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Smileverse [2014-02-06 21:01:09 +0000 UTC]

smileprettycure.deviantart.com…

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TeamNazo [2013-12-05 14:55:03 +0000 UTC]

why does he like chilidogs?

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Sonic-fan17 [2012-04-18 03:21:22 +0000 UTC]

LOL cute!

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RealSEGASonicLover [2011-09-29 06:34:45 +0000 UTC]

DAWW SONIC!! HES SUCH A PIG!! XD

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pokemon971 [2011-09-24 19:33:10 +0000 UTC]

i love Sonic Puppy Dog Look

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MarcelineForever4 [2011-08-25 00:26:13 +0000 UTC]

AMY would make a second chilidog!!

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SoNaMy-9819 [2011-08-22 21:35:54 +0000 UTC]

HAHA cute¡

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BlazeRocks101 [2011-07-23 22:21:13 +0000 UTC]

Lol!

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TherealRNO [2011-06-27 21:11:19 +0000 UTC]

Uh, the thing is, Sally was conceived as a love interest in the same vein as Amy, Breezie, Sara, Elise, etc. Furthermore, Sally was created by Sega of America, as she was based on Ricky [ [link] ]. It was Sega of America who turned Ricky into Sally, most likely because they felt the cast was too male dominated. But, as such, it proves that since Sega of America is still a part of Sega, Sally is herself a Sega character. The following snipets prove that it was the growing animosity between the two branches of Sega--even though Sonic Team initally left Sega of Japan in the 90's to create the Genesis games alongside Sega Technical Insitute at the behest of Sega of America (with Sonic 2, the first collaborative game, being the highest-ranked Sonic game of all-time)--that caused Sally to be regressed back into being just a character within the short-lived DiC-produced cartoon and the ongoing comics by Archie, even though she started out as an American character generated by Sega during Sonic's heyday.

Sonic has never been as popular in Japan as he is in America and Europe. This isn't too surprising, considering that the west was Sega's target audience from the get go. Sonic was never intended to be viewed as a Japanese import, nor was he one in actuality (although, admittedly, this perception was used as a marketing tool to capitalize on the otaku craze during the mid-2000s, i.e. with the Sonic X anime). Internally at Sega, in fact, Sonic is viewed as a "western property.

In fact, part of Yuji Naka's motivation for joining STI in 1992 was to be closer to Sonic's epicenter of success: the U.S. When asked about Naka's move in an interview, former president at the time, Tom Kalinske added, "I think he (Naka) wanted more freedom, and since Sonic wasn't as successful in the Japanese market as it was in this one, he probably wanted to be closer to where it was successful and listen to why people thought it had been successful, as well as get the input of Americans who loved the character and gameplay."

Naka himself confirmed this later in a 2010 interview with the ironically-named IUP organization (named after the life granted to Sonic's portly plumber rival, Mario, after so many coins or enlarging mushrooms were gathered). As the former main programer for Sonic said, "The main reason we had the team over here [in America] was to figure out how to best appeal to the U.S. We were starting to create Sonic 2 in Japan, but were kind of guessing; "maybe they'd like something like this, maybe we can do it this way." I decided the best way was to go to America and get their feedback directly. We went to San Francisco, and watching the kids in the focus groups play it and see their reactions was really helpful. And that certainly changed my game creation style -- my concept of game design was on a more worldwide scale, and that was a really important highlight of my life."

There is a common misperception that Sega of Japan was the main party responsible for Sonic's development and success and that anything that came out of Sega of America should be relegated to a secondary status. In reality, the efforts of Sega of America were inseparably linked to Sonic's success in the 90's. This is fact, as the article continues...

For a short time in the early 90's, Sega was an incubator of quality, innovation, and creativity. The two largest branches of the company—Sega of America and Sega of Japan—had a positive and productive relationship. The two operated almost as if they were two completely independent companies, and the American branch was provided a great deal of freedom and influence on the direction of the business. SoA controlled much of its own marketing, product development, and licensing, and they became wildly successful in doing so.

