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The Blog Sega Doesn't Want You to Read
Maybe you’ve heard of this story before, and maybe you haven’t: Back in 2006, an anonymous Blogger by the name of “jpeg” appeared, claiming to be somebody within the game industry. He made various posts about both his personal life and his job (like any normal Blogger), though never anything terribly specific. That all changed in early 2007, when he made a post about NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. He spoke on a great many things; he confided that he did not have much faith in the game, despite what he considered the best efforts of Sonic Team. He knew of the game’s troubled development, which he used as a segway to discuss the internal workings of Sega and how it related to Sonic Team, claiming that he knew Sonic Team, personally, “on a professional level”.
Given the deliberately anonymous nature of his blog, though, not many people knew whether to believe him.
A month after writing his post about NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, “jpeg” deleted all of his blog posts and bid farewell to his Blogspot users. Thankfully, however, the internet never forgets: after a little bit of figurative legwork from Green Hill Zone forums user FlashTHD, an archived version of the original blog post regarding Journey of Dreams has been recovered. By now, you are probably wondering why an unconfirmed blog post from an anonymous person on the vast expanse of the internet is so important. As it turns out, one possible reason all previous posts had been removed from the blog is because “jpeg” left a little hint at the end of the post about NiGHTS:
“Sonic Team are a relic from a past age who have overstayed their welcome. For the same marketing reasons that their name was initially kept (and has since backfired) they should be dissolved – it may already be too late for NiGHTS (and I really hope it isn’t and they manage to turn it around, which with Iizuka-san’s passion for the project is a possibility), but for the good of the company’s image; for the future of Sega’s other prestigious IPs and lastly for its iconic mascot it needs to be done… before they release another Sonic game with a transforming Evil ‘Night’ Sonic who looks like a werewolf and can stretch his arms out Dhalsim-style. It will happen, mark my words.“
Over a year before anybody had ever spoken the word “Werehog”, this blog user had tipped us off to the existence of Sonic Unleashed. Obviously, this most likely constituted an illegal breach of NDA, resulting in all posts on the blog being removed.
Today, his blogspot account is still active, containing only his “Goodbye” post. The sidebar of his blog now contains a typical “My opinions are my own and do not reflect upon my employer, and I will not discuss my job with you” disclaimer, but most importantly, reveals the blog owner’s true name: Ben Andac. Ben Andac, as it turns out, worked as a “Game Evaluator” and an “Admissions and Recruitment Executive” for both Sega Europe and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Ben’s job was most likely to evaluate the quality of products coming out of the publisher and potentially scout for new recruits to develop software. Ben now works for online gaming website Idle Thumbs, writing editorials and reviews.
(TRISTAN EDIT: Since this story has been published, the Blogspot account linked above has been made completely inactive.)
By confirming Ben’s identity as an employee at Sega Europe, re-reading the March 2007 blog regarding the development of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams shines a spotlight directly on a side of Sega rarely seen by the public. In particular, it reveals an internal strife between Sonic Team and Sega of Japan, highlighted by the fact that NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams was originally developed as an Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 title – going so far as to say he (Ben Andac) played an Xbox 360 build of NiGHTS at one point. Upon witnessing the overnight success of the Wii, Sega of Japan apparently forced Sonic Team to retool the game for Nintendo’s lower-spec platform, something its producer (Takashi Iizuka) was not happy about. Despite the shift in platform, the game’s fast-approaching release date and limited development budget remained firmly unchanged, giving Sonic Team roughly one year to rebuild NiGHTS exclusively for the Wii (when most games typically take two years or more to develop).
As it turned out, according to Mr. Andac, after Sega had restructured itself to re-integrate external development houses like Smilebit and AM2 back in to the main Sega offices, Sonic Team was kept external strictly as a sweatshop to milk the Sonic cashcow, assembly-line style. Sega of Japan had intended NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams as a brief rest from the never-ending onslaught of Sonic game after Sonic game. In Ben’s own words: “There’s no doubt that Sonic Team have lost their quality touch. They are worse than talentless: they are without passion. Bored, weary, closed-minded and out of touch with any sense of what makes games good anymore.” Quite simply put, after making so many of them, Sonic Team is tired of Sonic games – something Ben cites as a reason for Yuji Naka’s resignation in 2006.
In the end, what this blog really represents is that, even within their own ranks, members of Sega’s staff are unhappy with the direction Sonic Team as a development studio has headed. While it was easy to assume such, we now have confirmation of internal strife between Sonic Team and their parent subsidary, Sega of Japan. In relation, this goes a long way to explain the shortcomings of games produced by Sonic Team: They are forced to work on a franchise they no longer care about, and when they do get a chance to stretch their legs, it is under tight restrictions.
Stay tuned to TSSZ as we cover all aspects of Sonic the Hedgehog and his related franchises.
Sega can be a real asshole! -.- I feel sorry for the members of Sonic Team, seeing how far my favourite company has come, no wonder Sonic Team produces those half baked Sonic titles. Unleashed being no exception in this case, maybe they just talk happy abou the Werehog, and in reality they were forced to do something to make the game longer but they didn´t have the time to make enough Sonic stages or improve the gameplay and intead slapped another unneded gimmick onto it!?
What this Story tells is that Sega has become an unfair company that doesn´t want to make creative games (and that´s what Sonic Team wants to do, but without time, no creative games), they want money. I always thought it would be a nice picture behind the scenes, working at Sega and doing creative work, now my eyes are opened and what I see now is my biggest nightmare, Sega just eating money!
No woder Sonic isn´t that much fun and creative anymore, look at unleasheds gameplay, linear, straight, to fast, cheap deaths, QTE´s, Werehog, less platforming, no spindash anymore, no special items anymore, no true different pathways…. maybe they wanted to implement all that but because of Segas pressure they just had to let stuff out! No wonder the Wii version had the Spindash, lower graphics = saves time for other stuff, but why all those Werehog levels…?
Anyway, this guy says the truth, AND it´s no wonder they changed the staff members at Sonic Team for newer ones, because the older people are just bored of their work, so they got replaced with new ones. It all makes sense now…!
