rule 34" and you mention anything, they will turn it into "porn" if nothing else.
This means that there are tons of things that your not likely to get porn spammed from if you search without a filter, there just isn't a lot of it, or nobody thought of it. However if you search for "Sonic" (or most things involving Anthromorphics) your going to find tons of stuff done by a large subsection of a subculture. Likewise if you create a new Anthromorph your likely to find it sexuailized by this group of people almost at light speed, above and beyond someone doing it for laughs.
I simply think Sonic as a character/franchise is no longer child safe, because it goes much futher than most other things that have been "rule 34ed".
If groups within the furry community want to do this kind of thing with Sonic, that's fine, I'm not saying we should do anything to hunt them down specifically or anything, I just think Sonic should no longer be featured in children's products due to the association. I also think the producers of children's material should steer away from Anthromorphics for a while so as not to risk the very high chance of this exposure.
Understand, I'm a firmly believe in free speech, but I also believe there should be a degree of responsibility among companies with franchises that turn out like this on this scale. Parents do have the primary responsibility for protecting their children, however this subculure is not specifically mainstream and I don't think your typical person could reasonably be expected to be aware of it, people who call a site like this one are not "normal" in our general base of knowlege.
It's wrong to censor "Sonic Rule 34" on principle, but it's also wrong to set things up to be involved with a character that would lead them to that.
It's sort of like someone releasing a Pedobear or Shotacat video game genuinely targeted at children. Sonic was not developed to be an icon for perversion (nor were most anthromorphs) but that is what he turned into for a substantial group of rather prolific people, like it or not the door was opened, and we have to deal with it.
Of course I doubt SEGA really cares much about my opinion, so in the end it's not worth seriously argueing about.
Perhaps they're shying away from any audience whose sex drive has activated due to the incredible excess of Sonic the Hedgehog porn to be found on the Internet?
Nah, I see we've already covered that angle, and actually I doubt it. It's more likely to do with kid's expectations being lower.
"Core" gamers have much higher expectations that Sega has repeatedly failed to meet. So now they've decided it's just easier to flat out tell us that the game doesn't appeal to core gamers and hopefully this will dodge the righteous flaming their game would otherwise get.
Nah, I see we've already covered that angle, and actually I doubt it. It's more likely to do with kid's expectations being lower.
"Core" gamers have much higher expectations that Sega has repeatedly failed to meet. So now they've decided it's just easier to flat out tell us that the game doesn't appeal to core gamers and hopefully this will dodge the righteous flaming their game would otherwise get.
Hey now, all games are meant to be fun, the only question is who they're meant to be fun for.droppingpenny said:
Sega's saying, "Sonic Colors" is not meant to be fun for the "Core" audience.
Note that "Core" audience is something different from "Hardcore" audience. "Core" refers to the greater bulk of established gamers, while "Hardcore" refers to the exceptionally excessive gamer. "Casual" refers to those who only "casually" (not regularly) play games.
Considering this, the proper translation goes like this:
Sonic Colors is meant to be fun by people who have not played enough games to be considered a "core" gamer.
The point I'm trying to make is that the Sonic fandom has become very adult and pornographic and I think that the fandom itself has made Sonic a character that I do not think should be marketed to children.Gruchul said:
That's simply my opinion. The logic being that a kid who plays Sonic, likes the character, and then goes looking for more Sonic, is going to run into tons of porn and rather disturbing takes on the character and his universe. Such material being far more prolific than many other things.
I think SEGA should keep the character to a more adult demographic who grew up with the character and are responsible for this kind of thing, and find something else to market to children.
I know many are going to disagree, but such are my thoughts. I think it's one of those cases where the fanbase has ruined the product, or at least changed whom it can be reasonably marketed to. Companies should pay more attention to this kind of thing, if they did I think it would undercut a lot of the flak people throw at them in argueing for "video game censorship". The company might not be responsible directly or legally, but every time some little kid gets online and finds this much porn dedicated to what is marketed as a "child friendly product" that's one more voice games have arrayed against them.
Not saying they shouldn't be making Sonic stuff, just not trying to market it to kids anymore.
Wait, are you saying Sonic should stop being marketed towards children because there's Sonic porn out there? If so that's an... odd comment to make, mainly because everything has porn about, Mario, Pokemon and what not, so they should stop being market towards children, ay?! (Not that I have actually been looking for Pokemon porn of course... yeah... sure.)Therumancer said:
"With Sonic Colors we have aimed to make a game that everyone can control and have fun in. So, it's not really a game for the core gamers." Sonic Colors is meant to give children a Sonic game that they can easily get through without too much trouble.
So this effectively means that it will be too easy, and 3D. In other words, a shitty game designed for kids. Look, just make a 2D game. You know, the ones THAT ARE GOOD?!
I am very miffed at the moment. Not that I expected it to be any good in the first place.
So this effectively means that it will be too easy, and 3D. In other words, a shitty game designed for kids. Look, just make a 2D game. You know, the ones THAT ARE GOOD?!
I am very miffed at the moment. Not that I expected it to be any good in the first place.
Altar said:
It's a matter of extent. Most of the stuff about Mario or Pokemon is done as a joke to be a joke because "it's sooo wrong" or whatever. On the other hand there is an entire subculture dedicated to anthromorphic sexuality and people dressing up like animals in fursuits and such, people can do that as a lifestyle choice/kink if it's their thing, but it does mean that you see a lot more porn, and "serious" porn at that, about Sonic (and other anthromorphic characters).
Just an opinion, like many things I don't expect everyone to agree with me or go "OMG Theru, how insightful, I agree completly and unconditionally.... please become my personal life-Guru". Good thing too. I don't have the right hair to be a Guru
I find it hard to look forward to Sonic 4 when it comes off more and more as just a lazy retread.
Also lack of Robotnik. I never cared for Eggman's design.
Also lack of Robotnik. I never cared for Eggman's design.
This is the dumbest explanation I have ever heard. :-Ogeldonyetich said:
I think it rather translates to: "Nitpicky douchebags won't enjoy this."