In the words of SoA executive vice president Shinobu Toyoda, "[President] Nakayama clearly understands that when in Rome, you should do as the Romans do. At Sega of America we have autonomy." This autonomy is arguably a large part of what led to Sega's success. During this time the company's share of the gaming market rose from 1% to 50%, and their new mascot became an overnight success story.

Much of Sega's success can be attributed to Sega of America's then-president Tom
Kalinske, who was the driving force behind Sega's aggressive marketing image; a direction that the Japanese side of the company was not at all fond of in the beginning. In an interview, Kalinske described one particularly colorful board meeting he attended in Japan:

"I go back to Japan, and I meet with Hayao Nakayama and the board at Sega, and I say 'Look, you guys have got this thing all wrong.' They said they didn't like anything I had told them and disagreed with all of it, one-hundred percent."

Which is probably due to the almost condesending way such news came off, essentially saying that Sega of Japan didn't know how to market the brand to overseas audiences in the west. Still, he goes on, saying, "They didn't agree that we should advertise against Nintendo, staff up the U.S. to develop software, reduce the price of the hardware, or put our best title in with the hardware, and I can't remember all the other stuff they didn't agree with. Basically, they didn't agree with any of it, and I thought that well, this was the shortest career anyone ever had! That's it, three months, and I have to go find another job. But at the door, as he was walking out, Nakayama turned and said "but we hired you to make all the decisions for the United States and Europe, and so, that's what we want you to do, even though we think you're crazy and don't agree with it, go ahead and do it." So from that day, for the next four years, I don't think they ever interfered in any decision we made."

So really, even Sega of Japan didn't like it, they let the Americans do their own thing, not knowing how succesful Sonic would become in the west. It was at this time that Sega of America began carrying the company both financially and developmentally, and as time passed the Japanese side of the business did not take kindly to this new state of affairs. There was a rivalry—or at the very least significant tension in the ranks—brewing between the western branches of Sega and the main Japanese branch during the mid 90's.

In regard to the deteriorating relationship between SoJ and SoA, Kalinske had this to say:

"In hindsight, I think there probably was [some resentment on Sega of Japan's part over the Genesis' success]. I don't believe there was from 1991-1993. I think somewhere in the mid '90s, '94 or '95, they built up a great deal of resentment, and I didn't realize it at the time, until probably the latter part of 1995, when one of my colleagues in Japan, who I knew well and had a good relationship with, said to me something to the effect of "you don't understand how browbeat and annoyed the Japanese executives here are because of your success. Every meeting we go into, Nakayama asks us why can't you do things the way the Americans and Europeans did? Why aren't you guys as successful as they are? We've been around longer."

Which is ironic, since Sega started itself as an American company based in Hawaii, back when Alex Kidd was mascot, and it was the American top brass then who hired the Japanese when the company relocated to video game meccha of the world, Japan. So really, the main company started out as American and Sonic was himself considered a "western property", yet Sega of Japan claims it existed longer and that it was the driving force behind Sonic? Complete lying bullshit.

I think the local executives didn't appreciate that [Naka would] take that tone with them. Apparently, he also beat them up over Sonic, which was never as successful in Japan as it was in the U.S. and Europe (to this day, that's the case), and I think he was always throwing that in their faces too. So clearly, by late '95, there was great resentment built up: jealously, resentment, and kind of a desire to get back at those Americans that Nakayama [the CEO of Sega Japan] kept throwing in their faces . . . partly due to our success in America, Japan just didn't want to do the things that we suggested."

Nick Alexander, head of Sega of Europe from its inception until 1994, said in a September 2008 interview,“The relationship between Sega Europe (SoE) and SoJ was complex and at times very challenging,” stating that one of the reasons he had left Sega was because he had “become increasingly frustrated and bewildered by differences in view with SoJ about strategy and marketing."

