Confirmed: Iizuka is at Sega of America "Rumour: Overseeing Multiple Sonic Games/SOA to be Sonic Hub"

[Wraith]

17 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

We're talking about SEGA... Keep that word in mind and their history. They couldn't even get along with each other as human beings through most of Sonic's existence up to nearly today, actually, heck, that may STILL be an issue between divisions, who knows?

I'm just saying using common logic for SEGA doesn't work.

 

It SHOULD work though. No matter what, making excuses for them like you seem to like doing doesn't work. If they want to be a game developer/publisher, they're going to be held to the same standard as everyone else.

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, Wraith said:

 

It SHOULD work though. No matter what, making excuses for them like you seem to like doing doesn't work. If they want to be a game developer/publisher, they're going to be held to the same standard as everyone else.

I don't like making excuses for anyone, especially the SEGA company. Ignorant and arrogant don't begin to describe them, but at the same time, it doesn't hurt to show just the slightest sympathy from time to time and realize at the end of it all more hands played a role in the game than we care to admit.

[Guest]

@Chris Knopps you have so much knowledge about the inside workings of Sega where do you get all this knowledge are you a secret Sega employee???

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, TimmiT said:

Chris Knopps you have so much knowledge about the inside workings of Sega where do you get all this knowledge are you a secret Sega employee???

No, it's pretty much covered by different interviews/employee quotes from throughout the years. Plus the proof is in the pudding so to say. The games speak for themselves.

Then you've got the console wars book... Novel... Thing that goes over different issues in the company.

But... You know...

[Guest]

So you're basing everything on PR answers and a book that's a fictionalized account of stuff that happened such a long time ago that it's not really an indication of what Sega is like today okay good to know.

[Badnik Mechanic]

35 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

No, it's pretty much covered by different interviews/employee quotes from throughout the years. Plus the proof is in the pudding so to say. The games speak for themselves.

In other words. You have no idea what goes on.

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, Detective Hogfather said:

In other words. You have no idea what goes on.

Must you Hog...? Must you...?

Look no further than places like Sonic Retro which features quotes from former employees on the Easts behavior/attitude towards the west.

(heck, we all know the East had a head honcho kick chairs around in a meeting over Sonic 1 ideas...)

And again, you've got stuff like the console wars thing.

But this is opening a debate that tends to cause a tad too much melodrama, so I suppose it is best left I avoid commenting further on it.

[Hiki]

[removed]

[Nepenthe]

If these quotes are supportive of your position and easily available, you should be able to actually provide them. Just saying "there's quotes!" isn't a substitute for an argument. I could easily say that there's quotes from people saying that the Earth is hollow or that unicorns exist.

Regardless, I don't think Sonic Team was particularly content to rely on broken games in an apathetic manner so much as a lot of dumb internal shit got in the way of what they hoped to achieve- team fractures, key people leaving, bad scheduling, sudden shifts in console development, etc.. If this were just an issue with being content with the bare minimum then the modern games probably wouldn't have existed as a response to 2006, because as we've noted 06 went on to sell well and somehow gain a notable contingent of apologists despite being the worst game to come out for the franchise at the time. This is regardless of the fact that merely having a fanbase of some sort doesn't actually affect one's responsibilities as a professional artist anyway. If fans are in any way at fault for the situation the games themselves are in, then they're at the very bottom of the list.

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, Nepenthe said:

If these quotes are supportive of your position and easily available, you should be able to actually provide them. Just saying "there's quotes!" isn't a substitute for an argument. I could provide everyone right now with quotes that the Earth is hollow or that unicorns exist.

Regardless, I don't think Sonic Team was particularly content to rely on broken games in an apathetic manner so much as a lot of dumb internal shit got in the way of what they hoped to achieve- team fractures, key people leaving, bad scheduling, sudden shifts in console development, etc.. If this were just an issue with being content with the bare minimum then the modern games probably wouldn't have existed as a response to 2006, because as we've noted 06 went on to sell well and somehow gain a notable contingent of apologists despite being the worst game to come out for the franchise at the time. 

You've got to realize I've no intention of putting that much effort into a random conversation over content which has been seen/known of time and again and likely linked to several times in the past be it in threads or news updates.

It's like hearing something one moment, then suddenly someone turns to you and asks you to repeat the exact same thing you both clearly heard/know of. I've no intention of doing such a pointless thing.

That aside, the rest of your comment I can agree with and made for a good read.

