Sonic @ SXSW 2019

[Milo]

1 hour ago, Wraith said:

The panels are for small announcements and more importantly for fans to interact with the creators a little and have fun. Even if you were to disregard the announcements held there it's not worth getting upset over just because it doesn't appeal to the "sitting at home stewing in and writing essays about how terrible everything is" portion of the fanbase. You'll get the next set of major news or  product to tear into soon enough. Don't have to complain about harmless shit in the interim. 

Eh, I would probably be inclined to concede that point if there was literally anything else going on in "the interim" other than these panels to begin with. As I alluded to at the end of my first response, I just think that in light of the general approach to advertising that has been taken with this series as of late; these panels come across to me as more of an enforcement of those policies, instead of isolated projects that people are free to take them or leave them for what they are. I'm free to admit though that maybe my above frustrations may be unfairly coloring my attitudes about these events.

[Sonictrainer]

Time to update the bingo card

[Blue Blood]

6 hours ago, Plasme said:

In only the Sonic fanbase would 40 seconds of gameplay footage and a few music tracks be considered significant enough to host an entire panel for! The 2018 panel was better, but the 2017 one was an absolute disaster. 

Maybe you should consider how embarrassing the marketing of this franchise is before defending tripe like this? 

Granted that we waited way too long for any real information on Forces between it's reveal at the 25th Anniversary and further presentation, I sincerely don't think that the panel was bad. The info we got was pretty significant. They could have just put it all up in YouTube, and they definitely should have created an actual trailer rather than straight-up footage showing how boring Forces was going to be, but the overall output wasn't bad at all. Creating a bit of a fanfare and releasing all that info in one moderatedly-sized news dump at a panel is a good idea for a once-a-year affair.

6 hours ago, Shaddy Zaphod said:

I feel like you haven't been paying attention if you're telling Blue Blood he isn't being critical enough

5 hours ago, Yeow said:

I think what Shaddy is saying is that Blue Blood tends to make certain posts about the series that are intended to be sarcastic. It's honestly hard to tell sometimes though, and I'm unsure if his reply in this thread is such an example of it he's actually earnest.

Regardless, I'm sorry, but I'm firmly counting myself among those who consider the panels as a near-complete waste of resources. The information for each game reveal so far has been so minuscule (wow! Thirty seconds of gameplay! A blurred screenshot of a level we can barely see! Another damned silhouette logo!), it might as well be a running gag that for each Sonic announcement, the PR team didn't actually have anything to show and had to fudge together something at the very last minute. There's really no point hosting an entire event for what amounts to crumbs and tablescraps about future Sonic products; the majority (if not all of them) could had received standard PR releases on the web (or with certain publications/news sites).

The only other excuse reason I can think of to host these panels is for Sonic fans to mingle and interact with Sonic/Sega staff involved with the series; but then again, I don't see it doing anything better that the UK Summer of Sonic and US Sonic Boom events don't already do.

To me, these panels are an ugly byproduct of just how much hot trash the franchise's marketing approach has been ever since the Boom fallout at best, Sonic 4 at worst. We're better off without them.

Absolutely earnest this time. They're not huge panels nor are they big events dedicated to Sonic. It's a gaming event running over a few days that takes one hour to speak directly to the fans. You really shouldn't expect much from these things. Look how much of a deal SEGA has made about this so far, and how much they've been teasing - it's virtually nothing. So go in to this expecting to come out saying "that was a'ight". If you're asking for anything more (which is probably what we all expected from the full reveal of Forces to be fair), you'll be disappointed. These panels are fun and harmless. They're supposed to make bit more of a buzz than a typical stand-alone press release by interacting with the fans for a handful of news details catered specifically for them, and they succeed in that. 

[Dr. Detective]

For some reason, I tend to ignore the news of a panel getting announced. I suppose I understand they're mostly just for fun but I guess I can't shake that side of me that find things easy to ignore if I've already convinced myself it won't lead to much I'm likely to care about. Then again, that does open things up for me to be surprised should something come of it.

