Sega signs exclusive publishing deal with Silicon Knights!

Recent happenings of pertinence to Sonic fans.
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Segaholic2
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Sega signs exclusive publishing deal with Silicon Knights!

Post by Segaholic2 »

Good news for Sega fans everywhere: Sega and Silicon Knights have signed a deal that gets Sega exclusive publishing rights to all of Silicon Knights' next-gen projects. The deal also includes joint development of a new franchise from the two companies.
<A HREF=http://www.worthplaying.com/>WorthPlaying</A> wrote:SEGA today announced an agreement to acquire and publish next-generation game content from Silicon Knights, the Ontario, Canada-based development team responsible for such hits as Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and Eternal Darkness. The partnership brings SEGA more Western-developed content in preparation for high-growth opportunities presented by next-generation hardware platforms.
Great stuff. Silicon Knights has proven themselves to be competent developers with Eternal Darkness and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. Let's hope for some good things to come from this partnership.

Check out <A HREF="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php ... Playing</A> for the full article.

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Post by Double-S- »

Cool, a new franchise by a proven development team. Hopefully the games will feel "polished", in a way that so many of Sega's latest titles do not.

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Post by CE »

Non-AM2 Sega stuff has never been about being polished. It's about trying out random shit, that some how ends up being tons of fun. Just look at Crazy Taxi, Seaman, Nights, the Power Rangers Genesis, etc.

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Post by Double-S- »

I'm not talking about gameplay aspects. Crazy Taxi for Dreamcast felt very polished, from the quick and simple interface, to the sharp and smooth graphics, to the super tight control.

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Post by Nova »

This is good news, maybe “Snakeâ€￾ will have a Sonic doll in his next game?.

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Post by Omni Hunter »

Or it could be crap and Espio gets an MGS style game.

But I remain somewhat optimistic.

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Post by CE »

So let me get this straight -- you think the major problem with Sega's video games is not the way the game plays? What else do you want; the game to brew your coffee?

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Post by Omni Hunter »

Nah, I just don't wish to speculate too much at this early stage.

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Post by Double-S- »

CE wrote:So let me get this straight -- you think the major problem with Sega's video games is not the way the game plays? What else do you want; the game to brew your coffee?
It's all about how the game plays. It's not anything about the gameplay.
CE wrote:Non-AM2 Sega stuff has never been about being polished. It's about trying out random shit, that some how ends up being tons of fun. Just look at Crazy Taxi, Seaman, Nights, the Power Rangers Genesis, etc.
From what you say I'm assuming you take "unpolished' as simply some unorthodox new type of gameplay. I'd take that you think Jet Set Radio was also not polished, then, because it was just a crazy random concept.

When I talk about polished I mean how well refined the game feels. The gameplay type can be whatever the hell; if it just plays "right" then it's polished. Likewise, a game could be a by-the-books action game or RPG or whatever, but if it looks and feels like crap, then it's unpolished.

As crazy as Jet Set Radio's graphics and gameplay were, it played near perfectly aside from a control issue or two (why X, Y, and B were unused is still completely beyond me). The graphics were clean and sharp. The skating felt excellent. The music was perfect. The presentation worked. It was a well rounded package. Same thing with Crazy Taxi. And Seaman, as ridiculously weird as it was, and despite an incredibly simplistic presentation, was an entirely competent and highly entertaining game. And NiGHTs, well, I don't have to say much about that.

I'd say that the last well polished (original) game Sega put out was OutRun 2. I say original so Super Monkey Ball Deluxe doesn't count. Maybe Feel the Magic, but I don't know about that. But, Tenchu? Those 2 Worms games? Virtua Quest looked just bleah. Shining Tears is extremely simplistic I repeatedly hear. Most of the games on the Classics Collection look like ass and some apparently play worse than the originals. Matrix Online - no need to say anything. Spikeout has some promise, I'll tentatively say, because I played the original in arcades several years ago and I remember it being great. Oh, and for upcoming - Shining Force Neo... ugh. Crap combat, 6 digit damage? Where the hell is Shining Force IV? Shenmue Online? Shadow the Hedgehog?

First off, none of these games look very good. Sure, graphics don't make the game but they sure help make it easier on the eyes. Remember Dreamcast when Sega was making top of the line stuff? Aside from a few exemplary titles like JSRF, PDO, and VF, their games haven't gotten substantial cosmetic upgrades since then.

Also, all those games have gotten resoundingly mediocre reviews from everywhere. Sure, again, individual reviews don't mean much, but when GameRankings shows me a <70% rating for all but one of those games and <60% for half, something about these games is not complete. Here's the actual tally. Note that for multi-platform games (marked with a *), I am taking the platform with the BEST score.

Worms 3D* - GC Avg Ratio: 74%
Worms Forts: Under Siege!* - XBOX Avg Ratio: 69%
Tenchu: Fatal Shadows - Avg Ratio: 61%
Shining Tears - PS2 Avg Ratio: 57%
Sega Classics Collection - PS2 Avg Ratio: 54%
Virtua Quest* - GC Avg Ratio: 52%

Well I have a class coming up in a few minutes, plus I am too lazy to come up with anything else to say, so I'll stop here.

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Post by Baba O'Reily »

Does making someone a News Guy automatically increase the legnth of their posts?

