Sonic Boom Thread

[Happy Cat]

When they say Sonic Team is working with them. They don't mean the whole team, they probably just mean a few key people, or possibly just even Iizuka himself. If you look at the Sonic Chronicles credits the only person from Sonic Team is Takashi Iizuka.

[reza]

it seems knuckles got too much trained on the gym..
i see.. sonic like a cowboy right now.. grown up maybe since a few years :D

[Barry the Nomad]

I wouldn't mind it if Big Red Button, should they succeed with Sonic Boom, continue to work with SEGA similarly to Sumo Digital. SEGA West could focus on the open world, Sonic and his friends heavy, adventure gameplay while Sonic Team focuses on the arcade style point/ring/race the clock based Sonic gameplay with an emphasis on the 2D/3D gameplay that has worked in Generations and (to an extent) Sonic Lost World.

[Nameless 24]

Well, by all reports they are currently developing another mainline Sonic entry for the ps4/one/wiiu.  I would assume they're not at home twiddling their thumbs. 

And no, I don't think that anyone wants to make another Rister, sad as it sounds.  They can't even afford a new Virtual On these days.  The market for these lesser known IPs just isn't there. 

I think the sales of Sonic's latest games are declining as Sonic Team don't seem to have any genuine ideas on how to create a 100% fun Sonic game. Generations game close for many, but it still had its problems.

Sonic Team also has more leeway of making other IPs than the other teams, and given how most people know who NiGHTS is, Sonic Team can take a few risks now and again on a new Non-Sonic project.

I can understand them making another Sonic game for Next Gen, but if it doesn't sell well or is on track to sell Lost World Numbers, than they really need to do something else and not focus too much on Sonic.

As for Virtual On, there's always the PC/Online space for that franchise. I wonder what Hitmaker are doing now...

When they say Sonic Team is working with them. They don't mean the whole team, they probably just mean a few key people, or possibly just even Iizuka himself. If you look at the Sonic Chronicles credits the only person from Sonic Team is Takashi Iizuka.

True, but I just hope that Sonic Team make other things these days. Sonic's of course going to be their baby, but I am sure even Sonic Team want to stretch their legs now and again. The Saturn Era was most likely their most creative output throughout the years with NiGHTS and Burning Rangers in their stable. Even if they can't return to those, Sonic Team now has a chance to make something interesting whilst Sonic Boom makes the headlines and grabs the attention.

I'm not saying I don't want Sonic Team to make Sonic games, but I don't think making Sonic games all the time is healthy. Even J.K Rowling is trying to make other things to get rid of her "Harry Potter Writer" stigma.

[Saturn Memories]

I'm not saying I don't want Sonic Team to make Sonic games, but I don't think making Sonic games all the time is healthy.

I sometimes wonder if they feel more like assembly line workers than game devs.

[Aki-at]

That is really weird. Well regardless of the intention, I do like the result, a spin off game that doesn't affect the main series and let's new talent make something different. I like this as much as I like seeing different interpretations of characters in comic spinoffs and the like.
If it works, awesome something familiar yet new to enjoy. If it doesn't, it doesn't affect the main series anyway so it's easily ignored.

See my issue is this doesn't retain much of Sonic from the looks of things and a lot of designs (The robots) just scream generic baddies. I'd also wonder that if Sonic Team themselves were behind this, would the character designs be getting a lot more criticism?

It's not like I'm new to facelifts either, Godzilla gets a new canon and appearance in almost every single film but the designs almost always retain what makes the series Godzilla. This though kind of reminds me of the 1998 American abomination.

I am excited about several things (The talent, the level design) but I am disappointed at the same time. The art direction seems bad, the co-op is something I never wanted in a Sonic game but above all else, if SEGA wanted to establish a new continuity with Sonic, why did they not just go with classic Sonic getting his own series?

I think the sales of Sonic's latest games are declining as Sonic Team don't seem to have any genuine ideas on how to create a 100% fun Sonic game. Generations game close for many, but it still had its problems.

Honestly it's more to do with Sonic being on a dead platform. The Wii U has seen every series premier exclusively on it shown massive declines whilst the 3DS is in a head on battle with the mobile space (Something Sonic is doing extremely well at mind). Once Sonic hits multi platform status again, you'll see the series hit back to 1.9 million+ debuts in first 6 months. It would help that by 2015 the Wii U should have a more sizeable userbase.

Sonic Team also has more leeway of making other IPs than the other teams, and given how most people know who NiGHTS is, Sonic Team can take a few risks now and again on a new Non-Sonic project.

NiGHTS might have a vocal fanbase but they are just that, in truth the majority of sales of the original NiGHTS came from Japan. Ristar and Burning Rangers were also commercial flops and Billy Hatcher barely managed to break past a million.

In truth for every 10 new IPs SEGA develops, only 1 or 2 are considered a success. Binary Domain, Vanquish, MadWorld, Anarchy Reigns, Stormrise, End of Eternity, The Club and Rise of Nightmares all flopped. Compare that with 7th Dragon, Bayonetta and Valkyria Chronicles... One of which was not really that successful. We can see from the titles that are coming out this year (Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin, Hero Bank, Project 575 and Alien: Isolation) SEGA still wants to take risks, but already one of those risky games have failed so...

Though do keep in mind SEGA's staff move around the company.

[MadeManG74]

See my issue is this doesn't retain much of Sonic from the looks of things and a lot of designs (The robots) just scream generic baddies. I'd also wonder that if Sonic Team themselves were behind this, would the character designs be getting a lot more criticism?

It's not like I'm new to facelifts either, Godzilla gets a new canon and appearance in almost every single film but the designs almost always retain what makes the series Godzilla. This though kind of reminds me of the 1998 American abomination.

