Detective SSMB & The Case of the Sonic 25th Anniversary "P.g. 100 is the best... food discussion started."

[Hyp3hat]

1 hour ago, Tara said:

I still think we're over-estimating how important the 25th anniversary is for the series.  Just because it ends on a five or a zero doesn't mean it's going to be that big of a deal, especially when the only hype we've had surrounding it (that isn't fan-made) is a change in social media logos.

IDK, Sonic Team have always been pretty aware of anniversaries and their significance. It sometimes doesn't translate into smart ideas - Sonic 06 was the worst way to approach an anniversary game imaginable. But SA2 had anniversary branding and marketing pushes, and Generations even features Sonic's birthday in the plot.

As for how they'd approach this anniversary in an actual game, I'm unsure. Generations 2 would be a bad idea, but I hope they'd take advantage of the new gen consoles to make a spectacular boost game - the issue is of course, how development intensive those are vs. SEGA's budget.

 

[Tara]

6 minutes ago, Hyp3hat said:

IDK, Sonic Team have always been pretty aware of anniversaries and their significance. It sometimes doesn't translate into smart ideas - Sonic 06 was the worst way to approach an anniversary game imaginable. But SA2 had anniversary branding and marketing pushes, and Generations even features Sonic's birthday in the plot.

As for how they'd approach this anniversary in an actual game, I'm unsure. Generations 2 would be a bad idea, but I hope they'd take advantage of the new gen consoles to make a spectacular boost game - the issue is of course, how development intensive those are vs. SEGA's budget.

 

10 and 20 years tend to be pretty important milestones, so it makes sense for SA2 and Generations in both cases.  The 15th anniversary was something that was hyped up, but probably wouldn't have had quite as much importance if not for Sonic '06.

[Diogenes]

2 hours ago, TCB said:

So Polygon posted a lengthy reflection piece on Sonic the Hedgehog, mostly from Big Red Button's Bob Rafei. It's in the Rise of Lyric thread, per NintendoEverything, which links to the original article. But there was something from Iizuka near the end that said:

“Because [Rise of Lyric] tried a different take on Sonic from the norm — and considering the results — this made Sonic Team feel that we want to build a Sonic title which represents the evolution of the Sonic series over the last 20 years.” –  Iizuka

This clearly means Sonic Generations 2 right guys Let the speculation run rampant again. I personally am looking at the word evolution. I just find that word...interesting when Iizuka uses it.

This could mean any of a million different things, so I don't think there's much point in revving up the speculation engine over it.

[Adamabba]

4 hours ago, TCB said:

This clearly means Sonic Generations 2 right guys Let the speculation run rampant again. I personally am looking at the word evolution. I just find that word...interesting when Iizuka uses it.

It obviously means we're gonna have every single playstyle in the history of Sonic; all in one game. Shooting, Fishing, Werehog, you name it.

But seriously, since he says it represents the evolution of Sonic over the past 20 years, it does sound like it could be a culmination of sorts of the past game styles. Either way yea, the statement could mean a million different things.

[Brad]

Interview highlights on TSS:

http://www.sonicstadium.org/2016/02/iizuka-and-rafei-discuss-history-and-future-of-sonic/

[Speeps]

They've got a lot of work ahead of them if they want to repair Sonic's image in the way they say they are.

[Tenko]

That Al Nilsen is a very on to it guy, even now. Gives me further respect for Christian Whitehead too, those two together could really make an market my ideal Sonic game.

Damn those drawings tho..scary stuff.

[Drunk Michael Myers]

24 minutes ago, JmTsHaW said:

They've got a lot of work ahead of them if they want to repair Sonic's image in the way they say they are.

They should start with not destroying the brand any further.

[Muscles Maximum]

 

Quote

“You don’t need this cast of 8,000 characters,” he says.

Quote

[…] “I felt [the other characters] were there more or less as padding and quickly overstayed their welcome when you were forced to play with them in games following the original Sonic Adventure,”

Can't wait for more cool & fun solo Sonic gameplay with tons of replay value from now until the end of time. I mean it's all we've been getting for the past 8 years. 

Hmm you know what, this got me thinking, maybe this is the reason why Runners is so bad, because of all the playable characters...  ^( ◑‿◑)^

[Lord-Dreamerz]

Yeah those parts of the article bothered me too. Hopefully they were mostly referring to the usage of different gameplay styles then they were the characters themselves.

