E3 Sonic Next-Gen trailer on XBOX Live Marketplace

[BlazeHedgehog]

To be fair, the Sonic 1 credits don't list a whole lot of people working on the game. However, quite a lot of the same people worked on Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and S&K. Among them, the stars of Sonicteam - Naka, Yasuhara, etc.

A game's fate is not automatically sealed if its' concept doesn't sound like it's a sensible idea from the get-go.

Wait, what?

Presentator: "And that's our idea for a game. Will you let us make it?"
Sega CEO: "This is a horrible, awful, terrible idea. But, I'll give it a shot. Here's a couple million or so dollars, try not to make it fail too hard!"

That's what it sounds like you're saying.

Shock and awe! A company that creates video games making money!

I'm not against them making money. I understand that they have to pay the bills, but there comes a point when you say, "No. Fuck the bills. They don't deserve my money for this shit."

This is where these "time constraints" that the ST commentaries from the Jam guide are coming from. Even the best games sometimes fall victim to the ever-dreaded ticking clock in some way.

Of course. I'm not saying games should be delayed forever. Not many companies have that sort of luxury.

Outrun 2 is great. PSU looks fun. And if you don't care about Virtua Fighter, you either don't like fighters or are a heathen (aka Tekken lover).

I've tried to like Virtua Fighter. I own VF2 and Fighters Megamix for the Saturn, and... I just... have never really gotten in to the franchise. More of a Capcom guy, specifically the original Marvel vs. Capcom.

PSU... PSOBB ruined PSO for me. I can't look at PSO or PSU without thinking, "Fucking shit, PSOBB's Online Story Mode was the most tedious, horrible experience I've ever had in a videogame."

[Frieza2000]

We're talking about Sonic Team here, a studio that has only made five Sonic games in their 15 year run on their own: Sonic 1, CD, Jam, Adventure, and this. Only two of which were directed by Iizuka (Jam was a compilation, and Adventure wasn't necessarily a bad game). Everything else has been either done by another party, with or without limited involvment/supervision/both on the team's part. My point is that the few Sonic games they have made happen to have been crafted with care in some manner. They have an excellent track record to uphold and have shown no sure signs of losing their step yet, so it's downright outlandish to assume they, in particular, have stopped caring.

This is all irrelevant anyway because after 15 years and however many internal restructures and merges, I doubt many of the people who worked on the original games, or even on Adventure, are still with the company. And if they are, I'd also doubt that they're still working on this series or that they're in positions that would have any major bearing on the overall quality. Iizuka's the only name we know, and that's not encouraging. So the fact that SOJ is making Sonic Next doesn't really help us predict how it will be.

And there's something that's been bothering me that nobody's mentioned yet. Is there anything special about the 15th anniversary, or is it just an excuse to hype this year's releases?

[(...)toolazytologin]

This is all irrelevant anyway because after 15 years and however many internal restructures and merges, I doubt many of the people who worked on the original games, or even on Adventure, are still with the company. And if they are, I'd also doubt that they're still working on this series or that they're in positions that would have any major bearing on the overall quality.

Almost certainly true. No one keeps the same job for 15 years anymore, especially in the games industry. Turth be told, if Iizuka is anything to go by, new blood on the team could be just what Sonic needs.

Is there anything special about the 15th anniversary, or is it just an excuse to hype this year's releases?

Nope. Just a marketing tool. Like the tenth anniversary was for Sonic Adventure 2.

[Frieza2000]

Well, numbers evenly divisible by 10 are commonly used for things like this. 15 just seems so arbitrary.

But now I remember that Sonic's age was changed to 15, so it makes sense. Someone in PR should've pointed that out by now.

[Guest]

I find it adorable that so many people are devouring this guy's BS.
That's all I'm going to say.

[The amazing boo]

This is the same guy who revealed the hidden characters in Sonic Riders iirc.

So there's not BS to devour, thanks.

[BlazeHedgehog]

And plot details about Shadow, too, didn't he?

[Guest]

Except it wasn't him to released it, kthxbye.

A girl on deviantART listed 'em before he did ( Which is why everyone was so skeptical, because it was a seemingly random girl on deviantART ).

[Ritz]

Except it wasn't him to released it, kthxbye.

Who could love a man with a broken penis?

[BlazeHedgehog]

Technically, Manafakefur isn't "a random girl on deviantart". She's one of those people who ended up getting lots of neat info on Sonic X before anyone else.

Although, if you check what she said, she wasn't the one who mentioned it - she said she got it from somebody else, and she merely questioned a Sega rep about it (to which he replied "that information wasn't supposed to go out yet").

I always figured she got the info from here (either directly or indirectly).

