AAUK Chastises Classic Eltitists

Dear Lord that sucked so much I had erased it from me mind

why did you bring it back? D:

 

This. Sonic needs to be "for everybody". The fanbase wasn't divided until all this "hardcore" stuff (stories with more plotholes than actual sensible plot, etc.) came in, am I not correct? :v:

 

If classic elitists are chastised, as should people who need to be a bit more discerning with their tastes (you know, the sort of people who want MOAR SHADOW and other hedgehog clones).

 

3D Blast wasn't buggy up the ass, was very enjoyable for somebody who tended to play the game for exploration rather than pure speed, had two exceptional soundtracks, graphics that were pretty damn gorgeous for the time (especially the Saturn version, which didn't really show off the 3D capabilities of the console - barring the special stages - but damn was it colorful, Sonic was the perfect shade of blue and everything, unlike that overly bright shade he is in the Genesis version), and had an overall polish to it that the likes of 2K6 simply didn't have. I will confess that the control scheme was probably a bit loose (which would probably annoy quite a few players), but it worked well enough for me - the amount of times I throttled myself into something I didn't want to throttle myself into due to the controls were incredibly few, compared to 2K6 where it happened all the time. So yeah, the comparison's not even remotely apt.

Can't say as the Pico games are, either; they're edutainment, what were you expecting?

Really, though, I don't think it's an issue of Sega constantly catering to the newer players. They did cater to us, the exact same time they made 2K6. You know what we got for our troubles?

Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis.

It's not at all an issue of who's being catered to - it was purely an issue of incompetence, which is seemingly slowly being fixed up. The only reason the younger crowd like these games with all the glitches and everything is because, at that age, we'll like anything. I know for a fact there are plenty of shitty games for the Genesis and PC I still really enjoy, solely due to the virtue that I played them as a kid, despite them not holding up all THAT well to a more matured, critical eye (like Sonic Labyrinth - a guilty pleasure to the highest degree, I guess, but it never annoyed me all that much).

That being said, while I agree elitists on the old-Sonic crowd should be tamed, the same should be held true for the newer fans. I've seen people on some sites who claim that we're "retrofags who should've perished in the '90s". How exactly is that not just as bad as our most extremes calling for the heads of Shadow fans all around the world?

 

I am the only one not overlooking the fact that this guy is a paid blogger?
There are few lifeforms lower than that. Why do you people give a crap what he thinks?

 

...because we're not incredibly bigoted over paid blogging like you apparently are?

 

You are indeed correct.

 

I'm fairly certain that being the Online Community Manager for Sega Europe, he's paid for more than just blogging. I'm not only saying this because I am friends with two former community managers over at ArenaNet, either. :specialed:

 

Arctides- Have you even read the post?

Shadow Hog- Hence why Aquaslash brought Labyrinth upon. I admit 3D Blast wasn't as bad as 2006, BUT IT WAS 3 YEARS AGO LET IT GO ALREADY DURR.

As for why he went for the retro elitists first, well, they're the most vocal, I'm afraid. Honestly, it's much harder to come across a nü-elitist than a retro-elitist.

 

I chose an extreme example of this problem to make a point. To a lesser extent, most modern Sonic games are functionally impaired- even Unleashed, for all I like it, has gems like wallwalking and the PS3 version's load screen crashes.

And it's still guilty of long-ass load times.

 

That's hardly exclusive to the PS3; it happened to me on the 360 version, too.

Yeah, but they're not as incessantly common as they were in 2K6, where it would load the entire stage over just to load one line of text. In Unleashed, generally the load screens will only show up once for the stage you're about to play - much better than the three or four you'd encounter for any given stage of 2K6.

Not that I'm here to defend the game or anything. I can't say as I really care for it, but that's more for game mechanics - polish is not one aspect I really hold against the game.

Except that's really not going to happen. You can't just forget one of the worst games of all time. Not even worst Sonic games - worst games, period. I mean, people still rag on the CD-I Zelda games, Daikatana, E.T. The Video Game, Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man, Superman 64... it's a sort of, to use a TVTropes term, "bile fascination", really. The game's putrid as sin, but it gets all the attention it does because it's hard to believe something this awful really was allowed to exist.

And as such, try as you might, this game isn't going to go anywhere. The series might as well be permanently tainted; even if Sonic as a franchise suddenly has a miraculous turnaround and has nothing but high-quality hit after hit from here on to the end of time, people are still going to be saying "man, remember that shitty game in 2006? How could the franchise stoop so low? Thank God it's made a turn for the better!"

They do exist, though. They may be rarer, but they're out there, and shit, do I feel awful knowing there's really somebody who'd willingly take that extreme.

I'm not going to defend the retro elitists, though - sure, they have a few more facts to back up their arguments (low approval ratings of various games across the board), but if they're anywhere near as bad as the "nü-elitists" (as you put it) are, then... shit.

 

My point is more on the line of- You haven't stopped playing Zelda or Mario because of the CD-I games, right?

And yes, they do exist. I have found them. They're rarer and not as visible.

 

I don't see that much drama - not anymore, at least - just some pretty well-thought-out discussion. <_<

 

That's a different story, they were outsourced garbage without Nintendo's approval. Anything recent Sonic wise lacks polish or completely misses the ball on what people expect a Sonic game to be/play like plagued with the most obscure and uncharming ideas ever.

Anyone who grew up with a Genesis would look at Shadow the Hedgehog on the shelf and think "oh, shit, I guess Sonic is one of those franchises that are trying to revive themselves but trying too hard." The franchise name is no longer relevant in people's eyes aside from pure nostalgia, if Sonic took the Mario path, it would be much more successful. I think it's too late now though unless Project Needlemouse ends up being an incredibly solid game.

 

Yes, and I also did that. But I can also see that after all the crap came Unleashed and now Needlemouse. I don't find the Werehog as idiotic as painted by everyone, it's the sort of silly idea that I'd expect to appear on AoSTH. And Needlemouse looks good so far. I've got a feeling SEGAS's getting the message, that they'll only improve; and yet, 10 years from now, even if all the games are good, people will still say "nüsonic sucks because of sonic2006 and shadow!!"

 

I doubt that, as soon as SEGA starts getting into the flow of things and everything becomes mandatory quality wise, the series will be looked upon at a much more positive light. You honestly cannot fault anyone for thinking so low of the franchise as it is right now.

 

I know, I know. It's just... I don't know, I'm tired of hearing the same key over and over.