Sonic Unleashed

What really counts is if you enjoy the game. It's a Sonic game and it definitely has traits of a Sonic game, but if the game is fun then none of that should really matter.

I can see time being quite friendly to Sonic Unleashed. In this time frame there is tension and doubt and mixed responses, but when we're finally in the clear, we can look back at the game for what it is as opposed to the standards we've been holding for it now.

And we'll laugh.

 

There's a saying by Trip Hawkins, I believe (founder of Electronic Arts), who once said that if a franchise has had two or more failed entries, companies should just forget about it and start with a new franchise entirely. After two failed entries, most consumers officially write the franchise off as "not worth their time", and the time and expense of regaining their trust is not worth it.

This concept can be applied to the Sonic franchise, wherein Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 2006 are considered by the majority as "failures", and with good reason. This is most likely the explanation as to why Sonic the Hedgehog is now considered a joke by most of the press, and, indeed, most of the gaming world.

Most people have lost faith and lost trust in this franchise and Sonic Unleashed could be the greatest, most perfect Sonic game in the world and to some people, that still wouldn't be enough. The fact that Sonic Unleashed is most likely mediocre only makes this situation worse, because even if you like it, most people are allowed to retort "No, it's still crap." and technically, their complaints would be valid.

 

I wish I could get ahold of that leak that has been mentioned many times already, or just buy it through retail. If I did get the leak somehow, I might have a bit of trouble using it because (and I know most of you will not believe me about this) I have THE first ever PS2 made, and it A: is unmodded and B: kinda sucks at this point in time, and my current graphics card (an old GeForce4) will probably not be able to handle it. If I could get ahold of it on Wii, I would probably find myself typing up a long and detailed review once I beat the game, to appease those who despise the current "0MG, Pl@t4m1ng g@m3, 1t r t3h sux" bias.

 

Uh huh.

I actually own just about everything but a PS3. I know a quality game when I see one. I'm not saying stuff like Gears or Halo is a bunch of bullshit, and I'm not enough of a diehard Sonic fan that I won't play anything else. I get around. I have a lot of friends who play a lot of different shit, and I try it all. FPS, RTS, fighting, RPGs, shit like Rock Band (which is actually fun), etc. Some things aren't for everyone, it's true, and that goes for reviewers as well, but over the past few years, it's felt like reviewers don't put time and effort into anything anymore, unless it's something that specifically appeals to them. As far as Sonic goes, there have been professional reviews of recent Sonic games that bitch about problems that just aren't there. If anyone remembers, Gametrailers didn't even know how to play the Sonic Riders games, so they got terrible scores. You'd think someone over there would've realized that you don't have to hold the stick forward to keep yourself moving. Didn't they play Kirby Air Ride? Shit, I guess not.

I'm fully aware of the gaming libraries for each console. Go to your local retailer and look at the shelves. Look at the PS3 section. All I see are forced realistic games, because stuff like Gears came along and set a new graphical standard that everyone's trying to meet. Yeah, there are other genres mixed in, like fighting games and RPGs, but most of the PS3's library looks like an FPS-fest. Which is more suited for the PC, thank you very much. The PS3 does have a few "anime inspired" games thrown into the list, which are fairly decent, but even so, you never hear about them, because they aren't Resistance 2 and LBP.

Microsoft actually has an incredibly varied library for their console, spanning across tons of genres, but nobody ever covers the stuff people under 21 will play. Sure, Viva Pinata, and others colorful cute games like it get some sort of time in the spotlight, but reviewers and gamers alike flock to realism these days like fat children to cupcakes.

