The Importance of a Strong IP
Friday, 28th January 2022, 12:53pm (UTC), 0 Comments
Recognizable characters can make or break many forms of entertainment - whether this is a non-fictional character represented on the big screen or something fictional created specifically for game, film, or TV purposes, a great character and a strong IP can make all the difference. Some have lived timelessly through these different media and have been recreated as the figurehead in reproductions as more gaming sites are featuring beloved characters in different gaming genres, but just how important is it to have a good IP that can span these different interests?

Two perfect examples can be taken from the childhood of many avid gamers today - the title characters of the Nintendo and Sega IPs of both Mario and Sonic are two characters that won't soon be forgotten, particularly as newer representations of them are still so influential today. For Sonic, one only needs to look to the success of the first live-action movie and the upcoming release to show how much interest still lies there, as well as the sales numbers for games which continue to impress, and the merchandising side too through spin-off TV shows and physical products with toys and clothing too. Despite first showing in media back in 1991, Sonic is still as influential as its first release.



Similarly for the Nintendo IP, Mario is still an extremely prominent figure with its own movie releasing soon enough, and a number of the games are still the most played and speed run games today - whilst the gaming representation is still much higher than that of the former as Nintendo is still publishing titles on a regular basis, both have managed to have a huge amount of since their creation and have shown that a strong IP will stick around for a long period of time.

As all markets become more saturated with newer characters, newer interests, and changing demands, these two characters still stick out amongst all of the others which is even more impressive with just how long they've been around, and show that these well developed characters even very different to modern offerings can be explored in many different ways, and in many different forms too - whilst not all are well received and the first movie release of Sonic can attest to that, it does show that there is at least a lot of creativity left for these characters, and that these different creative approaches can breathe fresh life into these influential memories for many.
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More Details Revealed for Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Saturday, 11th December 2021, 8:34pm (UTC), 0 Comments
It has been a couple of exciting years for fans of Sonic that don't look to be slowing any time in the near future either - the release of the movie last year certainly brought attention, not least for the design change to the main character that was later amended but also as other outlets started to focus on the brand once more with some of the biggest themed games emerging at online sites, particularly in certain genres like at sinlicencia.org and many other popular sites too. The momentum doesn't look to end, however, as the movie poster for the latest entry has been released and news of the newest Sonic game looking to be unveiled at the Game Awards.

Whilst details have been around for quite some time, there is some great news for fans of different characters in the Sonic series - Jim Carrey will be reprising his role as Dr. Robotnik who had certainly been a fan favourite from the first, Colleen O'Shaughnessey will be reprising her role as Tails after voicing the character in the first movie and in a number of games, and Idris Elba will be joining the cast to play his role as Knuckles too. Fortunately this time around it doesn't seem as if any creative freedoms have been taken to change a well known design and the characters should all be appearing just about as expected, especially Sonic with his continued updated look to, and with the first movie being received quite well this second one should certainly be able to gain some traction and hit the nostalgia for older Sonic fans who may have missed the first movie.



What may certainly be more interesting however is what they decide to reveal about the newest game later this week - an official video was released earlier in the year that showed an updated graphic sonic running around a forest, but nothing more has been released since then so expect there to be some gameplay footage or at least something akin to a playtest - a new Sonic game to enter into the new year would certainly be a nice treat for many players, but fans may have to wait just a little longer as when the original trailer was released there had been a note from the Sonic Team head that this announcement may have come a little earlier than intended. If rumours are to be believed that this could be an open-world styled game, however, there's certainly something very exciting to look forward to.
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Sonic's Role In The Sega-Nintendo Showdown Of The '90's
Thursday, 28th October 2021, 7:33pm (UTC), 0 Comments
Everybody loves a good rivalry. Ford vs. Chevy. The Yankees vs. the Red Sox (that's a favorite of online sports bettings sites). In video games, the original rivalry was Sega vs. Nintendo and the see-saw battle shaped the home console business as we know it today.

With about 30 years of hindsight, let's reflect on the heated competition in which Sonic the Hedgehog was dead center of. Here's what happened and what wrong three decades ago:

Sonic Saves The Sega Genesis

Old-school gamers have fond memories of the Sega Genesis, the company's first foray into the home-console market. It's typically seen as Sega's peak in the console business, which it was, but not until the original Sonic the Hedgehog game was released in 1991.

