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

[Shaddy Zaphod]

I want character development. The plot can be anything it wants but if the characters finish the story acting and feeling the same way as when they started, it's an unfufilling story.

[Joellui]

2 hours ago, McGroose said:

I don't need the story to be longer, just better quality than what we've been recently getting. While Generations had a simple plot to follow, it felt incredibly watered down. This feels especially noticeable when you consider all of the CGI trailers that felt like they belonged in the game. Sonic Lost World also proved lackluster story-wise. We get nearly no explanation or backstory for the Deadly Six, neither in the game or in the comic.

The plot can be both simple and solid, Sega. I don't want another Shadow or 06, but I wouldn't mind another Unleashed styled story or even a story like Colors.

You are completely correct, and besides I don't see why they can't do both, they done it plenty of time, with Unleashed, the Adventure games, and to a certain extent Heroes(debatable depending on your opinion on the game.) But I feel that Sega can do it. 

[MudHunter]

confirmed

[shdowhunt60]

4 minutes ago, MudHunter said:

confirmed

Good find. So yeah, that confirms it. Iizuka-san is here to see games development in the US, once again.

[Neo_Fire_Sonic]

what exactly does it mean when you say he's "overseeing sonic games" is he going to make them better before they are actually released or something?

[Multikaris]

On 4/1/2016 at 7:28 PM, Jango said:

 

 

Sonic Adventure 3 fans. SONIC ADVENTURE 3 FANS!!!

 

Seriously tho, that sounds more and more like Boom, which is totaly produced in America, is here to stay. Iizuka will be more involved, so the next games won't fail... too hard. Or, it could mean something else entirely...

 

INTRIGUED I AM.

 

Oh yeah!

 

"Izuka flies over a horde of Sonic fans"

Izuka: Who's hungry!!!

 

"Sonic Adventure 3, Sonic the Hedgehog 5, Sonic Heroes 2, and much more are made".

[Guest]

1 hour ago, shdowhunt60 said:

Good find. So yeah, that confirms it. Iizuka-san is here to see games development in the US, once again.

It was already confirmed. Gamasutra is a trustworthy source.

[shdowhunt60]

9 minutes ago, TimmiT said:

It was already confirmed. Gamasutra is a trustworthy source.

Well, I mean. It double confirms it then. :v

[Chris Knopps]

Sooo...

When is "rumor" going to be edited out of this thread?

[FriendBot]

When Hogfather wakes up of course, he has an actual life outside of Sonic news, you know? We all do.

Spoiler

well maybe not me, but that's because it's me. Sonic trash all the way through.

 

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, sansy said:

When Hogfather wakes up of course, he has an actual life outside of Sonic news, you know? We all do.

  Reveal hidden contents

well maybe not me, but that's because it's me. Sonic trash all the way through.

 

Its been quite a while actually, not just two minutes ago. A day or two I think...

Gonna cover Sonic stuff, gotta be fast and keep up. otherwise, you're just too slow...

Or old...

We're all getting old...

[FriendBot]

And when you get old, you're dying.......

I think I've learnt that I shouldn't waste having arguments over video games when there's so much more to life than that! Like playing other video games!

Anyway, back on topic.

It's great to hear that Iizuka is back at the US once again and he's there to monitor the games at SoA. I'm pretty sure it's because I lack any sort of knowledge on this topic but what difference does it make if Iizuka is at SoA or not? I mean, I guess he could educate Pontaff on how the characters are and give his input to the story and dialogue better I guess but outside of that, what difference does it make?

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, sansy said:

And when you get old, you're dying.......

I think I've learnt that I shouldn't waste having arguments over video games when there's so much more to life than that! Like playing other video games!

Anyway, back on topic.

It's great to hear that Iizuka is back at the US once again and he's there to monitor the games at SoA. I'm pretty sure it's because I lack any sort of knowledge on this topic but what difference does it make if Iizuka is at SoA or not? I mean, I guess he could educate Pontaff on how the characters are and give his input to the story and dialogue better I guess but outside of that, what difference does it make?

The key thing is distance between the one in power and those who purchase. The western market is the primary revenue source for Sonic, which they tried to make Japan become but failed abysmally it would seem and thus, he's back in America to get a better grasp on what America wants.

That's my headcanon for the decisions.

[Chili Dawg]

Storytelling is one of Iizuka's real strong suits. It just comes so DAMN naturally to him, it's like taking candy from a baby.

[shdowhunt60]

24 minutes ago, Chili Dawg said:

Storytelling is one of Iizuka's real strong suits. It just comes so DAMN naturally to him, it's like taking candy from a baby.

... You do know, the guy wrote Shadow and both Rivals right? As well as Free Riders?

I mean, I think the due has his talents, especially in level design and visual direction, but writing is not one of those talents.