So even in Europe--which somewhat adopted the American mindset--there was argument between Sega of Japan and the Europeans markets. Seriously, if there was going to be this much of a problem, why did the various branches agree to localiz the Sonic brand in the first place, may might wonder. I'm still asking myself that same question as a fan, honestly.

Professional journalist and gaming insider Steven Kent had this to say about the relationship between SoJ and its fellow branches:

"Nakayama-san never gave Sega of America its due. It's interesting, Nakayama was brought into Sega Enterprises largely based on the efforts of an American—David Rosen, who was always impressed with Nakayama's business sense. Once he got in, however, Nakayama seems to have decided that the Japanese knew best. He gave Kalinske some latitude when it came to marketing Genesis. Toward the tail end of the Genesis period, however, Nakayama's pre-determination that the Japanese know best became very apparent. The Sega of America team was not consulted during the creation of Sega CD, for instance."

This rivalry--and the rash of politically motivated business decisions that came out of it--are often cited in what ultimately led to the downfall of the gaming giant, culminating in the company's exit from the hardware market in 2001. For Sonic, it meant that a lot of what could have been simply never was.

So, in lament's terms, Sega of Japan being resentful of the success generated by Sega of America--even though both branches initially agreed on the localization idea--basically killed Sega as a company. In other words, Sega of Japan killed Sega, all because of its stupid jealousy over the fact that the American branch kicked it ass. Pretty pathetic and sad, if you ask me. Almost no different than Ken Penders, former head writer for Archie Sonic, trying to currently sue both Archie Comics & Sega for intellectual property rights, even though the characters he created for the comics basically became owned by Sega once they were introduced into the comics, since Sega has had some creative control over the comics' direction ever since issue #70.

Sega's involvement with the comic is probably part of why Sonic is written off as a playboy (never mind Archie's own precedent with the love triangle between the titcular Archie and girls Betty & Veronica), hitting on every girl within the comic book's divergent continuities, all because Sega demands that Sonic cannot ever commit to having a steady relationship, despite the fact that Sally was created by SoA and Amy likewise bought from Shogakuken by SoJ for that very exact purpose!

The purpose for the two ladies--despite whatever characterization they might otherwise have individually--was for the two girls to serve as his respectively localized love interests, even though they co-exist in the comic universe, hence why Amy herself supported Sally with Sonic as recently as #222, before the Genesis arc reboot, most likely written to either retcon the stories conceived by Ken Penders in the hopes that he'd give up this suing business--given that he's an out-of-work bum begging for money now--or as Ian Flynn's way of covering his backside from fellow fan backlash following Sally's "death" in #225 (he's a Sally and SonSal fan, so for him to kill Sally, even if requested by Sega now that it has no real use for the Mobian tomboy princess, is borderline sacreligious on his part).

At any rate, while the tangled web of contracts and copyright laws surrounding Sonic in his various forms may be convoluted enough to dumbfound even professional legal experts, this much we do know: All licensed Sonic is Sega-approved, as seen here [ [link] ].

The [linked] image above is of one of Sega's Sonic License Approval Forms from 1994. Anything related to the Sonic property must go through an approval process at Sega, and everything that meets their approval is deemed official. If something does not meet the company's approval, it is either modified at their request or held back from release altogether. Everything Sonic-branded--from every single issue of Archie's Sonic Comics to SatAM and its DVD releases--has had to meet Sega's approval through a similar process. In other words, all Sonic is “SegaSonic,” because all Sonic is official and Sega-approved. It simply wouldn't exist if it wasn't.

Accordingly, the Sonic bible states, "Any product related in any way to the Sonic the Hedgehog story or character must be approved by Sega of America Inc., according to the terms outlined in the Quality Control section of this bible...To assure consistency for all licensed products, your Sonic the Hedgehog License Agreement requires that written approval be obtained for any proposed use of the Sonic the Hedgehog logo, character names, or renditions prior to production and sale. Approvals must be obtained from Sega of America, Inc. Sega of America's Product Managers and/or Agents will be delighted to work with you on creative concepts."

