E3 Sonic Next-Gen trailer on XBOX Live Marketplace

[SegaSonic]

I was expecting Sonic going solo game..but its turning into bizzaro world.

I hope that Only Sonic,Shadow and White dude are playable..if any else, Tails and Knuckles...No more no less.

[Green Gibbon!]

I'm kind of surprised to find myself saying this, but this might actually be bizarre enough to work. Maybe we're ready for an alternate universe, a sort of what-if "nega" world or something. Eggman looks weird as butt fuck, but I don't think I actually dislike it. The game itself looks solid enough, and I don't even really mind the new squid character, but Shadow's "Jak Xtreme" vehicle can be damned.

It's drastic, but maybe that's exactly what we need. I'm eager to see more, at the very least.

[SegaSonic]

Yeah, same here...either it will kill the series or save it...and besides, I always wanted to see a real Eggman.

[Protodude]

Mysterious insider on the E3 show floor news now, with the image of a brand new hedgehog character neatly landing in our lap(tops). According to our informant, the next-gen Sonic game, cleverly entitled Sonic the Hedgehog, features 3 different playable characters - Sonic, Shadow and Quicksilver (not his actual name, just us trying to be clever). Sonic and Shadow do the usual running and jumping thing at ludicrous speeds, but the the silver hedgehog seemingly has telekinetic powers, allowing him to deflect missiles and initiate area-clearing blasts with impunity. If he has mind-altering psychic powers to boot, consider us keen to control this guy as he dashes through a lopp. According to the video footage of the Xbox 360 and PS3 game that recently showed up on GameTrailers, the game features everything from controllable vehicles to deranged and twisting level design--just the way we like it.

It certainly is a relief to see an all-hedgehog lineup of speedy characters in the game, as opposed to a rabbit, a fruitbat and a llama with obscenely cute dispositions and equally annoying voices.

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/08/next- ... og-action/

I know that's kind of a *DUH* considering the video, but at least this way it's confirmed.

[Pepperidge]

My impression is definitely more positive than negative, although I don't find this to be nearly as "out-of-place" in the Sonic universe as the rest of you seem to. While I don't plan to invest in an HD gaming system anytime in the near future, this does seem like something that could provide incentive.

And although it sounds completely trite at this point, I am still pissed about Shadow being in the game.

[Ritz]

Like most everyone else here, the segments with Sonic were the only ones that really interested me, but things certainly seem to be shaping up. I especially liked that Moses-esque ocean scene.

As for Eggman's redesign, well, I have no qualms with it. I mean, it's horrible, yet inexplicably badass at the same time. I'm not quite sure what to think, but I won't complain.

[Omni Hunter]

Of all of what I've seen from the game, Eggman is the most positive thing yet. Sure, he's not so bulky but he still has those mad scientist vibes.

[Esrever]

Eggman's starting to look like a dead ringer for his grandfather.

[Protodude]

Maybe this game is about how he goes back in time to become his own grandfather!

[Popcorn]

Sony just showed a very small amount of new footage in its Sony press conference.

[Frieza2000]

Have you all gone batshit? What are you looking at that's captivated you so? There was no inkling of level design in that. It was almost entirely scripted action sequences, and even then EVERY SINGLE SEGMENT with Sonic was either suspended over or surrounded by pits. Are you <i>that</i> excited about the graphics?

Seriously, visuals aside, I think this might really turn out worse than Shadow and I see nothing here to contradict that.

[MiraiTails]

...Sonic the Hedgehog, features 3 different playable characters - Sonic, Shadow and Quicksilver...

Sigh... Well, I will enjoy this game much less since Tails isn't playable.

I think they should make games in which Sonic is the only playable character. Others should be supporting characters that are unlockable bonus playables. (Personally, I don't care if Tails is an "official" playable, so long as I can play as him in some way.)

[Guest]

I think the new eggman is sexy in a totally different way.
But seriously though, so far this game does not look that bad in my oppinion. I mean even if the game is super linear it still might not be that bad, look at space channel 5, that's the most linear game ever and that game is awesome (at least I think it is).

[Segaholic2]

I don't think comparing linearity in a platformer versus a rhythm game is exactly viable.

