Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice

[Tara]

You're operating under the assumption that everyone disliked Shattered Crystal.  I didn't like the game, either, but you're really pushing the mindset that everyone pre-ordering is 1) expecting it to be better, 2) doing it out of ignorance to the projected quality.  There are plenty of reasons to criticize the pre-order business model, but so far I don't think you've listed one that is actually relevant to this discussion.

[Tani Coyote]

I'm guessing Fire & Ice's tentative schedule was a big part of Aaron's "maybe" to a Sonic Boom 2015 event.

 

No game, no reason to hold a promotional event. Kind of surreal to think that there's not a non-mobile Sonic game this year... it's been what, 18 years since that last happened? Maybe SEGA really is interested in raising the bar.

 

Of course, this goes to show how little trust can be placed in the PR system. "We're focusing on the move, so we aren't able to showcase at E3," said the representatives. Well now we know the real reason Fire & Ice wasn't anywhere; it probably makes Rise of Lyric look good by comparison in its current state.

 

If they're pushing this back to Holiday 2016, definitely looking forward to next year's Boom event. It will be a two for one celebration! To say nothing of a 25th anniversary's ability to be a sweet party.

 

 

[Tails spin]

I'm guessing Fire & Ice's tentative schedule was a big part of Aaron's "maybe" to a Sonic Boom 2015 event.

 

No game, no reason to hold a promotional event. Kind of surreal to think that there's not a non-mobile Sonic game this year... it's been what, 18 years since that last happened? Maybe SEGA really is interested in raising the bar.

 

Of course, this goes to show how little trust can be placed in the PR system. "We're focusing on the move, so we aren't able to showcase at E3," said the representatives. Well now we know the real reason Fire & Ice wasn't anywhere; it probably makes Rise of Lyric look good by comparison in its current state.

 

If they're pushing this back to Holiday 2016, definitely looking forward to next year's Boom event. It will be a two for one celebration! To say nothing of a 25th anniversary's ability to be a sweet party.

 

 

this kind of gets me excited for 2 sonic 3ds games next year. If there will be an aniversary 3ds game as well

[Mania Pipe]

So the game was delay to 2016 after all. Well, that might be a good thing since that gives Sanzaru extra time to work on it. Hopefully. However, I don't want to get too excited for this and just keep my expectations relative middle to low.

[Dejimon11]

 

If they're pushing this back to Holiday 2016, definitely looking forward to next year's Boom event. It will be a two for one celebration! To say nothing of a 25th anniversary's ability to be a sweet party.

 

 

 

I seriously doubt that the game is coming out by holiday next year. A game this is most likely going to come out in the spring, summer latest. Next year is the 25th anniversary and knowing SEGA I think they want to go all out for an anniversary of the franchise instead of celebrating it with some licensed tie in game.

[The Deleter]

Ask yourself.

How many times have you heard about a game being delayed which has had regular updates?

How many times have you heard about a game being announced, no news about it since the announcement... then it gets delayed?

Which usually turns out worse?

Exactly.

Well Roller Coaster Tycoon World was delayed and turned into something much better -- a completely different version of the game -- even though they barely made a peep about it, soo...

Usually when a game that's being regularly updated gets delayed, it's for some minor bugs and stuff. *shrug*

[Badnik Mechanic]

Well Roller Coaster Tycoon World was delayed and turned into something much better -- a completely different version of the game -- even though they barely made a peep about it, soo...

No it wasn't.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 was always a mobile title, then they announced that there would be a PC version about an hour after that, but released no information on it until very recently.

[Willsy]

I agree with Hogfather that people are being too quick with seeing the 'good' in SEGA; this is SEGA after all, the very company who greenlit Sonic 06, Aliens Colonial Marines, and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. They do have a new CEO, and they have talked the talk regarding quality, but they have yet to walk the walk, and until they do, it's best that people continue to view them with caution, even if it's cautious optimism. 

