In Some Ways, a Tale of Two Announcements
The quick succession of Sonic 4 related events today yielded a wide variety of community reaction that evolved–and improved–as Thursday evening pressed on.
In the two hours following the first press release, concern spread over the rationale for not just delaying a game that leaks showed to be near complete, but for disclosing information much of Sonic fandom already knew.
“This is the news that’s going to make GAF happy?” said NeoGAFer Mama Robotnik, referring to comments Aaron Webber, known as RubyEclipse, made earlier this week in the forum. The cited comment was made amid initial calls this evening to excommunicate Webber for stirring up false hope.
“ So they delay the game in order to have time to make more bad decisions?” added NeoGAFer jman2050.
“Wow..I waited hours today to hear that its delayed and I have to wait longer?” wrote mariosonic in response to The Sonic Stadium’s coverage of the release.
“Is this a troll or not?” asked Sonic Retro forumer SOTI in the research hub’s Sonic 4 discussion thread. “I’m rather disappointed. The trailer shows that they’ve not done fuck all.”
The news was not universally negative during the timeframe, with fans quickly chiming in to accept and, in some cases, embrace the delay. Many were quick to point out Sonic 4 is the first delayed title across the board for the franchise in a while.
“Delay is a good thing,” wrote Sega forumer TGT in a thread called Sonic 4 Delayed thank god !!! “The first episode is going to be the groundwork for the upcoming episodes so it’s important it’s done right.”
“Okay, this delay can either make the game BETTER, or not change anything,” wrote Sonic Retro member Effexor. “If it WASN’T delayed, then it could never have the chance TO improve.”
What was initially a mix of uneasiness, betrayal, and cautious optimism was given a second chance when Webber and Ken Balough went On the Spot in the 7PM hour. Talk of using the extra time to tweak physics, adjust level design, and possibly relegate abhorred gameplay elements like the mine cart in Lost Labyrinth and score attack in Casino Street to the iPhone edition fostered something many fans have not outright witnessed before: A sense of mutual understanding and respect.
After the GameSpot interview, opinion quickly turned more positive, with the occasional gamer locked in steadfast opinion.
“This is the best news to be released since the leak fiasco hit critical mass,” said NeoGAFer Upsidedown Fuji after the interview. “I think there is now more potential for this game to be polished up to make it at least satisfactory [....]. Satisfactory isn’t perfection but it isn’t absolute crap either. Satisfactory is better than whatever we may have received if the game were released as is without any of the fan backlash from the leaked videos.”
“I’m happy that Sega for once is putting quality over money,” wrote Jaouad on the Sonic Stadium Message Board. “This game will be great and in (the) long term it will pay them much more than the current Sonic 4 would have done.”
“I’m ecstatic that SEGA had the BALLS to actually go through with something like this and I really hope this isn’t a once in a lifetime event,” said Sonic Retro forumer XCubed. “I really hope that this process is the start of a new tradition that LASTS.”
Still, after the encouragement gained through the GameSpot Q&A, there remained a few whose opinion could not be stirred.
“I cannot possibly trust (Takashi) Iizuka to do anything meaningful with the extra dev time,” wrote SSMB forumer Masaru Daimon. “The whole game, from what I’ve seen, smacks of laziness, come on, practically 99% of it has been ripped clean from Sonic 1 and 2 with minor changes and bad CG.”
“What was all that about showing us something “we’ve never seen yet” before?” asked Sega forumer Haru-chan in an open letter to Webber on the official boards. “What we got was over half of the same things we’ve already learned at this point with the twist of learning the game is delayed until Q4 2010 and that the iPhone/iPod port has 2 exclusive levels. I mean wow, way to PR it up.”
Perhaps the most relevant and poignant comment of the day came from Cooljerk, the Sonic Retro forumer who clearly understood the purpose of today’s announcements.
“Say what you will about the game, but at least it seems Sega is taking Sonic 4 seriously,” he said.
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Well, opnions are opnions, but it just sounds like people want this game to be bad considering they only have negative stuff to say about it
I was kind of indifferent to the delay. Even after all we’ve seen, I’ve still had a hard time deciding how I feel about the game, as I didn’t really get the chance to play it. I just hope the changes made won’t make the game easier. Some casuals simply want something taken out because they can’t handle it.
@Anonymous: Me too, although I would have thought, what with all the complaints that Sega doesn’t take time with Sonic games, that the delay would satisfy some people (more than they have now).
My only real complaint with the game that it did look like it was going a little too fast, not that that’s a bad thing, you can have fast and still be a good title like the Advance and Rush series. But since this game is more to its roots, and thus does NOT have a boost button, you’ll be running into enemies AND getting hurt by them, perhaps making the game a little more trial and error than it needs to be.
But that’s merely from seeing the footage, I haven’t played so I can’t be to sure if that’s the case. But if it is (and I’m sure a few other bugs or problems would have been present also), then it’s gratifying to know that they’re going to push the release date forward and tweak the game until the problems stop being problems.
I can’t keep silent anymore…
My first post on any forum ever (this will appear on the other main sites too.)
