Sonic Boom announced (Wii U/3DS)

[sonfan1984]

Oh yeah, I forgot about Sonic Underground. ; I think they've made an episode about his fear of water.

[StaticMania]

One major episode and it came back up a few times...like how Sonic X handled it...except Sonic X actually had a reason for him hating water in the 1st episode.

[superwplf]

I know a lot of people talking about Knuckles' legs, and all. But I don't find them nearly as odd looking as the Werehog's skinny legs. Seriously, I laughed when I first saw it.

 

Could have just been the fur, but it still looked hilarious to me. Dem tiny legs.

I found vector's legs odd too and I laughed at his tiny little legs when his new design came out.

[Wittymations]

I never did understand the hydrophobia some medias and fans pull on Sonic. I mean, I get why because he can't swim... but this is the same guy who had water level among water level in his games. Like, the first game had a water level. The second game had, at last, portions of one.  Water is just something Sonic does, regardless of the fact he can't swim.

 

Now, granted, I could see Sonic try to find a way around the water if he can, but scared of it? No.

 

Stephen: Both the television show and the game constantly look for opportunities to bring back fan-favorite characters when it makes sense. No specific characters have been announced at this time, though.

 

Hmm... I knew that the television show would probably have some characters come in, but I didn't think the game would. I mean, Metal Sonic, I thought it was possible, but not anyone else.

 

 

Stephen: As the Sonic IP holders, they are definitely involved with Sonic Boom in many, many ways. I personally talk to them on an almost-daily basis and really rely on their understanding of the characters.

I dunno... I really doubt SEGA understands their own characters, a lot of times.

[StaticMania]

I never did understand the hydrophobia some medias and fans pull on Sonic. I mean, I get why because he can't swim... but this is the same guy who had water level among water level in his games. Like, the first game had a water level. The second game had, at last, portions of one.  Water is just something Sonic does, regardless of the fact he can't swim.

 

Now, granted, I could see Sonic try to find a way around the water if he can, but scared of it? No.

The games don't adress it because of Game-play and Story Segregation, also because in the games there's no real reason to bring it up. It was never stated to be an actual fear, its just a thing he Dislikes, the other media can adress it and exagerrate it because they have the time to use it and make some interesting stories with it being focused on in the story.

 

Like I said before, there's very simple reason for him to be afraid of water...Inability to swim, 30 second breathing, and slowing him down, these are all game-play elements that can easily show why he would be afraid of large bodies of water. There's just no reason for it to be adressed in the games story, its too late for that now.

[Badnik Mechanic]

It might not make sense for Boom to replace SEGASonic. But it makes sense that SEGA might decide to abandon SEGASonic if Boom succeeds.

 

It makes no sense at all.

[Blue Blood]

It makes no sense at all.

This

Though I do think it'll be possible for Boom to sort of usurp the existing series if it proves successful and popular. Though the fact that the first game is Wii U exclusive somewhat really acts against that possibility for the time being. But with Boom being a big new brand that's dominating all Sonic fronts this year (games, merch and TV while the main series doesn't get a look-in) and will continue to be built upon in the future while the existing series seems to be waning, Boom does stand a strong chance at becoming the bigger part of the franchise.

[Salamander]

Like I said before, there's very simple reason for him to be afraid of water...Inability to swim, 30 second breathing, and slowing him down, these are all game-play elements that can easily show why he would be afraid of large bodies of water. There's just no reason for it to be adressed in the games story, its too late for that now.

 

I think it's also the case that giving Sonic a fear of water is actually a projection of the player's fear of water (that is, memories of the difficulty and tension of water levels for a player of past Sonic games).

[Tani Coyote]

It's a safe assumption that later Boom titles won't be Wii U-exclusive; that'd just be a poor business move. Heck, I'm amazed they went with the Wii U for what's a reboot in all but name.

And if Boom is indeed multiplatform and massively successful... well, it would make plenty of sense for it to replace SEGASonic.

It stands to reason that if a move gains 2 million fans, but loses 1 million... you should take it. Such is the way of business. The bottom line is more important than any romantic ideals of how games should be made.

