With Sonic Colors coming later this year and actually looking pretty damn good, Sega's top men say they want to get Sonic the Hedgehog's recent misfires off store shelves, part of an effort to "increase the value of the brand."
Jurgen Post, Sega senior VP of Euroep, Middle East and Africa, tells MCV that the publisher-developer has "de-listed" any Sonic the Hedgehog game "with an average Metacritic" score. Potentially, that means coolly received Sonic games like Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Riders.
"We could make a lot of money on back-catalog Sonic titles," Post says, "but let's keep the number of Sonic games available under control. Otherwise you can have cannibalisation. If there are ten Sonic games on the shelves, with people seeing Sonic Rush DS or Sonic Rush Adventure, this may not help our overall strategy."
By the end of the year, Sonic fans will be treated to at least three new games starring Sega's well worn mascot, with Sonic Free Riders coming to Kinect, Sonic Colors coming to Wii and Nintendo DS and Sonic the Hedgehog 4 coming to just about everything.