New Sonic game for 2015

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Rob-Bert
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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Rob-Bert »

Apparently the dev team is made up of former Naughty Dog guys and Chris Senn is a part of it, so...

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Esrever
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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Esrever »

Yeah, he worked or is working there as a level designer:

http://www.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?arc ... tName=Senn

I found this last night by googling "big red button" and "sonic", he was the only common thread that came up! But a lot of interesting folks have worked there. This guy was working there on a SEGA project as early as 2011, as a character designer, which gives some idea of how long they've been developing this.

I like the character artwork a lot, aside from all the goofy bandages. The game has to do a bit of work to catch up, though. (The trailer does warn, in French, that it is using early models and graphical assets, which explains the front mouths.)

Image

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Gaz
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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Gaz »

Screenshots including Eggman.

Eggman doesn't look too bad although he looks a bit more pumped than usual.

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big_smile
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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by big_smile »

Frieza2000 wrote: Tails's gameplay shot included Sonic and Amy tagging along as AI. We may see another attempt at Heroes-style character switching.
Quite appropriate as today is the 10th Anniversary of Sonic Heroes PAL release.

---

It's not as bad as I was expecting. However, the bandages are silly and I don't really care for attitude Tails (although, he's been that way since Ken Pontac took over as story author).

The lack of Sonic Team is surprising - I wonder if they really are going to have this as separate franchise from the games (although seems unlikely).

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by big_smile »

TV Show trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dm-AFKUmFw#t=152

Sonic's facial expressions are a little odd and it's got a bit too much of that Pontac style comedy, but other than that it's okay. I would have liked it more if they drew on the landscapes of the Mega Drive original.

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by big_smile »

http://www.destructoid.com/sega-reveals ... 0111.phtml

^ More info:
* It's not replacing regular Sonic: They are going to have 2 Sonics!
* The game will be a prequel to the TV show
* This is the final Wii exclusive (So the 2015 game must be a different title).

I can understand them having 2 different continuities (like they did with Sonic X), but having 2 different Sonic designs seems a little baffling.

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Esrever
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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Esrever »

Personally, I think they're just... er... hedging their bets. They don't know how popular the new game and show are going to be. If it tanks, it's a spin-off. If it's huge, maybe it gets upgraded to become the "main" franchise. (Although even if it does, assuming a two year cycle, there may still be an "old" Sonic title in 2015 before a Boom sequel lands.)

But one thing is for sure. It's a show, a game, and a big merchandise line. As far as 2014 goes, this is going to be the only Sonic you see anywhere outside of Smash Bros and comic books.

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Rob-Bert »

I'm...more ok with all of this than I thought I was going to be.

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Crazy Penguin
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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Crazy Penguin »

big_smile wrote:I can understand them having 2 different continuities (like they did with Sonic X), but having 2 different Sonic designs seems a little baffling.
I think the different designs make it easier to brand the two as separate entities, in terms of licensing (Sega already license Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic separately, from what I hear). For example, maybe Jazwares will still be allowed to make "Sonic the Hedgehog" toys whilst Tomy makes "Sonic Boom" toys. Whereas if they had the exact same designs, they'd be stepping on each other's toes. That's pure conjecture though.

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by big_smile »

^ The two designs for two continuities makes sense.

---

Sonic Team's non-involvement is also interesting, as Sonic Boom seems to a pure American invention (They had previously mentioned Iizuka was over-seeing it, but there wasn't any mention of him in today's news). I'm sure Iizuka is keenly aware that his Sonic could be replaced if Boom does well (especially as Boom has the added advantage of a TV show to promote it).

