One more main series game for Sonic: To be or not to be?

[Stritix]

Ken says one thing while Iizuka says something completely different. I don't know who to believe so it's best to wait and see what happens.

Iizuka's 'new direction' claim could refer to anything. He may not have meant a new direction gameplay-wise.

[Sega DogTagz]

They don't make long Sonic games any more. The only thing that extra development time would most likely add is extra polish, which isn't worth waiting for since they can create patches.

Wouldn't thinking like that kinda backfire? If you release games that need patching, not only are you sticking an inferior product on the market (Something Sega has made a pretty big commitment to avoiding with Sonic recently) but your eventually going to be eating into the dev time of the following game, as resources will have to be devoted to patching up the first..... or worst yet, the first won't get a patch at all....

That's a dangerous game to play.

***

Sonic games in general could use the extra development time, if only to meet that first party expectation we all have of any mainstream Sonic game. We are just critical of the franchise about the littlest details.

I'm not sure how we would be best suited to jumping the gap to the next wave of consoles, because working with new hardware is more than simply a time issue. It depends on how fast staff can get acclimated to the new tech, and how user friendly said tech is to what they are tring to do.

Edited May 2, 2012 by Sega DogTagz

[Stritix]

Wouldn't thinking like that kinda backfire? If you release games that need patching, not only are you sticking an inferior product on the market (Something Sega has made a pretty big commitment to avoiding with Sonic recently) but your eventually going to be eating into the dev time of the following game, as resources will have to be devoted to patching up the first..... or worst yet, the first won't get a patch at all....

That's a dangerous game to play.

***

Sonic games in general could use the extra development time, if only to meet that first party expectation we all have of any mainstream Sonic game. We are just critical of the franchise about the littlest details.

I'm not sure how we would be best suited to jumping the gap to the next wave of consoles, because working with new hardware is more than simply a time issue. It depends on how fast staff can get acclimated to the new tech, and how user friendly said tech is to what they are tring to do.

Sonic Colours - Sonic Generations was only 1 year. There most likely won't be a new Sonic game until 2013, so it would be at least on par with Sonic Generations. Let's not forget that they've mastered the Unleashed gameplay.

[Nepenthe]

If I'm understanding you correctly, mastering a gameplay style is different from going back to bug test and polish a particular installment. Since each successive title in series with similar gameplay adds new level geometry and collision detection at the very least, time needs to be dedicated to just polishing that in a production schedule.

[Sega DogTagz]

Sonic Colours - Sonic Generations was only 1 year. There most likely won't be a new Sonic game until 2013, so it would be at least on par with Sonic Generations. Let's not forget that they've mastered the Unleashed gameplay.

But even in that your kind of shot in the foot. The "Storybook team" (more or less) were the minds behind Sonic Colors. Then, if memory serves correctly, they dissolved to help the other half of Sonic Team with Generations.

The HD "Unleashed Team", masters of Unleashed Gameplay, simply haven't had the time to get fully behind a new project, and the Storybook Team in all likelihood won't be making another tittle for a dead console. They'll either dissolve fully into a whole Sonic Team, or they will make the jump to the WiiU, which brings up the problem of foreign technology. A good deal of what they have learned gets thrown right out of the window when you jump consoles.

To be honest, what was learned in Colors and Generations may mean little if the next game is a WiiU title.Thus, They are gonna need some extra time.

Edited May 2, 2012 by Sega DogTagz

[Stritix]

If I'm understanding you correctly, mastering a gameplay style is different from going back to bug test and polish a particular installment. Since each successive title in series with similar gameplay adds new level geometry and collision detection at the very least, time needs to be dedicated to just polishing that in a production schedule.

I didn't say that it doesn't. I'm saying it's like waiting another year just to fix things that the Unleashed patch did. In my eyes, small problems like that are suited for a patch instead of another year of development time.

But even in that your kind of shot in the foot. The "Storybook team" (more or less) were the minds behind Sonic Colors. Then, if memory serves correctly, they dissolved to help the other half of Sonic Team with Generations.

