Let's just say Iizuka doesn't like that Sonic's being handled by not-him. He's very protective of the franchise. Insert your own commentary and opinions based on past experiences at your leisure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWU3I5bBpwk I have no clue as to what he should be upset about. Code (Text):
Honestly, in the still frame he looks pretty pained, but in motion, he just looks like he's straightening his hair. Still, if he was flustered, I'm not sure I could blame him. Boom kinda lost me from the getgo with the redesigns, but even in spite of that, the games still sound banal and mediocre, if not flat-out bad.
It doesn't look terrible, but I just can't see why they're going in this direction. At least Mario is universal without having to have designs every 5 minutes. Yeah, he has Paper Mario, but the clue's kinda in the name anyway. People who buy Sonic games want to play 'Sonic games'. I just don't get this fascination SEGA have with making Sonic do everything and anything. If anything, they should capitalize on the retro scene. Everyone out there loves the classic games, even people who don't own them say they like them because it's socially acceptable for people to know and admire what retro games like Mario, Pacman, MegaMan and Sonic are. They need more 2D classic stuff. They should just do what other companies do these days, not necessarily every year, but just have a schedule where they make a classic game one year, and then the next year or the year after release an epic modern game. It worked in the GameCube era. Having Sonic Adventure 2, DX, Heroes, Shadow, and then Sonic Advance 1, 2, 3 and Rush.
You guys still don't get it, do you? Look at those shitty-ass screenshots for a game developed in one of the most powerful engines out there. Just take a moment and FEEL how bad they look. Now take another moment and watch some gameplay trailer and check it out just how bad and boring it also plays. Then, when you're done, meditate for a while and wonder how is it possible that a company made of ex-veterans of the industry, responsible for some of the greatest classics and gems of the gaming world can fuck it up that bad. They are totally going for a guilty pleasure, guys. Something we all know it's pure shit, but we love just how shitty it is. Like Dexter post season 4. Spoiler On a side note, I'm still pretty excited about the tv show.
Actually, it seems like there's some misinformation that Big Red Button is primarily ex-Naughty Dog devs. But really, this is what the official site says: There's Naughty Dog, but then there are those other devs. Heavy Iron Studios doesn't seem like a bad dev, they made Spongebob: Battle for Bikini Bottom which was alright and generally just licensed games which weren't bad but not all that great either. Luxoflux made the Shrek 2 game, which is Shrek and thus is one of the best developers out there so really I can't see how they ended up making a game as mediocre looking at Sonic Boom because Shrek. + - Seriously though their games seem to just be mediocre. High Impact Games is another "not bad but not great" dev. Probably most well known for their PSP Ratchet & Clank games and that Jak & Daxter sequel for PSP. So basically, they're some of the people who were responsible for a bunch of the average PS2 platformers that Sonic Boom seems to be like. Oh right here's that TGS gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWc0kQmbql4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM0Pv8SHHMQ
I personally think Iizuka is frustrated because the game have chances to be better than Sonic in Nintendo Lost World. =P At least, I liked those videos I saw even if they're in horrible quality.
So this is effectively Sponge-Bandicoot & Clank with Sonic characters thrown in? No wonder Iizuka looks flustered, just look at that DS gameplay! This game jsut reminds me of all the cheap £5 PS2 titles that hung around in game stores all over the world following the last console generations release.
I hope this is as good as Sonic '06. The fan reaction is really heating up! :specialed:/> EDIT: Not to say I won't get it. When it's cheap. And I've heard the soundtrack.
Speaking of which, here's hoping Wave Master steps in and gets a soundtrack done like they did for SASRT; although having a soundtrack for Sonic "Toon" is gonna be weird. :v:/>
So I vaguely remembered that a long time ago, Mike Hayes or some other big SEGA guy said something about doing a new Sonic Heroes-like game. Just found the interview: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/239411/interviews/segas-mike-hayes-pt1/ This was from 2010, the new Sonic game they're talking about is Sonic 4 Episode 1. Sounds like Sonic Boom or a game somewhat like Sonic Boom was on the cards back then.
I can see why SoA/E really needs this to succeed if its been a 4 year long concept by those branches; if it tanks, good luck letting SoJ so much as let them LOOK AT the core franchise wrong,let alone have any involvement with creating titles that exist beyond a $20 budget. Referring to what TimmiT said a while back about how a good majority of BRB's employees are actually from the lower middle class of video games in the PS2 era, the stars seem to be aligning in how this would be cool game turned into a semi disasterpiece :specialed:. I hope this project doesn't bomb, but at least gives SoA/E a wakeup call to stop with the million-ideas-at-once nonsense and hopefully focus on making a fun game, while also letting the executives let them continue at all :x
http://www.sonicstadium.org/2014/09/sonic-boom-tv-show-coming-autumn-2015-in-europe/ Hey Europe you wanted to see Sanic Bum TeeVee? Well too bad 2015 lol.
That's not really a problem, seeing how most of us would probably just download the new episodes after they air in the US anyway. Especially those of us who live in countries where we'd get some shoddy dub. :v:
Why didn't they bring on any outside consultants who understand sonic games? There's no excuse for making a sonic game that plays like a generic platformer with autopilot segments for transitions. It isn't 2003 anymore, finding someone who understands momentum and flow isn't hard.
Yeah this doesn't matter in the slightest to anyone who has even the slightest ability to search things out on the internet, it'll be recorded when it's broadcast, it will be uploaded after it's recorded, and it will be watched by anyone that cares after that. Autumn next year? what a laugh.
Iizuka, hiring someone who could possibly know more about Sonic games than him? I learned the hard way that (most) companies don't care about product quality anymore. They issue a bunch of possible prototype of possible different ideas/IPs, and use an algorithm to decide which idea would take less time to implement, as well as the best investiment/return ratio, also analyzing if such concept would be accepted by the target audience (most of the time the target isn't well defined) and if it would stick. The quota that could otherwise be invested in fine improvements of the product, are actually invested in marketing instead (because, nowadays, marketing is what is important; this is what will make the game stick, all thanks to the fact that minds are easily manipulable). The budget for marketing is beyond anything imaginable. If on one side the quality of the product doesn't deliver, on the other, the marketing alone will give the expected return. But, of course, this (may) cause backlash and alienation (as in this very case). That doesn't mean that there aren't actually creative directors that are concerned about the quality of the products that the deploy. I can count in one hand the number of diretors that know what they are doing, and that are concerned in providing a feel good experience first and foremost: Mitsuo Iwao (Tri-Ace), Koichi Hayashida (EAD Tokyo, Nintendo), Matt Boch (Harmonix) & Hideo Kojima (Kojima Productions, Konami). These are the kind of directors that are more inclined to pursue specialized intel in whatever issue they are going to tackle. I reeeeaaaally feel tempted to be the devil's advocate here, but I could be taken legal actions against if I did.