Dammit Sega, stop caring about your fuckin money, care about true quality again!
Lucky me, I´m buying most Sega games off of ebay, Sega doesn´t at least get my money!
Did you read Ryan´s comment in the archived blogpost:
“Sonic isn’t iconic to Sega anymore. They may say he is, but Yojiro Ogawa – the lead on Sonic & The Secret Rings said Sega doesn’t consider Sonic a mascot or anything anymore. He’s just a vehicle for money.
Granted, as you said, that may be in part because of Sega’s narrow-minded business-centric point of view right now. Sonic, the franchise they practically built the company on, is nothing more than a worthless marketing gimmick they feel they can exploit.
As a Sonic fan who has been with the series since 1991, it’s like watching your best friend slowly waste away and die because he has cancer.”
The last part of his post, it touched me, because that´s how I feel right now. Poor Sonic, shame on you Sega/Sammy!
So basically as far as this is saying, Sega is milking Sonic for money (obviously), Sonic Team doesn’t even give a fuck about Sonic anymore (NOT GOOD), and Sega doesn’t even consider Sonic a mascot anymore (Also NOT GOOD).
Bravo Sega. You’ve fucked yourself form the inside out. You lost everything that made you great, and you force your staff to make pointless shit under tight deadlines as you want to just get money. No who cares about satisfaction.
My hope for Sonic as a franchise just went down the drain. As long as Sega makes Sonic team work under tight deadlines and as long as Sonic Team doesn’t care, there is no hope. They’re just going to keep taking water out of the well until it’s dry. Well if Sonic dies I want to see Sega go with it. They deserve it.
Well said buddy, well said!
I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT! Well done SEGA now I can finally give you the ‘royal salute’ you have so honorably deserved. *gives the finger*.
With all of this said, Unleashed was done by an entirely new team fresh out of college – built entirely with Sonic fans who want nothing but the best for the series. The original STJ – which this guy is referring to – is no doubt disillusioned with Sonic as a whole, but that doesn’t mean the Unleashed team is, even in the least.
Just remember how long ago this was written. It’s very possible company policies have shifted since then.
Lemme say this as clearly as I possibly can….
SEGA JAPAN AND SAMMY PINBALL ARE NO LONGER REALLY REQUIRED FOR SONIC’S EXISTENCE!!!!!
As we all know, in Spring/Summer 2001, Sega announced they were surrendering their spot in the console business after what happened to the DC. At that very instant, they became a 3rd party developer.
Now, as we also know, 3rd party developers do not really need the help of the so called ‘Console Gods of Japan’ to make a decent/good game. Therefore, my recommendations, if I had an elevated gaming industry position, would be these.
1. Break up the Sega-Sammy corporate pairing.
2. Close the Japanese arm of Sega WorldWide.
3. Move Sonic Team to the United States or, in a pinch, Canada.
4. Make Sega of America the new Sega WorldWide Headquarters.
If that were to happen, then we wouldn’t have to hear constant streams of bullshit coming from Tokyo about the Sega Japan execs being self-indulgent children in aging bodies.
I’m really fed up with their abuse, and I’d say it’s time for it all to stop.
Right. Fucking. Now.
I hope I was heard here. Someone had to write this.
@Ronic Right here *waves*
@Ronic: Responses to your points
1. Absolutely
2. Why stop there? Eliminate them entirely
3. Nope. Sonic Team should be moved to Europe
4. Once again, Europe.
Now, why Sega of Europe? Well, Sega of America doesn’t really do anything. Sega of Europe on the other hand has a certain layer of quality control which Sega of Japan seem to neglect. They need more power, but they don’t have it, because Japan has it all.
However what I would rather see, is Sonic being purchased by anther company. A good company however, so not EA. Why just Sonic? Because the rest of Sega is useless. I want to see them dead. They haven’t deserved life since the Dreamcast.
You guys are really going to fall for this?
But you know, for a franchise Sonic Team doesn’t really care about, it sure took them a lot of effort to create the ‘Hedgehog Engine’, wouldn’t you say?
He worked for Sega, he knew about the Werehog and SU WAY before anything was leaked, how much more prove do you need? Plus he described the Werehog (his features) precisely! Plus, the blog was closed shortly after this post appeared… pretty mysterious don´t you think?
Those points are reasons to trust that person!
Hedgehog Engine … mmmh, that might be a point, but still …
Now that’s just fucked up. I can’t even really say much beyond that.
WTF Sega? WTF?
Hey, an interesting and non-drama filled post for once. I like this.
Interesting insight. Funny to read about how nobody believed the Werehog bullshit until it was confirmed
Lame
sonic team dosent give TWO SHITS about sonic anymore the proven to us that they cant make a good sonic game unless theirs a catch.
I know of only one company that I KNOW will do sonic justice but i wont say who…….*cough,nintendo,cough*
They should just let a better developer make Sonic games. Really, is that so hard to do?
Why would they spend all that time with hedgehog engine if they didnt care
@crysore:
Nintendo could make a great Sonic game, but they had better not change him too much like they did with Mario. Ever since Mario went 3D, alot has changed. Mainly the objectives and stage designs. (other things, too, remember) And I wouldn’t want them to change Sonic too much like this. Sure, Mario is fun, and Sonic is fun, but they have both gone through changes I don’t like. So I question if Nintendo would really make an outstanding Sonic game that stays true to what makes Sonic so fun.
If they really dont care then let Dimps develop Sonic
I dunno about this, I doubt Sonic Team DOESN”T CARE, people who say that are getting carried away. Of course they bloody care, who wouldn’t! If morale was that bad within Sonic Team it would have been dismembered a long time ago. Sonic Unleashed wasn’t perfect, but it proved Sonic Team COULD put in effort for a mascot they know and love, the idea of the werehog was crazy. So maybe the point about Sega keeping tight restrictions is true, but for gods sake, OF COURSE SONIC TEAM CARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@DoctorEggman
Well nintendo showed us that the can do well on nearly all mediums of gaming
Platforming- Mario
RPGs-Pokemon
FPS-Metriod
Action Adventure-Zelda
Fighting-SSBB
so im pretty sure with a little practice nintendo could run circles around sega in terms of handiling a sonic game.