The HD "Unleashed Team", masters of Unleashed Gameplay, simply haven't had the time to get fully behind a new project, and the Storybook Team in all likelihood won't be making another tittle for a dead console. They'll either dissolve fully into a whole Sonic Team, or they will make the jump to the WiiU, which brings up the problem of foreign technology. A good deal of what they have learned gets thrown right out of the window when you jump consoles.

To be honest, what was learned in Colors and Generations may mean little if the next game is a WiiU title.Thus, They are gonna need some extra time.

But even in that your kind of shot in the foot. The "Storybook team" (more or less) were the minds behind Sonic Colors. Then, if memory serves correctly, they dissolved to help the other half of Sonic Team with Generations.

The HD "Unleashed Team", masters of Unleashed Gameplay, simply haven't had the time to get fully behind a new project, and the Storybook Team in all likelihood won't be making another tittle for a dead console. They'll either dissolve fully into a whole Sonic Team, or they will make the jump to the WiiU, which brings up the problem of foreign technology. A good deal of what they have learned gets thrown right out of the window when you jump consoles.

To be honest, what was learned in Colors and Generations may mean little if the next game is a WiiU title.Thus, They are gonna need some extra time.

I don't know too much about which teams handled what, but I'm pretty sure that the next major title has already been in development for quite some time.

[Nepenthe]

I didn't say that it doesn't. I'm saying it's like waiting another year just to fix things that the Unleashed patch did. In my eyes, small problems like that are suited for a patch instead of another year of development time.

No one (good-intentioned) releases buggy games early then patches them up simply because buggy games can be patched. The entire point of a production pipeline is to schedule time in to bug-fix and then release a product that's as finished as possible. If Sonic Team created a game that was large enough to warrant three or more years for development and a lot of that time was spent just bugtesting and playtesting the thing to death, I wouldn't complain about it.

[Stritix]

No one (good-intentioned) releases buggy games early then patches them up simply because buggy games can be patched. The entire point of a production pipeline is to schedule time in to bug-fix and then release a product that's as finished as possible. If Sonic Team created a game that was large enough to warrant three or more years for development and a lot of that time was spent just bugtesting and playtesting the thing to death, I wouldn't complain about it.

That's not what I'm saying. Sonic Generations wasn't buggy at all. If we do get something in 2013, it will be at least on par with that (In terms of bugs), which means very little-no bugs.

Edited May 2, 2012 by -L-

[Kuzu]

Well I'm certainly against that. They have already stated that they're sticking with the cursed Unleashed gameplay. Game companies usually start working on the next major title as soon as they have released the one they were working on. What would be the point of waiting until 2014 for another Unleashed sequel? Just for a bit of extra polish?

....Because apparently you already know that the next game is an Unleashed sequel because?

But yeah, like everyone else has said, they're not going to release a game simply to patch it up later, that's just stupid.

Edited May 2, 2012 by The Batman

[Stritix]

....Because apparently you already know that the next game is an Unleashed sequel because?

But yeah, like everyone else has said, they're not going to release a game simply to patch it up later, that's just stupid.

Read my other posts in this thread.

[Nepenthe]

That's not what I'm saying. Sonic Generations wasn't buggy at all. If we do get something in 2013, it will be at least on par with that (In terms of bugs).

Sonic Generations wasn't a buggy mess, but that doesn't mean the execution of the game within the design parameters was perfect either, hence why I also specified "playtesting." Tweaking values for things like acceleration, jumping, rolling, air control etc. could've helped the game even more in terms of how it felt to the player and what kind of experience it was. This also says nothing of adding extra content to a new installment. Even if the gameplay is the exact same as it is in Generations, new levels, enemies, and bosses will have to be extensively tested to make sure they conform to at least the same standards of polish established beforehand anyway.

But in the grand scheme of things, I still can't empathize with your particular hang-up. If Sonic Team found it necessary to schedule roughly a years' worth of testing on a game throughout the production pipeline, that says the content they developed is extensive enough to warrant it, and if nothing else I'd be far more excited for what they'd be delivering. Downplaying "extra polish" as "something that can be patched afterwards" is just a terrible precedent.

[Sega DogTagz]

I don't know too much about which teams handled what, but I'm pretty sure that the next major title has already been in development for quite some time.

Yeah probably. But that's the problem.

