Sonic the Hedgehog demo on XBL Marketplace

[Baba O'Reily]

I fell through the ground twice.

Not once, but twice. I hate the stupid bounce move, and how I can't move around while I'm doing it, making it a more worthless version of the homing attack.

The camera is painfully slow and jerks around a lot. If I were to ride a three-legged horse, I think that's what it would be like.

Also, that eagle is a rat bastard.

[BlazeHedgehog]

Sarcasm detection is difficult over the internet, but he seemed like he genuinely thought the storyline did some "interesting things".

Then again, he is only human, and relying on a single person's opinion on something is usually not a terribly good idea.

[BlazeHedgehog]

Not to double post, but according to Kulock of the Mooglecavern, running the demo until the clock maxes out at 99'59'099" (99 minutes, 59 seconds) and then finishing will cause the score tally to overflow, netting you an automatic S Rank.

[FlashTHD]

Yeah, but OCB seems to be saying a lot nowadays.

"Nowadays" as in four months ago? viewtopic.php?p=60029#60029

Also, i can say the game will be much, much better than Shadow and Heroes, as most functionality testing is being done in Japan. And those guys are psychos when it comes to finding bugs.

[One Classy Bloke]

Actually, on the subject of the japanese bug testers, i've made a mistake. Sega does not hire the best people. In Japan, i've heard that they outsourced the majority of testing to an external company called SSL (not sure if thats right name but it's something like that).

This company also tested Shadow the Hedgehog. When SOE got the Pal version of that game, they found bugs everywhere. Sure, the final version was a buggy piece of crap, but SOE couldn't do much. They were given only 6 weeks to test that game. It was meant to only be a localisation project, yet they had to do pretty much all the functionality.

Around the world, there are around 120 people testing Sonic Next. SOE have been given 4 weeks to test the game. Last time i saw it, you could walk on walls, the final boss wasn't complete, it crashed every 20 minutes and it took about 4 minutes to load. That was 2 weeks ago.

On behalf of Sega, i must apologise for the trainwreck that will be this game and also Shadow. These problems are not caused by myself or any of the testers, but really by the management who only wish for a good profit. These are the people who cause these games to be rushed, or choose developers with no passion for the project they are working on. Sorry.

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Since it's getting quite highly demanded now, i will be compiling a list of all the information that i've revealed so far. In it i will point out which details were true or not. It'll take a few days to prepare though, because i am fuck busy.

[big_smile]

It was meant to only be a localisation project, yet they had to do pretty much all the functionality.

If during the localisation stage SoE found a bug and corrected it, would the correction appear in the NSTC versions?

The reason I ask is that I have never come encountered many of the issues American formers found in Sonic Heroes. The PAL version was delayed by a few months, so I was wondering if SoE used the extra time to tidy-up the game.

^_^

[Wooduck51]

On behalf of Sega, i must apologise for the trainwreck that will be this game and also Shadow.

So my masochist training regime of unlocking hard mode in ShTH is going to pay off?

[MiraiTails]

Around the world, there are around 120 people testing Sonic Next. SOE have been given 4 weeks to test the game. Last time i saw it, you could walk on walls, the final boss wasn't complete, it crashed every 20 minutes and it took about 4 minutes to load. That was 2 weeks ago.

On behalf of Sega, i must apologise for the trainwreck that will be this game...

A little while ago, I decided that I would enjoy this game as long as it was playable. So much for that. You lose some you lose some, I guess. Why am I beginning to think that Sonic fans are the Red Sox fans of gaming? Well, except for that World Series the team won recently. I think you know what I'm trying to say.

[Esrever]

On behalf of Sega, i must apologise for the trainwreck that will be this game and also Shadow. These problems are not caused by myself or any of the testers, but really by the management who only wish for a good profit. These are the people who cause these games to be rushed, or choose developers with no passion for the project they are working on. Sorry.

It's not really fair, is it? People pick up a buggy game and the first thing they say is "Jesus, don't these people even HAVE bug testers?" all over GameFAQS. But it's just like the DS version of Lego Star Wars 2... the testers found tons and tons of bugs but the game got released anyway to meet the deadline. I'm sure that every game would be close to bug free if enough time was actually allotted to catch and fix the problems. And in the case of Sonic, it sounds like Sega has much bigger problems than just the bugs, anyway.

[Frieza2000]

I wonder if this could be divine retribution for all the furry porn the community has put out or something. That a company pushed so far to the fringe of the public eye could allow, let alone force, the release of one of its most anticipated games in a long time for its mascot and only remaining mainstream series (I think) with so much riding on it that's so broken...I want to say it boggles the mind, but OCB's explanation makes a lot of sense. After the failure of the Dreamcast and the subsequent mergers, I guess loss of talented individuals and disorganized and oblivious management is just the natural result.

I have an early suggestion for this year's name in the timeline. "The Apocalypse."

[OSM]

Wonderful. Sonic is now dead to me. I played the demo at my friends house, fucking terrible. I don't even care for the little blue shit anymore. He just seems like propaganda for quick cash nowadays. He's not the cool blue little dude we all once knew and loved.