You see, the Genesis launched three years before that with a wimp. The console did little to eat into Nintendo's market share, which was estimated to be 90 percent in the United States in 1990. Then one blue-haired, super-speedy hedgehog flipped the industry upside down.



Sonic was Sega's counter to Nintendo's Mario character and game franchise. It effectively positioned Sonic as its "mascot" per se and gamers ate it up. Thanks to the iconic game (which was packaged with the console), plus a cheaper system cost than the Super Nintendo, Sega outsold its rivals four straight Christmas seasons during the '90s inside the United States.

Sega Does What Nintendon't

In the history of video games, the above catchphrase is one of the most iconic. Sega used the tagline in America to differentiate itself from Nintendo. In ads, Sega positioned itself as better - in terms of game library, graphics, and super-fast gameplay. Of course, Sonic came to symbolize all three of those.

In fact, Sonic the Hedgehog was originally going to be "edgier" than the one you now know. The game's original developers - from Japan, of course - envisioned the character with fangs, a spiked collar, an electric guitar and a human girlfriend named Madonna. The American-based employees of Sega stopped it from happening and toned down the character's "goth-ness" per se.

With savvy marketing and Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega and Nintendo were neck-and-neck in the mid-90s, at least in America. Despite Sega's Japanese roots, the company struggled back home where Nintendo, another Japanese firm, was firmly entrenched as No. 1. This spurred Sega to develop a brand-new console, which signaled the beginning of the end of this rivalry.

Sega Falters With the Saturn

The Sega Saturn launched at the tailend of 1994. However, this time the console wasn't just pitted against Nintendo. No, no, there was a new player in town (also from Japan) and it was called the Sony Playstation. Like Sega, Sony also positioned itself as the console for more "mature" games, which Nintendo shied away from to protect its family-friendly image.

The Saturn failed to meet the success of the previous Genesis. In fact, it actually cannibalized the predecessor's success. Gamers remained latched onto the Genesis, which Sega slowed production of to ramp that of the Saturn. Production issues continued to plague the Saturn, which was felt by game developers and players alike.

It's also worth noting that a Sonic the Hedgehog game was never released for the Saturn console. Not one. Not supporting your new console with your most iconic franchise feels like an unthinkable mistake, but it actually happened.

Too Little Too Late With The Dreamcast

Rather than fix the Saturn, Sega opted for a complete replacement in the Dreamcast console. It was released in late 1998 with a brand-new Sonic Adventure game right after. The game was a resounding success with 2.5 million copies sold, but the console itself wasn't.



By this time, Sega had shot itself in the foot one too many times. Both Nintendo and Sony were far, far ahead of it in the console war - and they weren't relinquishing those leads no matter how beloved Sonic was. Sega pulled the plug on the Dreamcast in 2001 and left the console business for good.

While Sonic games trickled into Nintendo and Playstation systems thereafter, it never re-captured the eyes of gamers like it did when it was Sega's own flagship franchise for their console. And that's been the story of the last 30 years (and counting).
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Sonic's Future in the Gaming Industry
Wednesday, 13th October 2021, 10:09am (UTC), 0 Comments
Looking at the gaming industry today, it is clear to see that it is bigger than ever before. This is not surprising given how enjoyable the activity can be to most people, much like how many enjoy gambling at casinos, here are some more options that are available. When video games first began to release, they were met with disapproval from the public and it did not seem that they would pick up any kind of traction. Indeed, the world that exists today would have not been predicted at this time. The industry has created many popular games throughout its tenure, but Sonic the Hedgehog remains one of the most popular entries.

Despite being near-universally loved, it is hard to find a sonic game that has truly appealed to most gamers. This is especially hard to do now, so it seems like developers have missed a trick here. Gamers are becoming increasingly harder to satisfy and the standard of video games is going up. Historically, the Sonic game has not been developed by any studio that is instantly recognisable just from their name, and the results of this can be seen in the options that exist today. While all fine games, no developer has managed to take the IP and made it attractive to the masses. Bioware have made a Sonic game before, but this was only released on the Nintendo DS. It seems that what the series needs right now is a carefully developed, triple-A release of the game to bring it up to the modern era of gaming and reintroduce a new generation to the world of Sonic.

This can easily be done by acquiring a trusted studio to develop this game. Much like what Insomniac has done for Spider-Man, Sonic will need the same kind of treatment to become popular with the masses once again. This is something that may prove difficult though when the inherent concept of Sonic is taken into account. It is typically a level-based game where the worlds are quite linear. In an era of gaming where gamers expect massive, full worlds, this might hinder the game's ability to appeal to most people. Developers will therefore need to decide whether they remain faithful to the series, or if they take it in a new direction completely.

