I visited Sega yesterday.

Damn, that is a nice figure. Wish I could have had a chance to win that.

 

While I do agree with what you're saying here (I run a Metal Gear fansite and most of Konami are dicks) I think what Sammybeany might have been trying to say was that SEGA shouldn't need to have feedback. It's really cool that there isn't a "fuck you retro fans, it's perfect" mentality especially after many favorable reviews, and if I had the time and money I would have totally driven up to NorCal to attend this event, but it does make me flabbergasted to see things in Sonic 4 that were acceptable according to, well, whoever in charge.

Yes, I know the event was for feedback and not just thirty minutes of telling you guys to use momentum based physics. Personally? I'm fine with the idea of having a real-life discussion and hope that what you've all discussed will be taken into consideration for future Sonic titles. I think part of Sammybeany's frustration along with many other fans is that we want to see the Sonic 4 that we have always imagined but while you guys are listening to our feedback as you have been during Episode 1's development, the decision makers seem to turn a deaf ear to most of what we've been saying.

 

I'm sure it would have been a fun little shindig to go to, but honestly, the tension in the air would have been palpable, which would have ruined all possible fun for me.

Although I would have liked to participate in that raffle. That clock is pretty cool. And hey if you don't win what you wanted there's always eBay.

 

I'd actually pitch an offer to buy the clock if I didn't have to save up for a replacement computer right now.

Nevermind my work with BrainScratch. Sonic Retro is too fucking wordy to be browsing on a PS3.

 

What tension? Were you there? What was that? You weren't? Oh, ok.

You guys are really uppin' your dumb game today.

 

He's assuming the real world carries the same kind of hostility that the Internet does, when in fact, actually speaking to a person causes people to think and react with more than enough restraint to keep a cool head, at least in regards to such things as videogames. Most of the time.

 

Just imagine, Solaris, if this event was like SEGA forums with people? We'd have a large chunk of crowd constantly yelling "SEGA WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN TO US!", and devoting most of that argument to a general hatred of physics and homing attack. Then you'd have a group that would be like "GROW UP PURISTS" and then this one due who constantly gets kicked out, then sneaks in with a different hat every time.

 

I didn't bother with bosses. I brought up the fact that they wanted to "re-introduce" everybody to the classic series, hence rehashing. Now that the reunion tour is over, originality needs to take center stage. I thought that covered the bosses in that statement so I didn't bring it up later.

 

Regardless of whatever motivations Sega has for doing all this, or what it says about their developers:

This was pretty damn cool of them, to actually sit down, and talk about what the fans wanted. Sure, it probably could have lasted longer, but the fact that they're doing it all says that SOMEONE at Sega gives a damn. I know I for one, am interested in what the implications of this little get together will have on the future episodes.

Thanks for sharing, all involved.

 

I'm glad to know this thing was a really awesome experience. I would go as well... if I lived in California. :v:

Hopefully I can go to one of these someday. Either way I'm proud of you guys for being mature and handling these things regarding Sonic 4 very seriously and calmly. Gives us a good name that, while we don't necessarily deserve, shows that there are some sane people in this fanbase.

 

Definitely going to your site, I LOVE Metal Gear.

 

I've attended a few feedback sessions for business projects (they're not videogame related). Sure some of it is spent enumerating a project's good and bad aspects but it's also spent brainstorming about new directions and how failed concepts can be either discarded or adapted for a new approach (amongst other things, but this is probably what it fits with this session the most). I see that level design and gimmicks explanation Caz provided fits this rather well, but the rest not so much (especially the opening post).

I apologise if I come across as harsh, but I've never found this kind of behaviour really took any of the feedback meetings I attended forward. It usually ends up with being asked to leave or having a time out. I realise that this was a fan meeting, not a professional one, but it still comes across as bizarre to me.

Valkyria Chronicles is a great game and so is Phantasy Star. It's not shitty anime anything. It's great to have an opinion, but for that you must know the thing you're talking about. Calling Valkyria or PS animu shit is the same as calling Sonic furry shit. Which might be true, but isn't it much more than that as well?

Thanks for the pictures though.

 

Haha, I love how Ruby shut down the OP. You do sound like a jerk complaining about something you won for free.

 

That clock looks like 5 o'clock is always the slowest hour of the day.

 

A Rag Rappy inflatable?

Oh snap.

Is there an Al Rappy one? Can I beat the living crap out of it in hopes for a red box but it winds up dropping a god damn Moon Atomizer?

So many bad memories from Phantasy Star Online... At least I managed to unseal the Sealed J-Sword...

God I miss that game.

BUT, I digress. While I did have fun with Sonic 4, I do see some of the (less whiny) sentiments were brought up. One thing to note is to compare just the general flow of speed in the likes of... let's go with the slower of the three... Sonic 1 versus the final Sonic 4: Sonic's movement speed running, where he has a speed cap running, but it's ignored while rolling, the relative size of viewable screen area compared to Sonic himself (people have said Sonic feels a bit squished in Sonic 4), and I HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF THE SONIC ENGINE.

Yeah, I HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF THE SONIC ENGINE have been thrown around to the point its lost all meaning. Put simply, if Sonic is in a U-bend ala Casino Street standing at the bottom, continually rolling around should increase his momentum and thus his peak height. Similarly, entering from the top and rolling down the bend should mean he pops up on the other side.


On the music front, one thing I like about Sonic's old music is they have a certain style to them. They feel '90s dance-y, with the exception of Sonic 3, where the tracks felt hip-hop/poppy (may have to do with the Michael Jackson influence) but they always managed to fit the stage theme.

Look at Mystic Cave Zone in 1 player mode of Sonic 2. Heard vanilla without playing the stage, that doesn't sound like cave music at all. Hell, one large part of the song makes it scream "haunted carnival level." But when you play the stage, the music fits perfectly. As someone said earlier, the music always strove to sound like actual instruments, which is something Jun Senoue should aim for in Ep. II.

It's a shame the event was in California (understandably) since I'd at least would have liked to contribute something like this to discussion, but those are the breaks in living in the tepid swamplands called South Florida.

 

Okay, so the expression "pinball physics" now turns into "I HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF THE SONIC ENGINE".

 

I'm just saying that for the last several months, the term has pretty much become a cliche. I only pointed out the most basic example of how the system works. Simmer down.