2014 is The Year Of Sonic "& Sports tape" *see post 1*

[Tara]

What happened in 2007...? 

 

 

I don't get it what happened in 2007?

 

 

I'll assume she's referring to the reveal of Secret Rings?  It was a pretty big deal, being Sonic's first big outing on the Wii.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

So what happened in 2007????

[Sami]

I can just imagine...

 

> Iizuka walks up to the mic

> "Hello ladies and gentlemen... we've come today to discuss the future of the Sonic the Hedgehog brand. We've decided as a team that the brand is in need of a reimagining to boost interest in the series, and as such we've made some changes to Sonic's core design."

> Audience is silent in anticipation

> "We've learned a lot from our experience with Sonic Lost World. While we're sad to say the game did not perform as well as we had expected, we've used that knowledge to better prepare ourselves for success in the future."
> Audience nods
> "The most important thing we've learned from Sonic Lost World, for instance, is that we're not targeting children enough."
> Silence
> "Sonic Lost World features a cast of several classic Sonic characters, alongside six new villains we introduced to the universe. In hindsight, this kind of design is simply too confusing for children to follow, and as such we've decided that it'd be better to keep things simple. With that said, we at Sonic Team happy to announce that we've solved this issue by removing all characters from the series canon apart from Sonic himself and Dr. Eggman!"

> *crickets*

> "Following up on this, we looked at the gameplay structure and decided to improve on that as well. You see, the problem with Sonic's gameplay right now is that it simply isn't enough like Mario. To circumvent this issue in the future, we've stolen some of Nintendo EAD's source code for their latest Mario game and have begun work on our next game with it."

> Lights dim as a projector turns on

> "EXCLUSIVE TO NINTENDO GAMECUBE... SUPER SONIC UNIVERSE"

 

and then I cry

[azoo]

Going to geniuinely hope for the best.

 

And by "the best" I mean for the series to not take a dramatic change like what this poster implies. A series reboot would be really bad, making these redesigns their main designs from now on would be awful, and changing the focus of the series as a whole.. well it speaks for itself, most if not all of these things would not only be franchise suicide, but prove once and for all that no one in charge of this series knows what they're doing.

 

I'm going to remain hopeful that this 'renaissance' is mostly just for the cartoon while Sonic as a whole remains almost exactly the same and/or gets the same stuff he's already been established with revitalized in the best kind of way. Because otherwise, this is a very foreboding concept to think about.

 

I just don't want to lose everything I've come to care about. Although the series has had it's minor art design buffs and rapidly changing gameplay styles, this would erase everything consistent this series had left for it, and possibly my own fandom. If it did such a thing, it'd have to regain my fandom if anything, but at that point I don't know if I'd be willing to go through with that.

 

But whatever. We got one day, guys. We can make it.

[Willsy]

Guys, I'm scared. Hold me

Please Sega, don't fuck this up...please..

[Tara]

I meant up to SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2006, and I could argue for days why Sonic Lost World and Sonic Adventure are different gameplay wise. The only thing they share is moving Sonic in a more open and free way compared to the Boost Trilogy. The camera, attacks/abilities, and stage design were all very different.

But even then, we have Unleashed, Colors, and Generations (and I'd argue the story book games follow the format fairly closely as well, though I can understand why people would want to omit them).  They added the 3-D and 2-D blending, but that was a mere addition to the gameplay, not a drastic overhaul.

[Jolt_TH]

Or it goes in the opposite direction and instead we get Metal Gear Sonic, the gritty stealth action game with shadow and sonic trying to infiltrate Eggmans base before he turns everyone into robots

[Iggy]

With everyone still depressed over Sonic '06 and pessimism over the Secret Rings reveal, I was just referencing to 2007 as a bad time to be a Sonic fan.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Guys, I'm scared. Hold me

Please Sega, don't fuck this up...please..

There, there my friend. I'm certain, we, Sonic, and company will ride out of this just dandy.

[JAiRO]

But even then, we have Unleashed, Colors, and Generations (and I'd argue the story book games follow the format fairly closely as well, though I can understand why people would want to omit them).  They added the 3-D and 2-D blending, but that was a mere addition to the gameplay, not a drastic overhaul.

 

I disagree. Unleashed/Colors/Generations were a huge departure from the Adventure style, with their long corridors and absence of real platforming. I think they are polar opposites. 

 

Sonic controls very different and it makes a difference.

 

Edit: Damn, that's redundant.

[Detective Shadzter]

Here's the website of the pr company SEGA's using. Don't know if there's anything buried in there about it.

http://dkcnews.com/

[Soniman]

I disagree. Unleashed/Colors/Generations were a huge departure from the Adventure style, with their long corridors and absence of real platforming. I think they are polar opposites. 

 

Sonic controls very different and it makes a difference.

 

Id seriously argue what makes for "real platforming" if Colors and Gens were completely absent of it, but thats another argument for another topic.

[Tara]

I disagree. Unleashed/Colors/Generations were a huge departure from the Adventure style, with their long corridors and absence of real platforming. I think they are polar opposites. 

 

Sonic controls very different and it makes a difference.

The only difference to me is simply their not allowing you to travel outside the boundaries of the corridor.  SA1 and SA2 still followed the format of a long corridor,but they allowed you to experiment outside of it.  (Which is definitely something I miss, don't get me wrong)  And I don't see how the platforming was any more "real" in those two games, either, especially when Spin Dash and Homing Attack were your only moves.

