Is Sonic more American than Japanese?

[Ivogoji]

SEGA of America's recent relocation to Los Angeles prompted me to wonder about this. From his earliest conception Sonic was intended to appeal to Western consumers, and in turn Sonic has always been a bigger deal in Western countries than Japan. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic Spinball, two of the most important titles in Sonic's early years, were primarily the work of Sega Technical Institute in San Francisco. Sonic Adventure 2, the product of Sonic Team USA, was also developed in San Francisco and used the city as a basis for much of the scenery in the game. Designing environments based on real world locations- most of them in America- has been a trend throughout the franchise's history and is present in every major game. Sonic Team USA and it's successor were also repsonsible for Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog, which left a huge mark on what future games created elsewhere would be like. A lot of Sonic's history has been made in the United States. Will newer titles be more Japanese than old ones? Will that be a good thing or a bad thing?

If nothing else the departure from San Francisco is definitely the end of an era.

[toffyflame]

yes sonic is more american than japanese because sega probably got more sales and wanted to focus on usa retail
and the fact that they changed his personality from silent, heroic, and fast to cocky, arrogant, the treat everybody hedgehog that some fans want his personality to change back to the dreamcast/gamecube personality

[Chao Professor]

Very interesting, I've often wondered this myself. I think Sonic is more popular in the USA than he is in Japan. As a result, the USA have manipulated him into the perfect American hero. Cocky, smart, cool, kind, brave, strong, you know.....

I felt Sonic Adventure 2 certainly had a more Western feel to it. Probably because of its scenery, but also because THAT Sonic feels more American than Japanese. Something about him.

Bleh

[rougeypougey]

When I was a kid I always used to think SEGA was based in the USA but I soon found out it was from Japan. I was quite surprised to be honest.

[toffyflame]

To brush off some of the dust on this topic, Sonic was intentionally designed with the intention of being an internationally appealing character(a friend to anyone), since the traits Sonic stands for directly aligns with the values of freedom(no compromise within reason), he's inherently a True American character. While what I said about sales was sort of true I lacked the foresight to realize that Sonic was developed in America along with SONIC TEAM, So take that however you will with already existing information regarding the documentation of SONIC TEAM in general.

[Londi]

Sonic is 100% more American than Japanese.

He's so American, he had his own INDEPENDENT lore from the Japanese for years from 91' to 99' (damn you globalization!!!!)