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Sonic Boom review copies not being sent out; SEGA forcing journos to buy their own

OnionPowder said:
wtf?
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VictoriousKnobbyHornet.gif


Here we clip again!
 
Sega are generously giving the reviewers the full consumer experience.

Now they can feel as ripped off as we do.
 
SwiftDeath said:
I have to assume this move by Sega is to try and limit the visibility of the game amongst media outlets so as to lessen any potential tarnishing of the brand for future games because I can't seriously believe Sega expects it to sell strongly on the Wii U and thus that some significant portion of sales would be at risk from notably lower reviews.
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Pretty much this. The game is pretty much awful from what I have seen (8 hours of a stream, the guy was deliberately having fun with glitches), and there are two non-exclusive possibilities out there:
  • either Sega knew pretty early what mess is this gonna be and used it to bail out from the Nintendo exclusive deal after Lost World's poor sales and reception (it appears that Lost World was miles better);
  • or they actually didn't expect such a trainwreck, but by now they're completely aware what it is they want it to be forgotten as quickly as possible.

The probability of it being started to finish off that deal is pretty low though, since some of you analyzed early footage to be running on something more powerful than a Wii U.
 
All said and done, I can see myself buying this just for the hell of it (and Richard Jacques tunes) when it inevitably sells for £5 soon.

jmdajr said:
When was the last A+ sonic on a console?
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As a dedicated Sonic fan, I'd say that there have only ever been two A+ Sonic games, those being the first two Mega Drive titles. Everything else has either ranged from merely very competent to awful.

Sonic Adventure and Lost World have gotten closest imo, but they still have their share of indefensible jank.

th4tguy said:
Hard to believe this is made by ex naughty dog guys
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Seems pretty par for the course to me.
 
Neff said:
All said and done, I can see myself buying this just for the hell of it (and Richard Jacques tunes) when it inevitably sells for £5 soon.



As a dedicated Sonic fan, I'd say that there have only ever been two A+ Sonic games, those being the first two Mega Drive titles. Everything else has either ranged from merely very competent to awful.
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Sonic CD, Sonic 3 are cannon
 
I don't really see this as being an odd move at this point as this reboot is clearly targeted at kids and isn't the type of game that most sites cover these days. Not that it should fully excuse it.

I'm sure Sega is well aware of how bad the game has turned out as well.
 
Kosma said:
Sonic CD, Sonic 3 are cannon
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Sonic CD is cool, but not very well designed, and turns into a very un-Sonic-esque thimble hunt if you want to perfect the game. Its best feature is the music by far, at least in the JP/EU versions.

Sonic 3, and Sonic & Knuckles with it, both have some nice sections but are generally unsatisfactorily unfinished and grossly overrated.
 
Neff said:
Sonic CD is cool, but not very well designed, and turns into a very un-Sonic-esque thimble hunt if you want to perfect the game. Its best feature is the music by far, at least in the JP/EU versions.

Sonic 3, and Sonic & Knuckles with it, both have some nice sections but are generally unsatisfactorily unfinished and grossly overrated.
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Sonic CD is a change in pace but has more emphasis on platforming.

Sonic 3 was a great game but unfinished while Sonic and Knuckles was the first ever DLC for a console...

Hell Sonic Spinball was immense! I loved that game. Sonic R as well...

Last Sonic Game I bought was Sonic Adventure, I have been too afraid to play a modern Sonic game...
 
So? I don't get the problem with this. As long as we know it when stuff like this happens we can always react to it. First step: Wait for the reviews, videos, opinions here on GAF. Someone's gonna buy it and communicate their impressions. Sega didn't want to have reviewers criticizing their game before release. That's their decision. Our decision now is to valuate that move and think about the reasons. Those are pretty easy to grasp. So again, I don't get the problem. This is a business after all.
 
Instead of investing money in crappy Sonic games they should use the money for bringing the PS4 Yakuza games to the west.
Those are quality games and would bring in some cash, right? Or are Sonic games huge in sales? Even if they were, I can't believe they are making a return on the Wii U game.

Sometimes publishers are a big mystery to me.
 