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Post by Professor Machenstein »

I absolutely agree with Double-S-. I mean, take a look at Sonic Heroes. Sure, it's something new when it all comes down to gameplay, but at most segmints of the game, it is completely unpolished. The light-speed dash still doesn't work completely, Knuckles punches off the ledges, and all of the boss battle don't function well at all (Example: When you're chasing after Egg Emperor and you have to jump to the next platform, sometimes you hit him and fall to your doom because you went too soon). Don't get me wrong, Sonic Heroes wasn't all bad, just very unpolished. This is what Double-S- speaks of.

EDIT: Let's get back on topic... AHEM, anyway, Silicon Knights...

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Post by Locit »

EDIT: Let's get back on topic... AHEM, anyway, Silicon Knights...
No. Just no.
Does making someone a News Guy automatically increase the legnth of their posts?
Yes.

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Post by Omni Hunter »

When were you made a News Guy Double-S-?

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...Omni, my guitar wants to kill yer mama.

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Post by CE »

Double-S- wrote:
CE wrote:Non-AM2 Sega stuff has never been about being polished. It's about trying out random shit, that some how ends up being tons of fun. Just look at Crazy Taxi, Seaman, Nights, the Power Rangers Genesis, etc.
From what you say I'm assuming you take "unpolished' as simply some unorthodox new type of gameplay. I'd take that you think Jet Set Radio was also not polished, then, because it was just a crazy random concept.
I never said that Sega games were unpolished; every so often Sega does release a polished game. But just about every non-AM2 Sega game is unique random shit that makes no sense what so ever. Again, look at Seaman, Nights, Segagaga, Jet Set Radio, ChuChu Rocket!. It's all completely crazy shit.

Shadow the Hedgehog is very much a Sega game in that the design makes no fucking sense at all. Creative randomness, not polish, is what makes a Sega game. If you want polish go over to EA.

Oh, and for the nitpickers:
I'd say that the last well polished (original) game Sega put out was OutRun 2.
AM2 game.
But, Tenchu? Those 2 Worms games?
Externally developed.
Matrix Online - no need to say anything.
Externally developed.

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Post by Timestones »

CE wrote:
Double-S- wrote:
CE wrote:Non-AM2 Sega stuff has never been about being polished. It's about trying out random shit, that some how ends up being tons of fun. Just look at Crazy Taxi, Seaman, Nights, the Power Rangers Genesis, etc.
From what you say I'm assuming you take "unpolished' as simply some unorthodox new type of gameplay. I'd take that you think Jet Set Radio was also not polished, then, because it was just a crazy random concept.
I never said that Sega games were unpolished; every so often Sega does release a polished game. But just about every non-AM2 Sega game is unique random shit that makes no sense what so ever. Again, look at Seaman, Nights, Segagaga, Jet Set Radio, ChuChu Rocket!. It's all completely crazy shit.

Shadow the Hedgehog is very much a Sega game in that the design makes no fucking sense at all. Creative randomness, not polish, is what makes a Sega game. If you want polish go over to EA.
I fail to see how "creative randomness" is the complete opposite of "polish" as you seem to be implying. What do you define as "polish" and why aren't these Sega titles you pointed out "polished?"

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Post by Dark Crow »

I would define a "polished" game as one that has little to no gameplay, sound or graphical bugs, good controls and use of system resources (i.e. stable framerates and no horrible load times), easy to use menu system, decent replay value, and most importantly of all is genuinely fun to play. Wether the game in question has Sega styled whacked-out concepts is irrelevant, because if said game has all of the qualities of being "polished", they it can be presumed to be innovative (or at the very least,, a fun game).

As for those unpolished Sega games Double-S- mentioned:

Worms 3D/Forts:
I love 3D, but even I can see that bringing the series to 3D ruined the pickup-and-play style the original games had. Forts in turn completely ruined the old Worms mechanics with the poorly conceived forts building.

Tenchu: Fatal Shadows:
Heard it has horrible, horrible controls, and is no fun whatsoever.

Shining Tears:
2D slash-a-thon. Bad loading times and animations. A shame.

Sega Classics Collection:
The remakes brought shame upon the original games. 3D Golden Axe? With horrible, polygonal Gillius Thunderhead? And moves taken out from the classic original? A travesty of this nature I cannot ignore.

Virtua Quest:
Mediocre adventure fighting game with a bad camera, and stupid platforming bits. Apparently also has a terrible framerate, and some of the worse English dubbing ever.

Well there you go, the opinion of the masses with forementioned Sega games. I sincerely hope that the badness of the games listed above (excluding Worms) are mearly the result of the restructuring of Sega, and that their latest games will be somewhat better.

Although with Shadow the Hedgehog... It's hard to remain optimistic.

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Post by Double-S- »

Dark Crow just pointed out everything that I was talking about by "unpolished". I don't get why you (CE) think "crazy new concept" means "unpolished".

And I don't care if the game is externally developed. Sega picked up the publishing rights for it, I expect it to have some quality.

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Post by CE »

I don't think crazy new concept means unpolished. I just find there are more Sega games with crazy new concepts then there are Sega games that are highly polished.

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Post by Burner »

Hopefully this will be good and there'll be some good game to come out of the deal. That's all I'm bothered about.

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Post by Omni Hunter »

Baba O'Reily wrote:...Omni, my guitar wants to kill yer mama.
Chill dude...

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