And while I do have a Wii, and don't particularly enjoy tons o' fun party games and stuff like Wii Fit, I can accept that there's an audience out there who does. People bitch and bitch about the Wiis library being nothing but crap because "only children, girls, and old people will play Wii games", but I welcome it, as should everyone else. The industry is expanding, finding a new market. The faster it expands, the more money goes around, and the quicker advancements in technology can be made. The money those soccer moms and old people are shelling out for "shitty Wii games" is going to be what creates another "evolution explosion" in the industry. It's farfetched as fuck, but those "casual fags" are getting us ever closer to shit like "virtual reality", because all their disposable income is making these companies some serious profit. We seem to forget that this is how gamers felt in the mid 90s, when the Playstation came along, and Sony started catering to a more casual crowd. The difference being that back then, casual games were actually fun, and not churned out shovelware.

I'll admit I went a tad too far with the "everything that isn't Halo/Gears sucks" argument, but did I really go that far? I highly doubt it. Are Halo and Gears fun games? Yes. I personally don't have problems with the way they play. I do have problems with the modern standards those games set. People buy them, yes, and the industry is flourishing, but it feels like those of us who grew up during the early 90s just aren't interested anymore, because developers ran out of "imagination juice". Seriously, how many more "let's shoot aliens with realistic guns" games am I going to see before I die?

Sonic Unleashed is a terrific idea. It's incredibly imaginative. It's very creative. And I'm not talking about the werehog (though I'll admit I'm fond of the stretchy arms, it's a fun design choice), so don't start bitching about the werehog again, unless you have valid reasoning. While the locations in the game are based on towns, cities, and villages in the real world, it's still a colorful, aesthetically pleasing game. I'm tired of developers making "generic realistic city" and calling it creative.

I'm still pissed that Gears of War beat Okami for best art direction back in '06. That was a load of shit. I'd rather play a video game with gorgeous block print cell shading than run around in generic looking-through-a-used-coffee-filter post apocalyptic city. Actually, let me rephrase that. I'd be more likely to be attracted to it, because it doesn't look like another Michael Bay movie. Gears is fun, and the visuals are stunning, but incredibly "generic". People don't seem to get that. These days, anything colorful and fun looking is viewed as "childish" and "casual", and therefore doesn't get the attention it probably deserves for being a fun and innovative game.

Shade, I would advise you to just keep your fucking mouth shut. There have been much MUCH more immature and uneducated posts than the one I threw down.

That's the problem with you under 21s. You don't know what real imagination is anymore. I may be a nostalgia fag, but I know what real "creativity" is, and Gears of War certainly doesn't have it, outside of *maybe* the character design.

 

Stopped reading here and promptly disregarded everything you said.

And for the record, yes, I think gears of War is highly overrated shit. I don't judge an entire generation of gaming based off one game though, so. That must be why I've been playing wonderfully refreshing (and colorful!) games like LittleBigPlanet and Mirror's Edge in the last couple of weeks alone.

 

I don't think Sonic should die. It had failed entries, but it's had too many good ones to die.

 

Much of this is important and definitely bears repeating. You're not the first person to say stuff along these lines (take for example this video, which has everything you've said nearly verbatim).

There is a market for these "shitty" Wii games -- some of which might be best off not being considered games, like Wii Music as previously mentioned in this thread -- and (surprises, surprises) it's obviously not the traditional core gamer market. Interestingly the types of things that turn off these core gamers seem to be things that the previously non-gaming public actually seems to enjoy, such as the inability to actually fail based on the parameters of the game (GS's jokes about the Wii Music "Rickroll" be damned).

Taste is very subjective, and in this situation it's hard to tell the people who are playing these games that they're not having fun, because obviously they must be for the game to be selling as well as it is. When Nintendo makes a new game console meant to be on the level with its competitors offerings I highly doubt that it would drop support for the Wii just because of its ridiculously high market share.

Sometimes people want a game that they can just pick up and play and not worry about going into too occasionally, one that's silly and lighthearted. In that regard the Wii's software doesn't disappoint.

As I noted on IRC today though, there IS a high amount of shovelware on the system, but at the same time there are only a handful of games for the other systems that I'm very interested in that have gained any level of visibility; Valkyrie Chronicles, Mirror's Edge, MGS4, maybe LBP, and a few others, but that's pretty much it there as well. While I don't own any of the game consoles I wouldn't be too miffed as a result if I only ended up getting a Wii.

