Sonic 30th predictions

[Gotta Go Rational]

SEGA definitely reduced its budget with the most recent games in the series, possibly due to the disappointing sales of Lost World and Rise of Lyric. I guess this would also lead to less console games being developed simultaneously; less money to spread out. I believe the comparatively less cash being pumped into Forces is a significant contributor to what has been characterized by some as a “low-energy” feeling that the game displays, especially noticeable for a game that is relatively ambitious in terms of its (on paper) plot and scope, compared to the more recent predecessors before it. Here’s hoping they’ve opened the wallets a little more for whatever’s planned for next year.

[Drisaac]

3 hours ago, Gotta Go Rational said:

Here’s hoping they’ve opened the wallets a little more for whatever’s planned for next year.

I mean, next year is literally going to be Sonic's 30th anniversary, the least SEGA can do is to show some respect for their video game mascot and give him the proper budget he deserves, at least this time.

[Whatever the WhoCares]

On 5/13/2020 at 5:07 PM, Indigo Rush said:

 

More or less. He officially became the visible head of Sonic Team in 2010 when Sonic 4 and Sonic Colors were being released; while critics lauded those games, plenty of fans hated the lighthearted vibe they went with, and it was pretty easy to put the blame towards Iizuka-san and as the series continued to make weird choices and stick to its guns with the bright and colorful branding and tone, it just reinforced why Iizuka was a "problem" for the series. 

I need to own up to my harshness towards Iizuka-san leading up to Forces. He’s in a really shitty position, and judging from his Sonic Adventure interview, he does seem aware of what made that game special. I wish him the best. 

[Drisaac]

This just came in, but apparently Takashi Iizuka will be featured in next week’s Sonic 2020 Stream.

https://www.sonicstadium.org/2020/05/takashi-iizuka-to-be-featured-in-next-weeks-sonic-2020-stream/

according to the article it says "Iizuka will be introducing “various information about Sonic,” "

i'm not sure if i should get my hopes up about this, but at this point i'll take anything considering the current drought of news

[Tracker_TD]

5 hours ago, Drisaac said:

This just came in, but apparently Takashi Iizuka will be featured in next week’s Sonic 2020 Stream.

https://www.sonicstadium.org/2020/05/takashi-iizuka-to-be-featured-in-next-weeks-sonic-2020-stream/

according to the article it says "Iizuka will be introducing “various information about Sonic,” "

i'm not sure if i should get my hopes up about this, but at this point i'll take anything considering the current drought of news

Technically they've been 'introducing various information about Sonic' all year. Not exactly the most riveting 'information', but yeah. I don't think you should get your hopes up for a Japan-centric stream, no. 

[Drisaac]

39 minutes ago, Tracker_TD said:

Technically they've been 'introducing various information about Sonic' all year. Not exactly the most riveting 'information', but yeah. I don't think you should get your hopes up for a Japan-centric stream, no. 

As i expected....

I guess our best hopes are to wait for June, which is usually E3 period of time, but if the 30th anniversary game has been delayed to 2022 i can easily see SEGA making us go through 2020 with no sonic news at all

[Tracker_TD]

And sure enough:

Iizuka will be on hand to talk about Sonic Olympics for mobile, given that just came out. And it sounds like another compilation album will be dropping on Spotify too, neat.

[Red Hot Jack]

1 hour ago, Tracker_TD said:

Technically they've been 'introducing various information about Sonic' all year. Not exactly the most riveting 'information', but yeah. I don't think you should get your hopes up for a Japan-centric stream, no. 

Fair enough. I'm curious: when and in what format do you think they will unveil their "exciting plans" as said in the interview?

[Tracker_TD]

1 minute ago, Jack at Home said:

Fair enough. I'm curious: when and in what format do you think they will unveil their "exciting plans" as said in the interview?

No idea, really. It'll happen when it happens, and I'm expecting it in some kind of video presentation format, be that a livestream or something pre-recorded.

[UpCDownCLeftCRightC]

If we hear anything about the next game, any time soon, it's likely to be at the June event. I'd be surprised if there's no Sonic news at that time. 

[Drisaac]

1 hour ago, UpCDownCLeftCRightC said:

I'd be surprised if there's no Sonic news at that time. 

It is a possible scenario if the game development has been delayed due to COVID-19.

My rule of thump is the following: if an event is not endorsed by the official US sonic twitter account then it's probably nothing important

[Volcan Pacaya]

6 hours ago, Drisaac said:

It is a possible scenario if the game development has been delayed due to COVID-19.

Calling it now.

Dataminers find two cut levels from next years Sonic game.

[Red Hot Jack]

What I think:

Is the game delayed? 99% likely, they basically said it in Sega Sammy reports, not just Sonic, a lot of their games.