There is no doubt that the series is crying out for a new game that is developed by a top-end studio. It seems like this is the only way to revive the series and give it the love that it deserves.
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Sonic the Hedgehog: Trip down Memory Lane for the Classic Games
Tuesday, 21st September 2021, 7:23pm (UTC), 0 Comments


Since his debut in 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog has had a whirlwind of a career, with 70 games (at the moment) and appearances in comic books, TV shows, and already having one released LIVE action film and a second film in the works.

Without a doubt, Sonic the Hedgehog is one of SEGA's most well-known franchises, and the blue speedster is one of the most well-known fictional characters of all time.

Sonic the Hedgehog's style has influenced many other video games as well as other many industries and sectors, for example, the online casino gambling industry, there are arcade-style slot machines that are similar to Sonic the Hedgehog's style of play such as collecting coins, jumping up and down on blocks etc. These types of games can be played by individuals with no gaming experience, that's why they're most tailored to typically the older generation rather than the young, however, if you would like to play on the Sonic the Hedgehog type of slots and games, there are many other options if you are looking for some, within the list, our team of passionate gamers have chosen the best virtual gaming casinos that offer the greatest promotions, bonuses as well as a good welcome package.

Furthermore, within this article we're taking a trip down memory lane and having a look at the some of the classic and old Sonic the Hedgehog games.

Sonic Adventure - It was one of Sonic's greatest "adventures" of the late '90s and at this time, players were able to travel freely through an open world and were able to embark on different quest levels. This game gave players access to six different playable characters, each character had their own unique storyline.

However, In the early 2000s because gaming technology was somewhat improvement, the game was re-released under the name Sonic Adventure DX with updated graphics including higher resolution textures and more detailed character models, as well as a designed Chao-raising system and Metal Sonic is a playable character.

Sonic Adventure 2 - The second game of the series was another open world adventure game, however, with the second game, new faces have joined the playable list, the introduced characters were tails and knuckles.

The game features two-player kart racing and other competitive modes, as well as the return of cute little Chaos and Chao Garden, in which players can breed and evolve their Chaos using animal parts, making them heroes (white) or black (black) depending on the playable character and how he treats each Chao.
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The First Releases of Sonic the Hedgehog Games
Wednesday, 15th September 2021, 10:54am (UTC), 0 Comments


Sonic the Hedgehog is a divisive character in the world of video games, almost every gamer on earth will know what Sonic is because he is such an iconic character. When SEGA was striving to establish itself as a serious competitor to Nintendo in the early 1990s, Sonic arrived and provided the business with the mascot needed to persuade fans to buy the Genesis/Mega Drive machine, of course, came the release of the big hit game.

The style of Sonic the Hedgehog game has inspired many other video games as well as motivated other sectors like the online casino gambling scene, like for example, there are arcade type slot machines similar to how Sonic the Hedgehog plays, and you will be able to play them at casinogenie.org.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 - 1992

Many consider the 1992 sequel game one of the best Genesis/Mega Drive games. It was appreciated for its detailed and colourful levels, as well as its 3D bonus rounds and the addition of Tails.

Many reviews claimed that it improved on everything that worked in the first game, resulting in a superior game experience. SEGA also created an 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for its older Master System console, which was still for sale in many countries around the world, due to Sonic's growth in popularity.

Sonic CD - 1993

Many gamers have probably never played the most acclaimed Sonic game or knew that it existed. SEGA released the SEGA CD, a new disk-based peripheral for the Genesis that allowed for larger games, better sound quality, and improved graphics, this was released in between 1991.

Sonic CD was praised upon its initial release for its excellent soundtrack, beautiful graphics, and large number of levels. Unfortunately, because only a little more than 2 million SEGA CD units were sold, not many people were able to play the game.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 - 1994

SEGA had discovered a hit in Sonic the Hedgehog, and they were determined to make as many Sonic games as they could, this brought up a range of responses from people. On the one hand, Sonic games were entertaining, and everyone enjoyed trying out new levels. On the other hand, critics and fans expected the game to improve with each successive release, yet Sonic games stayed remarkably consistent. While some criticised Sonic 3 for being more of the same, it was widely lauded by players and became one of the most popular Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time.
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