Decided to make this a separate, small-scale post. There isn't really much going on here besides previews of the future. Trying to focus on the gaming aspect of this timeline again.
SONY ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR MORE SONIC SPIN-OFFS
September, 2004
Between theme parks and two feature length films, Sony has been all over video gaming news, but it appears that after a rather dry 2003, Sony is returning to what they do best for this second half of the year - games.
God of War will unfortunately have to wait until next year, and there is still no confirmation on whether or not there will be a sequel to Byzantium: Legacy of Rome, though we will be seeing more from both Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank this year. However, those games are certainly important - just not nearly as important as the fact that Sony has announced a drastic change in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise - they are announcing that they developing more spin-off titles for the blue blur, presumably to compete with the massive flow of spin-offs that his eternal rival, Mario, tends to get each year courtesy of Nintendo.
Of particular reveals, Knuckles the Echidna has been confirmed to be receiving his own game - if not game series, to also be released next year. They are also really pumping up the advertising for Chao World Online, that online virtual world where you can raise & exchange your Chao for a subscription fee similar to WoW or ToonTown. They will be releasing more Chao-related games, though these will mostly be for the Pluto - and will likely feature online connectivity. Shadow the Hedgehog, who was brought back in Sonic Heroes due to sheer popularity amongst fans, will also be receiving his own game “in the near future”, teased Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka, however it appears that Sonic Team is not going to be working on all of these titles themselves. Instead, Iizuka has also revealed that Sony has been focusing on helping the studios to be more focused with their work - Sonic, as the big seller for the entire megacorporation, is of key importance.
To keep things brief and understandable, Sonic Team is definitely working on what will be the next major Sonic the Hedgehog title. However, these spin-offs have been confirmed as being developed by different studios within the Sony family. However, which ones has not been made clear yet.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
SONY RELEASES DETAILS ON NEW GAMING STUDIOS
September, 2004
A few months ago, it was announced casually by Isei Senri, of Sony Parks & Experiences (which is separated from the video game industry), that Sega of America’s original Headquarters in San Francisco was not in fact being turned into a theme park-arcade, but instead into a new set of studios - though he failed to clarify whether these were film studios, animation studios or gaming studios. This clarification has now been made by SSCEE themselves, who have revealed that they are in fact expanding the existing S.T.I. gaming studio, and establishing three new gaming studios in the building as well.
S.T.I. has been greatly expanded, now taking up most of the former Headquarters itself, and now includes a plethora of fresh faces in addition to mainstays such as Christina Coffin and Offer Alon, whom were on the team working on Sonic X-Treme and Sonic Adventure 2. Christian Senn has long since left the team though, being departed from it since 1996-1997, as he revealed recently on his personal blog.
The new studios being established in the building are named SSCEE San Francisco Studio and Team Emerald. While it has been confirmed that they are in fact video game research & development studios, it has not yet been announced which specific projects either of these three studios are going to be working on - though it is speculated that Team Emerald’s projects may or may not become Sonic the Hedgehog related.
Sony is also further increasing their focus on their powerful and ever financially stable video games division, as they have announced the EyeToy camera for the Neptune to be released later this year - allowing users to use motion capture technology as a new and highly innovative way to play their games. There is also of course the Sony Pluto to be released this year.
SSCEE, Sony-Sega Computer Entertainment Enterprises, is currently the leader of the video game industry, with both the Neptune and it’s predecessor the Saturn, having sold well over 100 million units - making them both the highest selling video game consoles of all time. It is debatably the final remnant of video game company Sega, who had been absorbed by Sony in 2001 after a business partnership from 1993 turned into an outright buy-out.
- Eurogamer