In the past, I think the competition would have been good for Iizuka. However, he seems to be reinventing Sonic in a very careful manner and I admire that he has resisted the temptation to incorporate crowd pleasing elements (such as multiple characters or more speed). It'd be disappointing if the threat of this new show disturbed his careful approach.
I found this last night by googling "big red button" and "sonic", he was the only common thread that came up! But a lot of interesting folks have worked there. This guy was working there on a SEGA project as early as 2011, as a character designer, which gives some idea of how long they've been developing this.
At the risk of being rudely nosy, those seem to be an odd combination of terms to Google. Did you have insider knowledge? ^_^

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Frieza2000 »

big_smile wrote:I can understand them having 2 different continuities (like they did with Sonic X), but having 2 different Sonic designs seems a little baffling.
It's odd, but it's more consistency than any of the other Sonic media have ever had with the main series. The comics and other shows have never had their own tie-in games (unless you count Sonic X on Leapfrog). History may remember it as a one-time plug for the show and nothing more. The financial success will make the decision, I'm sure.

So the show is basically an extended version of the recent era cutscenes. That's probably the most uninteresting outcome to me personally that we could've gotten. The more I see of Pontac's Sonic, the less I want to. It's competently written 6-11yr material, but it's not Oshima's Sonic or Iizuka's Sonic or anything that feels like a legitimate development of it. It's more like a reinvention, so in that sense I guess I feel that giving them new designs is appropriate.
big_smile wrote:In the past, I think the competition would have been good for Iizuka. However, he seems to be reinventing Sonic in a very careful manner and I admire that he has resisted the temptation to incorporate crowd pleasing elements (such as multiple characters or more speed).
Actually, the one thing I'm happy to see is Knuckles and Amy getting in on the action in a meaningful capacity for the first time since Heroes. I was never one of those pleading for the games to feature only Sonic. It may have helped refine the race-car Sonic gameplay to the degree we got in Generations, but I never wanted to go in that direction anyway. And I don't think we've seen anything that can rightly be called Iizuka's Sonic since 2k6, but we can only speculate.

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Esrever »

Whoops. Sorry, smile. Someone knew who the developer was and was nice enough to tell me at the last minute. That was literally all I knew though. I'm extremely unconnected, lol.

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Malchik »

As someone who has absolutely no investment in this franchise, this retooling doesn't phase me in the least. In fact, I think anything could be a potential improvement at this point.

Image

Looking at this kind of reminds me of when they were trying to rework the Looney Tunes to appeal to today's yesterday's youth.

I'm a little disappointed that they choose to make the cast even more anthropomorphic. Their heads don't really match their bodies. I know we'll never get the classic sonic proportions, but they are thinner than ever (knuckles excluded). Also, Amy kind of has a Lola Bunny approach. As in they didn't know what to do with her so they just made her smug with attitude.

I know in the long run this will not effect the established Sonic franchise, but hopefully this will be successful enough to evoke some change in Sega of Japan. I think the Sonic franchise is suffering from stagnation.

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by G.Silver »

Also, Amy kind of has a Lola Bunny approach. As in they didn't know what to do with her so they just made her smug with attitude.
They Rouged The Bat her.

Image

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Neo »

Can't unsee:

Image

The blue arms were the last straw. RIP in peace Sonic

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Gaz
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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Gaz »

It seems an early version of this game was shown back in March.

Obviously it wasn't clear it was a Sonic game at that point. Clearly this game has already been in development for quite a while.

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Crowbar »

Neo, I'm glad I'm not the only person who thinks this looks atrocious.

Horrible proportions.
Blue arms.
Stupid accessories and clutter in the designs.
Apparent teamwork gimmick from Heroes, which was shit.
Skrillex in the trailer.

Yup, I think I hated literally everything I saw there! It looks like a combination of awful fanwank and the worst things they were doing with the franchise 10 years ago.

At least the cartoon thing looks a bit less offensive.

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Locit »

G.Silver wrote:They Rouged The Bat her.
Bingo.

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Malchik
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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Malchik »

Sonic looks a little bit odd with biceps, too.

I haven't noticed the arms until you mentioned it. I'm wondering if it was even an intentional design choice.
Gaz wrote: Obviously it wasn't clear it was a Sonic game at that point. Clearly this game has already been in development for quite a while.
If there is one thing Sonic can use it's a decent development time.

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Esrever
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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Esrever »

Honestly, I think why it rubs some people the wrong way is it isn't ENOUGH of a redesign.