I was born in 1980 & was 11 when I first played Sonic 1 (the year of its release) all thanks to my brother and his Mega Drive. I fell in love with that game & my anticipation for Sonic 2 was what really got me hooked on games & my addiction to games magazines.
Sonic 3 & S&K shaped my favourite year of my life, 1994 (the year I was 14) & S3&K was truly amazing for its time with the lock-on cartridge. For many years I waited for Sonic 4. I played S3D: Flicky’s Island, the Saturn came along & I played Sonic Jam & Sonic R. I cursed Sega for cancelling Sonic X-Treme. Then came the dreamcast & I played Sonic Adventure, Sonic Shuffle, Sonic Adventure 2.
In 2001 when I was 21, Sega started making games for other consoles. I felt so disheartened when I first walked into a games shop & saw Sonic Adventure 2: Battle on the Gamecube. Sonic on a Nintendo console seemed so surreal back then. But I understood that the company needed to make money & that this was the way for them to do it.
On my Fiancée’s Wii (A girl who owns a games console! How times have changed! Though admittedly, I did buy it for her ;D) I’ve played Sonic Unleashed, Sonic & the Secret Rings & both the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic games games.
Plus I’ve played everything in between from Sonic Spinball to Master System & Game Gear Sonic games. Here’s what I know to be true: Sonic game’s only work as 2D side scrolling platformers. No Sonic game that wasn’t a 2D side scrolling platformer on the Mega Drive has ever been any good. Not Ever.
I’ve got boxes & boxes of sonic merchandise in my home from when I was a kid. Most of the thing’s in those boxes I’ve not even been able to find on the internet. I often had my artwork printed in Sonic the Comic & won various Sonic contests. I still have my Sonic t-shirts I won from both times I went on the Sega Bus (great memories.) I was & still am a Sonic fan.
I’m now approaching 30 & have 2 beautiful daughters. Gaming has taken a backseat in my life, though I still play games, they don’t have the same impact they did when I was a kid.
Earlier this year when Sonic 4 was announced I felt like a kid all over again. Finally, the game I thought I’d never see is finally a reality! It brought back all the memories of my childhood when I’d sit in my bedroom for hours ripping the original platformers apart.
So I’ve followed its progress all these months later. I’ve seen all the leaks (& no it doesn’t ruin the game for me. I bought every games mag back in the day watched plenty of footage from TV shows, free VHS tapes ect, but it still didn’t ruin playing the actual game for myself.)
Let’s be honest here, the physics should’ve matched the originals from the start, without the need to now delay the game further. This has only been realised now because of what? The leaks? Kind of ironic don’t you think?
The game doesn’t progress the series like the originals did (which culminated in S&K’s lock-on cart.) It is basically a great looking fan game.
The mine cart level is a Game Gear/Master System gimmick that doesn’t fit in with the Mega Drive series. The rest we’ve all seen before.
What Sega should’ve done for Sonics 20th anniversary was to remake all the classics in HD with the missing levels/idea’s that were lost in time & supplemented that with a retrospective documentary DVD. Then they should’ve moved onto Sonic 4.
The team that created the originals are long gone & no one will be able to get the band back together.
The team responsible for Sonic 4 should’ve been made up of people who knew what they were doing from the start. People like me who grew up with this franchise & others selected from various web sites & others who dedicate their time to this once beloved character.
For month we’ve been listening to Aaron “Rubyeclipse” Webber reassuring us that the people making Sonic 4 are listening to us. Only for it to transpire that Aaron Webber is 21 years old & was 2 when Sonic 1 was released. What does this guy know about how a Sonic game should be made? Not a lot I guess considering it’s now being delayed for ‘improvement’.
The press release was a joke, full of false hope that really revealed nothing that we didn’t already know. Well here’s something else we already know: Sega can’t make good Sonic games anymore & don’t know what their fans really want. Sonic 4 will not be a direct sequel so S&K. It will disappoint, no matter how long it’s delayed.
See ya.
Typical childish pessimistic nonsense.
No! Listen people! I’ve been bearing your terrible coments on Sonic! And now, finally I’m gpnna prove that you morons out there are all wrong!
Listen! For those who are whiny… are spoiled! There was a time in which we used to call this game “Project Needlemouse”, right? And when it was the day before the game was going to reveal it’s real name we were all excited. It turned out to be “Sonic 4″ which was very pleasing. The next day, there was a 3 seconds gameplay that made you hate the game!?!!!!
You idiots whined about Sonic’s appearance! So what if he has green eyes!? How the heck can you complain on it now!? He’s been looking like this for 8 years now! And you said that the sprite looks sluggish, then go tell that to your grandmother! No one wants to hear your whiny tongue!
NOW: SEGA said that they’ll reveal information (You know, the one that’s revealed today) and the day before that you came with your spoiled keyboard and started saying , “SEGA won’t excite me” or “Jesus Christ SEGA” or “What the (h word) SEGA” look if you thought that the information on 20th May is going to be leaks, then why did you see the leaks!? How is it SEGA’s fault that you saw the leaks? If you’re crying that SEGA won’t keep you excited then don’t bark on the internet, proving that you are a sucker!