[Radrappy]

hey come on now guys. Sonic and the secret rings could be good right? Havent most people been saying only good things about it? It's not over yet.

[Wooduck51]

For something other than prophecising doom;

from Blaze's "profile"

So does this mean boobie jokes and bosom enhancing power-ups?

[theAMAZINGboo]

I KNEW they couldn't keep a character cool for more than two games.

Here they go ruining Blaze as well.


Good job Sega, good job. I just hope you realize Dimps are the only ones who make good Sonic games now days and just give the franchise to them.

Edit: Where did you find this? From an official site or..

[Crazy Penguin]

I just hope you realize Dimps are the only ones who make good Sonic games now

Where do they hide them?

[Hybrid]

Good job Sega, good job. I just hope you realize Dimps are the only ones who make good Sonic games now days and just give the franchise to them.

Because giving away a profitable franchise is a great business decision.

Is SEGA making Sonic and the Secret of the Rings, or are they getting someone else to do it? I really hope they've outsourced it, I'm looking forward to that game and I'd hate to see it end up like this.

[theAMAZINGboo]

I just hope you realize Dimps are the only ones who make good Sonic games now

Where do they hide them?

In the forms of the advance games, and Sonic Rush.

[Ngangbius]

Just because a Sonic game can be outsourced doesn't mean it will automatically be good. I mean just look at Sonic Rivals for example.

That said, I don't think Sonic Wii is being outsourced but it would be great if the former Amusement Vision was doing it.

I just hope you realize Dimps are the only ones who make good Sonic games now

Where do they hide them?

In the forms of the advance games, and Sonic Rush.

Contrary to popular belief, the Sonic Advance games were not good. Sonic Rush is okay, though I seemed to be too distracted by other games to bother completing it.

[theAMAZINGboo]

The advance games weren't exactly amazing, but they are better than the crap we've been getting on the console front. Sonic Rush (for me) is the best Sonic game that's come out since Sonic 3&Knuckles. The only gripe I have with it is it should have been a bit longer.

The adventures are ok, and Heroes, Shadow, and STH so far seems to be the same trash. =\ Maybe Sonic Wildfire will change that.

[SegaSonic]

Can someone who has the demo tell me if you can destroy enemies by simply jumping towards them? or do you have to use the homing attack to destroy them?

[Hybrid]

Just because a Sonic game can be outsourced doesn't mean it will automatically be good. I mean just look at Sonic Rivals for example.

Well no, I wasn't hoping it would be outsourced because that would suddenly make it good. I do like my chances more with other companies than I do with SEGA, though. I mean, the Sonic Advances were far from memorable, but they weren't "bad" games. On the flipside, everything Sonic Team has produced in the last couple of years has been trash. I'd much rather Sonic Wii turns out "alright" with a third-party company behind the wheel, rather than like the trainwreck many people are claiming this game to be under SEGA's influence.

[BlazeHedgehog]

Sonic Rush was decent. But Dimps.. Dimps is made up of former SNK employees, right? Because I just get the feeling that some of the guys who worked on Metal Slug work on the Dimps Sonic games. Sonic Rush isn't really as frusteratingly cheap as say, Sonic Advance 3, but it's still one of the hardest Sonic games I've ever played.

There's a lot of moments where you just wanna blitz through the entire game with the dash manuver, and there's a lot of moments where you end up blasting straight off a cliff - or, if you are unfamiliar with the layout, accidentally jump off a grind rail or a rope or something because you were tapping the B button to do mid-air tricks.

It generally boils down to memorizing a level's layout, a strong traight in shooters like Metal Slug and Gradius (not that SNK or Dimps was responsible for Gradius, that's just an example of a shooter that requires memorization).

[FlashTHD]

You know, the European PS3 release was pushed back to March. What does this have to do with anything? Sonic Adventure International, friends. They have a perfectly decent excuse to try again if it ends up a mess. Also, we haven't heard any specific japanese release date yet, have we?

The Shadow game was a glitchfest? I don't know of any critical floor or collision bugs at all in the game. The movement is too slippery, but i'd hardly call that a bug. I would know - i've been playing through it again for the last week and a half.

BTW, keep in mind, I am still waiting for word on how well the TGS demo played over the XBL one.

Actually, on the subject of the japanese bug testers, i've made a mistake. Sega does not hire the best people. In Japan, i've heard that they outsourced the majority of testing to an external company called SSL (not sure if thats right name but it's something like that).

If you can, could you elaborate on this further? Like how much is SSL testing it next to Sega of Japan and their track record testing other games?

[BlazeHedgehog]

I remember somebody capped video of the PS2 version of Shadow during Leipzig 2005, and at Westopolis, Sonic was embedded in the ground when he first appeared. There were a handful of other bugs I spotted in that video, too, but I don't remember them now.

But that was, what? Two months before release? Three?

[Frieza2000]

Shadow's gravity switching level crashed my Gamecube twice, I fell through the floor once or twice, and there's a voice clip during the final battle that's horribly messed up. That's about all I got in terms of glitches.