Bioware creating Sonic the Hedgehog RPG for Nintendo DS

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jun 21st 2007 at 11:42AM }

No, seriously. You'll be covered in all sorts of painful pinch marks if you don't realize you're awake and start believing the headline by the time we get to the next sentence.

Sega has announced a new partnership with BioWare that will see the Canadian role-playing gurus creating a Sonic the Hedgehog RPG for the Nintendo DS. The currently unnamed game is scheduled for release in 2008. "BioWare is one of the hottest names in RPG development in the world," notes Sega of America president and COO Simon Jeffery. "Everyone at SEGA has huge confidence that Sonic is in the safest of hands, and that BioWare can create the ultimate handheld RPG experience for gamers of all ages."

Sega's unlikely to be the only one to feel confident. BioWare's track record, which includes Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights and the highly anticipated Mass Effect certainly indicates that when it comes to role-playing, the developer has become the industry's frighteningly convincing and never wavering cosplayer. The success of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic can also be seen as a testament to their ability to deal with cherished (at least when it comes to older incarnations) properties.

"We're thrilled to be working with SEGA on Sonic, one of the industry's most enduring and compelling icons," explains Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare. Ray Muzyka, chief executive officer of BioWare adds that, "As huge fans of Sonic ourselves, we're committed to delivering a truly amazing story-driven experience within the Sonic universe, focusing on capturing the character's broad appeal and placing him in a completely original adventure."

Alright, back to pinching your masochistic selves then.

Tags: BioWare, MassEffect, Nintendo, RPG, Sega, Sonic, SonicRpg

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Fernando Rocker @ Jun 21st 2007 11:48AM

A lot of love for Nintendo... =)

sheppy @ Jun 21st 2007 11:48AM

Sonic: Eggman's up to his evil tricks!
Tails: Go get him!
Sonic: First I have to roll for initiative. Then I gotta check the worn levels on my sneakers. Then I gotta...

Don't worry, all, I got jokes.

At least the Run Away option will finally be useful...

JonnyBoy2U @ Jun 21st 2007 12:00PM

WOW....this might just push the DS a few million more units.

Unbelievable. If the DS keeps getting better and better games like this I might have to return to handhelds which I stopped using as soon as GBA came out.

Crono @ Jun 21st 2007 11:49AM

Could it be the first sonic game since sonic adventure that doesn't suck.

And yes, I totally thought Secret Rings sucked. Alot.

cello @ Jun 21st 2007 11:50AM

I would say Sonic is in better hands with Bioware than with Sega! This is cool news.

Crono @ Jun 21st 2007 11:50AM

Then again, sonic rush was awesome, and since this Sonic is on DS as well, it'd be a little unfair to forget that one.

James @ Jun 21st 2007 11:50AM

It's nice to see Sega taking their brand seriously and letting good developers touch it but I still miss the good old days when Sega made great games on their own.

Long live the Dreamcast.

NintendoFanbot @ Jun 21st 2007 11:52AM

If you put Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga in the GBA cart the two games can interact and MARIOANDSONICWHOAMG

Fernando Rocker @ Jun 21st 2007 11:54AM

Maybe Bioware will make some Wii games... another Star Wars game developed by Bioware will be nice...

fawazr @ Jun 21st 2007 11:54AM

"Everyone at SEGA has huge confidence that Sonic is in the safest of hands..."

From the shovelware we've seen these past few years. Sonic's in safe hands as long as he's not in Sega's hands.

fawazr @ Jun 21st 2007 11:55AM

oops... didn't see cello's comment.

megaStryke @ Jun 21st 2007 11:55AM

Hell must have surely frozen over, opened a skating rink, and priced admission at $10 for adults, $7 for children three and up, and free for children under three.

Zertoss @ Jun 21st 2007 11:59AM

I lol'ed @ sheppy's comment.

kevinski @ Jun 21st 2007 12:01PM

Wow, I may actually have to pick this up. I absolutely loathe Sonic games, but I fail to see how BioWare could screw this up.

Zsavior @ Jun 21st 2007 12:07PM

Seriously sega either come back to the console market or stop teasing me. You have had your fun, now get back here and make some freaking GOOD GAMES AGAIN! Get Yuji Naka and Suzuki back, make Chakkan and All the other stuff I LIKE! Damnit Stop this game!

Look sega We've know each other for so long
Your heart's been aching
But you're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it

And if you ask me how I'm feeling
Don't tell me you're too blind to see

Now seriously make a console and get back to making goodness.

samfish @ Jun 21st 2007 12:08PM

"Could it be the first sonic game since sonic adventure that doesn't suck.

And yes, I totally thought Secret Rings sucked. Alot."

I loved Secret Rings. I just wish there were more levels where you could just, like...RUN, rather than constantly have to get stopped by enemies and stuff.