How is it SEGA’s fault that you saw the leaks? Perhaps if you didn’t see them, you’d be happy today. And what does SEGA know if you’ve seen them? SEGA has to unveil information to millions of gamers around the world, for those who didn’t see the leaks. And SEGA is a company, not just one person, they are much more wise than you and you don’t have any control over them!
Again, this is another reason why SEGA shouldn’t listen to the fans cause 75% are full of bull. Majority of the fans moaned about the floaty jumps and different game mechanics even comparing it to Rush and saying “this game is gonna suck cause this is just Sonic Rush HD”. I’m actually glad SEGA has decided to delay the game to polish it. Does anyone ever remember them doing this before? No.
Now everyone is complaining about the delay…or even disappointed about the announcement? I’m glad SEGA did this, they needed to do this for years.. They are actually listening to the fans and are trying to give you guys want you want, a better Sonic game. The fanbase needs to make up their damn mind. If you want something to be fixed, it is going to take time. Trailer wise, not much content has officially been released by SEGA themselves, if you been patient and avoided the leaks, then most of this should be new to you.
It didn’t even matter if they delayed it anyways, cause it still would’ve sold well. Most if not all downloadable Sonic titles usually do.
This delay sounds promising. I’m glad SEGA went through with it.
Let’s hope they can really improve the game before release.
@crysore
@RGX
I don´t know about other “whinning classic Sonic fans”, but for me this delay it´s an awesome new and I´m looking after the game. If what they say is true (improving gameplay, level design, and not using things like that mine cart level), then I´m truly satisfied.
If you read carefully the comments, whinning fans on the delay are either people who had no problem with the game (so no “whinning classic Sonic fans” there) or people who doesn´t think they´ll do that at all (which hopefully Sega will prove them wrong soon).
For me, it´s the biggest new I could have about this game, and one of the best news coming from Sonic in the last 7 years.
Tristan, could you perhaps remove the swearing, three stars and a letter and we get the gist. I know it’s a quote, but what if my 12 yr old sister, an avid Sonic fan, reads this?
Ohhhh guys
Sega put LOVE on this game
I want buy 999999 original download of game to put more money for sega create a better and better game.
Thanks sega.
Mario Galaxy 2 gets a 10 score in some sites,,, when we see a sonic game with that score?, i dream with that day.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 doesnt deserve it! They all think Mario is the best, but he is not. One day he will fail(And I hope it will be soon enough). Those reviewers are retarted. Does it even has a story? Maybe Mario isnt the worst but he is not even the best. Sonic was living in Mario’s shadow for too long. And one day he will rise and kick up his a**!
Sorry for that. I dont hate Mario, but they all making him the best. And thats what making me pissed. Sonic is better. How do I know it? My feelings. And he have a better stories. Sorry once again for that.
Goddamit, everyone always concentrates on the negative comments from our fanbase, that’s why people look down on us. Even the “few” people that DIDN’T get to play the leaked version say the game was going to be bad! YOU NEVER EVEN GOT TO PLAY THE GAME, AM I THE ONLY PERSON WHO IS 100% EXCITED AND SATISFIED BY THIS NEW SONIC TITLE?! We’re almost as bad as the Final Fantasy fanbase.
All the bashing of this game is ridiculous. As far as the gameplay footage goes, it looks pretty slick. Either way, I like the delay. Some people just will never change, though. Its moronic. I hate it. It almost makes me want to quit being a Sonic fan… except for the fact that I don’t want to because I still enjoy the series.
Mmmm , mario galaxy 2,what … 10?
Copy of mario galaxy,ok,mario galaxy is overrated
Metal Gear 4 is ok with 10/10.
So many things wrong with Truesonicfan1980′s post I can’t even begin to point then out.
■RaveToTheGrave
You are not alone. I loving every Sonic title so far. All of them. Even the new ones. I don´t know what they still doing here and watching those news if they dont want it. Lets see after it comes out.
@JakeyBoy
Such as?
@Truesonicfan1980
While I wasn’t too big a fan of the recent May 20th news, claiming that Ruby doesn’t know a thing because he’s 21 is invalid. Being that age means he /grew up/ with those games. He was still a kid when he played them. That’s the best time frame in which you can /play/ the Sonic classics. No child is sitting outside of a store, waiting for Sonic a release when it first came out. Sonic games were things that had to catch on over a few years. To be able to play those games as a kid, completely unbiased is a blessing. The older and more involved you get in the Sonic community, the more biased you become — this is fact. So claiming that Ruby is too young to know is absurd. If anything, he’s the perfect candidate for this development….I’m just not a fan of how he hyped up some uninteresting news.
Perhaps I’m being too negative on the subject. It’s a good thing that Sega is stepping back and listening to all of the criticism. @Knuckles MetalMind helped me realize this. They actually are looking at what people are saying about the game. Now, whether or not they actually follow through on making some radical changes is yet to be seen. But in the end, this news is good news. Let’s hope for the best. Make your voice heard; Sega is listening.
Yes, it’s your first post on a forum TrueSonicFan, and like all first posts, ESPECIALLY first ever, it’s writhe with newfaggotry.