Here is the reason SEGA does not listen to older fans. They simply do not seem to understand that SEGA is a business, or comprehend that Sonic still has a fanbase besides them, which is perfectly legitimate. SEGA must follow the sales figures. It does this for money, but there is another far more poignant reason for why SEGA is ultimately doing the right thing in at least continuing on with the series. SEGA does this to make money. People still buy the games. Someone out there still enjoys the games... why I'm not quite sure... but while someone is enjoying them and SEGA continue to make money, why not? Why should they ruin it for everyone else just to keep older fans satisfied? *Keystone point* The quality of a game is a purely subjective thing. Just because older fans don't like the game doesn't mean that newer fans will agree. When the fanbase is this badly split, one side has to be let down. And the newer fans will usually be favoured because they tend to be fresh and younger faces who will ultimately buy more games... and because they appear to have finally become more numerous than people still playing Sonic who were playing his games 8 years ago. SEGA will go where the money is, and where the sales are, and this is quite simply a direct example of democracy, however accidental.
SEGA recently announced that they are not going to try to market to older fans and are instead focussed on maintaining the newer fan base who seem to like the new Sonic. This makes logical sense. Sonic might be SEGA's mascot, but he still has to respond to sales physics, and most people who like these games are much younger and are in the demographic I think SEGA is aiming for... which they will be aiming for if they are wise. Remember, you were young when you enjoyed these games. Now new fans (I am deliberately trying to avoid saying younger) are enjoying the version of Sonic they have come to identify with.
Its ultimately as I feared; SEGA have finally cut off older fans. Their reasons for this may be that we have simply been too hard to please, while the new kind of fan who likes the games have been very supportive, of course. These are the people we have called "fanboys." Well guess what, the fanboys have won. If we'd stopped overwhelming forums with "I hate it, lets stop it forever and ruin it for the people who do like it" maybe Sonic Team would have been more inclined to listen to us. We could have had a chance, if people had put forward good, consistent advice, and not basically told Sonic Team and the millions of fans that still support their games to go to hell over and over again, but everyone, or the majority of older fans, bowed down to the "hate wagon" and soon SEGA had no choice but to accept there was no pleasing the older fans. It was the newer fanbase who approved of the new direction, or the older fanbase, and it was obvious which path SEGA was ultimately going to choose... SEGA has repaired its broken base in the most brutal and direct manner. It has simply shut its ears. Sonic Team have become an example of the trope: "disillusioned author"
There's a harsh lesson to be learned here: Just because you think you are in the majority, doesn't mean you are. Your side may be more vocal, but simple sales figures will always dominate, and it is the quality of the complaints, not the quantity. Its almost like democracy in gaming. Thus, recognising the other side is important, even if they are silent. There is a reason they seem silent: they are the ones on the fan-sites raving about the game, or too busy playing the games and enjoying them to care about the silently but furiously waged battle behind their oblivious little heads. In that naivette lies their wisdom.
I know few people agree with me, and I know I'm talking to the wind... but I stand by my stance on this as a previously and still, in perhaps a slightly different way, fiercely loyal fan until proven incorrect.
To back up, here's a statistic that emphasises the size of Sonic's still substantial fan-base even with the Werehog. Sonic Unleashed. 2.45 million sales. 3rd best SEGA seller this year. By my own observation, still at a high price at many stores. That's how successful it's been without us older fans supporting it.
Sorry if you feel abandoned, and know that I do feel a bit let down as well, but the hard truth is... SEGA doesn't need us any more. I may not like Sonic's current incarnation but I accept that it is time for the older fans who no longer like the series to let go and allow the current generation of Sonic fans to take over the base. I hope that some of us may share in the new era if a couple of real gems come out, but for people like me who simply don't like Sonic anymore there are other great games out there. May Sonic grant its new fans the same happiness that it granted us in the older Sonic's glory days. I predict they will be in our position in another 10 years time though.
Note that this is a prediction. I accept there is always a chance that I am completely wrong, and that in two years time Sonic Team may be crawling back to its original fanbase if their creative ideas implode. I still wish them well on their endevours though. However, if that is the case, then something about the Sonic-haters whole argument has been incredibly hypocritical. We have stated time and time again that we have hated the games since Shadow, or at least since Sonic '06, and yet we still supported them enough with sales figures to make them think they were on to a good thing. In other words; well done fanbase, you have hung your own development team without even knowing it.
I accept that I may be completely incorrect, and will respond to criticism politely... here goes... *clicks "post" and prepares for oncoming slaughter*