[Guest]

"Manafakefur"? Who's that? :/

[BlazeHedgehog]

She runs the Animal Trail, a Sonic X fansite. She got storyboards, scripts, and concept art from series 2 of Sonic X long before anyone else did. She speaks Japanese, and some english.

http://manaita.deviantart.com/journal/7608267/

Her journal in question over the secret characters in Sonic Riders. Also, my mistake, she seems to write it mana_fakefur.

[Guest]

Never heard of her.

[BlazeHedgehog]

Well, now you have!

[FlashTHD]

A game's fate is not automatically sealed if its' concept doesn't sound like it's a sensible idea from the get-go.

Wait, what?

Presentator: "And that's our idea for a game. Will you let us make it?"
Sega CEO: "This is a horrible, awful, terrible idea. But, I'll give it a shot. Here's a couple million or so dollars, try not to make it fail too hard!"

That's what it sounds like you're saying.

Sounds like the presentation to a clueless publisher for an average shovelware GBA game to me. But anyway, I was referring to whether or not a game is doomed to play like crap despite a ridiculous premise. Looking back, I may have put my enthusiasm in the wrong place, and they did do a sloppy job, but I digress, we're straying from my original point.

This is all irrelevant anyway because after 15 years and however many internal restructures and merges, I doubt many of the people who worked on the original games, or even on Adventure, are still with the company. And if they are, I'd also doubt that they're still working on this series or that they're in positions that would have any major bearing on the overall quality. Iizuka's the only name we know, and that's not encouraging. So the fact that SOJ is making Sonic Next doesn't really help us predict how it will be.

In any event, right now i'm more willing to place my trust in them than Sega Studios.

To sum this up:

-- Yes, I think it's annoying that Sonic Team has served supervisory roles for one too many poor releases (Sonic N, the latter two Advance titles, Battle and Shadow could be argued into this group depending on your opinion). They also need to stop placing their label on so many Sonic games that aren't technically theirs, for the sake of their reputation and because there are better ways to market.
-- Yes, the execs need to think it over more before approving said releases.
-- Yes, Sega's game of musical chairs with their dev teams has to have had some effect. Positive or negative, it's hard to say, but again that really boils down to your preference.
-- No, I find it very difficult to believe that the japanese Sonic Team, through personell switcheroos or not, has totally ceased to consider the quality of the games they put out. It's a pretty drastic thing to say they've stooped to that level. Only EA and cheap developers out to make a quick buck on movie-licensed turds are that bad. Let me put it this way: if this were the case, there wouldn't be five year gaps between the Sonic games they put out on their own (for the record, i'm talking no cooperation with Sonic Team USA, Dimps, none of that); the time between their releases would be much shorter than that. Painfully shorter. And they prolly wouldn't bother with so many original properties or other franchises as often.

[BlazeHedgehog]

But see, the thing is, being concerned with quality and actually liking your job are two very different things. Quality is tied to money; profit. In this reguard, the Sonic titles have had enough quality to make enough money.

But somebody who cares will push that extra inch to make sure their vision is seen to completion.

[Gaz]

Sonic Stadium have a news update revealing some details from an anonymous source. Most of it seems to match with what OCB posted. Most notable is that Blaze is the surprise character in the game and has connections to Silver and the fourth hedgehog is crystalline in appearance. There's a few other plot and character details there. Quite honestly, I really don't know what to make of it all.

[Crazy Penguin]

I have to wonder whether Blaze was actually created for this game, but given an early debut in Rush, just like Cream was created for Heroes but debuted in Advance 2.

[Senbei]

I remember when I first got into DragonBall Z how bizarre I found the plot to be.

This is like that bizarreness, but showcased in an Imax theatre.

[James McGeachie]

I'm pretty confident Blaze was created for Rush, she's been around since sometime prior to E3 2005 and I seriously doubt they had any real plot details for next gen laid out at that point. Blaze also has far, FAR more of a story in Rush than Cream had in Advance 2.

[Zeta]

OK, Sonic Team? It was bad enough with the Chaos Emeralds and Super Sonic. Stop fucking ripping off DBZ.

[SegaSonic]

They're only doing it because of the influences of stupid fans.

There alot of idiots that started liking Sonic because they think its the next DBZ.

[Guest]

Maybe if you said that some years ago that would make a difference but since you seem to lack the feel of time passing, you can just forget the fact that the emeralds and Super Sonic will ever disappear.

And I am a DBZ fan.

[Ritz]

You're also a guest, that makes you look pretty bad.

[Radrappy]

My one hope was that shadow was not going to be in this game and that then the relationship between knuckles and sonic could be played out more. Knuckles has basically been reduced to nothing these past few years, leaving his Island for no reason at all. He's been replaced by shadow as the rival but doesn't have the staying power to be merely sonic's other best friend. Now he's not even playable. I don't even like how he's drawn these days. poop.