Gonzo The Great said:
I don't always take reviews as gospel, but it's never a good sign when the publisher isn't confident enough allow early reviews.
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In this case it's pretty obvious that the game is utter garbage, everything shown of it suggests it, so I guess they've just given up on it and don't want to waste more resources on sending out review copies.
 
oti xero said:
As long as we know it when stuff like this happens we can always react to it. First step: Wait for the reviews, videos, opinions here on GAF. Someone's gonna buy it and communicate their impressions. Sega didn't want to have reviewers criticizing their game before release. That's their decision. Our decision now is to valuate that move and think about the reasons. Those are pretty easy to grasp. So again, I don't get the problem. This is a business after all.
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The problem is that a lot of uninformed or unaware people either go out and get it day-one without seeing any impressions (and not knowing if the game is worth the money they paid) or they rely on early reviews/impressions to influence their decisions. GAF doesn't represent every consumer out there, despite how notable it is.

It's easy to say "Sega didn't want to have reviewers criticizing their game". Next time they'll think about that when (just like AC: Unity) review outlets begin refusing embargos because of arrogant publishers.

Just because it's a business, doesn't make their games (early reviews or not) exempt from criticism.
 
I run a super small site, not a ton of hits, but I do it for love.
I've always been perfectly fine with buying copies to review. The worst issue is when you're "Too small" to get a review copy. Like, I have no issue paying for a copy to review if I can get it a bit early and still have an embargo period, etc. Nobody really cares about reviews once a title launches until it releases in another region.

Mini-rant aside, Can't help but feel SEGA knew this was going down. It's been clear the TV show is the focus for a while. Toys are based from the show, etc. I'll still probably pick up a copy to review, since it seems next-to-nobody is giving it an actual fair chance.
 
SEGA trying to fight their way into the triple threat main event with EA and Ubisoft.

But I guess not giving people this garbage is actually a good thing? So good job SEGA?
 
crazyrabbits said:
The problem is that a lot of uninformed or unaware people either go out and get it day-one without seeing any impressions (and not knowing if the game is worth the money they paid) or they rely on early reviews/impressions to influence their decisions. GAF doesn't represent every consumer out there, despite how notable it is.

It's easy to say "Sega didn't want to have reviewers criticizing their game". Next time they'll think about that when (just like AC: Unity) review outlets begin refusing embargos because of arrogant publishers.

Just because it's a business, doesn't make their games (early reviews or not) exempt from criticism.
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So OK, some consumers will be burnt out by poor quality . That's just the way it is. They'll learn their lesson and wait for the first reviews from now on or won't buy any Sonic games or video games altogether anymore. I'm not saying what Sega did here was smart. Consumers should be able to know whether a product is worth their money or not before they spend 60€. I'm just saying Sega should not be forced to let everybody know their product is bad. They decided to do this, they are going to face the consequences of their behaviour. I just don't think that Publishers "owe" us to send out review copies etc. We should take this piece of information and use it for future reference.
 
Tomeru said:
I wish every publisher would do this. Would shake things up quite a bit I think, and for the better.
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Please explain in detail how. It basically means absolutely no one on day one (or week one) knows any details about any game before buying them except what was force fed to them by the game dev's PR. There is absolutely no benefit to anyone except the publisher because they get to sell a shit game without getting called on it until the frontloaded sales are already gone (and generally speaking refunds for a shit game are not a thing that happens).

mattmagician said:
I run a super small site, not a ton of hits, but I do it for love.
I've always been perfectly fine with buying copies to review. The worst issue is when you're "Too small" to get a review copy. Like, I have no issue paying for a copy to review if I can get it a bit early and still have an embargo period, etc. Nobody really cares about reviews once a title launches until it releases in another region.
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This is another important thing. "free games" is the least important aspect of not giving out review copies. Most reviewers are working for a site for whom $60 per release is a pittance anyway. The delay is the problem.
 
The movie industry does this all the time when shit films don't have press screenings.

It's not a videogame industry specific issue.
 
In Spain at least, the company that sent the Sonic Lost Worlds code was not Sega, but Nintendo. Sega is not present in Spain (they release their games through Koch Media), so it makes sense.
 
kirblar said:
They both indicate lack of confidence. If you're confident, there isn't an issue letting the embargo die a day or two before release. Same exact pattern here as with movies.
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I disagree to a degree, on the day 1 embargo's I think it was Totalbiscuit that made a point that day one embargo's can also be used to remind people that the game is being released that day, rather than it being reviewed a week in advance and then forgotten when it's released, however saying that, that really applies to low key games that don't get plastered on the TV for months in advance, which probably applies to Sonic or maybe not because of the cartoon.
 