Is a game in development? Of course it is! Iizuka stated it last year at SXSW.

Will we have an announcement in June? I would say yes, it's not too out there to think they will announce a new title, we know it's been in development, we know they have exciting plans to share, they had a cancelled panel, and this seems an opportunity to unveil it.

I mean, I assume they worked hard to get the presentation content ready for March, so they already have it, they just need a place to announce it. It's not confirmed but possible it may get revealed there.

I agree, they won't announce anything at today's livestream, or next week's station live despite Iizuka being present, maaaaybe they will tease "don't miss the panel on June 23rd" at best.

[Moose the Cat]

Sega's always been skilled at ignoring reality but I'm excited to see whatever their 2020 plans are and how they reflect any listening/learning from the obvious conclusions from the data of the last few years for the Sonic franchise. Mania and 2020 Movie both were commercially and critically successful, both performing above expectations. It'd be more strange if they didn't both receive sequels, but then, Sega/Sonic are no strangers to strange decisions.

Point being, of all recent Sonic output, those featuring the "Modern Sonic" design have been least popular.

2020 is a new decade. If it were up to me, I would take the opportunity for a fresh start, and kick off a new generation of Sonic with an updated design, and a new structure for the games/spinoff media.

1) Classic Sonic continues from the Taxman/Whitehead team with 2D and maybe 3D adventures; whatever they want to do. Bring aboard Mystic and Rob and the SRB2 community all stars and do Saturn Sonic with the license. "hey Sega hire them plz" is a cliche but in an ideal world the Sonic franchise would be as community-owned as possible. It would be wise to invest in talent that loves and understands the franchise on a molecular level, and they're probably far less costly than the Iizuka Sonic Team. Just seems logical.

2) Modern Sonic era is over, and should go out with as much grace as possible. Not with a new title, but with HD remastering/bug-fixed re-releases announced — The Adventure Collection (SA, SA2, Heroes, 06) and The Modern Collection (Unleashed, Colors, Generations, Forces).

3) The big-budget series would Post-Modern Sonic would be a new design, and new gameplay.
3a) The design should include the blue arms, and a furrier texture compared to Modern's plastic sheen. Imagine a combination of Movie, Boom, and Classic in a way that feels both new and familiar. The people who ought to lead the redesign, obviously, would be Tyson Hesse, Tracy Yardley, and Evan Stanley.
3b) The games will continue refining the Boost/Modern levels from Generations and Forces, embracing the on-rail nature of this "3D" Sonic that occasionally switches to the 2D platforming and back again. It's fundamentally 2D gameplay and, as the new Sega Lords, we are saying we're okay with that, the trick now is to continue finding clever fun gimmicks for variations on it. From the Sonic 2 half-pipe through the Modern era, we're saying — this is how Sonic levels work, this is what they are: wacky racetrack obstacle courses with branching pathways; its Star Fox 64 but Sonic. Whether you need to hold up on the L stick or enable automatic forward movement, these are the levels, the Zones.

To supplement, Post-Modern Sonic games will feature gigantic "open world" hub maps, separate from the Zones. Unlike previous Sonic hubs, the player does not return to the hub between levels. The Zones progress as they do in Classic. However, the player is free to exit the Zone and return to the hub world at any time, and return when they're ready. The Zones are accessible via Warp Rings, not dissimilar to the Mario 64 paintings, with each level unlocked after its completion.

The hub world would need to be developed by a dedicated team, working alongside but separate from the level designers. You want the Sonic Utopia dev/s working on the hub, and the SRB2 devs on the levels.

The hub needs to be massive. At least the size of a PUBG/Fortnite map. It is full of interesting terrain, springs, and rings, but no enemies. The point of the hub is to be the "Tony Hawks Pro Skater" park for the Sonic moveset. This is just a giant South Island where you can run around, learn new tricks, find secret gems, and pursue mini-game activities, like a Chao garden. The hub can also be a place to reward the player with aesthetic prizes for completing extra objectives in the level campaign— a Flickie bird bath, or a swirly side for the Pockys and Rickys.

Lastly, most importantly, Post-Modern Sonic would emphasize multiplayer, both co-op and competitive, both arcade-style drop in / drop out, with modern online capabilities.


...That's what I'd do, anyway.

 

[Drisaac]

Another piece of news came in, Aaron webber has talked about how SEGA wants to take more time in developing Sonic games to guarantee a higher quality

So Sonic Official happened and still no news about sonic's upcoming game it seems.

I don't know why but SEGA seems to be reaaaaaaally dedicated in keeping the project as secret as possible, i seriously don't understand the effort though, we already know the next game is going to be shit, so why are they trying to create hype and anticipation for a product nobody really wants is a mystery for me.