And the mario thing your talking about, i didint really see any dirasctic change in his gameplay with the exceeption of sunshine and all 3, 3d mainstream mario games follow a same basic format.
Oh yea and the will actually givre us a REAL!! crossover game between mario and sonic with a great story and everything
I’m with TailstheHedgehog here. You guys are overreacting. SEGA/SONICTEAM cares. It’s very difficult to please all the different Sonic fans; which leads to ‘bad’ titles; and more negative vibes throughout the Sonic community.
I’ve been convincing myself for the past 10 years that they were just being sloppy, and that they lacked the creative minds of the talent that left shortly before SA, but this… this isn’t not understand sonic, this isn’t not caring for sonic… It’s… this is about as low as you could go. It must be every developers worst nightmare.
It’s called karma people. They use Sonic as a tool, it became crap. Sega really shouldn’t control Sonic right now. Sell him to Rare, Nintendo,etc. They probably made the Hedgehog Engine just for new ideas on what to do and new “Possibilities”. This is why Sonic has lost his charm. The Hedgehog Engine is a trap.
Yet I will still buy his games knowing this. Why? Because I am a Sonic fan, not a Sega fan. I would gladly buy any game with Sonic on it. That is who I am. But now I feel like taking a break from Sonicland for a while. I feel like a devil now compared to those Mario angels.
Sonic-fans are becoming the fallout-fanbase.version.2.0, prepare to ride. no mutants allowed. to hell everyone
Well every company wants mony but its segas fault not Sonic Team besides I know they do care about Sonic nnot sega
Money and not ,Sorry
Right now i’m thinking: “How the fuck they made SA and SA2? I mean can’t they make a game close to these intemporal pieces of art?”
Yeah, SEGA’s losing it…*runs to the room, turns on xbox 360, plays gears 2 ’till eyes pop out*…
I think Tails the hedgehog is right!
Sonic Unleashed was good and much better than the other newer Sonic games. And if Sonic and the Black knight is good and SEGA continue make good Sonic games… it’s good!
I don’t think they have to sell Sonic to Nintendo. Maybe if they start making bad Sonic games again…
I don’t care if they just want money or not. I just want more good Sonic games like SU! And I don’t think everyone at SEGA just want money. Some people there maybe like money and some maybe like Sonic. I think the most people there like both!
I read a little about this in the Saturday Morning Sonic forums and the GHZ forum and long before that I also heard about this blog. Very interesting.
I’am not surprised at all about Sega and ST, this news just confirms my suspicions about them and Sonic these recent years, it will be interesting to see what will become of the Sonic series in the future.(most likely it will be sad)
sega please learn from Soninc 1,2,3 and knuckles.
Remember new sonic team is not going back the past its 2009 for crying outloud stop asking for it people
So Sonic team and Sega screwed up with Sonic’06, one extremely bad Sonic game, and you all jump on their back. When Capcom made Megaman X6, everybody lost faith in Megaman, but when Megaman X8 and up (like Zero or Battle Network) came out, everybody had faith in Megaman again. So when Sonic Unleashed, Sonic’s third best 3D game to SA (DX version too) and SA2 (Battle version), everybody still hates it. I guess First Person Shooters is the lonely genre people like now. Maybe if they followed the 3D adventure titled formulas, it would work.
Mark Chao:
It’s way more than Sonic ’06. It’s the general pattern of exploitation of the Sonic name. Games like those awful Sonic “racing” games on PSP and the rushed Sega Superstars Tennis which was heavily leaning on the Sonic IP.
It’s funny you mention Megaman, as the Megaman series isn’t all /that/ healthy either, and is struggling: just like Sega, Capcom doesn’t want to put much money or time into it, and would prefer to sell games based on the name. Hence the cheap to make Megaman 9 “8-bit” strategy. The real issue here is that games like Sonic and Megaman are once-mighty franchises that were in the same realm as classics like Super Mario. Things have fallen so far, that fans try to justify today that “only okay” low-budget titles are acceptable, when in truth, these IPs are being treated as grandfathered junk that can make money via name power to obsessive fans.
After Sonic ’06, Sonic Unleashed is comparatively good, but still rough and full of signs that there’s no fundamental inspiration or burning passion – it comes off as feeling more desperate than anything else.
The sad truth is that in terms of internal development resources, Sega may literally be incapable of making an epic, grand return to form entry in any of their classic franchises, with the apparent exception of Virtua Fighter – gods bless the VF team, who seem to be locked up in a pill box with heavy machine guns poking out to fend off the vile legions of cheap-ass marketing men who are utterly in control of every other aspect of Sega.
The things is…I feel that Unleashed is a good to great game built on terrible ideas. I think Tweaker said on retro once (or someone else did)that the whole idea of the game is built to fail, but for once the execution makes up for it. It should be pretty obvious that this group of designers for Unleashed(and for Rush, for that manner) cares about the character and the fanbase. Maybe bad ideas were forced on them. Many of us dislike the idea of the Werehog(though, in practice the stages are pretty good), and the HUB worlds and collect-a-thons seems non-Sonic in idea but pretty addicting in execution. A little more fine-tuning and polishing and you’d have a very good game. Heck, even the game’s critics acknowledge that it succeeds in some areas.
I think right now…it’s very possible Sega sees Sonic as a cash cow and as a vehicle to try out new concepts(because they’ll sell better with Sonic’s name). But really, Sega is SEGA. A company invested in making money. The key was the disillusionment of Sonic Team. The developers themselves didn’t care after Shadow. I honestly believe, given freedom, this new team will be able to improve their idea for Sonic.
Let’s not all cry here about greedy Sega and those pathetic hacks…I can’t believe the current Sonic Team doesn’t care. The little details and fanservice in Unleashed PROVE they care. The issue is whether they’re given freedom to implement their own ideas and not force in whatever the company wants them to put in. Let’s hope Black Knight is a huge success. Why? Sega will have it’s spinoff franchise to try out new ideas on and can let the regular series be what the designers intend. Lert’s not be whiners here. If you don’t like it, find something else to do with your lives.