Sonic Unleashed Wii toned down so hard so as to appeal to the casual gaming market? Stranger things have been spoken!

 

With the exception of the bold part (generalization bad bad bad) I said YES through the whole post. Epic post sir.
But unfortunately, that's what the kids want today. They don't want colorful background, they don't want cute wapanese things, they want GTA-styled games and that's what it sells. It's the hard truth, but many of the children that I convived with would actually prefer Shadow the Hedgehog over Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
What I think it's missing is a whole variety of titles to the next-gen consoles. Take the Playstation for example. Enormous, huge, extense library of games. There are crappy and extremely commercial ones (like those based on movies or cartoon) but there are also extremely epic and fun games (Einhander, Crash, Klonoa, Final Fantasy) I think that's what is missing on this generation. More variety, more creativity. I don't care two shits if that means that they wouldn't have the budget to make a game with extremely well-made graphics. Pokémon Gold/Silver completely outstands Diamond/Pearl IMO and it's like, 2 generations of difference (16,32 bits)

 

I don't think a generation of games that includes Portal, Braid and Mirror's Edge (amongst many others) can truly be said to be lacking in creativity.

Anyhow, to go back to Unleashed for a moment, I'll be trying to pick up a 360 copy as soon as I can. I always manage to find the fun in Sonic games, and this one looks great to me regardless of reviews.

 

Yeah, but you have to admit, you're sort of bias. Most sonic fans aren't going to want to see Sonic die.

 

http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/2005/11/blue...n-launched.html

I sometimes wonder is Gears of War 1 had such a tiny color pallet for technical reasons. Imagine this: You could increase detail in a game by lowering the color depth to 6 bits (or perhaps 4) per pixel, but this causes sever banding or dithering artifacts. In order to get around this, you simply restrict the color pallet, cutting out the colors you don't need for a grim and gritty atmosphere? I actually thought they might have done something along those lines, until I played Fatal Inertia, an Unreal Engine 3 game, although you'd never know by looking at it. Fatal Inertia proved to me that the Unreal 3 engine had merit.

But what I find to be the most hilarious about all these "grim" games is, Do people actually think that's what it looks like outside? Either way, Gears of War wouldn't make sense visually if it wasn't so bleak looking. Kind of hard to tell a story about a fight for survival when it's such a great day outside.

So tl;dr, there's place and purpose for both colorful and grim games.

And I don't think Sega should cut off Sonic, especially not when he has such a big fan base. People want to see Sonic succeed, and like it or not, Simon Jeffrey, the health of Sega is inexorably tied to Sonic


E: Outside of the dull, dull dull character designs, Gears of War 2 stylistically resembles a more serious 3D Metal Slug. Primarily the vehicles.

 

Most reviews I've read say Gears 2 is a much, much more colorful game, and that CliffyB was actually fairly put off by the fact so many people said Gears 1 was so monotone.

 

Well of course I'm biased. I want the series to live. That's why his logic fails, because in a series like this there will still be plenty of people who would be sad if the Sonic series just ended forever.

 

At least my post didn't fall on completely deaf ears.

I never said every game that isn't filled with gritty realism gets the shaft, I just said they don't get as much attention. Portal, for example, was a great, innovative game. It's time in the sun, I felt, was still too short for as great as it was. I didn't use it as an example in my post, but that's because it's in the back of my mind at the moment. Everyone has preferences, like I said, and even though Portal is the shit, I've had more fun with other games. Granted our opinions don't seem to matter to each other lately, but even so, that's how I, personally, feel, and during the course of this topic, the conclusion we came to was that if you have something critical to say about the topic at hand, give reason, and I feel like I have.

