SoA Employee Warns of “Huge Consequences”
In the hours since Endri Lauson hinted at a potential early release of a Sonic 4 for the research community to explore, much attention has been paid to his remarks, and the environment has become tense–so much so that it’s been revealed within the hour that at least one Sega of America employee has stated “huge consequences” may be at hand should he proceed.
It was Lauson himself who posted the correspondence SoA community manager RubyEclipse had with him early this morning. As it turns out, the manager quickly joined Sonic Retro after hearing of developments, as a possible damage control attempt.
In light of the conversation, Endri did not indicate whether he would follow through on dumping Sonic 4, nor did he publicly respond to RubyEclipse‘s statement or otherwise indicate what his next step will be. But what Lauson did do is publish the plea he received through Sonic Retro’s private messaging system:
First, nice to meet you. I’m RubyEclipse, and a longtime fan of SEGA/Sonic – just like most of you guys, except that I ended up moving halfway across the country to work at the company and be involved with the games that I love.
I wanted to get in touch with you regarding the review you posted and the claim that you might post data you have live for others to see or play. Please hear me out here, as this is really important for both yourself and for SEGA as a company.
Knowing that you’ve created your own fan games from scratch, as a fellow developer, please understand that hundreds of people have put countless hours into making Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and we have even more work ahead of us. Putting this game live now – especially in its current state – would be a huge injustice to the hard work and long nights that so many of us have already spent on this. There are people here who pour their souls into what they do – and there’s no doubt in my mind that as someone who also develops their own games, you’ve been there, too.
Losing something we’ve worked so hard for would be a massive blow to all of us. Those who developed the game, those who planned the game, those who continue to work, whether in marketing, or PD, or community – everyone. It would have huge consequences for us, and I know it wouldn’t end on a good note for anyone.
As a fellow fan, and as an employee, I’d like to request that you please reconsider putting any data, images, or footage live if you do actually have code from the game. From every standpoint – and especially as someone who knows the kind of work our teams put in – I ask that you do not betray the months and months of work we’ve put in to get the game where it is.
Please feel free to get back in touch with me anytime – I’ll be on most of the night, and will be happy to talk.
For Lauson, the letter adds another dimension to a complicated scenario. Many fans questioned the authenticity of his remarks, and have wondered out loud whether he’s played the game at all. That is what prompted him to explore the possibility of dumping the game code for all to see.
We will continue to follow developments here and see this to the end. Thanks to glem3 for sending this update to us via our News Tips system.
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Go Ruby! Go Ruby! Go Ruby!
This doesnt really prove much if im honest. Anyone could have written that.
Although I do now beleive him. It doesnt prove anything, but I beleive him. Still, I dont care since I’m not overly picky like the rest of the Sonic community. I’ll enjoy the game regardless.
“hundreds of people have put countless hours into making Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and we have even more work ahead of us. Putting this game live now – especially in its current state”
Also, I’m pretty sure this confirms the game is NOT complete.
It obviously isn’t finished, the munus aren’t even professional.
Anyways, it would be stupid to release a game and screw a company over because people don’t believe you. I actually played some type of Sonic game in 3D prior to Sonic Adventure, a long with a few other titles. I only wish I had been older at the time, likely I’d remember before. Either way, nobody would believe me so I kept it to myself. Why not…just…let it be?
*likely I’d remember MORE, not beforr. Gosh, I’m tired.
Anyways, what I mean is…I was invited as part of a research thing where they asked us for feedback on games we played, and we were paid for it.
@Pur
My sentiments exactly.
It was kinda cool to see a snippet of some gameplay, but I feel if Endri leaks “what he has” online it could basically kill the excitement that I’ve built up for a while. In my opinion if I didn’t see any more footage until release date I’d be fine, that way I could experience it all at once, instead of having it leaked second hand to me. I come to this website so I don’t have to scour the internet for official stuff, not some wannabe looking for the spotlight. Shame on you Lauson.
And kudos to Ruby for handling this in a professional and honorable way. Regardless of how the game turns out, who likes it and who doesn’t, Sonic 4 is a gift for us all, especially the fans who grew up playing the Genesis / Mega Drive games. I don’t know about you all, but I already know I’m gonna enjoy it.
Boy boy bpy
HORAAAH!!!
Suck it!! This proves what that idiot who “play tested” the game eariler was nothing but a damn idiot, and to all those who actually BELIEVED HIM, your idiots to.
This is staight from the horses mouth, dont think “pouring there heart and soul” into this game would cause it to suck, dont you think?
I still don’t think this proves anything:
“As a fellow fan, and as an employee, I’d like to request that you please reconsider putting any data, images, or footage live IF YOU DO ACTUALLY HAVE CODE FROM THE GAME.”
I’m not totally sure about it all… but who cares? I’ll just try a demo and find out for myself when it comes around!
Even if that PM is fake, even if he haves or not the game dump, it wouldn’t be fair to put online the game code just like this.
I’m sure some of the coders, are there just for the money, but there are some that are there, because they actually like their jobs, and like to create the game!