[SSF1991]

49 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

You've got to realize.

Why do they "have to realize"? Why must people see things in exactly your view, or else they're wrong?

 

Quote

I've no intention of putting that much effort into a random conversation over content which has been seen/known of time and again and likely linked to several times in the past be it in threads or news updates.

It's like hearing something one moment, then suddenly someone turns to you and asks you to repeat the exact same thing you both clearly heard/know of. I've no intention of doing such a pointless thing.

It doesn't matter. You make a case, you present it. The burden of proof falls on you.

It's not pointless, it's how debates work.

[Nepenthe]

If it takes you significant effort to dig up quotes which are simultaneously easily and readily available in order to lend credence to the notion that Sega as a whole has never gotten along and still doesn't today, then perhaps your argument isn't that self-evident and you shouldn't be dismissive of people who claim that you don't have evidence.

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, SSF1991 said:

Why do they "have to realize"? Why must people see things in exactly your view, or else they're wrong?

You sound like you're trying to pick a fight here...

In response to this, nobody has to take anything I say as the fact of all facts. Everyone is welcome to their opinions. I merely state my own and nothing more. Do I give them the greatest depth/effort? Certainly not. I only reflect on the content I've seen throughout the years. A lack of desire to dig up that content does not mean I'm falsifying my words/accounts, it doesn't mean what I say hasn't been said/doesn't exist.

If others are hellbent on separating the facts and fictions behind my words, do so on their own time, with their own effort/willpower. I haven't said anything that hasn't been essentially confirmed in some form or another. Heck, the whole RoL fiasco being one key piece of evidence in the same issues existing within the company that have always existed. The problems have just evolved over time but stem from the same root.

I reflect on what I see and state my opinions/beliefs based on that. SSF, you love SEGA and defend them to the T, and I can respect that effort, not many would show that kind of dedication nowadays. But just because I state my opinions in a manner that, admittedly, doesn't go the extra mile to back them up, that doesn't mean I'm saying anyone has to side with me whatsoever. A different opinion is not a sin, and how that opinion is represented isn't a crime just because it doesn't go above and beyond to satisfy others expectations of the proper manner of representing them.

Not once have I said someone else is wrong, nor' do I intend to. And if I have and I've forgotten, I'll admit the mistake and apologize.

[SSF1991]

Quote

You sound like you're trying to pick a fight here...

Asking you something =/= picking a fight.

Just now, Chris Knopps said:

SSF, you love SEGA and defend them to the T, and I can respect that effort, not many would show that kind of dedication nowadays.

Actually, I defend them less than you may think I do. I just prefer to give credit where I feel credit is due.

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, SSF1991 said:

Asking you something =/= picking a fight.

It's difficult to make out ones tone in a thread. One of the downsides of lacking audible conversation.

This fiasco aside, I'd like to hope with Iizuka here in the west now, we may see a new console based BOOM title that is on par with what RoL originally intended to be before the exclusivity complications. I'd like to hope in general this means only positive things for the franchise moving forward, but for the sake of BOOM succeeding as a console series the way it has succeeded as an app series, I am placing faith in a second chance console game with him involved.

[Nepenthe]

You continue to confuse opinions with assertions. An opinion is an expression of a subjective viewpoint. An assertion is a claim that something is true or happening. You asserted that Sega's branches have never gotten along and probably continue to not do so. People asked you for evidence (which is not necessarily advocacy for any opposing viewpoints). You claimed quotes out there, while using a snarky meme in the process. People have expressed dissatisfaction with that, and you fall back on the original claim being an opinion that doesn't warrant this much scrutiny.

I'm not saying any of this to necessarily continue the argument so much as point out where you tend to go wrong on these kinds of discussions. You cannot make assertions and then constantly duck out of the responsibility of giving them at least some rational validity by saying they're just opinions.

[Milo]

Now that the new games (Mania and Sonic 2017) have been revealed and we've had about a month to let the dust settle, I thought it would be a good time to bump the topic.

Given the Western staff/developers (Taxman/Stealth/PWG/Tee Lopes etc.) working on Mania and their respective backgrounds in the Sonic community, I'd like to assume Mania's existence is largely a SoA-directed project. If this is the case, then I will say that I do have some (restored) confidence in SoA having a greater role in the series' direction, operating under the mindset that similar/more projects like Mania can be born into fruition.