Shade, it's obvious your opinion is different from mine. The fact that I didn't mention games outside of my favorite genres (well, I did, but not enough of them) just shows that I'm an opinionated person, and that I know what I like, and why I like it. A lot of gamers these days just eat up everything, which is why it's so rare to see something unique like Portal or Mirror's Edge anymore. Those games have that imagination I was talking about, but those are just a few games out of hundreds of this generation's titles. There are casual Wii games with more creative juices flowing through them than most of the PS3 or 360's library, it's just that everyone's too proud of the one specific console they own to admit it. I don't have a PS3, but I'm not some anti-Sony/pro-Microsoft fanboy who can't back up my claims. I'm aware it's a great console, and it has a lot of potential. I wish it had been realized sooner.

Anyway, I'm gonna go get drunk, and watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame with my roommate, because I'm not afraid to like things that "only 8 year olds would be into".

I like me. If you don't, whatever. That's your problem, not mine. I'm not here to impress anyone, I'm here to express an opinion. I wasn't trying to start any sort of flame war, and in my eyes, Shade, you threw the first stone. Just because I have an opinion you don't agree with, doesn't mean you have the right to suddenly say "You have no idea what you're talking about", because I do. I check dozens upon dozens of gaming sites daily. I pick up news bits for games I don't give two and a half shits about. I look at how shit is selling. I visit retailers regularly to see what's new.

It seems to me that you don't know what you're talking about, by automatically assuming that the fact I don't like a fuck ton of realism in my vidya means I don't know shit about a hobby I've been catering to for almost 20 years.

Say what you want. If I come back tonight, I'm probably not going to post. As I'll be drunk, and I sure as hell don't want to start another flame war, oh no.

 

I know that, I've played the whole way through that game. Unless you count terrible controls as a glitch, I died more times from bugs in Gears 2 than I did in Sonic 06. But as an IRL friend said, I seem to have some form a magnetic attraction to glitches in that game.

 

Okay so I finally got the PS2 version and I can tell you a few things for you who are downloading the torrent. The game's music uses ADX format, so you can pop them in any adx player you want and they'll play. Movies are in SFD so I think you can play them if you want (What could OMAKE.SFD be in MOVIE2? :v.

On the down side however, everything else is in this huge AFS file. I know there are programs you can use to open the bugger up, but I think they decided to encrypt it this time (might be wrong, but please prove me wrong). I think the models are still using ONE format, I don't know for sure though, but this game is using the format for something.

That's all I have for now. Hope this was interesting enough.

Time to go test the game in PCSX2.

 

That might be the case with franchises with a short lived history, but Sonic is still very much money and abandoning the IP would be an absolutely retarded idea for SEGA from the business perspective. Even Shadow and Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 each broke one million you know. *edit: Yep, it's confirmed, of less than 40 million combined XBox 360s and PS3s out there, one million sales of Sonic 2006*

Suggesting they follow that kind of advice with a franchise where the name alone guarantees a million sales is just ridiculous.

And the reason these games are getting poorly reviewed is much more likely because they are poorly designed games than it is because they are simply in a franchise with permanent ink scrawled all over it from a poor five year legacy.

In any event, people not loving the hedgehog isn't SEGA's problem. Clearly people still do love the hedgehog no matter how much SEGA drags it through the dirt... at least in the UK.

 

Well, technically speaking, I never said they should abandon Sonic. Not once in the post. Trip (or whoever, it was somebody important from EA) is the one who said that. I was simply offering that as an explanation as to why so many people wait with baited breath for their opportunity to post the Sonic Cycle image, and why, no matter what good points Sonic Unleashed may bring to the table, the world at large is only going to see the negatives.

 

I hope that this director directs the next Sonic game too. If he takes what's good from this game and throws out the shit we could finally have the perfect Sonic game. Shame too, he was so close this time around.

 

I'm almost tempted to go grab the ISO myself just for these, but chances are somebody else will rip and upload them before I get a chance (wink wink :v: ).