...by contrast, I loathed Adventure. Not as much as later Sonic games, though.

All that said, even though I don't care for portable gaming, it's getting harder and harder for me to justify not buying a DS.
Zelda, Professor Layton (if it ever gets localized), and now this, too.
...and, of course, Doki Doki Majo Saiban!

sheppy @ Jun 21st 2007 12:08PM

Frankly, unless it's an action RPG, and even then it's a stretch, I'm remaining skeptical on this until something more is shown.

arrakisman @ Jun 21st 2007 12:11PM

While BioWares is at it, why don't they breath some life into Phantasy Star and Skies of Arcadia.

Vidikron @ Jun 21st 2007 12:11PM

Wow... BioWare is a top notch developer. This can only mean good things for Sega and the Sonic series. If BioWare can help the breathe new life into the Sonic series, we can only hope Sega doesn't fvck it up again later.

CaptNink @ Jun 21st 2007 12:13PM

So is this the secret RPG that BioWare has been working on for the DS?

Color me thoroughly disappointed. :(

Vidikron @ Jun 21st 2007 12:15PM

@samfish

I'm actually kind of shocked you don't have a DS. You certainly come off as a diehard Nintendo fan. I don't know what type of games you like, but for me the Castlevania games alone have been worth the price of admission on the DS.

Mr Khan @ Jun 21st 2007 12:16PM

damn, i thought the game that BioWare was planning for DS was NeverWinter Nights DS

oh well, as long as this is like Super Mario RPG, you can't complain

Almack64 @ Jun 21st 2007 12:20PM

Yeah I too enjoyed Rings, they just needed tweak some of the game mechanics like, if you are going to make me have to do timed jumps and backwards motion make it easier to perform. Personally I think a 3D sonic should be all forward motion, if you missed something oh well.

Anyway I think that Sonic is in good hands. Regarding Sega coming back and making great games again, I really wish they would finish Shenmue. While it probably wasn't one of the best games ever gameplay wise, I really think it had one of most grabing storylines I've ever seen in a game. I don't think any game had drawn me in the same way that Shenmue 1&2 did.

I bought Dreamcast because of Soulcalibur and Marvel VS Capcom 2 and I'll buy any system that Shenmue 3 appears on. Anyway Dreamcast RIP.

BPM @ Jun 21st 2007 12:21PM

Samfish:
They renamed it to "Doki Doiki Majo Shinpan" a while back. :P

@Sheppy, NintendoFanbot, and MegaStryke:
lawlz

But, yeah... Didn't see this one coming. What a twist!

Poisoned Al @ Jun 21st 2007 12:22PM

Sonic... RPG... Yeah, when I think about RPGs and slow turned based combat I instantly think about speedy blue hedgehogs.

Christ on a cracker that'll suck so hard if it's made!

FM @ Jun 21st 2007 12:37PM

Oh god no.

Chessasaur @ Jun 21st 2007 12:38PM

This announcement is the embodiment of everything that is wrong about the video game industry now: take a franchise that is way past it's prime, use it in a fine genre that is already on life support, and port it to a platform merely because it has sold the most units.

samfish @ Jun 21st 2007 12:45PM

"They renamed it to "Doki Doiki Majo Shinpan" a while back. :P"

You know, I thought I might've had it wrong...but I was to lazy to check the Google. C'est la vie!

"I'm actually kind of shocked you don't have a DS. You certainly come off as a diehard Nintendo fan. I don't know what type of games you like, but for me the Castlevania games alone have been worth the price of admission on the DS."

Well, I do loves me some Nintendo...and a lot of old school/classic style games and the like. I'm actually almost certain that I'd love the DS since it has so many of those kinds of games on it.
...I just hate the small screens on portables. I wish someone would release a device where it relays what's on the DS to the Wii and splits your TV screen in half or something.

Dustin @ Jun 21st 2007 12:46PM

Aww... this is probably the most exciting news I've heard all week, but I'm disappointed Bioware is making it.

Not because they suck, NWN is on my list of best games ever created, it's just that it pretty much guarantees an adventure RPG where as I would have wanted a turn-based :(

Don't worry Bioware, I'm still confident you will make this Sonic RPG into the best Sonic game since... well... since Sonic games started to suck.

Lana Lang @ Jun 21st 2007 12:49PM

#27

Rpg's are not on life support. Maybe to the younger gamers they are.(who's first systems are PS2,360,etc) But rpgs are here to stay. The day rpg's die, is the day i hang up my controller.

There's only one genre that needs to go and that's FPS.

x4str0m3ch @ Jun 21st 2007 12:54PM

Honestly, i stopped buying sonic games after sonic 3, on the genesis. Nothing is quite as fun, or worth the money.