I mean, c'mon. Amy and Tails look exactly the same as before. Sonic is a little bit taller, with the same head/body proportion adjustment given to all slightly taller Sonic characters. Only Knuckles has been altered in any really substantial way... and even then, that alteration is limited entirely to his body, not his head, which hasn't changed even slightly.

Everything else is just window dressing. You're not giving yourself a "redesign" when you go to Walmart and buy yourself a scarf, hair gel and a roll of tape. You are just making some questionable fashion decisions. The core designs of these characters have barely changed. They've just had extra stuff stuck onto them. And so that extra stuff LOOKS extraneous, like it has been tacked on to what we had before. (Or taped on, as it were.) So even though I like the style of that illustration quite a bit, I still really want to go in there and start cutting stuff out.

And also fix Sonic's arms. I KNOW everyone else has arms the same colour as their bodies and they are probably just shooting for design consistency, but damn it, I've got 20+ years of conditioning to be bothered by this!

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by G.Silver »

Esrever wrote:And also fix Sonic's arms. I KNOW everyone else has arms the same colour as their bodies and they are probably just shooting for design consistency, but damn it, I've got 20+ years of conditioning to be bothered by this!
Except not everyone has arms the same color as their bodies! Sonic's arms have changed but Amy's haven't. I can't help but think she's still "bare shouldered" because she's female.

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Esrever »

You're right! I didn't register that. LAME
Perhaps this is the reason they eventually landed on the "compromise" of tape everywhere? lol

Something else I didn't register was that neither the game nor the show are being released in Japan? Like All Stars Racing, this is a western-developed Sonic title for Europe and the Americas only. I guess Sonic Team really does think they'll be making their own Sonic games parallel to this long term.

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by CM August »

Looks good. A western developer, let alone one consisting of Naughty Dog presence is exciting. I might even buy it.

Agreed that the changes are a little too 'safe' for the most part - I mean, they're splitting the baby in half over this so why not make it count? - but, I guess that's due to the aforementioned hedging their bets as to whether it'll become the main series or not. The fact they're not even bothering to release it in Japan however...

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by big_smile »

Here's a theory: Since Iizuka regained control of the franchise, he has killed off the spin-offs and moved Sonic to a 2 year cycle. This should be good for Sonic's reputation in the long term, but it doesn't help Sega's bottom line. Having two Sonics fixes this, as SoJ & SoA can release their titles in alternating years. This ensures that there is a new Sonic game for every Christmas, without having to resort to cheaply made titles.

Also, I believe that SoJ has two Sonic Teams (as the team that did Sonic Colours and Lost World was slightly different from Generations). So they could even move to a 3 year cycle and still have a new game every year.
So the show is basically an extended version of the recent era cutscenes. That's probably the most uninteresting outcome to me personally that we could've gotten. The more I see of Pontac's Sonic, the less I want to. It's competently written 6-11yr material, but it's not Oshima's Sonic or Iizuka's Sonic or anything that feels like a legitimate development of it. It's more like a reinvention, so in that sense I guess I feel that giving them new designs is appropriate.
I always thought it was odd Sonic Team would let an outsider handle the story. Apparently Ken had to fight to get Cubot and Orbot approved, as Sega producers felt the bots didn't suit Eggman's character.
Hopefully, now SoA has their own Sonic, his services won't be needed any more. To be fair, Sonic Lost World has a much better story than Colors/Generations (apparently SLW was the first title where Ken had full freedom) but Ken's Sonic just feels so generic. His desire for laughs overshadows all the character's charm.
And I don't think we've seen anything that can rightly be called Iizuka's Sonic since 2k6, but we can only speculate.
Iizuka left after Shadow, but returned with Colors. He has said in interviews that 2K6 and Unleashed followed his style, which made him realise where he was going wrong. Since his return the quality of the franchise has improved (Sonic 4 was awful, but I think that was a game that Ken Balough pushed to get made against the wishes of Sega producers [What is it with Sonic and pushy people called Ken?].)

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Re: New Sonic game for 2015

Post by Locit »

The arms are driving me nuts. I've been correcting people who drew them wrong since first goddamn grade. I can't stop now.

Also: If this is supposed to be the new 'Western' Sonic, just where the hell does that put the Archie comic?

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