I dunno why, but this looks so bad I want to play it and have Michael Nelson from MST3K commentate me playing.
 
Steroyd said:
I disagree to a degree, on the day 1 embargo's I think it was Totalbiscuit that made a point that day one embargo's can also be used to remind people that the game is being released that day, rather than it being reviewed a week in advance and then forgotten when it's released, however saying that, that really applies to low key games that don't get plastered on the TV for months in advance, which probably applies to Sonic or maybe not because of the cartoon.
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They actually pushed the release date of the games up to coincide the release of the show.

On an unrelated note, it's a strange world to be in when we have Pac Man and the Ghostly Adventures - 1 and 2 - being better games than the Sonic Boom duology.
 
Neff said:
As a dedicated Sonic fan, I'd say that there have only ever been two A+ Sonic games, those being the first two Mega Drive titles. Everything else has either ranged from merely very competent to awful.

Sonic Adventure and Lost World have gotten closest imo, but they still have their share of indefensible jank.
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As a not Sonic fan, Generations was awesome. Easily A+ material. I don't know why that game gets no respect.

In any case, the great thing about not being a big sonic fan is how easy it is to skip this Boom crap and wait for a decent sonic game to come along. At least until I get that 3D platformer itch and remember no one else even trys to make those games anymore.
 
I wonder how Nintendo feel about this, they get a deal for a few exclusive Sonic-games, and then they all end up sucking. Should be pretty pissed on Sega now, right?
 
Foffy said:
On an unrelated note, it's a strange world to be in when we have Pac Man and the Ghostly Adventures - 1 and 2 - being better games than the Sonic Boom duology.
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If you mean Wii U, I agree.
However, the 3DS version of Pac-Man is pretty bland and Shattered Crystal easily beats it.

zferolie said:
I tried the demo for the 3DS one... and really not sure how I feel about it... its... different. Odd. Not as sonic like. And I don't mean speed. it feels more like a collectation then a sonic game. But nothing looked broken and I am sure it's not a terrible game.
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Pretty much I see it as a take on if you tried to put Sonic Heroes in Yoshi's Island type of gameplay.
Once you get past the idea of it being a Sonic game, Shattered Crystal is pretty fun.

Sadly I am trying to give Rise the benefit of the doubt, but it is so boring.
 
Hmm. Been a big fan of sonic over the years.... the boom games were the first ones I never got excited for when I first saw them.. Ok second. Black knight was the first.

I tried the demo for the 3DS one... and really not sure how I feel about it... its... different. Odd. Not as sonic like. And I don't mean speed. it feels more like a collectation then a sonic game. But nothing looked broken and I am sure it's not a terrible game.

The wii U one... oh man. I have been looking at that an it just looks unfinished, rushed, and broken, The voices... "YUM I LOVE ME SOME RINGS' "Better get some rings!" 'I can break this" Over, and over AND OVER!!! That alone is not making me want to buy this. Which is a shame because I would like to play as Amy.

As for the right to advanced review copies. There is no right for that. Publishers do this for movies, games, and books, only to help drive sales. If they don't think it would, they don't do it. It's all business to them.

As for past good sonic games... am I the only one who REALLY liked Sonic heroes? I thought the idea was awesome, and one of the very few sonic 3D games that had a great mix of platforming and speed with multiple routes for you to take... I just wished the different teams got some different levels... I would love to have a Sonic Heroes 2.
 
TheSlySoul said:
If you mean Wii U, I agree.
However, the 3DS version of Pac-Man is pretty bland and Shattered Crystal easily beats it.


Pretty much I see it as a take on if you tried to put Sonic Heroes in Yoshi's Island type of gameplay.
Once you get past the idea of it being a Sonic game, Shattered Crystal is pretty fun.

Sadly I am trying to give Rise the benefit of the doubt, but it is so boring.
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Now that you mention it it does have a very yoshi's island feel. I guess I was going in with the wrong mindset.

Sadly I got to hold off on this game to christmas... I promised myself after Toad, smash, pokemon, and Tales of hearts. I am not buying anything for a while. Have a huge backlog of games I need to beat... I'll add that game though to my list as one of the few chirstmas games
 
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