With how Naughty Dog's record is, and with how Sonic Team's record is... odds are high Boom is going to be higher, more consistent quality game to game.

[TheOcelot]

I'm curious as to the frequency between the SEGASonic games and the Boom games. Okay, yeah i'm getting way head of myself, but could we expect a new SEGASonic game every three years and a new Boom game every three years?

[Tani Coyote]

I actually anticipate we might be on a rotating schedule of Boom, Sonic Team, and Sumo Digital, each released on year after the other but with three-year dev cycles on each. Sonic maintains his yearly release format, but doesn't lose any quality since each game has lots of time and effort put into it; if SEGA goes this route I'd say this move would be genius.

Though Sony devs are some of the hardest working based on how quickly they can put out sequels, so we could actually expect two-year dev cycles if SEGA really wanted to go for it with Boom.

[Blue Blood]

With how Naughty Dog's record is, and with how Sonic Team's record is... odds are high Boom is going to be higher, more consistent quality game to game.

First of all, we don't yet know if Boom is going to be a quality game. It's not being made by Naughty Dog, but instead a team consisting of ND vets and vets from other companies. Just cause they have a strong track record doesn't mean we've got a guaranteed success. Just look what happened with BioWare and Sonic Chronicles.

And secondly, BRB and Sanzaru won't be developing Boom forever. It's SEGA's product, not theirs.

[Tani Coyote]

Sonic Chronicles was a pretty radical departure, though. Boom looks to be overwhelmingly a platform game despite the co-op. So it's more comparable to Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One.

Which was successful commercially if not among the fanbase itself. It is classed as a game that did very well among families, and I think that's what SEGA's going for with Boom.

I know it's not Naughty Dog per se, but it may as well be. Sonic can put on a mustache for a disguise, but he's still obviously Sonic. The East Germans were still Germans. These guys changed their name, but they're still Naughty Dog at their core. These people most likely have the same work ethic and quality that they did when Sony was their boss. And that's why I have faith in them. A lot more faith than I'm ever going to have in Sonic Team.

It stands to reason these dev teams would be hired again if this game does well. As usually is the case when a game does well. Switching developers is a poor move. Every franchise that does it - Crash, Spyro, Jak, arguably Sly Cooper - tends to rapidly decline.

 

Now yes, SEGA makes poor business moves... but the way Boom is being executed makes me think they've had a radical change in management ideas.

[PickleBrows]

So since it's getting brought up in the statuses I figured I'd try to give this topic a little liven up and bring the discussion here as well. So, the question of the hour is:

 

How do you feel the marketing/publicity for the game has been handled thus far?

 

The general consensus I can see is that we've been left in complete silence for too long, especially for something as significant as Boom, and as a result interests are fading a bit and some are understandably fed up of waiting.

 

I said this in the statuses but I feel the issue is timing. Their plan was to have this big reveal day and then basically say nothing until E3. That sound pretty rubbish from the get-go but the biggest problem is that they went for an early February reveal. That's around four months where we've been left in the dark. For something as significant as Boom this really wasn't the best way to handle it. Granted they said from the start that the next step was E3 but that didn't mean we had to get ABSOLUTELY nothing.

 

Oh, and let's not get started on the whole "world" thing again.

 

I've been wondering when my time to use this would come...

 

[Badnik Mechanic]

It's the year of Sonic. So why am I more interested in everything other than Sonic for some reason?

 

It's been quite bad. It's been 3 months since they announced this. It will be 4 come E3.

 

And don't forget, the toyline was never officially revealed, the pics were leaked.

 

It just feels like Sega doesn't care, so why should I?

[Cyrus]

There's gonna be some 3DS news "a little bit before E3." Yaaay....

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

I must admit, for what they're shilling as the "Year of Sonic" aside from that Lost World DLC, in-between the Boom reveal and E3, SEGA's really made way for a drought; not the best of tactics.

[Tani Coyote]

Gonna concur with the general sentiment. Hedgehog Day had revived importance the last few years, but SEGA bypassed it and held their event a few days later. It was well worth it. The fanfare was enormous; I've never seen mainstream news outlets report on Sonic. Or Sonic trend on Twitter or Facebook. SEGA actually... well, did something... right. I was surprised.

