I don't think FIVE years are needed. Two years would be the best idea, in my opinion. We got stuff like the Adventure series when they did that.
Hasn't it been kind of believed that Generations got roughly 3 years of development since the Unleashed team hadn't released anything since Unleashed? That long of a development cycle has indeed shown a positive result on the final product. I think building a three year cycle would be the best option for the franchise, not counting games from the Storybook/Colors team. Now that Sonic has hit an overwhelmingly positive position when it comes to game quality, I would hate for them to oversaturate the market. It was understandable before when we didn't know whether or not the game would even be good, but now that we can expect an at least average game, if not phenomenal like Generations, I feel it's best for them to slow down, take their time, and make something fantastic. They don't need to prove anything anymore, now it's time to let Sonic Team breathe. If they really have an overhaul planned, I have no desire whatsoever to see a game in the near year/two year window. I want them to put the time in to ensuring that the next game is really polished.
5 years is not a realistic development time for 99% of videogames. It's not financially feasible. Generally by the time you hit this sort of time length you're in serious development problems (overkill example, but DNF which took 14 years) or can't decide wtf you're trying to make (Team Fortress 2, which took 9 years and according to Robin Walker "Valve had quietly built "probably three to four different games" before settling on their final design"). 3 years, fine. 4, pushing it. 5? No.
I honestly don't see what's wrong with the current dev cycle, other than maybe tack another six months to the main team. Running two "teams" for one product actually makes a lot of sense. It's more a matter of what's done during the actual time.
With five years, your'e starting problems. Firstly, you'd be seeing only one or two Sonic games per Generations, whic essentially means that development of ideas and feedback would be slow. If that were the case, we probably wouldn't have just had Generations, we'd have just had Sonic Unleashed. Secondly, technology improves. Ideas have to be implemented whilst the technology is still around, otherwise you've got to keep up to date with the latest technology, ever evolving your game in a way which prevents you from releasing it quickly, as these sorts of changes rapidly bring on new ideas and engines to implement, delaying the process greatly- Duke Nuken Forever suffered due to this, as well as a lack of direction. Lastly, the quality of 3D Sonic games since 2006 have been great. If they hadn't oversaturated the market with The Secret Rings, Black Knight, All Stars Racing, Sonic Riders, Zero Gravity, Free Riders and the dozen Olympic Games, then people would probably feel as though the Sonic series wasn't so diverse and difficult to follow. As it stands, I just want them to release a major game every 2 to 3 years on ALL platforms- Wii included. No one should be seperated. PS3/Xbox gamers should have gotten Colours, and Wii should've gotten Generations. I love playing Generations on PC and I can understand why they felt the Wii wouldn't do it total justice due to the marvelous set pieces and what not, but they should cater to everyone, seeing as Sonic is their mascot, and loved all over regardless of platform.
I see what you did there :v: Thing is, the problem with having a title on both the two HD consoles and the Wii, is that there has to be compromise somewhere, either they have to cut back on content in the HD versions, which would, I expect, take a lot of the charm out of Generations, or develop a cut down version. And then we end up with something like the Wii/PS2 Unleashed, or, to a lesser extent: The even worse music in the WiiWare Sonic 4.
Oh please, even in the 90s Sonic had so much crap going on, so much spin-off and cartoons and comics. Sonic was always the Sega's milking cow since the beginning. It was probably worse in that regard, with "alternative universes", multiple canons... And that didn't hurt the main Mega Drive titles in the long run overall, in fact are the most cherished titles out there
Difference being, we've had Generations which the developers used to refine the Unleashed formula to a shine. If we started only getting one or two per console (provided consoles continue to last only 5 years which the 360 and PS3 are disproving) I would have no issue with that. It means more focus and the opportunity for more refinement. More ideas can be implemented in a more developed state than they would otherwise. Additionally, now that the games are at a positive level, and we are no longer needing new games to bring Sonic back to prominence, I'm afraid the exact reasoning you used to describe Secret Rings and Black Knight may become true of the franchise itself: oversaturation. Like I said before, Sonic no longer needs to prove anything, so there is no reason to continue releasing major core releases every year. I'm worried that that time-table will begin to cheapen a good thing rather than making each release an event, and having each of these events being a major milestone that will push the franchise forward by leaps and bounds each game rather than small changes over the course of several, several games. That's just my thinking on it.
It's slightly unfortunate that Sonic makes so much money for SEGA, making it impossible to retire him for an extended period, where a dedicated team can develop, refine and perfect a truly great game, which is then suddenly sprung upon people for a surprise "Fuck?! Where did that come from!" sort of thing. That's what I'd personally like to see. It's saddening that the only game that wasn't rushed out was Sonic 1.