Personally, I will believe it when I see it, but them showing willing to delay future Sonic titles is at least a start. 

Edited September 15, 2015 by Wil348: Definitive Edition

[The Deleter]

No it wasn't.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 was always a mobile title, then they announced that there would be a PC version about an hour after that, but released no information on it until very recently.

Hmm. Regardless, the comparison between quality based on those specific situations only isn't measurable at all. :\ Maybe you can get the implications of quality from preexisting games or it's trailer, like F&I, but plenty of other games that had the same amount of content shown off for them have been delayed, and turned out fine/better for it, most notably Nintendo games, like the upcoming Zelda U.

Delays as a whole aren't the be all, end all factor of whether the game'll be good or not, no, but neither are delays on games without information a pure factor on whether the game has absolutely nothing going for it anymore. :\

[Marcello]

 Good of them to delay it. I doubt it'll stop the game from sucking, though.

No game, no reason to hold a promotional event. Kind of surreal to think that there's not a non-mobile Sonic game this year... it's been what, 18 years since that last happened? Maybe SEGA really is interested in raising the bar.

We're getting Mario & Sonic, no?

[Kaze no Klonoa]

Game delays usually happen when developers fail to meet a deadline or aren't far in development. Sometimes it's delayed for polish and bugfixing, but when was the last time we've ever seen that in the big industry?

Watch Dogs was delayed because the developers wanted "Extra Polish".

*Polish*

Here's a more notable example.

 

The point is, I'm leaving it up to you whatever or not you trust that this extra time will improve the game. But nowadays, I don't gurantee that. With the lack of information beyond a single trailer, there's absolutely no way to gauge about the quality the final product will be. My advice is to just don't buy it Day One. Just don't pre-order it, hell, don't pre-order ANY game. Because you'll never know about it's final quality until the final build is out, and with how "reassuring" the game industry can be I just don't know who anyone should trust.

[Kuzu]

Hogfaher, why are you trying to tell people how to spend their money :V That's not really your place to say anything.

[Kaze no Klonoa]

Hogfaher, why are you trying to tell people how to spend their money :V That's not really your place to say anything.

I can understand that his comments were a bit too harsh, but it's honestly not smart to just go purchase a game Day One that you don't know much about or haven't see much of. We're at a point in the video games industry where you have to seriously be careful what you buy, because games are very expensive, and sometimes, not worth that value.

[TheChris110]

I know potential reasons why they didn't show the game since the announcement:

1. Probably they were thinking about a delay since a while now although it was officially anounnced recently. So there is still plenty of time to promote the game when the release date gets closer and SEGA might think it would be wasted money to promote the game now.

2. Webber didn't even give a quarter for the release date. Officially Fire & Ice is just schedueled for 2016 from now on. That implies that Fire & Ice is sicnificantly delayed and not just by a few months. Thus the game could change a lot in the meantime and the game in it's current state (let alone the version from a few months ago) doesn't closely resemble the final product.

A similar thing seems to happen with Zelda Wii U. Nintendo showcased the game on E3 2014 but later on they delayed it and they didn't show the game during E3 2015.

There are other possible reasons to delay a game other than quality. Maybe they would like to release the game simultaniously to a new season of the TV show? So we don't know yet if this delay is an exception or if SEGA really puts serious effort into quality from now on. We also don't know if they use all the time until release to work on it.

We should just wait and see how it turns out.

btw: Not taking the recent statements about quality into account I still think that Sonic 2016 will suprise some people... but that's another story. ;)

[FriendBot]

I find it hilarious that people actually thought there's nothing mentioned about Fire and Ice when we have actual footage from the SEGA Joypolis event at summer plus there was screenshots that showcased the bots that was mentioned that Eggman was going to use to make them race against Sonic to show he's not the fastest thing alive, the Sea Fox and the hovercraft mini-games.

I get that I shouldn't spend my money all willy-nilly but I enjoyed Shattered Crystal and hearing that this games is going to have more content and fixes some major issues the first game have, bet your ass I'm gonna pre-order!