Then the news of who was working on the game started rolling out. There was plenty of reason to be optimistic as all heck about this game. These aren't just any devs, but devs who made beloved platformers like Jak and Crash, as well as others.

And then... the news just kind of stopped. I was expecting a few more crumbs. We got Behind the Scenes and such, yes, but I was anticipating another gameplay trailer...

And, yes, I know I'm a broken record, I was expecting Summer of Sonic and Sonic Boom 2014 to get announced way earlier this year than last. Why? Well, those are community events and are a great way to build enthusiasm among the fanbase. Furthermore, the sooner such events are announced, the more tickets they'll sell... thus covering the money spent on them. Attendance at Boom 2013 looked the lowest of the ones I've seen, and it looks like that lesson of short notice being bad for business didn't stick.

SEGA needs to get this game into the hands of fans. If not through more videos, these sorts of fan events help the cause. A few hundred people play it at each... they tell their friends... then they tell their friends...

You'd think a lot of people would buy Sonic games anyway if they go to such events, but no; tons of people attend SoS, for example, simply for the socialization and couldn't care less about the franchise outside nostalgia. But they may pick up that game and say "hey, Sonic's not so bad anymore, huh" and buy the game... and then promote it to their friends and family. SEGA had a clear grip on social media the day of the Boom reveal; they failed to exploit it fully, I think.

Am I still optimistic about how Boom will be in terms of quality? Of course. Do I think it's going to be that much of a hit? Probably not.

Also gonna throw out that the "Year of Sonic" thing was probably a bit too soon. I was expecting not only lots of notice for their social events, but a confirmed film, more info on the cartoons (we don't even know who the writer is yet)... the list goes on. This really DID sound like the year of Sonic with Sonic getting so much merchandise and new forms of media, and it just was squandered.

[JAiRO]

*Wall of text*

 

I completely agree, this seems to be another case of SEGA's "Great potential, horrid execution".

[Indigo Rush]

Even something as simple as a clip from an episode or a bit of gameplay footage a few times each month would be nice.

 

 

 

 

...that moment when Sonic 4 hyped itself far better than Sonic Boom ever did. 

[TheOcelot]

Even something as simple as a clip from an episode or a bit of gameplay footage a few times each month would be nice.

 

 

 

 

...that moment when Sonic 4 hyped itself far better than Sonic Boom ever did. 

 

I have to admit I wouldn't mind seeing the return of 'Concept Art Friday' for Boom. Just, er no pictures of trees please...

[Marcello]

They should've kept us informed during these past months. Just some minor updates occasionally and maybe another trailer at some point.

 

It got a lot of attention when it was announced, but SEGA failed at following it up.

 

There's gonna be some 3DS news "a little bit before E3." Yaaay....

SEGA: "Oh yeah, here's the 3DS version of Mario and Sonic at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games."

[sonfan1984]

I've sent Stephen Frost a tweet. Hopefully he'll clear some things up (if he's actually reading this topic). E3 is only a couple of weeks away. We've waited this long so I'm hoping the wait will pay off and they show off a lot more.

[kboyrulez12345]

Now that I think about it, I have a feeling that Sega probably showed the game off way to early. Wasn't the trailer a very, very early build? I remember somewhere in this discussion about how the models weren't finished and the computer screen that had 15fps during the development of the game.

 

Can't say the same for the TV show though. 

[Tani Coyote]

Even something as simple as a clip from an episode or a bit of gameplay footage a few times each month would be nice.

Definitely so.

How would a clip from an episode each month sound? There's a good crumb to toss fan's way.

What about who's writing this thing? What about who's writing the game? I can understand wanting to save some information for a bigger announcement, but this drought seems out of place after all the hype this Year of Sonic was supposed to bring.

...that moment when Sonic 4 hyped itself far better than Sonic Boom ever did.

Or Generations. Generations literally had nothing new to offer and was better executed than this. We had a new trailer every two months or so (I forget the exact dates), a new line of merchandise... and overall, it seemed like there was tons of enthusiasm. While there's enthusiasm for Boom, it just doesn't seem like the hype train Generations had going for it.