I am excited about several things (The talent, the level design) but I am disappointed at the same time. The art direction seems bad, the co-op is something I never wanted in a Sonic game but above all else, if SEGA wanted to establish a new continuity with Sonic, why did they not just go with classic Sonic getting his own series?

I actually don't mind the art style for the characters at all, it's different enough to be distinct for something that's meant to be unrelated.

I also liked the concept art for the levels. I haven't seen too much of the baddies to comment.

I'm looking at it more like Marvel and then Marvel Noir or something. A different continuity that has zero to do with the main series, and the creators can go a little nuts with it.

[Saturn Memories]

NiGHTS might have a vocal fanbase but they are just that, in truth the majority of sales of the original NiGHTS came from Japan. Ristar and Burning Rangers were also commercial flops and Billy Hatcher barely managed to break past a million.

I don't necessarily think that had anything to do with the games themselves. Ristar was released at the end of the 16-bit era while NiGHTS, Burning Rangers, and Billy Hatcher were all titles for consoles that flopped hard.

[Aki-at]

I actually don't mind the art style for the characters at all, it's different enough to be distinct for something that's meant to be unrelated.

Honestly the lankiness of the characters bothers me. Robotnik seems fine (Even better infact, bad arse swallowtail tux) but the major characters apart from Tails look pretty bad to me.

I also liked the concept art for the levels. I haven't seen too much of the baddies to comment.

http://s.pro-gmedia.com/videogamer/media/images/wiiu/sonic_boom/screens/sonic_boom_5.jpg
http://i1.cdnds.net/14/06/618x347/gaming-sonic-boom-video-screenshot-05.jpg

Not feeling either designs much. Did like the one from the cartoon though!

I'm looking at it more like Marvel and then Marvel Noir or something. A different continuity that has zero to do with the main series, and the creators can go a little nuts with it.

Yeah I was talking about how Marvel manage their IPs and SEGA should learn from it with Barry and it makes a lot of sense. At the same time if it becomes too different, why not just make a new IP instead?

[MadeManG74]

Yeah I was talking about how Marvel manage their IPs and SEGA should learn from it with Barry and it makes a lot of sense. At the same time if it becomes too different, why not just make a new IP instead?

That's a good point, I often wonder myself sometimes why even bother keeping the IP. I can see the sense in it sometimes, but other times I think it's just there to help sales/popularity by attaching a popular name.

[Aki-at]

That's a good point, I often wonder myself sometimes why even bother keeping the IP. I can see the sense in it sometimes, but other times I think it's just there to help sales/popularity by attaching a popular name.

That's my concern, I also had it with the mainline Sonic series too, removing stuff like item boxes, the way rings are lost etc it just slowly started to become more and more like a generic platformer (Though they've reversed a lot of decisions, more has to be done)

I just hope they stick with a bit of tradition, though not the more murky bits like Shadow the Hedgehog or Sonic 06 obviously.

I don't necessarily think that had anything to do with the games themselves. Ristar was released at the end of the 16-bit era while NiGHTS, Burning Rangers, and Billy Hatcher were all titles for consoles that flopped hard.

Whilst you have a point with Ristar, I disagree with the points for the other three.

Panzer Dragoon, Sakura Taisen and Let's Make A... series all started life on the Saturn and continued into the next generation. Whilst Super Monkey Ball was a major success on the Gamecube and went through the next two generations. It doesn't help that NiGHTS was probably seen as the big Saturn title by SEGA but it didn't quite match their expectations.

[nuckles87]

Burning Rangers was, like Ristar, released towards the end of a console's lifespan, and had a notoriously brief print run in the West. If Billy Hatcher did sell a million, I'd hardly call that "flopping hard", especially on the Gamecube, a system where few third party titles found success.

NiGHTS was a game that actually did have a sequel in development at one point, for both the Saturn and later the Dreamcast, called "Air NiGHTS".

[Saturn Memories]

Whilst you have a point with Ristar, I disagree with the points for the other three.

Panzer Dragoon, Sakura Taisen and Let's Make A... series all started life on the Saturn and continued into the next generation. Whilst Super Monkey Ball was a major success on the Gamecube and went through the next two generations. It doesn't help that NiGHTS was probably seen as the big Saturn title by SEGA but it didn't quite match their expectations.

You forget that NiGHTS was supposed to have a Dreamcast game. It was Yuji Naka who abandoned the idea when the gyroscopic controller was deemed impractical. Burning Rangers, like Ristar, also came out near the very end of its console generation.

Edit: Nuckles beat me, lol.

I'm sure Panzer Dragoon's status as a launch title helped it significantly. It was also the only launch title that wasn't a graphical mess.

Also, using Sakura Wars and the Let's Make games to support your argument is a bit disingenuous. The only sales data that was relevant to these titles comes from within Japan because they were both Japanese exclusives. The Saturn was well regarded in Japan, and when these titles sold well enough in Japan, they got sequels in Japan. A Sakura Wars game would not come out in America until 2010 (no thanks to Sega).

[Saturn Memories]

Burning Rangers was, like Ristar, released towards the end of a console's lifespan, and had a notoriously brief print run in the West. If Billy Hatcher did sell a million, I'd hardly call that "flopping hard", especially on the Gamecube, a system where few third party titles found success.

NiGHTS was a game that actually did have a sequel in development at one point, for both the Saturn and later the Dreamcast, called "Air NiGHTS".

VGChartz has Billy Hatcher at a quarter million copies which is still pretty shitty even for a GC game. I'll concede that point.

[nuckles87]

VGChartz isn't really the most reliable site for sales numbers.