If Sonic 4 codes simply appears in the Internet, you can imagine the coders faces, all is work, a click from distance….
Even if the game is bad, good, or even if he haves the game code, common, don’t put it on the Internet just like that!
Save it for after the game launches, don’t worry, hackers will prove your word if it’s true, they can compare your code with the final build code.
But don’t do that stupid act just to prove your word, really, we are talking about a lot of people that you are going to turn your back to….
The community managers are con artists that try to win back fans by acting like just because they care the whole of SEGA cares,. They already fooled us into thinking the genesis physics would return.
Ruby can write big long TL;DRs like that but can’t be bothered to fix that horrible HORRIBLE intro on the Sonic 4 site? Sonic 4 is a scam.
I’m more than willing to believe in this game again if they actually show more than 3 seconds of official footage but no can’t have that would ruin their stupid viral countdown BS.
I think it’s obvious that the current version of the build isn’t good/complete. Otherwise ruby wouldn’t have said “Putting this game live now – especially in its current state”
Sure just like Sonic 2006.
@Dr.Eggfang: ‘Sure just like Sonic 2006.’
What the heck is that supposed to mean? Sonic 06 was RELEASED incomplete. What glem3 said was right; that the game can’t possibly be complete at this point. As a matter of fact, had Sonic 4 been leaked, it would have been exactly like 06, only MUCH WORSE. You’re too hardcore for your own good.
I knew it. There will be consequences whether or not he realeases it, socially AND legally
@Dr. Eggfang
You really love to hate everything about Sonic and nitpick the shit out of everything..dont ya? You really have nothing better to do than to come hear and bash Sonic don ya? You cant just let
This kind of thing happens a lot regarding Sonic games nowadays. Make me wonder why they bother trying to please the Sonic fan community when this is how they’re repaid. If i were in charge i’d just cancel Sonic 4 and say f@&k you ungrateful b@$%#rds. Controversial i know but i wouldn’t waste my time trying to please people who are never happy.
@Dr Eggfang
(damn comment box cut off my comment)
You cant just let Sonic 06 fucking die, cant ya?
Even when there practically saying Sonic 4 is not in its finished state, and practically saying changes will be made for the better, you STILL have to bitch, just like your typical unsatisfied spoiled fanbrat.
Seriously quit wasting your time bitching and just leave the freaking franchise if you hate Sonic so damn much that you fail to see the bright side of anything, and will always never focus on the possitive.
I can’t believe people thought that was the final build.
This guy was so gun-ho before about releasing this to prove his points, and now he won’t do it because of a PM? Yeah right, yesterday he was willing to put his job on the line so that he could ‘tell the truth’, or whatever, and now he’s not because of a PM. Yeah, he’s simply full of it.
There’s literally nothing different about his situation that differs from yesterday, he’s just doing this to avoid losing face and to delay having to produce any materials (which by the way, he could have included in his first post to make his point, but conveniently didn’t, as all fakers ‘conveniently forget’ and never produce anything) so that he can drag this out further.
And of course, the haters buy this. Gasp.
PS: You could run through Green Hill and Emerald Hill by holding right and jumping a few times, too. This is not something exclusive to Sonic Advance 2.
“Months and months”? As in “not even a year” of development? Nice, Rube, nice. Faith -10.
I hope Endri posts the data, because if its as bad as he says it is, they deserve to fail. You make a half-assed Sonic Advance game and have the nerve to try to sell it to us as Sonic the Hedgehog 4, “huge consequences” is exactly what you should face.
I’m sure a lot of people worked super hard on Sonic and the Black Knight. Doesn’t mean I should go out and buy that piece of crap.
@Crysore
Cry some more Crysore, I never said I hated Sonic just that the quality of pasts games leads me to the think that this game is will end up being meh and they know it so they warp up it up in a huge marketing campaign to fool people into buying the hype, which it has in a big way most blogs have stories about Sonic 4 getting tons of views.
Sega’s PR like Ruby here are being used as tools tricking fans into thinking SEGA cares about them and listens to them, someone that writes blogs and press releases does not make games! Ruby if you really listen to the fans get that god awful intro fixed it’s embarrassing,.
Reading that PM from Ruby again, the guy sounds scared, real scared. I doubt the “alpha” is as early as they like us to think it is.
Like I mentioned before; this guy willing to risk his job over a video game? Nooooot really thinking too hard about the consequences regarding where his life
would be heading after that.
But of course, when you bring in all the other people who have worked on this game, people who probably are trying their hardest when it comes to their individual
contribution to this game, then this guy…is willing to take others down with him? I guess he wasn’t thinking about chain reactions either.
It’s not worth leaking it. Not one bit. The fandom will tear it to bits when it comes out, but it’ll probably end up getting decent reviews and while it might not be THE
Sonic 4 most people were expecting, it is still a Sonic 4, and a game that people worked hard to get out to the fans. You can’t really top the classics, no matter how
hard you try, so you just gotta do the best you can…and there’s still more to come.