Edited September 15, 2015 by Puli Soni

[TheChris110]

I hope they plan the development properly next time so they don't have to delay the game in the first place... but of course it isn't ready when it isn't ready!

[Badnik Mechanic]

Hogfaher, why are you trying to tell people how to spend their money :V That's not really your place to say anything.

Oh yes that's the problem. The problem is me telling people how to spend their money. Not how people are supporting non-disclosure on the quality of a product based on a 'trust us' mentality of which they know virtually nothing about. 

I don't give a shit if you think it's my place or not, no way I'm going to keep silent on an obvious problem like this, you have effectively given Sega money for what is just an announcement, you know nothing about the game, you know nothing the technical performance or quality of it, yet you're throwing money at it and saying 'hey Sega it's ok to act this way.'

[Marcello]

I find it hilarious that people actually thought there's nothing mentioned about Fire and Ice when we have actual footage from the SEGA Joypolis event at summer plus there was screenshots that showcased the bots that was mentioned that Eggman was going to use to make them race against Sonic to show he's not the fastest thing alive, the Sea Fox and the hovercraft mini-games.

Is Eggman still supposed to be a genius?

Oh yes that's the problem. The problem is me telling people how to spend their money. Not how people are supporting non-disclosure on the quality of a product based on a 'trust us' mentality of which they know virtually nothing about. 

I don't give a shit if you think it's my place or not, no way I'm going to keep silent on an obvious problem like this, you have effectively given Sega money for what is just an announcement, you know nothing about the game, you know nothing the technical performance or quality of it, yet you're throwing money at it and saying 'hey Sega it's ok to act this way.'

The first two Boom games were bad and were among the worst selling games in the franchise, right? They seem to have taken that as people wanting another on. So, SEGA clearly isn't very bright. From that, I think we can deduce that SEGA simply learns what they want to learn, meaning it's not important whether or not this game bombs or not. =P

[PickleBrows]

Oh yes that's the problem. The problem is me telling people how to spend their money. Not how people are supporting non-disclosure on the quality of a product based on a 'trust us' mentality of which they know virtually nothing about. 

I don't give a shit if you think it's my place or not, no way I'm going to keep silent on an obvious problem like this, you have effectively given Sega money for what is just an announcement, you know nothing about the game, you know nothing the technical performance or quality of it, yet you're throwing money at it and saying 'hey Sega it's ok to act this way.'

Sorry, but how many people have so far actually said "This delay means better quality so I'm going to pre-order"?

You seem very fixated on this idea of people giving SEGA money when all that's happened so far is that the game has been delayed for further development which has given people some new found optimism about the game's potential. 

People are seeing the delay as a good thing, not the game itself. Well, not yet anyway. The only message people here are sending to SEGA so far is that delaying a game is encouraged if it needs it. 

[Tails spin]

Sega may be dumb but not completely stupid. They are developing a sequel to a workable and a slightly better game than it's home console part

[Kaze no Klonoa]

Oh yes that's the problem. The problem is me telling people how to spend their money. Not how people are supporting non-disclosure on the quality of a product based on a 'trust us' mentality of which they know virtually nothing about. 

I don't give a shit if you think it's my place or not, no way I'm going to keep silent on an obvious problem like this, you have effectively given Sega money for what is just an announcement, you know nothing about the game, you know nothing the technical performance or quality of it, yet you're throwing money at it and saying 'hey Sega it's ok to act this way.'

See, my problem isn't that this kind of situation is happening on a Sonic forum in a discussion about a Sonic game, my problem is that this is common practice in the industry. People blindly buy games they're sort of interested in, people simply assume "Oh, it's that game but better. I'll get it Day 1.". NO! That is not smart buying practice. I'm not judging you by how you spend your money, but going on the assumption that a game will be better without knowing what the final product is like is irresponsible in my opinion. You're gambling your cash, hoping the game will turn out good. Who knows? Maybe Fire & Ice is actually a decent game, but will we ever know that before it comes out to our hands? I'm just saying, just wait. Just wait for reviews, word of mouth, overall opinion, demos.