Hmmm… Sorry but Im going to take this with a bit of salt.
First of all Sonic unleashed is not THAT bad. Is not great sure and definetily no GOTY, but is not superman 64 kind of bad, actually is not even “platformer_from popular_franchise cough!BEN10cough! bad. actually My kids seem to enjoyed it quite a bit. (although the final levels are borderline sadistic)
It seems to me, someone is trying a bit too hard to pin down the blame on the creators. (er… was there anyone else to blame? … society perhaps? global warming?)
Theres no need, the studio already knows the sales werent spectacular, nonetheless the public and critic reaction was much better to other games (shadow anyone?) so I believe they already know what worked and what didnt.
Maybe we should applaud the good bits, instead of thowing tomatoes at the bad?
Anyway In a nutshell ,next time, less secondary animals no one cares about, remove werehog we already have god of war, more sonic classic style Even if its only in sideview 2d. Thats what the kids liked. Also please completely remove the “adventure” dialogue bits cutscenes are more than welcome (kudos on those btw) but wandering about a village for absurd dialogue answers.. not fun at all, specially in a game that is all about speed.
I actually quite enjoy the side dialouge…it’s never absolutely neccasary(aside from main characters). You can easily just go to the entrance stages…and maybe the shops.
Sure, Sonic Unleashed was an ok game. I myself enjoyed it, I’ll even say that it was the best 3D Sonic game ever made. But still, that’s not that much of an accomplishment. Sonic hasn’t lived up to his name since about 1994, and the fact that the series has continued to ride on the nostalgia of about 5 games is amazing.
Sonic deserves better, he deserves to be in games as great as the Mario games. But he’s not, and that’s the problem. I suppose I’ll wait and see about what this New Sonic Team can do, but until somethings change around there, I don’t have much faith.
Also I think Sonic and the Black Knight looks stupid. Maybe not bad, but just a dumb idea, kind of like the werehog, but because Sonic had normal levels besides that I felt that I should buy it.
Wow! That’s a fascinating read!
I wonder if it’s still possible to contact this guy…
This isn’t that surprising to me at all. Sonic ran down into a pit of cheap gimmicks and worse and worse games. The only newer games I’d consider “good” in the series are probably Rush, Rush Adventure, Unleashed’s Daytime Stages, and Dark Brotherhood (Due to the massive amount of references and the fact that the writing was great, albeit fanfiction-ish). The only reason it survives is due to the massive amount of fanboys and fangirls that he gained from the beginning, from the enormous number of horrid fancharacters to the countless pictures of Sonic pornography that pop up on the internet.
If you think about the beginning, actually, when Sonic first arrived, many developers created their own badass furry character to ride on his success. Most or all of these franchises sucked due to the fact that it was just cash-milking. Sound familiar? SEGA’s cash-milking Sonic now, and he’s become one of these characters.
who cares if Sega is milking money of hte Sonic titles? At least they are using that profit to create other great series like YAKUZA.
@ THIS IS BUSINESS
That’s awful business. Actually the revenue made by Sonic games is probably just used to keep the dying company afloat for a while longer. They’ve been losing money since 2004ish.
Also Yakuza 2 got pretty average scores. Ooh, 8s. Those are the scores Sonic should be getting. If Yakuza was all it seems to be hyped up to, where are the 10s?
What a bunch of whiners, lol. I admit SEGA isn’t the same as it was in the nineties, and not churning out the high number of great games they were before but damn it, everyone who says JoD or SU is bad because of trivial matters is no gamer, is just some idiot who I bet never played the games at all.
I find it hillarious! So the guy is forced on doing stuff while he works. I don’t know, I though that was the whole essence of work, working on stuff that you sometimes don’t like, you’re not in an amuzement park.
Past that… That guy also works on SEGA Europe and while as a fan of the company I toy the idea of getting a job there once I’m settled nicely in life, I also know that SEGA Europe doesn’t deal with games’ core development AT ALL, they have little to no less game development units. He didn’t deal with either JoD or SU development, besides adapting it to Europe and THAT doesn’t include programing or dealing with sensitive issues like gameplay. I believe he heard rumours about both games but nothing more than that. The fact that the guy just evaluated the game at the end and he works for Sony, the makers of the failure of PS3, he has no moral on what he’s seeing. I also bet he was fired for leaking secrets, no wonder he’s so sour, lol.
There’s something called respect and he has none for the company that puts the food on his table every single month. Kind of feel like I’d never employ him, not even to scrub floors. What an idiot.
lol I love SEGA, and you guys, and those annoying fanboys I want to kill. Sacharcka Mufuras everyone!
@THIS IS BUSINESS:
As far as I’m concerned, Sega built the company using Sonic the Hedgehog. Yes, the Sega Genesis had a lot of great titles (Phantasy Star, VectorMan, Alex Kidd, Shinobi), but it’s a known fact that in the UK and especially in the US, the Genesis did way better financially than it did in Japan, and Sonic pretty much led the charge – he was the #1 Sega Genesis Franchise in those regions. Without Sonic, Sega wouldn’t have had that foothold and they probably would’ve died long ago. That little blue hedgehog more or less defined the company for a lot of people.
Sonic deserves more respect than he is getting, and after a story like this, I wonder if it’s because Sonic has never quite been the gaming superstar in Japan that he was over here. The Japanese see that Sonic sells, but that’s apparently all they see.
I wonder if we could get somebody from Sega America or Sega UK to make a Sonic game – and I don’t mean Sonic Chronicles, either.
@ Ryan Bloom: Hence the nickname–the house Sonic built. SEGA’s been in trouble since Saturn and has since needed a vast restructure. Not only does SEGA itself need a restructure, and needs to stop forcing the dev-houses to do stuff just because something flew off the shelf like hot cakes.
SEGA is a company trying to survive. When a business is in that position, creativity goes out the door.
