EDITORIAL: Nine Years of Sonic – A Fan Perspective

Well, here we are, June 23, 2000. On this date back in 1991, Sonic 1 was shipped to the Genesis, marking a new era for Sega in the continuing Genesis vs. Super Nintendo console wars. That was way back when, when Nintendo and Sega were the only two real competitors in the video game market. Now, nine years later, oh, how things have changed.

On the Sega side, Sega of Japan and Sega of America and Europe to an extent are in a bit of turmoil. Little sales in Japan in part due to the alienation of the Japanese public by the Playstation 1 and 2 have seriously hurt central operations at Sega, despite top-quality titles being released. Sega has plans to focus more on Internet aspects, but is it too little too late? Truly, there might be no future for the company in the Land of the Rising Sun. Over in North America and Europe, the situation is better, but slowly turning worse. Awesome launches in both coverage areas meant a sales boost, but only for a time. A somewhat lackluster ad campaign in the States to a controversial one in Europe is not making for a situation in Sega’s favor. The company is already in quite a bit of debt, and with Sega.Com launching, now you can get a free Dreamcast if you sign up with their ISP. Again, perhaps too little, too late, as consumers might see this as a cheap gimmick with no real gain. The reality must be faced…if Sega can not get out of the slump that is being caused by giant Sony and their Playstation, this company might not be around for the long-term future.

On the Sonic side of things, though, the situation is quite better. A dedicated fan base which creates many works of art, fiction, and music every day. Despite a few bumps along the way, fans have enjoyed the ride. Perhaps we can credit this to Sonic HQ, the first true Sonic one-stop source, and Rat.org, the first true Sonic music archive. A slew of fan sites exist today on the Internet, each unique in its own way. One might contain a truckload of news, the other might have a fan fiction archive. One could contain music, the other art. Or, a select few could offer a combination of the above. Whatever the situation might be, each and every Sonic fan on the Internet has shown their support for the Hedgehog, whether it be dedicating a website to it or just participating in a role-play chat, or posting on a message board. Some might even argue it was the fans that helped make a professional Sonic movie script even exist. We have all been through quite a bit, especially in the past two years, when a bit of a revolution took place in the fan community. Certainly the man himself, Yuji Naka, knows what we’ve been up to, as we’ve learned the past few weeks. That, friends, is something we can all be proud of.

In any case, no matter what the situation might be, today is Sonic’s ninth birthday. Next year, he’ll be celebrating the big 1-0. Don’t give me this talk about Sonic being fifteen…we know that. He’s been fifteen for the past nine years. In our eyes, he will stay forever young. Let us wish him a very happy birthday, and may he celebrate many, many more.