The only people with the free time left break ground on the development of the next Sonic game was the squad that only has experience with the Wii. All signs point to the idea that there will be no more mainstream Sonic games on the Wii (with the WiiU coming) so how can you expect a similar level of quality from a team working with something brand spanking new to them?

No matter how proficient they've gotten over the years, you have to account for the learning curve of new technology.

[Stritix]

Sonic Generations wasn't a buggy mess, but that doesn't mean the execution of the game within the design parameters was perfect either, hence why I also specified "playtesting." Tweaking values for things like acceleration, jumping, rolling, air control etc. could've helped the game even more in terms of how it felt to the player and what kind of experience it was. This also says nothing of adding extra content to a new installment. Even if the gameplay is the exact same as it is in Generations, new levels, enemies, and bosses will have to be extensively tested to make sure they conform to at least the same standards of polish established beforehand anyway.

But in the grand scheme of things, I still can't empathize with your particular hang-up. If Sonic Team found it necessary to schedule roughly a years' worth of testing on a game throughout the production pipeline, that says the content they developed is extensive enough to warrant it, and if nothing else I'd be far more excited for what they'd be delivering. Downplaying "extra polish" as "something that can be patched afterwards" is just a terrible precedent.

That's not what I'm saying. The current game has probably already been in development for quite some time. What if they've already got everything down to near-perfection by 2013? What would be the point of holding it off for another year?

[Nepenthe]

My point is: If Iizuka came out in an interview today and said, "We've scheduled a year for playtesting throughout the production cycle," they wouldn't be doing so for no reason and essentially burning through the higher-ups' money on a near-finished product. That would logically mean the game was not finished, probably because it was actually big enough to necessitate an extra year for development.

[Old dead account]

You know, I really wouldn't mind if they skipped the next main game this year and gave us a shitload of Generations DLC and then release the game with Sonic's new direction in late 2013 all nice and polished.

/unrealistic expectations

[Stritix]

My point is: If Iizuka came out in an interview today and said, "We've scheduled a year for playtesting throughout the production cycle," they wouldn't be doing so for no reason and essentially burning through the higher-ups' money on a near-finished product. That would logically mean the game was not finished, probably because it was actually big enough to necessitate an extra year for development.

If that ever is actually the case, I'd be fine with it, however I highly doubt that it is.

You know, I really wouldn't mind if they skipped the next main game this year and gave us a shitload of Generations DLC and then release the game with Sonic's new direction in late 2013 all nice and polished.

This is off-topic, but I doubt we'll ever get any Sonic Generations DLC. Shame, but I can see why SEGA isn't choosing to do such.

[Kiah]

I hope we don't get another main series Sonic game this soon so that way Sonic Team can spend another year or more extra time working on the next big title. I'm happy with just S4E2 and All Stars Racing right now.

That makes two of us. Sonic 4 Episode 2 and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed I believe is enough for us fans to play and enjoy for this year. I really don't mind not having a main Sonic game this year after the special treat we got last year via Sonic Generations. I think both S4E2 and ASR sequel can hold us just fine until the next big Sonic title.

The last thing I want to see is another Sonic main series game released that appears to be rushed and is so short (also having a shallow story) that it can be beat within a few hours at most. I want Sega to take their time to make this next Sonic game enjoyable and exciting, yet challengable that it would take us longer than a day to beat it; giving us plenty to do in the game like Sonic Unleashed did.

[ArtFenix]

I think 2013 is the perfect time to release a new main 3D Sonic game, so I hope we'll get it in 2013.

Edited May 3, 2012 by ArtFenix

[Big Boss (legendsneverdie)]

I'd like to see the next main game announced around the end of next year, for a October/September 2014 release.

Edited May 2, 2012 by Wearied Flames

[Johnny Boy]

I really think All Stars Racing Transformed and Sonic 4 are enough to keep us occupied for 2012. Sega should really take their time if they want to really blow our minds for the next generation.

[Cyberguy]

I'm hoping Sega will continue down the path they have taken more recently with Sonic games to give us something special in the next year or so.

[ulalove]

I'd be happy to wait a year or two so that Sega can have more time to make a truly amazing experience.(goes back to hyping about ASRT)

[-blank-]

I'm perfectly fine with them not releasing a main series game for 2012, if it means the next major installment in the series is well-polished and such.