It’s a shame, because the only way for a business to really be successful is to take risks and create an environment conducive to creativity. But that’s easy for us to say when we’re not the ones trying to keep a company afloat…
Way to make idiots out of these fanboys, TSSZ….
Why do they do that O.o
@Soapscum: You’re really NOT going to fall for this? Until SEGA gives some feedback on this subject, and how they work on the inside, this is the safe way to assume things.
@crysore:
Yeah, that’s good of Nintendo, but different developers work under Ninendo (usually) to make each of those different types of games. Sega has also made different types of good games like Nintendo has.
And I do realise many people don’t see much change in 3D Mario compared to the old Super Mario Bros games, but I grew up with those, and while 3D Mario is still fun, I can’t honestly say 3D Mario is what I’d hoped for Mario to become. I’d prefer his games would have his life be supported by his power-ups, and the stages be more like the Bowser stages in Mario 64 and Galaxy. Of course, they wouldn’t allow you to just walk off the edge of the stage and die at will or always be as zany. But those Bowser stages are a strong resmblence of what I’m hoping for 3D Mario to become, because those feel very true to the SMB games. (Mario’s first good games, IMO)
THoe who keep saying he needs to be given to a difrent company that depends IF a different company wants to take him
Am i the only one who enjoyed “Sonic Unleashed”??? I thought it was a brilliant game, aside from the fact that it had a stupidly hard last boss who i’ve yet to beat.
The werehog levels were a nice change of pace and, aside from some horrible platforming elements, were nothing but a positive for the franchise. It’s doubtful we’ll ever see the werehog again, however i wouldn’t mind hearing about a “Sonic Unleashed 2” one bit.
I still see some developpers’ love in “Sonic Rush” series.
They are good game.
For everyone who is saying the hedgehog engine is something that shows they like Sonic-
They’re going to be selling the hedgehog engine. It’s not just for Sonic Unleashed. They probably cared a little bit more.
Way to jump on the bandwagon, TSSZ Posters. The general tl;dr from every last one of these commenters ranges from: “Sonic Unleashed Sucks, the Werehog’s stupid, the game’s too linear, even though I haven’t played it, truthfully, et al” To Maya bitching about everything SEGA’s ever done.
If that was too much reading for you guys, I’ll condense it: Stop whining.
@Sonic the Plumber: are you sega’s tool or something? did sega pay you just to say that?
I think they’ve improved with unleashed and the rpg we’ll see if this holds up with SABK
*Sigh*, I don’t know how to start
You all provide interesting details and perspectives about this whole SEGA issue and the old and new Sonic Teams. They’re mostly sobering, and make me sad for the fate of a beloved videogame character and his fellowship of pleasant furry companions. An uncharacteristic thing about my reaction is that I didn’t even grow up as a Genesis kid. I was all Nintendo-then-Playstation. Funny how I became a fan, huh?
I saw many good things in Sonic Unleashed when I bought the PS2 version, and I expected to be rewarded. Hell, it looked good, and I already liked Sonic and many of his friends long before I had heard of SU, so I decided I wanted to make my own untainted judgment on the product. Every since I brought it home I had filed it with my other games, only to glance at it every once in a while as I chipped away at Final Fantasy XII (a truly gripping game). Each time I looked at it, my anticipation fluctuated, and I wondered if it was really as bad as everyone says. Each time, my expectations grew a few inches higher. It was about a week before I sat down to play it, a smile of long-awaited anticipation gracing my face as I saw the television unfold a brand new story to me.
The game’s storytelling shines in the vibrant cutscene sequences, giving the impression of an truly entertaining film. The characters are lovingly animated, the voice-acting is believable and faithful to each character, and the environments blend seamlessly with the ensuing action. I swear, this was among the strongest components of SU; I’ve never seen Sonic, Tails, nor Amy more well animated.
The daytime gameplay is what you would expect from a good Sonic game. You probably won’t be an expert at the Sonic Drift or sliding techniques, but eventually you pick them up, and they serve as nice add-ons to the blue hedgehog’s repertoire of high-speed maneuvers. The spindash was at least replaced by the Sonic Boost, which could be executed as soon as you hear “GO!” for an extra charge in your boost gauge.
One criticism I have about the game, and most 3D iterations of 2D games for that matter, is the tendency for the environment to drown out the character you’re playing, especially during the 2D/2.5D segments. Whereas the old school Sonic games you were focused on Sonic or Tails, the new 3D games inundate you in strikingly vast and detailed 3D stages to romp and play in. The problem is that I find myself paying more attention to Sonic surroundings than to Sonic himself; half the time he’s really small, and while he is very fast, the wide panning-out of the camera makes him a little too small, somewhat slower, and less exciting. I do have to admit, though, I find it hilarious when I accidentally slam the poor guy into a wall. That was a really nice touch, and it shows that the team was paying attention (whichever team it was). I guess what I’m saying is this: the 2D segments were nice, but could use some work on perspective and focus on our beloved blue hedgehog (or two-tailed fox and red echidna; perhaps even our dark friend if he changes his attitude).
The same goes for the werehog stages. It was an interested experiment, but no one wanted it, and everyone immediately discredited it on account of it being a rip of God of War. That may be true, but I’ve never played God of War. All I can say is that, like the day stages, the night could use a lot more engagement. I liked the stretchy arms, though; as unorthodox an ability that is for Sonic, it proved to be an entertaining gameplay mechanic for me, and I liked it. It was fun to see just how much it stretched and, by demonstration, how far from the brink it can save you. Nifty, useful, and simple. Even the way you would engage in combat wasn’t that bad either; the problems with the combat were that a) your moves were largely limited to 3-to-5 hit combos with either the left (square) or right (circle) punches interspersed with 3 special triangle button moves, and b) the AI simply flocked towards you and often gave you ample time to thrash ’em to death; they didn’t force you to do much but throw punches, block occasionally, and just use your special moves to end the fight quickly. You could pick up boxes (or enemies) and throw them at each other, though, and that was actually fun. Nevertheless, the combat system serves more to bog down the gameplay a tad than to challenge you. The good side is that, with the special moves you gain upon accumulating DG points, you plow through most all enemies within a matter of 10 seconds 20 tops. In that way, the combat can actually be fun, because it’s less likely to impede your progress for long, making the werehog stages more like time-attack obstacle courses. See, there is where potential lies! There needed to be more challenge in THAT respect: speedy takedowns and running against the clock. Essentially, with the rank system, this was all the werehog stages were, except if you didn’t care about medals or have already gotten them all on a previous save file, you find yourself just wanting to burn right through the stages and set impressive new records. There should have been more challenge and more ways to beat that challenge.