To this day, every single issue of Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series is reviewed and approved every step of the way by Sega's licensing departments in both America and Japan before release to the public.

To quote Archie Sonic's current head writer, Ian Flynn, "Every level of production is run past Sega. Robert Leffler and Dyna Lopez work in Sega Licensing and the script has to get approved, the pencils have to get approved, the inking, then the lettering, then the coloring. Everything has to go through them first."

And what of the stories and characters—like the Freedom Fighters—developed by licensed parties outside of Sega? Well, Sega owns them too.

Even though we've not seen them officially in a game, beyond Spinball, prototyped concepts, or recent ideas like including Swatbots in Sonic Chronicles.

"Ultimately SEGA owns everything in the book. If it’s associated with Sonic in the book, it is by extension SEGA’s. From my understanding, that is why BioWare could so freely emulate the Dark Legion for the Marauders [in Sonic Chronicles]. I know there was some confusion elsewhere concerning rights to SatAM. As it was explained, SEGA owns the intellectual property—the characters and such—but DiC retains the rights to the animation. So you wouldn’t see SEGA reselling SatAM boxsets willy-nilly. Conversely, DiC wouldn’t be able to just up and make a new Sonic cartoon."--Ian Flynn

The point of all this? To irreversably prove conclusively that both the American and Japanese versions are valid.

Nobody wants to be told that something they have an emotional investment in is somehow invalid. When someone tells you that the Sonic you like or grew up with is "not the REAL Sonic," it's tantamount to a slap in the face. While some may embrace new for newness sake, most people are resistant to changes they don't ask for. We develop emotional and nostalgic attachments to things. We also like having simple answers, and having a straightforward list of canonical material we can go back to and wave in other people's faces can be comforting and make us feel like we're in control.

Would it be nice to have a single canon? Maybe... but as stands, Sonic the Hedgehog is much bigger than a single game or story. He is a concept... an idea, spanning not only a wide range of official media, but also fan sub-continuities, art, and fiction. He is far more than just a gaming character. As Sega of America's former president, Simon Jeffery, once put it, “There will always be room for Sonic, no matter what the technology. Sonic is a character, not a game.”

Sonic has been interpreted in an extraordinary number of ways during the last two decades. With so many takes on Sonic to choose from, it's no wonder there's as much division in the fan base as there is. Yet, this is also what makes the Sonic fandom so unique and fascinating. There can actually be two fans, both madly in love with the hedgehog, and yet they can both have vastly different visions of the character and his universe—and both be completely right!

Part of Sonic's mass appeal comes from the fact that he has not been relegated to a single entertainment medium or interpretation. Sega's lack of any strict, overarching continuity has fostered creative liberties resulting in some of Sonic's finest gaming, TV, and comic book moments. It's not the work of a single individual or team, but the sum of the influences of the creative minds working at Sonic Team, Sega Technical Institute, SoJ, SoA, SoE, and outside partners like DiC, Fleetway, and Archie Comics, which have made the franchise what it is today. Though this state of affairs may also be partly to blame for Sonic's divided and segmented customer base, the effect it has of attracting more consumers overall--each with differing backgrounds and preferences--can be seen as a net positive for both Sega and the fans.

For anyone still on the fence, consider this: the Sonic series is unique in that its fans are sustained by a consistent flow of material from a variety of sources. How much of Sonic's past and present—TV shows, comics, movies, merchandise, and games—are you willing to throw away to protect your untainted, idealized version of the character? Fans can (and do) argue all day long over whether Sonic is from Mobius, Earth, Planet Freedom, or some other unspecified world. They can fill thread upon thread with debate over Robotnik vs. Eggman, and they can argue over the merits of Sally vs. Amy until they're all blue in the face. No one will ever win. Why? because—aside from your basic "big fat guy vs. super-fast hedgehog" premise—there has never been and will never be a single “official” Sonic storyline.