[Tracker_TD]

38 minutes ago, Drisaac said:

I don't know why but SEGA seems to be reaaaaaaally dedicated in keeping the project as secret as possible, i seriously don't understand the effort though, we already know the next game is going to be shit, so why are they trying to create hype and anticipation for a product nobody really wants is a mystery for me.

The fact everyone is so on edge about when it's gonna drop - including yourself 'getting your hopes up' about the streams earlier on this page - tells me you want it a little more than you think. 

[Drisaac]

1 minute ago, Tracker_TD said:

The fact everyone is so on edge about when it's gonna drop - including yourself 'getting your hopes up' about the streams earlier on this page - tells me you want it a little more than you think. 

Yeah ok, I'll admit it.

Most fans seems to be in a state of multiple personality disorder right now, including me.

From one side we are on the edge of our seats and we cannot absolutely wait what big project SEGA & Sonic Team have been cooking for the 30th's anniversary, eager to receive more news ASAP.

From the other side instead we are incredibly nihilistic towards them because they have disappointed us too many times to trust them anymore, and are judgemental of Sonic Team's abilities to deliver a good game, which is why we keep our expectations as low as possible.

i WISH i could get excited for a new entry of one of my favorite gaming franchise, but seeing the current state of the things, i cannot.

[Blue Blood]

21 minutes ago, Tracker_TD said:

The fact everyone is so on edge about when it's gonna drop - including yourself 'getting your hopes up' about the streams earlier on this page - tells me you want it a little more than you think. 

Too true.

@DrisaacIt's not going to drop for a long time most likely. We've heard previously that 2021 will be the next big year for Sonic, and that lines up with SEGA representatives also recently saying that they're taking the time to put out Sonic games less frequently than they did in the past. If you think for whatever reason that SEGA is planning to drop Sonic news soon, tell me why you think so and I'll tell you why you're wrong.

We don't "know" the next game is going to be shit. I mean, we can make all those assumptions until the cows come home (my expectations are rock bottom too), but ultimately it means very little. SEGA need to sell their games, and people want to play them. Of course they're going to drum up interest. That's what selling a product is. And just for the record, SEGA aren't not going out of their to drum up interest for things that they've not yet announced. Anytime someone asks them about Sonic, they give typical boilerplate answers such as "we're really excited to for the future of Sonic" or "we're taking our time for the fans" and "we'll deliver the news when it's ready". What else could the say? "Don't get your hopes up guys. The next game is going to be shit. Don't buy it, so go play Mario instead"?

[Red Hot Jack]

Okay, I'm not excited either, just... curious by the whole "taking our time to make quality games". It's fair because they let us down in the past. It's not fair because brand new games... brand new possibilities. It really is up to the situation, I'm not sure I trust SEGA though.

I agree that saying "haha. Not worth the wait 'cause it'll be shit anyway, we already know it even before it's announced" is nichilistic, like... just give up on the franchise then.

It's an assumption to say it will get revealed soon, that it will be good/bad, so we can't say anything because we don't know anything, I guess? 

[Drisaac]

6 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

If you think for whatever reason that SEGA is planning to drop Sonic news soon, tell me why you think so and I'll tell you why you're wrong.

I never said, nor implied, that we are going to get sonic news soon, i just pointed out that SEGA is making a huge effort in keeping everything secret as much as they can.

10 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

We don't "know" the next game is going to be shit. I mean, we can make all those assumptions until the cows come home

You are right, i obviously cannot prove that the next game is going to be shit because there's nothing to form this narrative upon, no game footage means no evidence and thus i cannot prove a point, so instead I'm just going to do what everyone else has been doing: give their take.

My take is that it is very unlikely that the next Sonic game will be good, between Sonic Team's lack of competence, their struggle to still find a working formula for the series and with the ever decreasing budget given from SEGA the situation looks as hopeless as it has ever been, i just don't trust sonic team.

13 minutes ago, Jack at Home said:

Okay, I'm not excited either, just... curious by the whole "taking our time to make quality games". It's fair because they let us down in the past. It's not fair because brand new games... brand new possibilities. It really is up to the situation, I'm not sure I trust SEGA though.

Here's another take of mine: i don't buy it.

The statement Aaron gave during that sonic official stream sounded very fishy to me.

I would like to remind all of you guys how SEGA lied to us during the whole Sonic Forces marketing campaign, they claimed Forces took 4 years of development when in reality we discovered that 3 of those years were used to create the hedgehog engine 2, which is nothing but a lighting engine, and they only spent 1 year on the actual game.

SEGA likes to lie, a lot, they have pulled the "we have great plans for Sonic!" and then released a shit game right after too many times for people to fall for this trick yet again.

 

I'm sorry i sound so nihilistic, but with the current stand of the franchise i cannot find a light in what appears to be eternal darkness, you would need to suffer from a stockholm syndrome if you still trust Sonic Team or SEGA after Forces.