The most exciting the combat can get is during the boss battles. The Sonic Team managed the boss battles well, especially the day stages and the Eggmanland battles. Kudos to those, and to the final battle.
Lastly, I’d like to talk about the last new thing this game had to introduce: Chip. Now, ever since I first laid eyes on the guy, I knew he would be a fun and interesting character. He may not have been as interesting as he was a charming comic-relief, but Chip nevertheless had my full attention. He was exceptionally well realized as an original character (now that may be debated, but the point is the team had the good grace to give him a nice personality), and he was cute. Yeah, I said cute. I really adored the little… uh… what’s he supposed to be? A mouse? With wings? I dunno. Anyways, so I actually appreciated his presence in the game, as he was quite literally half the driving force of the narrative while the other was Dark Gaia. The game would soon unfold him as the dark creature’s light counterpart, Light Gaia, upon regaining his memories. I’m glad he still retained his personality even after the fact, because only he would think of getting a picture at the final stage in front of the Eggman statue. It’s the little things that make the biggest impressions, and ultimately I love Chip for his, well, chipper and upbeat attitude about things and his refreshing fixation with food.
Unfortunately, Chip was also the biggest reason why the game left me with a deep-seated feeling of bittersweet disappointment. It felt like the game was just too short; you were given snapshots of really in-depth story progression, and then back to either asking townspeople where the tablet pieces are or looking for them in missions. Your direction feels uninspired, and the story suffers a bit from it, not to mention the player’s appreciation of the entire package. What I’m getting at is that, before you ended up fighting Dark Gaia in the end and defeating him, it felt like so little had happened, and you wish you had spent more time with the characters, namely Chip. Now why is Chip so important in this? Well, because quite plainly, he saves Sonic and stays behind to return to the planet for a millions-of-years sleep until the day Dark Gaia would raise hell once again. In short, Chip dies. I know it sounds bitter and sad, but that’s how the ending left me feeling: bitter and sad. Sure, Chip didn’t really leave forever, right? He left Sonic with the Gaia bracelet keepsake and his final words on the wind, promising to be by his side as the earth he would tread. It should be uplifting, but it’s nevertheless a rather sad moment in the game, even despite the quick pickup with Tails and the ensuing Bowling for Soup number, Endless Possibility, with the credits. After the game is done and I shut off the PS2, I feel conflicted. Should I be happy or sad? Basically, I don’t end up feeling very happy with the game, that’s for sure.
So that’s my treatise on my impressions of Sonic Unleashed, a game that is, with all of our hopes, a step in a bright new direction for Sonic. Lesson to be learned? No, not really. It’s good to talk about what’s going on in your head, though, even if it is clearly tl;dr material for most (but if you’re bothering to read all the way to my post, then surely you have time to read a long one, eh?). What does this have to do with Sega and the Sonic Team?
Well, as far as the Sonic Team goes, I lament the nauseated outlook they seem to have had the past decade or so with new Sonic game after new Sonic game, and I wish them fond farewells. They’re responsible for crafting one of the most beloved videogame characters of all time, Sonic, and the world he lives in with the characters he lives with: Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, etc., not to mention some of the most inventive gameplay experiences I’ve ever had. I really appreciate and respect their efforts, and whether or not they care or don’t care about Sonic anymore, I at least hope they’re happy with at least their earlier, more sincere works, because there are definitely thousands upon thousands of people who are, fanatics or not. I believe that, deep down, they still love Sonic and care about what Sega does with him, but it seems like enough is enough for the old team. As for the new team, well, if they really are fans of Sonic who are truly willing to dedicate themselves to perpetuat his story, then so be it. So far, I think they’ve shown that they can accurately portray the blue hedgehog and his friends in a spectacular way, but may need some more time to train and flex their creative muscles. All in all, SU may be a step in the right direction for the Sonic Team, but they still have a long way to go, and they still have to deal with Sega. I hope for better Sonic titles in the future, and a revitalization of the Sonic name.
I think that Sonic Team should be given totally free creative reign over all of their projects, including RELEASE DATES. Sonic team WANT to make a good game, but Sega won’t let them.
Ah, so it all gets layed out like this. Although, I’m sure that there are alot more major, and more trivial things that lead to the way Sonic is today, I think that Sonic left with Yuji Naka. I personally believe that ALL Sonic games WERE top of the line, cool, fun, fantastic games until Sonic Adventure 2 ) also the Sonic Advance 1,2 3 & Battle) Anything released after Sonic Adventure 2 (Heroes being the worst) I think was pure garbage. They twisted the storyline (Shadow should have remained dead) messed up his perfect running animations (from Adventure and Adventure 2) And now he’s a cocky Duck. If Sega doesn’t care about their mascot, than I am now only a fan of Yuji Naka’s work. In fact, the only reason people are giving Sonic Unleashed a chance is because of the graphics. The game (including the daytime stages) are boring after a while and too easy. I’m sorry Sonic, you loose now. Go back to Ryan Drummand times and now we’re talking.
I have little reason or inclination to trust Sega with Sonic’s image and future, not after this. I find that better left with those fans of Sonic or original Sonic Team members that really want the best for Sonic and for his fans, as well as a profitable business. Passion functions best with experience and know-how of the business, as long as the experience and the know-how doesn’t interfere with the sincerely awesome creative effort that’s going on.
Normally Im a Sonic fan, but I dont like what happend after 1994.
When Saturn took over Sonic, it was like a genesis nightmare.
Like Sonic R really sucked!