[Majestic Joey]

I think the new eggman is sexy in a totally different way.
But seriously though, so far this game does not look that bad in my oppinion. I mean even if the game is super linear it still might not be that bad, look at space channel 5, that's the most linear game ever and that game is awesome (at least I think it is).

Fucking shit I keep forgetting to log in.

Well how about Ninja gaiden. It was pretty straight forward and there was only really one path you could take. But it was pretty fun still.

[CE]

There's not enough gameplay here to really make a good judgement of everything. I feel like I've seen half a second of the first level, and judging from Sonic Heroes, that'll be the best level in the entire game.

[big_smile]

As the Adventure series focused so heavily on the humans, there is no reason why this new direction couldn’t exist in the current continuity. Sonic games change art direction with every instalment, so its not as if the story universe is dependent on visual aesthetics for coherence.

The main problem I have with this are the non-Sonic elements, which suggest that Sega still feel that having a big feature list is necessary to appeal to the masses. This is a serious problem, as it was the oversized feature lists that suffocated the core ideas of Adventure and Heroes.

Sega is a business and they need to make money, which is fair enough. But after all the milking they have done to the series, you would think they would have earned to the right to, for just once, forget about the money and concentrate on the art. Sonic’s is so popular now that I think he could survive without the safety net of a large feature list.

I think this will end up like the previous 3D titles – the Sonic sections will be good but slightly lacking. The non-Sonic bits will fail to compensate and instead bring the title down to that all-too-familiar level of mediocrity. ^_^

[Gaz]

There's a few details about Sonic the Hedgehog in this IGN preview.

Apparently there's 2 playable levels in the demo shown at Sony's pre-E3 press conference. One as Sonic and one as the new character who they refer to as Silver. Silver's gameplay is slower paced and he has telekinetic abilities and can lift just about anything including boulders, crates and cars. It just sounds the Sonic Adventure games all over again to me with decent Sonic gameplay and the other characters getting in the way but we'll see.

There's also a new gameplay video at Gamespot. It shows most of the gameplay footage from the main trailer plus some extra gameplay footage of Sonic.

[Popcorn]

If Q-Tip can manipulate objects Psy-Ops style it might actually be kind of interesting. It would at least justify the physics...

[Majestic Joey]

I hope for this game they keep the playable characters to a minimum and just have supporting characters like Amy and Cream appear every now and then just to say,"yo, Homie G! what's cracking?" like they did in sonic rush.

Also when is sonic x going to be over so sega can get rid of those crappy voices?

[Professor Machenstein]

The last episode of the English dub airs this week, so SONICTEAM will soon have no choice but to axe the voices. If I remember correctly, someone said they were hired to uniform the games with the show. Now they will have no show to uniform the games with.

Also, the music in the trailer sounds like it came from Dragon Ball Z. As the music plays, imagine Goku closing an episode with, "Hi, this is Goku, and on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z..." Then again, console Sonic games have had that kind of music since Sonic Adventure 2, only except Heroes, which sounds like the music you would hear from a Chuck E. Cheese commercial while romping through Kids WB.

Finally, on subject with the new Eggman, not that I hate his new design, but SONICTEAM needs to reconsider. Why not use the Eggman from the Shadow the Hedgehog CG sequences? From what I remember, SONICTEAM once considered giving Sonic fur effects, but they thought it was too weird and went with a more traditional Sonic. Perhaps Eggman is still in the consideration stages and the people behind his new design are thinking, "Wow, he does look weird." Oh well.

[Guest]

Have you all gone batshit? What are you looking at that's captivated you so? There was no inkling of level design in that. It was almost entirely scripted action sequences, and even then EVERY SINGLE SEGMENT with Sonic was either suspended over or surrounded by pits. Are you <i>that</i> excited about the graphics?

Seriously, visuals aside, I think this might really turn out worse than Shadow and I see nothing here to contradict that.

Right now, I'm putting faith in the hands-on previews. IGN have actually played it and said that it's "the kind of thing long-time fans will likely devour".

That's good enough for me.

[(...)]

The above post was mine. I forgot to log in.

[Double-S-]

I can't really remember the last time I agreed with IGN.

[Segaholic2]

http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=T000348

EBGames says 3/30/07 for $60. Who knows how solid that is.