But still reminds of how I am getting tired of hearing the same old line of that other characters in the series are ruining it… or that there is a million of them. For starters most characters are rarely used ever again outside of the first game or so they appeared in, except for the rare cameo. And really it’d boring for story telling if you always limited it to the same few characters IMO. And far as gameplay, well not that I'd count it as a good thing, regardless we already been getting mostly solo Sonic games for ages now except for spin-off games like Sonic-Boom or the mobile games...

[Dee Dude]

Welp, guess that means we're in for yet ANOTHER Sonic only game, probably forever. This pretty much confirms that SEGA is still pandering to the shitty friends crowd, which means that they"ll mostly likely play it safe again with a limited cast and story. These complaints about the series having too many characters are getting ridiculous to the point where we'll probably never see the majority of the existing cast in the main series ever again unless on a very special occasion. Not to mention they shunned down the idea of introducing new characters into the franchise and before anyone assumes that I'm the kind of guy who wants every single game to constantly make new characters willy-nilly for a cast of 200+, that's not I mean. I just don't see the issue of having new characters in the series at all, do I want new characters now? No. Do I want already existing characters to be used to their fullest before bringing in fresh blood? Yes. I'm not worried about new characters right now, I'm worried about the future of the current cast if they'll never playable in main games again or being relevant at all. *sigh*

At least we still have the Archie comics.

[Enesephus]

18 minutes ago, Detective-Dude said:

Welp, guess that means we're in for yet ANOTHER Sonic only game, probably forever. This pretty much confirms that SEGA is still pandering to the shitty friends crowd, which means that they"ll mostly likely play it safe again with a limited cast and story. These complaints about the series having too characters are getting ridiculous to the point where we'll probably never see the majority of the existing cast in the main series ever again unless on a very special occasion. Not to mention they shunned down the idea of introducing new characters into the franchise and before anyone assumes that I'm the kind of guy who wants every single game to constantly make new characters willy-nilly for a cast of 200+, that's not I'm mean. I just don't see the issue of having new characters in the series at all, do I want new characters now? No. Do I want already existing characters to be used to their fullest before bringing in fresh blood? Yes. I'm not worried about new characters right now, I'm worried about the future of the current cast if they'll never playable in main games again or being relevant at all. *sigh*

At least we still have the Archie comics.

Sadly, I don't really like the Archie comics. I guess I sorta have Sonic Boom? There's Shadow and Metal, at least, as well as some cool new characters.

I still think the best chance we have of seeing another game with multiple playable characters would be in a Skylanders/Infinity-esque Sonic game. If the next Sonic game isn't done in that style, as popular as it is right now, then it'll probably happen eventually, and I will be supporting it if it happens.

[Spooky Mulder]

9 hours ago, Tara said:

I still think we're over-estimating how important the 25th anniversary is for the series.  Just because it ends on a five or a zero doesn't mean it's going to be that big of a deal, especially when the only hype we've had surrounding it (that isn't fan-made) is a change in social media logos.

This I don't understand. A 25th anniversary seems much more important than a 15th or 20th anniversary. At this point, we are talking a quarter century of Sonic the Hedgehog. That is a huge milestone. Most older married couples I know had bigger celebrations for their 25th anniversaries than they did for their 20th.

SEGA has had major celebrations for the 10th, 15th, and 20th anniversaries. I don't see why they would stop now, especially considering Sonic Team hasn't had a major multiplatform release since Generations.

[Neo_Fire_Sonic]

35 minutes ago, Hyper Enesephus said:

game with multiple playable characters would be in a Skylanders/Infinity-esque Sonic game

I'd totally play this, as long as it isn't exactly like those two where you have to buy a ton of figures >.>

[Enesephus]

Just now, Neo_Fire_Sonic said:

I'd totally play this, as long as it isn't exactly like those two where you have to buy a ton of figures >.>

Well, the main reason I could see SEGA doing this would be to bank on the success of Skylanders, Disney Infinity and LEGO Dimensions, and part of the success is all those collectible figures. I know some people don't really care for the concept, but if it made SEGA lots of money and gave us more playable characters, I don't think anyone could complain too much. It could at least open the door for more games with multiple PCs without the collectible figures down the road, provided it did well.

For the record, I'm getting into figure collecting, myself, so I would personally be down for the figurine concept.

[Adamabba]

Why does it matter what Christian Whitehead and a former employee said about the characters?

[Chris Knopps]

2 hours ago, Lord-Dreamerz said:

Yeah those parts of the article bothered me too. Hopefully they were mostly referring to the usage of different gameplay styles then they were the characters themselves.