And after all the Saturn eruptions, SADX was the best 3D Sonic game ever. before Sonic unleashed came out. After SA2B Sega got enough money to buy any shit they want. SEGA wanted more Sonic games quickly and earlier cause they want to compete with mario, but that went wrong.
Mario never scored a 10. But he does got 9s and 8s.
when Sonic CD cameout, it looked liked one of the best games ever existed.
But, WHY he DIDNT make it to nintendo’s Top 200 best games?
Thats because when SEGA letted Saturn handled the job SEGA couldnt have the potential to revive Sonic.What happend to all the Spikes,Platforming,Robotnik,Creatures, and Enemys!?
In 2006, the world of next-gen gaming letted SEGA tried hard and quick.
SEGA brought in 2 games in 1 year…..WTF!?
In SNG, all did SEGA focused is graphics.
Literally in SNG had bad graphics, bad voice acting, glitches, loading problems,
and the movement of the lips.I also think Elise shouldnt be the the Sonic world.
Besides, I also think humans cannot be in the games cause they are fucking…annoying..
Ryan, I am glad you wasnt gonna voice act in Sonic Next Gen that crappy game.
Thanks to 4kids SEGA made humans on games.
Now back to the discussion, SEGA made Sonic a Vehicle.
I know Sonic Team cares about Sonic.
SEGA should have there seal in Europe, not Japan.
Anyways now my words to the new Sonic Team.
If you are making bad games,FUCK YOU.
I think SEGA should sell Sonic to Dimps.
They make the awesomest games like Sonic Advance 3 and Unleashed for teh kick ass Wii.
Sonic…I hope they seal you back to the old good games… ;(
sigh… i knew they were getting worse but i didnt know why. know i do… to think that all trough my child hood my dream was to grow up and work on awesome sonic games and be in the prestigious sonic team. after reading that im glad i dint follow my dreams.
gawd damn it SEGA! even if your goal is just to make money with sonic if you make a game that is actually fun, even if it takes 4 times as long, 10 times more people will buy it. Dont make a ton of shitty games make one good game. theres more money in that (since you guys are apparently soulless misers whose only pleasure is ruining peoples memories of the good old days with all the games from SA2 and before just to make a buck.)
Nintendo make a sonic game?! that’s a horrible idea! sonic would then become victim to the monstrosity known as the wii mote for more then just “secret rings” *shutters* its just impossible to have a fun fast pased game without a controller. plus it sucks when sonic is associated with that fat Italian bastard (with the exception of ssbb of course but Mario is a terrible character on that game anyway i know of not one person who plays as him.) we would end up with more sonic and Mario at the Olympic games type stuff. gawd i don’t want to deal with that. so please don’t even joke about Nintendo producing a sonic game, its just too unbearable to think about. im confident that if sonic team tried to make a sonic game where sonic was the ONLY playable character it would be fantastic, only after they try and succeed in that should they continue with making games that have other playable characters. i mean look at unleashed the sonic day stages are half assed but better than the night stages that are one forth assed. so the only logical solution would to be to take the better part of it (day stages) and expand on that. thus giving birth to a wondrous thing that sega has not produced since the release of sonic heroes a good %&#$ing sonic game!
once again Nintendo could never do a sonic game that is enjoyable unless thay gave up on the damn wii mote for a controller
If sonic team were americans instead of Japanese people then the Sonic games would have a chance again
Damn… I kinda hate Sega officials now. They force Sonic Team to release games in a series they don’t care much for anymore (Solution: GET A NEW DEVELOPER TO MAKE FUTURE SONIC GAMES, DAMMIT.), and even when Sonic Team DOES get a break and can make a different game or two, Sega gives them God knows how many restrictions.
Damn, to think sega trying to kill our favorite hedgehog! I know I’m probably exadderating, but I’ve been working toward going to sega and helping them. Now I’m gonna send them a letter about this!! With my ideas for characters and maybe some video games I’ve also come up with that HAVE the original speed and NO big bulky Sonic that look like some circus freak. Nintendo makes the most E rated games, and if they controled Sonic, they put him in E rated games more! They would probably remove Shadow’s aditude or him all together! I’m not saying Mario is bad but it’s a bit childish….. Seriously. They should make Sonic games like when they still made the gamecube ones (Sonic adventure DX, Sonic adventure 2 battle,) Stuff like that actually represented how well Sega could do. I’m basically dedicated to helping Sonic and his fans from suffering. Are you trying to help to?
OMG who the hell cares about Nintendo and there E rated mario for all the people who want the glory of sega restored I salute you. Do you remember the days of 1989-1991 where sega kicked everyone out I meen they had altered beast and golden axe and in 1991 our favourite little hedgehog who was sooooo much more badass then mario could ever be screw Nintendo give me SEGA anyday! I think that a new console would be to fast but as a lot of people are saying I think it would be an ok idea for the next generation possibly with a decent pricetag, online play and great games which we came to love. LONG LIVE SEGA !!!!!!
i dont care wat yall say i still lllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeee
sonic and nights
sonic the most
I agree Sega only want sonic for money, at least they could do is split the sonic team up like Sega America do the games and Sega europe do the t.v shows and publicity and Sega Japan do the rest, Canada even did chronicles and that was proved to be a step forward, why can’t the sonic team pull themselfs together and sort them selfs out. We need a good game with a good story line
I’ll just post one link, every fan needs to see this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjK8YtVJHvk&feature=PlayList&p=241F4275BE2549EF&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
You guys aren’t really falling for this shit are you? It’s clearly a fired employee throwing a hissyfit and using broken-beyond-repair fanbase to badmouth his ex-bosses and boost his own ego.
Sonic (and most of SEGA by extension) died with Deem Bristow. The man DEFINED the voice of Doctor Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik; he was “The E.G.G.M.A.N.” But more importantly, his death was the reason SEGA was “forced” into hiring the lackluster 4Kids voice actors. Problems I had with (and possible replacements for) each of the replacements include:
Sonic: Jason GRIFFith tries too HARD to make his VOICE sound COOL and winds up making SONIC sound like a total DWEEB who NEVER outgrew VOICE CRACKS. Vic Mignogna would be perfect, but he’s not with 4Kids; so I guess Sean Schemmel could make Sonic sound like a badass again.