If you want to stop the sonic cycle from happening yet again don't give SEGA the benefit of the doubt, they don't deserve our trust, nor our money.

[Blue Blood]

27 minutes ago, Drisaac said:

I never said, nor implied, that we are going to get sonic news soon, i just pointed out that SEGA is making a huge effort in keeping everything secret as much as they can.

They're not being secretive. They're just not telling us anything because now is not the time. The game is in production and it's not at a stage where they're ready to start marketing it. It could be at such an early stage of production that anything is subject to change and thus there's nothing to tell. It's really standard practice for Sonic games not to have any information divulged about them at all before they're formally announced. In fact, that's standard for most games. You might get a situation like with the Zelda Wii U where Nintendo had said for years that they were re-evaluating the conventions of Zelda, before the eventually announced Breath of the Wild. That's purely situational, where there was something to say. It's not essential or typical. 

It's just not secretive at all. It's about as normal as you can get.

[Drisaac]

14 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

They're not being secretive. They're just not telling us anything because now is not the time. The game is in production and it's not at a stage where they're ready to start marketing it. It could be at such an early stage of production that anything is subject to change and thus there's nothing to tell. It's really standard practice for Sonic games not to have any information divulged about them at all before they're formally announced. In fact, that's standard for most games. You might get a situation like with the Zelda Wii U where Nintendo had said for years that they were re-evaluating the conventions of Zelda, before the eventually announced Breath of the Wild. That's purely situational, where there was something to say. It's not essential or typical. 

It's just not secretive at all. It's about as normal as you can get.

Fair point.

Then it must have been my impression, i don't know, maybe because the drought we are having is so long and we keep growing so impatient that it almost looked as if they were purposely not telling us anything to keep us on the spines.

Also, on an unrelated note, did Aaron webber said we will be getting more sonic news in the June 2nd stream ? Did he actually said that in the stream or it was just a rumor ?

[Razule]

1 hour ago, Blue Blood said:

The game is in production and it's not at a stage where they're ready to start marketing it. It could be at such an early stage of production that anything is subject to change and thus there's nothing to tell.

I know this is only a possibility, but if the game were to be that early in development and it presumably comes out next year when it'll have been four years since Forces released, and they just said that the longer gaps was because they would be putting more time into the games, then what would that mean they've been doing this whole time? That sounds like a similar situation to Forces.

[Blue Blood]

6 minutes ago, Razule said:

I know this is only a possibility, but if the game were to be that early in development and it presumably comes out next year when it'll have been four years since Forces released, and they just said that the longer gaps was because they would be putting more time into the games, then what would that mean they've been doing this whole time? That sounds like a similar situation to Forces.

It's just a spitball example. They haven't formally announced a Sonic game and release date yet. My comment applies today as much as it did 2 years ago. Purely in theory, they could have spent all this time rewriting the book on Sonic games, building from the ground and trying out dozens of different ideas across several different projects. The plan might be to release the game next year, but that's not really set in stone either. It could be that Sonic Team ends up saying "yeah it ain't done yet, see you in 2025". Or it could be that the next game is just going to be the second coming Forces. Who knows?

Game development is strange beast any way. Different studios and different projects take different approaches. The final product can be exactly what was planned from the start, or the final product can be shaped around various experiments that get pooled together with solid no end-goal in sight to begin with. 

[GentlemanX]

It's seems crazy to me that the only console games released this current generation so far, as the PS5 and XBSX are soon approaching, have been Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces, Team Sonic Racing, and Mario & Sonic 2020. If we want to throw the Wii U in there due to it's short life span, we can also add Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sonic Lost World, Rise of Lyric, and Mario & Sonic 2014 and 2016. Nine games, three of them Mario & Sonic games, two of them car racing games from Sumo (only one of which is actually a Sonic title, not a Sega crossover that was also released on the 360 and PS3), and two of them being Rise of Lyric and Mania which were developed independently from Sonic Team. Generations turns 10 years old next year - between the 20th anniversary and the 30th anniversary Sonic Team's only main series games will have been Lost World and Forces; two of the most divisive to poorly received entries in the series after 06. I don't mean that to say Sonic Team is wrong to take their time before the next game launches, that would also be foolhardy. But saying "we need to slow down" when the series, in my eyes at least, has essentially ground to a halt already, paints a picture of a franchise that's essentially ready to be dormant - releasing new games during anniversaries to remind people it existed and not much else. I don't know, I'm only musing, but to me it just screams how unhealthy the brand is if Sega is saying "we're planning to take our time" when the last main series game Forces came out three years ago this fall. We've got the IDW comics and a potential movie sequel - I guess that's what's front and center for the brand for now.