IGN AU: Sooo… is Sonic dead? How does SEGA feel about Sonic these days? I mean, let’s look at it critically – the Wii game was okay at best, while the PS3 and 360 game was awful. Do you think people still see SEGA as Sonic? Is that becoming a bad thing?

SEGA AU: Yeah, look, I mean, we’ve worked together in the past and you know that I’m a gamer through and through, so I’m not going to sit here and talk PR spiels and try to convince you that the last few Sonic games have been superb or have been unique in certain ways. Sure, critically they haven’t done as well, but rather than dwelling on the past, for us – because we are a fresh company in Australia, the important thing is looking at what we’re doing in the future, especially with a brand like Sonic. Sonic is a great brand, it’s got a lot of heritage, it’s a very strong brand. Some of its recent executions may not have gotten the critical acclaim that anyone expected. That’s fine, as long as lessons are learnt and next time round we can advance on that.

We’ve got a lot of Sonic branded games coming out. I’ve played them and some of them are superb. Some of them are unbelievable. Sonic as a brand, I would definitely not call it dead. It’s going to go through a rebirth in a way that no other classic franchise ever has with Mario & Sonic at the Olympics.

GN AU: So tell me about these great Sonic games coming up.

SEGA AU: The most immediate one is Sonic Rush Adventure for the DS on the 27th of September. It’s a classical platforming game, but it also has a lot of DS functionality, and it’s a lot of fun – going back to the roots but reinventing it in a certain way. We also have Sonic Rivals 2 coming for the PSP sometime in November. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics is unbelievable – I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on it.

IGN AU: Really?

SEGA AU: Yeah, it’s actually awesome. I expect it to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest Wii title this year, because it’s just so accessible, it’s so fun, and the two families of characters that – historically, it would have been a lynchable crime to have a game with both of the characters in there, but they work so well together, and it’s just a lot of fun. That’s coming November 23rd on the Wii. We also have Mario & Sonic coming a little later on the DS, and next year sees a few other Sonic titles coming out. So there definitely are a lot of Sonic games, but SEGA is much more than just the Sonic company now.

Read The Rest Of The Interview HERE