But no one really knew too much about the titles otehr than Sonic, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic and Knuckles, Sonic Spinball and Sonic 3D Blast. Seriously, anyone who played the Game Gear games at the time was lucky to play them, especially in the UK. Most people I knew hadn't even played Sonic CD, and I was the only one in my primary school to do so. I didn't know (and still don't know) anyone who owned a Game Gear. Sonic games averaged at about every year and half, which was hardly saturated. Yeah, you had the cartoons and the comics and such which complicated matters, but those were nothing to do with the games themselves. From 1991 to 1996 you had about 8 well known Sonic games. From 2005 to 2011 we've had Shadow The Hedgehog, Sonic Rush, Sonic Riders, Sonic The Hedgehog 2006, Sonic and The Secret Rings, Sonic Rivals, Sonic Riders; Zero Gravity, Sonic Rush Adventure, Sonic Rivals 2, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Free Riders, Chronicles, Sonic and The Black Knight, Sonic 4; Episode I, Sonic Colours on both Wii and DS and now Sonic Generations, not to mention the re-releases, All Stars and Olympic games. Pretty much all of these games have been pretty well known to gamers this generation. Hopefully they'll tone it down a little bit in future, after they release the next storybook game.
Here is Sega's issue: Sonic is the only icon representative of the brand. Nintendo has a plethora of strong characters to choose from, which allows them the luxury of making only one or two main Mario games per console. If you think about it, they've been doing it that way since the SNES. I remember when Super Marion World 2 came out in 1995, everyone was amazed that it existed because SMW1 came out in 1990! The 64 only had Mario64, the Gamecube only had Sunshine, which then gave me a big surprise when I heard about Super Mario Galaxy 2. Oh shit, I just proved a point for the wrong team. I still don't agree with the 5 year cycle for Sonic, unless there are other Sega characters (LOOKING AT YOU SHENMUE) to pick up the slack in between. Btw, I'm not even a Shenmue fan.
The problem is that ever since things went tits up with the Dreamcast, they've lost that crazy sense of creativity and individualism which made me fall in love with SEGA in the first place. What happened to the SEGA that thought that mental games like Chu Chu Rocket, Seaman and Rez were a good idea. They've got plenty of IPs that I'd love to be brought back. I mean who wouldn't want more Jet Set Radio, or another Skies of Arcadia or Toy Commander? And don't even get me started on Ristar, Nights, Ecco, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe... To be honest I'm amazed that they haven't ported Seaman to the 3DS yet, it's surely the perfect console for such an idea.
Werehog was Ristar 3D in a Sonic setting. Like, seriously, some of the moves Werehog does match Ristar's animations perfectly. If they made it separate from Unleashed and called it Ristar it would've probably sold well, and gotten rave reviews. I wouldn't mind some of Sega's old non-Sonic brands coming back, as long as they do it right, and don't botch it like they did with Golden Axe. I do feel it would give them more time to make full on Sonic games, and then their attempts at Mario-Tennis-With-Sonic-Characters wouldn't look so plastered in for cash as before. I want bass fishing with Big as an unlockable cameo character dammit
Kratos is Ristar now, like, seriously. (except not) Sonic Unleashed has nothing to do with Ristar and is fully a poor attempt at trying to ripoff God of War. The director even mentioned he was a huge fan of the game. Being wrong is cool, huh? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Mario_series
Because God of War has tons of platforming based off of climbing things with stretchy arms. It plays like something in between the two and everything I said about it being well received if it wasn't Sonic is true. It would have. It wasn't well received because reviewers innately hate Sonic when it isn't Sonic only running in one direction. Apparently they can't seem to decide if they want boost to win or actual platforming either, so *shrug*
The Werehog platforming sections were dull, repetitive and far too long, no matter how you slice it. If it were released as another game, it would also be dull, repetitive and far too long. Mario Galaxy it ain't.
I think the major issue is SEGA goes through phases. What we're seeing and what we critique is the result of those phases. SEGA doesn't know what will happen until AFTER they make something, however, so they cannot use the hindsight-based wisdom we as customers like to give them. This is why things like Sonic 4 didn't quite meet the expectations SEGA wanted for it. They aimed to please but without any real asking of the fanbase directly and releasing various demos, they really had no clue. That and it was made by freaking DIMPS, which never really knew what it was doing post-Rush anyway. The main takeaway from Generations is they have finally learned how to debug these things while making them. If they keep this sort of behavior up, then they can use the fanbase as a gyroscope, a compass, with which to ensure they don't go off center into another Werehog or worse yet Sonic 06-style debacle. Of course they should also know when to disregard the fanbase, as it can be just as dysfunctional as insular corporate-based research based on sample groups at times.