Meanwhile, I'm rather unsure about Sonic 2017 and who had the higher call on what, due to the small amount of information we have about it. Both Classic Sonic's inclusion and the implied bleaker setting can definitely be assumed to be a reaction towards he complaints about the writing/tone of the previous games as well as (concerning Lost World) the change in gameplay; but whether these were decisions by Sonic Team or SoA is arguably too early to call. The existence of Mania in particular also opens up the question on whether classic Sonic's inclusion in Sonic 2017 was decided before Mania was even conceived, but again, the answer is probably anyone's guess at this moment in time.

[TheOcelot]

On ‎25‎/‎08‎/‎2016 at 2:13 PM, Gabe said:

Now that the new games (Mania and Sonic 2017) have been revealed and we've had about a month to let the dust settle, I thought it would be a good time to bump the topic.

Given the Western staff/developers (Taxman/Stealth/PWG/Tee Lopes etc.) working on Mania and their respective backgrounds in the Sonic community, I'd like to assume Mania's existence is largely a SoA-directed project. If this is the case, then I will say that I do have some (restored) confidence in SoA having a greater role in the series' direction, operating under the mindset that similar/more projects like Mania can be born into fruition.

Meanwhile, I'm rather unsure about Sonic 2017 and who had the higher call on what, due to the small amount of information we have about it. Both Classic Sonic's inclusion and the implied bleaker setting can definitely be assumed to be a reaction towards the complaints about the writing/tone of the previous games as well as (concerning Lost World) the change in gameplay; but whether these were decisions by Sonic Team or SoA is arguably too early to call. The existence of Mania in particular also opens up the question on whether classic Sonic's inclusion in Sonic 2017 was decided before Mania was even conceived, but again, the answer is probably anyone's guess at this moment in time.

I'm going by the assumption that:

• Mania started development in 2015 (I remember seeing a photo of Taxman and the guys from PagodaWest Games from E3 2015)
• Project 2017 has been in development since 2013 after SLW was finished
• the last of the major SEGA changes (downsizing etc) took place in 2015 and I think RubyEclipse returned to SEGA also in 2015.

I think the changes since 2015; having a better relationship with fans (being able to take on feedback better), the twitter shenanigans and Iizuka coming back to America to oversea new projects helps to back-up the idea SoA is now the main hub for major Sonic game development. Or at least taking greater responsibility than SoJ.

What got Mania started as a project; did StealthTax pitch it to SoA? I doubt it, especially after their Sonic 3 Proof of Concept was turned down. Did SoA pitch the idea to StealthTax? More likely this would have been done after the major reshuffle at SoA (I think RubyEclipse was back on board by then). I actually think it's more likely Iizuka or new CEO; Haruki Satomi (who is a fan of the classics) first pitched the idea of "a new 2d classic game" to SoA and said; "Hey remember those guys who did the remasters of Sonic CD, 1 & 2 (Iizuka & Naka both had to approve the mobile remasters)? We should hire them!" Around this time Haruki Satomi probably said to Iizuka; "why don't you move to America to work closely with SoA to help bring Mania to life and ensure other projects run smoothly".

As for Project 2017? If it's been in development since 2013 then I would have thought it would be ready for 2016, and for this reason classic Sonic's inclusion for a game due to be releasesd in the 25th anniversary year would make sense. However, if Project 2017 was conceived before all the major changes, then I do wonder whether classic Sonic was conceived from the beginning, or whether Haruki Satomi asked for classic Sonic to be added in 2015 which in-turn has delayed the game until 2017. Hopefully it's the former because adding a character halfway through development could end badly.

I don't expect classic Sonic in Project 2017 to play like Sonic from the classic games (have the proper momentum physics) much like he didn't in Gens. Having said this, maybe Haruki Satomi intervened to ensure that classic Sonic in Project 2017 does play like Sonic from the classics..........but I digress.

Until we see actual gameplay footage I can't be confident with Project 2017, whereas with Mania I knows it's gonna be good.

 

[ChikaBoing]

Harukis Satomi connection to Taxman  most likely goes back to 2009, since he was in charge of digital games at Sega from 2009-2012. Then from 2012 onwards he was just doing mobile stuff, where he oversaw the Sonic 1 and 2 ports. Then from 2015 onwards he was in charge of console stuff again, and he greenlighted Taxman to do on consoles again (Sonic Mania).

I don't see any connection of him and Sonic 2017. 

Personally I find Iizuka traveling from Japan to America all the time to be undecisive and wierd...it's the third he went back and forth.