I think this has some potential, though sonic does not seem the type of franchise to be doing any form of RPG. I have my doubts, but if bioware is doing it...who knows. Sonic might live again.

But then again, if it doesn't work out, i never said anything..

David @ Jun 21st 2007 1:03PM

Sheesh, this sounds like it'd suck just as much as if Squaresoft made some sort of Mario RPG. Oh wait...

Martez @ Jun 21st 2007 1:06PM

This is so cool. DO WANT!

Anam @ Jun 21st 2007 1:09PM

Wow. That sounds like a really bad idea... but then again, I said that Super Mario RPG being made by Squaresoft was a bad idea, and that turned out to be one of my top 10 RPG's of all time.

I will remain skeptical, hopeful and baffled.

AwesomeStuff @ Jun 21st 2007 1:15PM

;___; Skies of Arcadia next PLEASEEEEE????!!!

I BEG YOU!!!!!

stakepie @ Jun 21st 2007 1:18PM

yes! I wish that Masato Nakamura does the music

Donald @ Jun 21st 2007 1:45PM

Bricks were shat.

Tom @ Jun 21st 2007 1:52PM

::Badnik attacked with Star Knife::
:Damage 7 points on Sonic:
::Sonic used Haste Potion on self::
:Sonic got +40 speed:
::Badnik used Fire Blast::
:Badnik missed:
::Sonic attacked with Spinning Fury::
:Badnik is dead:

Fafnir @ Jun 21st 2007 1:57PM

This could be either ridiculous or awesome. Right now, I see precisely one way of making it awesome: set it in the SatAM television series that ran for a season or so. The one where Robotnik had won before the series started. Seriously. It's far darker than any of the game storylines so far, I think it could give Bioware some interesting storyline material to work with, and it focuses little enough on OMGSPEED&SPEED&RINGSLOLOLOL that an RPG would be a sensible genre for it.

Of course, it's never gonna happen, but I can dream...

Jake @ Jun 21st 2007 1:58PM

I'd rather they just made an rpg for the DS using whatever they have up their sleeves than using the existing Sonic IP. Then again, I've never owned a handheld and could care less. Too bad they didn't just do this for consoles. Bioware is the shiz.

MasterInsan0 @ Jun 21st 2007 2:41PM

I'm both excited and worried. Bioware is the master of CRPGs, no doubt, but they have *no* experience with handheld gaming. People expect different things from handheld games than from a console/PC RPG, and people *definitely* expect different things out of a Sonic RPG.

See, Square-Enix (then Squaresoft) managed to make the Mario RPG for SNES good because they remembered what made Mario so fun and worked that into their tried-and-true RPG formula. So, Bioware has to figure out a way to take what makes Sonic fun -- speed, adrenaline, and puzzles -- and infuse it with their RPG formula -- turn-based or pseudo-real time adventure and quest RPGs with great stories.

The problem comes when the two don't mix. You can't have what makes Sonic fun while still having what makes a Bioware RPG fun. So, they're going to have a draw up a new formula for this game...

Also, they're busy working on Dragon Age AND Mass Effect right now, which leads me to wonder: where is the dev team for this game coming from? Either they have an A, B, and C team (with the C team getting this game), or one of their other games has been postponed/delayed/cancelled.

Putting all that aside though...I'll play it even if it sucks, just because a Sonic RPG would rock.

Bluebreaker @ Jun 21st 2007 5:33PM

I have yet to play any game by Bioware yet...I know, I know. I'm missing out on the fundemental expeience of our generation but still I don't like Xbox or PC very much so. (But that doesn't mean I'll never play)

Anni @ Jun 21st 2007 6:00PM

-Fight
-Magic
>Summon>Rouge the Bat
-Item

makesevenupyours @ Jun 21st 2007 6:02PM

to #29 dustin who said he wanted it turnbased...did you bother to read THIS comment?

"25. Sonic... RPG... Yeah, when I think about RPGs and slow turned based combat I instantly think about speedy blue hedgehogs.

Christ on a cracker that'll suck so hard if it's made!"

honestly, a superspeed hedgehog in a TURNBASED rpg? doesnt make a lot of sense does it?

and bioware is great...i think i trust them. its probably for the best that it wont be turnbased.

and to #30 lana who said that the FPS genre should go...why would you say that? just because you dont like them doesnt mean they arent good, fun, or that other people dont like them.
i mean really, maybe you arent very social, at least not when it comes to video games, but FPSs make gaming a social experience. i have a few friends over all the time and we play gears(ok...thats third person, but almost the same), halo, and other shooters. then we do HUGE parties with upwards of 10 people and like 5 or 6 tvs and order pizza and just hang out.
PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ show my how you could do something fun like that with a turnbased rpg(which i love btw).