Because people buy these games as soon as possible, it gives the companies the mind-set that simply selling a game concept will net huge early profits. How come Ubisoft games are all massive sellers despite the fact that the quality of their games get lower and lower? The last Ubisoft game that I played that I could even consider was at a level of polish was Rayman Legends, and that game flopped in sales. People are less intent on checking out demos of games, trailers, it's appearance at a game convention, and just simply waiting.

To put it simply: Don't ever buy games day one. Don't trust any company, unless you truly believe they can truly deliver a product you know you will be satisfied of. If you have interest in a game, wait for it to come out and wait for the word of mouth/reviews. Use the trailers and demos to gauge whatever or not the game is for you, and if you are super excited for it, maybe wait a day after it comes out, where people have already discussed on it's launch product and the overall quality of the game.

If you're OK with putting in $40 (Day One Pre-Order) into a game which is a sequel of a kinda mediocre game, then I'd say you are probably taking a bit of a risk. I'm not judging on how you spend your money, but I hope you at least make smart decisions rather than place faith on a company that's time and time again known to break promises.

*Additional tidbit*

I'm known for buying games Day One, but I bought these games because of my confidence from what those developers/publishers have shown. My recent purchases from Day One were the following: Smash Bros Wii U, Splatoon, Freedom Planet, Evoland II. Out of all of them, the only one I'd consider had a poor launch was Evoland II, and I still loved the game regardless of it's broken quality at launch.

What I'm trying to say here is the reason why I got these games Day One was out of trust. Evoland II had Steam refunds, so if it was just as bad as the original (Which it's not!) I could had just simply refunded it on the spot. Freedom Planet was a game I've followed for a long time and played many of it's demos/builds prior to release. Splatoon's Global Testfire proved to me that the game itself could still be fun even when lacking major features that I sought for in my shooters. And Smash? Well, it's Smash.

[Clewis]

No it wasn't.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 was always a mobile title, then they announced that there would be a PC version about an hour after that, but released no information on it until very recently.

????

The official blog for Roller Coaster Tycoon World has been releasing varying bits of information on the game since May. Not only has it technically been delayed twice, but it is now currently being handled by a new developer who has made the game look much more promising in comparison to how unimpressive the game looked in its announcement trailer six months ago.

[Your Vest Friend]

We're getting Mario & Sonic, no?

No. That's always been pegged as a 2016 release. 

[Radiant Hero Ike]

I don't think I'll be pre-ordering it, but I'll probably buy it, since I don't have to choose between it and another version (RoL).

Too bad it was delayed though, I was looking forward to playing it soon.

[Kuzu]

I can understand that his comments were a bit too harsh, but it's honestly not smart to just go purchase a game Day One that you don't know much about or haven't see much of. We're at a point in the video games industry where you have to seriously be careful what you buy, because games are very expensive, and sometimes, not worth that value.

I'm not saying it isn't a problem, but this topic kinda isn't the place for it? Like if this such a big deal, why clutter up this topic with this subject and rather address it in the general forums.

Oh yes that's the problem. The problem is me telling people how to spend their money. Not how people are supporting non-disclosure on the quality of a product based on a 'trust us' mentality of which they know virtually nothing about. 

I don't give a shit if you think it's my place or not, no way I'm going to keep silent on an obvious problem like this, you have effectively given Sega money for what is just an announcement, you know nothing about the game, you know nothing the technical performance or quality of it, yet you're throwing money at it and saying 'hey Sega it's ok to act this way.'

But you're the only one making an issue out of this :V

 

Look dude, I do get what you're saying and I agree, but do you really think this is the topic to be preaching "stop being stupid and giving Sega your money". At the very least open another topic and use this game as an example so its actually relevant there.