[Scritch the Cat]

You know what would be neat to ask about/learn from this panel: Who exactly is running things now?

News has gotten around that Sonic Team has been merged with some other Sega subdivisions, but they clearly have plans for this series' future if they're putting on events like this.  Is Takeshi Iizuka even in a position of authority anymore, considering the team he headed doesn't really exist anymore?  Does he have creative control over where this series goes?  If not, is he at least kept in that loop?

[Eurisko]

Super Exited for this , SXSW is usually pretty good for Sonic announcements.

[Multikaris]

On 2/6/2019 at 12:00 AM, Dr. Detective Mike said:

For some reason, I tend to ignore the news of a panel getting announced. I suppose I understand they're mostly just for fun but I guess I can't shake that side of me that find things easy to ignore if I've already convinced myself it won't lead to much I'm likely to care about. Then again, that does open things up for me to be surprised should something come of it.

Yeah, remember the Sonic toaster? 

 

It could easily be something like that. 

 

“Introducing the Sonic air conditioner! By the way, Boom will also have a complete series DVD, in France. Limited edition, too. And BBFA3 is now complete. “

 

 

[Razule]

On 2/6/2019 at 3:51 AM, Scritch the Cat said:

You know what would be neat to ask about/learn from this panel: Who exactly is running things now?

News has gotten around that Sonic Team has been merged with some other Sega subdivisions, but they clearly have plans for this series' future if they're putting on events like this.  Is Takeshi Iizuka even in a position of authority anymore, considering the team he headed doesn't really exist anymore?  Does he have creative control over where this series goes?  If not, is he at least kept in that loop?

Yeah, who are we supposed to blame when stuff goes wrong when we don't even know who's in charge?

[Scritch the Cat]

14 minutes ago, Razule said:

Yeah, who are we supposed to blame when stuff goes wrong when we don't even know who's in charge?

I don't know, but there's also the issue of who's doing the work.  Sonic Forces is widely regarded as disappointing, but there's not much wrong with it on a conceptual level.  I'm still not on board with the boost given it changes what Sonic is and how his levels have to be designed, but it can be done well.  Classic Sonic can be bad when his physics aren't done well but great when they are.  Even the character creator, which received easily the most mockery of all the game's features pre-release, turned out to be one of the most fleshed-out parts.  Finally, a darker story featuring a more competent and scary Eggman is something people have been requesting for years.  Where it all went wrong is in the execution; they automated the game to new lengths instead of refining how the characters handled, gave the task of level design to n00bs, gave the avatar's design choices minimal influence on how he or she played, and gave Pontaff the task of writing their darker story.

I may not get a clear view of exactly who's in charge of where the series goes, but hopefully I can get an idea of whom they've hired to make their commands into a game.  At this point it's been thoroughly proven to me that no idea, no matter how good, can survive bad execution, so almost no game they show me can make me optimistic in and of itself, but revealing whom they've brought on board would help a lot.  The following announcements would please me:

* Aaron Webber and/or the Sonic Boom TV writers promoted to game writers, at least if the games remain comedies.  This may not be the ideal scenario for many, but at least when those writers make jokes they're based on knowledge of the series' history, and not willful ignorance of it the way Pontaff does.  I wish I could say that if they're going in a more serious direction, they should hire Ian Flynn as a game writer, but he seems to be love-or-hate and since I haven't read his work, I can't say which camp I fall into.

*Yuji Naka brought back, somehow.  Maybe a long shot since he now runs his own company, but maybe not, too, since Sonic is probably more lucrative and recognizable than any of his own company's properties.

*Evening Star commissioned to work on the game.

*Other fangame veterans, like maybe the people behind Sonic Utopia no joke; ever since the creators have said they plan on that being done this year but not revealed many more details, I've had hopes that they've been hired by Sega to make it a full, official game.

[Red Hot Jack]

9 hours ago, do a barrel roll said:

Would be nice if someone going to this panel could ask Aaron Webber about the Sonic social media's lack of promotion for the IDW comics.

This. Since he won't answer on twitter... It's probably SEGA's fault though.