Sonic and his world will continue to evolve as market demands change with the times—that's just the nature of the business; what's known as "product lifecycle" in marketing lingo. Some day today's generation of fans will be reminiscing about 'the good ol days' the same way that so-called "old school" fans do now. Time marches on. Sonic should be allowed to change with the times, but there is no reason why his past should be cast aside or forgotten, either. At the end of the day, it's all Sonic.

And at the end of it all, fans--and of course, the bevy of girls he's been paired with--still love him.

Cue theme music [ [link] ]!

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MelodyLoveSonamy [2011-06-19 12:49:04 +0000 UTC]

Melody: Hot dogs are better.
Sonic: No, Chili dogs are!*munching on a chili dog*
Melody >.>' Cousin, Don't tell me that's Antoine's chili dog
LOL

--
Melody: Kawaii! I like shadow!

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supermasterchief99 [2011-04-04 01:01:57 +0000 UTC]

LOL

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shadowgirl333 [2011-02-04 03:28:39 +0000 UTC]

oh wow sonic

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Kotego [2010-08-28 03:32:15 +0000 UTC]

Oh Sonic, just let Antoine have the chilidog XD

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rj-mazter [2010-07-11 16:34:04 +0000 UTC]

Tá giro, gosto do ar de cachorrinho mal morto do sonic^^
E ainda bem k nao é sonsal, porque NÃ GOSTO NADA DE SONSAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! (nao é k odie, só nao gosto)

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snowbelltherabbit [2010-02-25 15:24:06 +0000 UTC]

Sally is my number 1 hated charater but your good I hate you sally it's they got you out of the show for good sorry Sally fans

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Aikoiya [2010-02-19 22:59:39 +0000 UTC]

Seriously, Sally! Why did't you make Antoine a sammich or somethin' instead? Ya should KNOW by now that Sonic loves himself some chilli dawgs!

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lala-kitsune [2009-12-28 16:39:53 +0000 UTC]

Lol

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AmyRoseFan13 [2009-11-15 14:58:00 +0000 UTC]

lol good job

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jayfoxfire [2009-11-14 08:24:53 +0000 UTC]

LOL XD Aww looky at his sad puppy eyes look XD

I love this pairing. Of course Sonic has a love for chilidogs XDDD - which makes me laugh alot

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Sonnikufan4ever [2009-10-25 16:17:20 +0000 UTC]

Wow! nice jo0b ^.^ CHILIDOGS!!!!! :3

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M-ri [2009-10-20 22:32:00 +0000 UTC]

This is so true he can't resist those things XXDD

btw thuis looks fabulous as ever ^^

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Sorain26 [2009-09-27 21:24:39 +0000 UTC]

He'd do anything for a chillidog just about.

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SandyNikkiCarol [2009-09-23 23:28:43 +0000 UTC]

she's just gonna have to give him the chilidog now xD

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sonicnshadow4ever [2009-09-23 19:50:45 +0000 UTC]

so cool

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amyrose-sonic-fan [2009-09-23 01:46:26 +0000 UTC]

LOL aww... poor Sonic

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Rei-Catlang [2009-09-22 17:06:38 +0000 UTC]

lol Poor Sonic. Give him the chilli dog! >w<
Very nice!^^

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SonamyKittykat2471 [2009-09-22 16:09:46 +0000 UTC]

Thx kool and sonic looks cute as ever!! keep it up!! buddy!!!

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CVA123 [2009-09-21 23:46:41 +0000 UTC]

Sonic + chili dogs =

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KentaruZ [2009-09-21 23:03:55 +0000 UTC]

nice xD

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Neosamuel [2009-09-21 20:42:22 +0000 UTC]

This is the REAL reason Sonic left Sally, the whole I don't want to be a leader was just the reason to make Sonic look better.

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AsukaRose [2009-09-21 19:56:34 +0000 UTC]

Funny idea the Sis/Bro shipping lol. Now I would give Sonic the chilly dog if he make that puppy face ;D and yesh I think the colors for Sally looking very good :3

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