But still reminds of how I am getting tired of hearing the same old line of that other characters in the series are ruining it… or that there is a million of them. For starters most characters are rarely used ever again outside of the first game or so they appeared in, except for the rare cameo. And really it’d boring for story telling if you always limited it to the same few characters IMO. And far as gameplay, well not that I'd count it as a good thing, regardless we already been getting mostly solo Sonic games for ages now except for spin-off games like Sonic-Boom or the mobile games...

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

If the world is going to grow, the cast within it needs to realistically do the same, instead of main villain/groupie villains being the only new faces.

I'm ready to see plenty of new anthro faces in this franchise, cause to me Sonic was at his best when we had new characters akin to his kind popping up, Cream in Advance 2, Blaze in Rush, Shade in Chronicles, we need that to return.

Seriously, how long can people play this franchise, see new place after new place, without seeing any new faces or playing as any new characters save for the villain cast?

And if all the new villains is why Sonic has too many characters, to that I say a major F@CK you and stop making new villains, stick with Eggman, and give us new heroes instead.

[Enesephus]

2 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

And if all the new villains is why Sonic has too many characters, to that I say a major F@CK you and stop making new villains, stick with Eggman, and give us new heroes instead.

I don't mind seeing new heroes, but I really love villains, so I, personally, would like to continue seeing new villains (with fun boss fights, of course).

[Wraith]

1 hour ago, Detective-Dude said:

Welp, guess that means we're in for yet ANOTHER Sonic only game, probably forever. This pretty much confirms that SEGA is still pandering to the shitty friends crowd, which means that they"ll mostly likely play it safe again with a limited cast and story. These complaints about the series having too many characters are getting ridiculous to the point where we'll probably never see the majority of the existing cast in the main series ever again unless on a very special occasion. Not to mention they shunned down the idea of introducing new characters into the franchise and before anyone assumes that I'm the kind of guy who wants every single game to constantly make new characters willy-nilly for a cast of 200+, that's not I mean. I just don't see the issue of having new characters in the series at all, do I want new characters now? No. Do I want already existing characters to be used to their fullest before bringing in fresh blood? Yes. I'm not worried about new characters right now, I'm worried about the future of the current cast if they'll never playable in main games again or being relevant at all. *sigh*

At least we still have the Archie comics.

What do two people who currently aren't working at Sega (one of which hasn't worked there in decades) have to tell us about the series's current direction? They were just giving us their personal thoughts on the matter.

[Chris Knopps]

Just now, Hyper Enesephus said:

I don't mind seeing new heroes, but I really love villains, so I, personally, would like to continue seeing new villains (with fun boss fights, of course).

If new villains is why we've no new heroes and why Sonic has too many characters, I highly disagree.

If we can start getting BOTH, then I agree.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Uhh......... I think that quote is really saying that he doesn't want players to be forced to play as the other characters. Maybe he is making them optional. 

[Diogenes]

2 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

Seriously, how long can people play this franchise, see new place after new place, without seeing any new faces or playing as any new characters save for the villain cast?

For quite a while I would wager, as long as they make the games fun. People still love Mario, and he hasn't needed to constantly inflate the cast or cling to every new character they do make.

[Chris Knopps]

1 minute ago, Diogenes said:

For quite a while I would wager, as long as they make the games fun. People still love Mario, and he hasn't needed to constantly inflate the cast or cling to every new character they do make.

Nonetheless they are CONSTANTLY making new characters in just about every game. Both evil and good.

(Especially in the spin-off titles)

Not so much Sonic, where the last attempt to do this was Unleashed.

(Wisps are items so I don't consider them characters really nowadays)

Granted the BOOM franchise has taken a shot at this, but... Only character that really sticks out is, well, Sticks.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Why does Sonic need to make new characters? This isn't Megaman where there is 78 bosses a game. 

[Chris Knopps]

3 minutes ago, Mikyeong said:

Why does Sonic need to make new characters? This isn't Megaman where there is 78 bosses a game. 

Because a constantly growing world with a never growing cast (save villain/groupie villains of the week) just doesn't seem right in a franchise that once was never afraid to grow, again with Cream, Blaze, etc.

You can't do that for so long, then suddenly freeze any further growth like that, especially when they balanced out cast long term so it wasn't overcrowded, with only the best kept long term, two being one's I mentioned.

Would you want to look at the same person, every day, forever, nonstop, no matter where you go? Everywhere constantly? You have to experience new people in real life, and the Sonic franchise is the same.