How hedgehog maintains speed

“Sega does what Nintendon’t.”

The slogan of the 90s is one of the most famous in the history of video games.

It was a time when the bitter rivalry between the two Japanese game companies was the most.

Today, this connection has softened.

You can play Sonic Games on Nintendo consoles and the characters even appear in games together.

But now he is trying to restart the beef?

The advertising for his latest edition, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, is very similar to an advertisement since 1992, which claims to be superior to Nintendo.

And in August the man in charge of the hero of the mascot appeared to take pop in Mario Kart From the scene of this year’s Summer Game Fest.

But when BBC Newsbeat catches up Sonic Team Takashi Iizuka, he does not name names.

“So I didn’t call a particular title and there are many racing games there,” he says.

The idea that Sega is seriously trying to fight with Nintendo is unlikely, according to Chris During, editor -in -chief of the game business.

He suggests that Sega “has a little fun” and points out that his new game, which is available in different consoles and on PC, is still likely to sell the most copies of Nintendo’s Switch.

Sega is obviously confident in his new game, he says, but he has “an element of using Mario Kart’s popularity.”

“The Sonic vs. Mario speaks a lot of benefit to Sonic,” he says.

The bigger challenge for long-standing titles is to attract new players and face the new giants of the game industry.

Fans stick to titles such as Fortnite, Roblox and Call of Duty – the so -called Service Service games that offer rotating, continuously supporting selection of content – for months, if not for years.

With Crossworlds there are plans for adding rotating acting and offering players supplement for “season” to access certain extras – a feature observed in many online titles.

G -n Iizuka says the goal is to “make sure we refresh the game every month and to really make a fun experience in order to return constantly.”

This is a common practice and a game company is used to support players engaged, as time and development costs continue to increase.

“There was a time when you played a new game every year,” says journalist Chris.

“It’s not so that things work more in video games, they often take five years plus.”

Chris says movable content drops are a good way of maintaining interest after being over -starting.

And it makes sense to “embrace” the modern landscape of games, he says.

For example, he says that one of the most popular recent Sonic is an official game within Roblox.

Along with successful movie relationships, says Chris, this is a way to “introduce the Sonic the Hedgehog of these players and then we hope to persuade them to pass and play something like Crossworlds.”

In recent years, video game companies have been relying on remains and reinsurers of older titles.

The trend has caused hope among SEGA fans that a Sonic Adventure rhide will also be ahead – among the first 3D outings – too.

But G -n Iizuka insists that this is not something his team will watch, as the new technology allows them to create “more rich, more complex, more interaining worlds.”

“Instead of using all this time and energy to process a game that people have already experienced, instead we could make a brand new game,” he says.

“I think the team is really interested in taking the same time and energy and effort to bring a truly new players experience.”

The position is in accordance with the SEGA approach to some of its other retro titles.

She is currently developing new records in long -term series such as the Arcade Racer Crazy Taxi, Battler Battler Golden Ax and radio with themed jets with themed jets.

The first of these Renaissance projects, Ninja Adventure Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, focused on the short lists of the Game of the Year of some critics when it came out last month.

In the case of Sonik, journalist Chris points out that it makes no sense to get your leading development team to work on remains.

But it does not fully exclude the possibility, especially since SEGA has a form of reissue titles from the hero’s back catalog.

“If they wanted, if they did not have a team, they can always assign it to many talented people who are great fans of Sonic who could make it fair,” he says.

But, he adds, Sega does not want to be seen as a retro company.

“There is a balance between doing new things and doing old things to make sure they are a company that is looking forward, not just a company that relies on its past,” he says.

Listen to Newsbeat Lively at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back hereS