Tails: …When the HELL did Tails get a sex change? Not even Bill Corkery made Tails sounds like a freaking GIRL. If you still have Veronica Taylor, GET HER DUBBING TAILS. Her “Ash” voice would be perfect for Tails, and her “May” voice would be perfect for…
Amy Rose: It sounds like she has a permanent sinus clog. If you’re trying to make her sound snobby, good job, 4Kids! But, if you’re trying to make her sound like her old VA, hire Veronica! (But now that I think about it, Rachael Lillis could do it just as well, so either’s fine.)
Knuckles the Echidna: Surprisingly, he’s stopped sounding like Yami Yugi over time; that DOESN’T mean he’s improved to Scott Drier level or ever will, however. Marc Diraison (Zolo/Zoro from the One Piece dub) will fit if 4Kids doesn’t touch a script.
Shadow the Hedgehog: He sounds less badass and more emo/goth, but otherwise the best of this awful dub. Marc Diraison again.
Rouge the Bat: …GOOD GOD KAHN! You can’t leave sex appeal well enough alone, can you? Rachael Lillis FTW.
Cream the Rabbit: *headdesk* TOO *headdesk* DAMN *headdesk* SQUEAKY! Rachael Lillis again, as she did May’s squeaky Torchic beautifully.
E-123 Omega: This is the ONLY reason I am even remotely glad Maddie Blaustein died; now she doesn’t have to do this. Get Andrew Rannells back, as I hardly noticed a difference in Shadow the Hedgehog.
Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik: In all honesty, I don’t think Mike was worth the original VAs. Dan Green would probably fit the role better.
Team Chaotix: Espio’s less gruff, Charmy’s more annoying (but that may be for the better), and Vector is “FIND THE COMPUTER ROOM!” Griffith could actually do a good Espio if he wanted, Charmy’s actually fine, and Vector… maybe David Willis could work.
I’d like to comment on others, but most were created or first voiced after the switch and have no voice to be compared TO. So yeah; I know having good voice acting is no substitute for bad gameplay, but you gotta start somewhere, right?
The Sonic games are bad. They’ve been bad for a long time. The Genesis ones were fantastic, and I won’t deny that I’m a huge fan of them as well as the original character designs (Tails was pretty adorable). The GBA/Advance series retained some of the same spirit. The Adventure games were decent, if a little clunky.
But beyond that, it’s all been gimmicky and just… wrong.
“Lol let’s make Sonic a werewolf!”
“Lol let’s give Sonic a sword!”
“Lol let’s add a million freakin’ characters just for the hell of it!”
So I guess we can definitely expect a 20th anniversary whoring of Sonic games. lol
It’s a real shame what it boils down to though. Sega makes Sonic Team put out craptastic Sonic games, blind Sonic fans keep buying the games, and the cycle continues. If Sonic fans decided to boycott a bad Sonic game, maybe it would give Sega a wakeup call that we, as Sonic fans, won’t accept the crap they call Sonic games anymore. But… I guess… that will never happen… because there are waaaaay too many blind Sonic fans that will blindly buy crappy Sonic games…
Wow Sega you’re a real assholes somtimes. I mean you see the potential in a game and think of an really horrible way to mess up.
God speed Sonic Team, I have a feeling this is only the begining of a Horrible gaming nightmare.
Interesting story. I kind a understand that if you make the same game again and again you will get tired of it. Sega shouldn’t do that, give the game to an other team sometimes. Just like Nintendo did with F-zero, Starfox, etc.
Nintendo couldn’t do Sonic, imo. They don’t dig it that way. Sonic would fail in Nintendo’s hands because Sonic just isn’t Nintendo. Easy come, easy flow, y’know? Nintendo isn’t Sonic. That’s just… the way it is. Nothign’s going to allow Nintendo to make Sonic because Nintendo isn’t -speed-. Nintendo isn’t -speedy platforming-. I cannot name a Nintendo platformer where the base of the game is on speed like 2D Sonic.
It’s not gonna happen~ And even if they weren’t BAD at it, it still wouldn’t be AiC. Nintendo wouldn’t make a BAD Sonic game, but is surely wouldn’t be SONIC.
It’s that reason that I don’t think Sonic would do well in Nintendo’s hands. I love Nintendo, I do, but it wouldn’t come naturally to Nintendo to have Sonic under their belt. The game wouldn’t flow like it should. It wouldn’t be natural.
It’s like Red Hot Chili Peppers trying to take Alice in Chains’s music.
However, I hold no love for Sega anymore. They’re just a bad dev now. Their consoles failed, and they’re close to going into the shitter for good.
Interesting stuff. I know this is over a year old now, but you may want to correct a significant typo anyway: “segway” is the brand of personal scooter, the word you’re looking for is “segue.”
Its not just Sonic who is being shafted by Sega. Just look at what has happened to their internal development teams, who used to churn out highly creative, distinctive games on a regular basis.
The last Sonic Team games that had the old Soni Team magic were Project Rub and Rub Rabbits.
Tetsuya Mizaguchi and Yuji Naka have left, Yu Suzuki seems to have been demoted and locked away, while Reiko Kodama, who I suspect would love to do a new Phantasy Star (offline) or Skies of Arcadia, is pretty much relegated to minor DS titles.
Aside from Valkyria Chronicles and Virtua Fighter 5, pretty much all Sega’s quality output has come from Platiunum Games and the Creative Assembly. Sega’s now just another publisher.
Sega’s over-reliance on external devs will be its downfall.
the comments on this blog sadden me so much because they’re SO TRUE .
… now i kinda wish i was back in second grade again . at least back then , no one was complaining about sonic 360 or unleashed , fans weren’t always whining about going back to the 2D games , and the only real problem was getting to the goal ring .
Damn this makes me feel sad… damn sega…
@Buitenlampen I agree with you, we are about two-years ago from this post and it still makes me sad. Not many changed, is the same history.