[Sonictrainer]

Good to know the Event will be live-streamed again this year

EDIT:

https://schedule.sxsw.com/2019/events/OE38676

Quote

Sonic Mania: Time Trial Championships

Think you’re the fastest? Test your speed and your skill in this official race to see how fast you can complete stages in the video game Sonic Mania! Special prizes await those at the top, so give it your all and don’t stop running!

MAR 16, 2019 | 3:30PM – 4:30PM
AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER
EXHIBIT HALL 1

Venue Size: Small, Floor: 1
500 E Cesar Chavez

 

[Rabid-Coot]

 

 

Extra helpful with USA going daylight savings before other countries.

[SBR2]

I'm so glad this guy put up Central. I'm in Mississippi and always have to scramble to find out where I fall in these things because nobody ever mentions Central time. It's always Eastern and Pacific.

[Gumbit]

Will be there a live stream for the panel on Sonic The Hedgehog youtube channel ?

[Alexios31]

I wonder if a new game will be announced?

 

[Rowl]

Maybe. But I do not think it will be a major 3D game like Lost World and Forces. I think it will be either a mobile game or maybe Sonic Mania 2. 

[SaturnWolf]

6 hours ago, Alexios31 said:

I wonder if a new game will be announced?

 

Likely not. Maybe an announcement for a bigger even where a game will be announced like was the case in 2016, but SXSW is usually reserved for smaller announcements.

[Plasme]

It'll probably be an announcement but no name, 5 seconds of vague footage and then radio silence for half a year.

If anything at all.

[Rabid-Coot]

Announcing Sonic The Hedgehog the game of the movie of the game.

[Sonictrainer]

More info

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Giving a heads up since it was only primarily mentioned in that specific topic - Motobug will be streaming the stream tomorrow for SSMB members.

https://cytu.be/r/Motobug

[Fire-N-Space]

Please let there be a lot of info on Team Sonic Racing I'm getting tired of music videos.

[Sean]

Normally I don't talk about things I hope get announced at upcoming events since I keep my expectations pretty tempered, but lately I've been finding myself wishing for Sega to re-release past Sonic titles rather than unveil info on upcoming ones. I'm not impatient for the next Sonic game and don't mind waiting a few years since that's the norm for most franchises anyway.

But with Sonic I find it really odd how Sega hasn't ported games newer than Sonic Adventure 2 to newer platforms. I think it'd be cool if they announced an initiative to bring more Sonic games to Steam and modern consoles, and not just the 3D ones - stuff like Rush, Advance, and hell, certain spin-offs like the storybook games could definitely use a new lease on life and find a new audience since it's been so long. Even games I dislike such as Heroes and Advance 3, it'd be great if Sega added them to Steam or released a compilation, a proper successor to Sonic Mega/Gems Collection from two generations ago. Basically I want Sega to better preserve the wider Sonic catalog than just the stuff from Sonic 1 to Sonic Adventure 2. I don't care if Generations or Lost World get ported to PS4/One because the PC versions aren't going anywhere, but it blows my mind that they haven't put out an Advance/Rush collection, or put Colors or Unleashed on Steam. Hell, why aren't Heroes and Riders on Steam? They already have PC versions and it would be an easy buck for them if they can optimize them to work correctly on newer operating systems.

Anyway yeah that's my hope for tomorrow or whenever in the near future, as minor and unlikely it is. tl;dr I don't care about getting the next game(s) just yet but I'd appreciate modern ports of some middle-aged Sonic titles, so if Sega announced that tomorrow I'd be hella set for now

[Marcello]

Is this being officially streamed on YouTube or Twitch? I'm going to need to set the video feed up on my PS4 as my speakers are broken on my Laptop, so Motobug alone isn't ideal.

[Polkadi~☆]

1 minute ago, Marcello said:

Is this being officially streamed on YouTube or Twitch? I'm going to need to set the video feed up on my PS4 as my speakers are broken on my Laptop, so Motobug alone isn't ideal.

SXSW have a stream on Twitch, so that's where it'll be.