Ruby basically confirms my suspicions–I think that Endri IS telling the truth, but he’s wrong on one account–that the game is near final. It isn’t. He may have had an alpha code, true, but its in no way the final version of the game, and anyone saying as much is speaking bull. Just because it may have been submitted for review to Microsoft, or to ESRB, doesn’t mean that the game is anywhere near done. It just means that the format and styling are done. The code itself is not, and it is quite clear through the leaked footage.
On another note, though, it also wouldn’t surprise me if Endri was talking based on what he saw in the footage. But regardless of this, its still clearly not final, and I knew it wasn’t.
Why is the community always so stupid?
DON’T PUT THIS F****** GAME ONLINE. It will ruin everything
So uh, hey, where’s that proof?
Oh, that’s right, THERE IS NONE! Aaand morons and trolls continue to have their way (why isn’t he AT LEAST suspended? There’s been more than enough evidence to prove he’s an idiot).
“Reading that PM from Ruby again, the guy sounds scared, real scared. I doubt the “alpha” is as early as they like us to think it is.”
Look, people, stop reacting to Dr. Eggfang. His accusations are total BS.
““Months and months”? As in “not even a year” of development?”
Just when I thought the comments couldn’t get any dumber.
You do realize that he could be refering to a period of time over the number 12?Developers do that all the time. What, did you honestly time he was going to have to say “years and years” to refer to an interval over 12 months?
If only people tried reading in context in thinking instead of trying to throw together a crappy conclusion 5 seconds after they see something. The fanbase would have 50% reduction rate of failure.
@ Dr.Eggfang:
Actually, they did fix the sonic 4 intro; I know cause I checked. Its fine now, and sounds much better.j
This pretty much confirms what I thought: Endri most likely really did play the game, just not the final version.
And unless he’s an @@shole with no brains, I really don’t think he’s gonna release the coding. I mean, February has already turned into one heck of a month for sonic 4 (not quite what sega was expecting, I’m sure), and this would just light the cake and entire table on fire.
Super ultra mega LOOOOOL
Ruby and Sega are simply AFRAID of Lauson.
The first time I saw Sonic 4 I just knew that something was wrong.
-Plastic Stages
-Strange movements
-The miss of magic feeling
YOUR’RE RIGHT, LAUSON! ITS TIME TO SEGA BE ASHAMED OF ITSELF AND START TO DO A TRUUUUUEEEEEE SOOOOOONIC GAAAAME!!!
Look this image: http://steevboss.free.fr/IMG_0266.JPG
@Guims-the-hedgehog
HAHAHAHAHA
it’s funny,use lost labyring image giant size and put on tv
You are best faker than endri
Congrats
@Hinz: this image is not by me, I found in Sonic Retro Fórum, posted by a user! ¬¬
Rumors is not tired of seeing!
“Just when I thought the comments couldn’t get any dumber.
You do realize that he could be refering to a period of time over the number 12?Developers do that all the time. What, did you honestly time he was going to have to say “years and years” to refer to an interval over 12 months?
If only people tried reading in context in thinking instead of trying to throw together a crappy conclusion 5 seconds after they see something. The fanbase would have 50% reduction rate of failure.”
What are you serious?
People don’t normally refer to periods of over a year as “months and months”. Its not common, its not logical, they’d usually say something like “nearly a year” or “over a year” or “a year and a half” to describe a period of time that is over or near a year. If Rube was trying to convince Endri of the ample amount of time people have spent on this game, “more than a year” sounds like much more time. I mean, come on.
Its called a simple deduction. No I don’t have any proof, neither do you, I just take what I’m given and draw the most obvious and likely conclusion from it. I doubt this game has been in development for over a year and the way he talked about it would lead any competent person to believe this as well.
If it was in development for a nearly a year he would’ve said it, theres little reason to describe it as “months and months” – that’s misleading and doesn’t have the same implication. Funny how you say I’m an idiot for not considering something so highly unlikely and indirect when you yourself don’t even consider the most obvious deduction. You have no room to talk.
Perhaps you should follow your own advice Dude and stop grasping at straws for reasons why this game might NOT suck, because I’ve got about 7 years of evidence that leads me to believe the contrary. Sorry for being logical.
And a 50% failure rate reduction in this fanbase is impossible if the scrubs keep eating up the crap Sega feeds them and giving them more and more money for it.
@Dillo64
*facepalm*
Here I go, busting out into rant mode again.
So…just beacuse where not constanlty hating Sonic games, and actually find games like Secret Rings and Sonic Unleashed decent, we are “eating up the crap Sega feeds them and giving them more and more money for it. up the crap Sega feeds them and giving them more and more money for it.” You sound like your typical elitis who criticize anyone who dosent think like you, its stupid.
@Lucas Hinz:
A huge giveaway would be the red light on that PS3 console. Red lights tend to mean off. My source? I own one lol.
@Rolo
hahaha,sorry,I saw after my comments the red light on ps3 xD
we should really stop trying to get information that sega didn’t release yet. the worst case scenario might be that sega just flat out cancels the game. and i know we don’t want that now do we?
I don’t like that Lauson, he can go to hell, leaking the game to the comunity. Idiot.