[KHCast]

I disagree. Unleashed/Colors/Generations were a huge departure from the Adventure style, with their long corridors and absence of real platforming. I think they are polar opposites. 

 

Sonic controls very different and it makes a difference.

 

Edit: Damn, that's redundant.

It was still an attempt from Sega/ST to find a middle ground for fans of both styles. Whether it was successful or not is another story.

[Inkling Cooper]

One word for my thoughts on this... Nervous.

[JAiRO]

I really like Modern Sonic, and while I've been fighting in favor of the reboot, I still am not sure how I feel about the redesigns.

To quote Egoraptor: "Sonic has survived on design alone, for 20 years."

 

Any massive changes could spell trouble for the blue guy.

 

Id seriously argue what makes for "real platforming" if Colors and Gens were completely absent of it, but thats another argument for another topic.

 

That was pretty poorly worded. What I meant is that you didn't need to slow down for platforming like you did for the Adventure titles, in most cases you can just boost over it, which is debatable I suppose.

 

 

The only difference to me is simply their not allowing you to travel outside the boundaries of the corridor.  SA1 and SA2 still followed the format of a long corridor,but they allowed you to experiment outside of it.  (Which is definitely something I miss, don't get me wrong)  And I don't see how the platforming was any more "real" in those two games, either, especially when Spin Dash and Homing Attack were your only moves.

 

Pyramid Cave in SA2B and Metal Harbor are good examples of the caution you need to take while platforming. In the Hedgehog Engine it's got you on such a tight track that you could boost over it without fear of dying due to shit aim (On the X axis, not the Z or Y). It takes horizontal movement almost completely out of the equation.

 

It was still an attempt from Sega/ST to find a middle ground for fans of both styles. Whether it was successful or not is another story.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. I believe they created an entirely new experience, one that I liked but didn't love.

[Nepenthe]

Going to geniuinely hope for the best.

 

And by "the best" I mean for the series to not take a dramatic change like what this poster implies. A series reboot would be really bad, making these redesigns their main designs from now on would be awful, and changing the focus of the series as a whole.. well it speaks for itself, most if not all of these things would not only be franchise suicide, but prove once and for all that no one in charge of this series knows what they're doing.

This sums up my thoughts pretty well, although I'm less anxious and more just kind of apathetic about the whole situation. Sega seems content to just continue on towards the most extreme conclusion of the direction they've been dabbling in for awhile, and the continual focus on Sonic Boom as being part of a brand shake up just makes me weary in an "Ugh, really Sega? Really?" kind of way. At the best, I can hope this direction is qualitatively good for what it is, but nothing about what could be coming is all that appealing on its merits. Whatever makes the franchise more relevant again I guess? Ugh. -.-

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Welp, whatever happens, I feel like today is the last day of "the way things currently are."

With any luck, that'll mean something along the lines of negativity surrounding the series being heavily weakened and replaced with good 'ol happy thoughts to make us take flight once again! Faith, trust and well, you know the rest.

[SuperLink]

Here's the website of the pr company SEGA's using. Don't know if there's anything buried in there about it.

http://dkcnews.com/

>dkc

>donkey kong country

 

so I guess the next Sonic game is going to be a DK game instead of a Mario game. That's much better.

[TCB]

Here's the website of the pr company SEGA's using. Don't know if there's anything buried in there about it.

http://dkcnews.com/

 

I couldn't find anything. Even looked up on their 'DKC Dialogue', which I assume are for any upcoming events and seen nothing about tomorrow.

[Sonictrainer]

My mind and body are ready for whatever happens tomorrow.

 

BRING IT ON

[Willsy]

Nervous as hell. When is this event?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

As my member title states, I'm in a giant Classic Sonic mech suit. So bring it on!!! (Hope they have snacks at this event!)

[dabbido]

Well that's just scary... I sure hope for the best.  Hopefully they won't do something as stupid as changing Uekawa's awesome design for the kid oriented Sonic Boom designs. I know I know, I haven't seen it, but Buffles the Enchilada, and what seems like Sonic having more natural quills and wearing a jacket is enough to make me worried.  I'm fine with it being a series and making a movie out of it. As long as they don't incorporate it in Sonic's games.  If it isn't a Sonic Boom-related thing.... I'm still worried for a reboot. 

 

Hopefully SEGA is smart enough and the only changes will be deciding new stuff for Sonic games, how it should be handled, some improvements, rather than a re-boot. But then again, last time SEGA decided to give the boot to SA/SA2 voice actors and got the VA's from Sonic X....so it is rather possible. *gets goosebumps*

 

Here's hoping its nothing close to what we think. I'm totally okay with it being "year of Sonic" because he'll get a series, a movie adaptation, and some more games, but not a reboot, no siree.

[Tani Coyote]

12 PM to 3 PM, Wil348.

Also, hate to crash the optimism of the New York City residents, but I'm pretty sure this event is trade only; you were supposed to RSVP by January 30th and it was invitation-only.

Basically it's an E3 but for Sonic.

 

Was just taking a look at the TSS e-mail account and noticed that someone from Jazwares e-mailed us on the 3rd asking us to call them for a chat regarding our article about the new Sonic game in 2015. They didn't say anything in the e-mail about whether it was true or not, though.

...Am I the only one imagining Jazwares saying "a chat" in some mobster voice?