Talk:Shadow the Hedgehog (video game)

Relevance of ESRB ratings

I don't understand why there is such a focus on ESRB ratings in this article. Most of the countries this game would have been sold in do not use ESRB ratings. The United States is not the entire world. On top of that, a poorly-sourced claim in this article about these ratings seems to have spread around the internet, despite an apparent lack of reliable sources to back this claim up. HumanBodyPiloter5 (talk) 01:57, 6 December 2021 (UTC)HumanBodyPiloter5 (talk) 01:58, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

My guess for why there was a focus on the games ESRB rating is because people think that it was trying to focus on the American market or something.

Also, I attempted to find the earliest source for the rumor that Shadow the Hedgehog was originally going to be rated T, the poorly-sourced claim you were talking about. The earliest evidence I could find for the claim was on a tumbler page from 2013, the second oldest I found was on a forum in 2014.

The FuckYeaSonic Tumbler: "Anonymous asked: Can you give more information about the censorship?". February 20, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2021.

NeoGAF Forum: "Games Rated Incorrectly By The ESRB". March 21, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2021.

Both of these sources appear very unreliable, so the claim that Shadow the Hedgehog was originally going to be rated T appears to be a myth. Randitor (talk) 09:40, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

I found roughly the same thing. It appears to be a rumor originating in blog and forum posts around 2013 or so. I find the emphasis on ESRB ratings over PEGI or CERO or USK ratings a little puzzling. I would assume that different sources would focus on whatever their local rating system was if they mentioned them. HumanBodyPiloter5 (talk) 09:54, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

Did some more researching, and this rabbit hole gets deeper. To summarize, I could find some form of evidence for some of the changes that people claim were done because of age rating, but I could not find any evidence for the reason behind the changes other than rumor or speculation.

Earliest mention of the rumor I could find was in 2009 on Deviant art from chocolate1223. The post shows a low resolution picture of the supposed cutscene where Maria dies, and some text in the description that claims it’s from a French sonic fan site that got it from a trade show. This does seem suspicious, especially seeing as this French sonic fan site is left unnamed. I personally believe this is where the myth that the game was going to be rated T originated from.

"Maria Robotnik's Death SC by chocolate1223". Jun 21, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

This is made more suspicious by another Deviant Art post from the same person, which is the same image, except slightly higher quality, and now in the comments this same image is supposedly from a YouTube video that is also left unnamed or linked, and not the unnamed French Sonic fan site.

"Maria's Death Unedited by chocolate1223". Jun 26, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

However, the same Deviant art account had another post that appears to be a screenshot from this video. Except this video was released on Feb 10th 2010, and the screenshot was from Oct 18th 2009. This means that the video is likely a repost of an older video predating the DeviantArt post, and Chocolate1223’s one was a screenshot of that. To me, the video seems very hard to fake. Unless the clip is misattributed, and it was not from some unknown beta Shadow the hedgehog and was something else or something.

"Maria... by chocolate1223". Oct 18, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

"Marias Death (Uncut CG Scene from Prolouge)". Feb 10, 2010. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

For the video that was for some reason used as the source for the “Shadow was going to be rated T” claim, while the claim itself for the games original game rating is unsubstantiated, I attempted to verify some of the other claims made in the video. The video footage from Deluxepaint/Cemre Ozkurt Vimeo’s account appear to be real, or the most realistic complex hoax that would require too much effort then a hoaxer would need. If this Linked in page is really Cemre Ozkurt’s real page and not fake, then he did work at Blur studio, the company who did the CG cutscenes for Shadow the hedgehog.

(Btw I find that when using the link for his Linkedin page, Linkedin annoyingly wants you to create an account and won’t let you see the page otherwise. However, trying the link in Wikipedia seems to get around this issue thankfully. If it annoyingly asks for you to log in anyway, just google “Cemre Ozkurt linkedin” because that way it does not force you to log into an account).

"How Shadow The Hedgehog Was Censored". Oct 27, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

"Deluxepaint's Vimeo". Dec 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

"Cemre Ozkurt's LinkdIn". Retrieved December 9, 2021.

I compared the original “uncensored” cut with the one that was released with the game. The Censored Gaming video edits it to make it look like the videos were exactly the same except the original had the soldier get shot. However, comparing the original with what is presumably the release version, the order of the scenes is completely different. It is still plausible that it was some way to tone down the rating, but I highly doubt that. It could easily just be a coincidence or something. (I think the clip is from the release version of the game, but it is a reuploaded clip on YouTube and I do not have the game to verify if the clip is from the game or not).

"Shadow the Hedgehog - Intro [HQ] (Gamecube)". Jun 9, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

"Sonic The Hedge how, Shadow Opening". Oct 23, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

"Cemre Ozkurt's LinkdIn". Retrieved December 9, 2021.

Now, while some changes were made in development of the game, the reason is mostly up to guess work. Maybe they were originally aiming for a T rating but changed their mind. I also find it just, if not more likely that the game was always aiming at E10+, except because the E10+ rating was just release, they did not know what they could get away with an E10+ rating and accidentally aimed a bit to high and had to tone it down a bit. Or, these changes might have had nothing to do with the age rating. Though this is only a guess and not a statement in fact. There needs to be more research to separate fact from wild speculation and myth. Probably the best way to prove or disprove this myth is if someone was able to get in contact with one of the people who developed the game and ask them. Maybe Cemre Ozkurt would know something. Knowing when development on the game started may also prove/disprove the myth, because if the game started development before the E10+ rating, then unless they were informed of the E10+ rating before it was announced, they would have been making a E or T rated game. If development started after or around the same time, then this myth becomes more unlikely.

I will also put some other research I have found. I have found between November the 8th and 30th in 2011, the myth was added to the Rated M for Money article on TV Tropes.

"Rated M for Money". TV Tropes. Archived from the original on Nov 30, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

All that I can confirm is that some changes were done before release, but the reason for said changes is unknown and “maybe” related to the age rating. Randitor (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 18:22, 9 Dec 2021 (UTC)

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Can we stop adding this into the "plot"

There's a section in the plot that refers to Heroes where Shadow sees the other androids and wonders if he to is one at the beginning in the intro cutscene...this both doesn't happen in Heroes (he never goes into that room, it's Rouge and Omega) and in Shadow this only happens when entering Lava Shelter- a non cannon ending Shadow Reviews (talk) 01:33, 10 August 2023 (UTC)

Source claiming that this game (and thus the series) was gonna pull a Conker's Bad Fur Day (in my words) at one point

[1] If this is deemed reliable, then it's worth adding to the article. ❤︎PrincessPandaWiki (talk | contribs) 02:41, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

It's not, the article linked got updated to say they are wrong, plus IGN made it up because click bait and rumours as Jason said on twitter in response "it isn't true" https://x.com/jgriff_4real/status/1796563592965484960 Jason went on to say he didn't even know Tails was in the game so the quote they used isn't even real Shadow Reviews (talk) 00:58, 17 June 2024 (UTC)

Not the first third-person shooter

A lot of the time Shadow is regarded as the first game in the 3D era to have gunplay/ introduce it, it's not. Gamma, Tails and Eggman from SA1 and 2 both had third person gunplay (originally mentioned in the Wiki as "the simple lock on and fire mechanic") Shadow reintroduced it, as Heroes didn't include it. The game brought it back and expanded on the concept with; different weapon types and faction specific weaponry you can use (whereas before it was just Gamma and the two mechs with the one gun). Shadow Reviews (talk) 06:52, 21 June 2024 (UTC)