[Salamander]

I believe that statement was, in fact, a joke on the dialogue in Shadow the Hedgehog.

[TheOcelot]

9 hours ago, MudHunter said:

 

Naka says in the interview they originally planned for Sonic Adventure to be released on the Saturn. Has anyone from Sonic Team confirmed this before? I mean, it makes sense they would want to bring SA to the Saturn, especially after Sonic X-Treme was cancelled. It's an interesting piece of info.

 

[Mauricius]

25 minutes ago, BenderBR said:

Naka says in the interview they originally planned for Sonic Adventure to be released on the Saturn. Has anyone from Sonic Team confirmed this before? I mean, it makes sense they would want to bring SA to the Saturn, especially after Sonic X-Treme was cancelled. It's an interesting piece of info.

I don't know the source, but I'm sure that was already known. And Sonic Jam's Sonic World was some kind of a prototype IIRC.

[Hyp3hat]

If Iizuka was in Japan, but the new Sonic game was being primarily developed in the USA, he just would not be very involved in the day to day running of the project and with the team - the time difference alone would severely limit their communication. I imagine it does a lot for a development team to have your boss, let alone a guy who has been working on Sonic since 1993, easily accessible. It's also a big gesture from SEGA of Japan to the western branch, although probably one more threatening than hands across the water type shit - 'we've sent the director and producer of every Sonic game since 1998 to you to make sure you don't fuck this up'.

[FriendBot]

I thought the writing in Rivals 2 was pretty good but yeah, Shadow and I guess since he gave the ok to Free Riders' dialogue kinda puts a damper on his credibility as a writer.

[pppp]

27 minutes ago, sansy said:

I thought the writing in Rivals 2 was pretty good but yeah, Shadow and I guess since he gave the ok to Free Riders' dialogue kinda puts a damper on his credibility as a writer.

Let's not forget that he wrote Shadow the Hedgehog. His credibility as a writer has been gone for over a decade now.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, BenderBR said:

Naka says in the interview they originally planned for Sonic Adventure to be released on the Saturn. Has anyone from Sonic Team confirmed this before? I mean, it makes sense they would want to bring SA to the Saturn, especially after Sonic X-Treme was cancelled. It's an interesting piece of info.

It was already known:

Quote

The earliest builds of the game were originally programmed with the Saturn in mind, as it was the current console the company was pushing and the focus of the rest of Sonic Team's development. However, when it became painfully obvious that the life span of the Sega Saturn was going to be dramatically shorter than the Mega Drive, the team reached a crossroads - either continue working on what would become Sonic Adventure as a Saturn title, or to scrap what they had done and begin working anew using the proposed specs of Sega's next system, codenamed "Katana." Realizing the futility of continuing with the Saturn, and knowing the scope of the project might be better suited for more advanced hardware, what could be ported was done so, the team now working on a game that would be one of the premier titles for the Sega Dreamcast. Wanting to make sure the game would be the perfect demonstration of what the system would be capable of, Yuji Naka became involved in the hardware creation of the Dreamcast, offering suggestions and changes to the schematics of Sega's last great hope.

Not wanting to let the work that had been done for the Saturn version go to waste, the earliest builds of Sonic Adventure were transformed into the Sonic World portion of the compilation title Sonic Jam. Intended to simply be a collection of the main four Mega Drive titles and an assortment of bonus features, this early look into how a 3D Sonic title would work was included, becoming the portal to a wealth of knowledge involving the blue blur. Unknowingly, the gaming public was used as a test subject to see how people would react to such a title.

http://info.sonicretro.org/Game_Development:Sonic_Adventure

[TheOcelot]

I did look on Retro....just not hard enough!

2 hours ago, TimmiT said:

Not wanting to let the work that had been done for the Saturn version go to waste, the earliest builds of Sonic Adventure were transformed into the Sonic World portion of the compilation title Sonic Jam.

The fact that they used Sonic Adventure Saturn gameplay for Sonic World is just so cool. Makes me want to play Sonic Jam even more!

[McGroose]

How do you think that Sonic's future would have changed if Sonic Adventure was released on the Sega Saturn instead of the Dreamcast? Do you think that the Saturn would have been more successful and Sonic along with it? It's obvious that the game would be significantly different on the Saturn and would have had less content.

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, McGroose said:

How do you think that Sonic's future would have changed if Sonic Adventure was released on the Sega Saturn instead of the Dreamcast? Do you think that the Saturn would have been more successful and Sonic along with it? It's obvious that the game would be significantly different on the Saturn and would have had less content.

I'd say little to no difference. I think the Dreamcast was the best option, after all, wasn't it more capable/powerful as well?

I'd say it lucked out by missing the Saturn myself.