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[GitarooMan]

I don't like that the character models are so shiny:

It's fur, damn it! Light shouldn't be reflecting off of it!

Seriously, they look like plastic action figures. Whoever said it was a Dreamcast character model was spot on. Who knows though, the actual gameplay may turn out decent...

Here's a more modern looking animal character (Not a great picture, though)

 

[Propagandhim]

Who came up with this idea?
Why is it so hard to get into the game-design industry?

*head explodes*

 

[pieyow]

the reason everyone who owns a motorcycle has.



A small dick.

LOL...nice

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I'm pretty sure Sonic and co. are supposed to have that 'shiny, glossy' appearance. They always have had that look, going all the way back to the Genesis days.

They're cartoon characters, fer gods sake. You wouldn't want a realistically rendered Mickey Mouse would you?

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

I'm pretty sure Sonic and co. are supposed to have that 'shiny, glossy' appearance. They always have had that look, going all the way back to the Genesis days.

They're cartoon characters, fer gods sake. You wouldn't want a realistically rendered Mickey Mouse would you?

Something can be cartoony and detailed at the same time. Funny you should mention mickey, because Kingdom hearts 2 has cartoony characters that look 100 times better than sonic and co.

 

[GitarooMan]

I'm pretty sure Sonic and co. are supposed to have that 'shiny, glossy' appearance. They always have had that look, going all the way back to the Genesis days.

They're cartoon characters, fer gods sake. You wouldn't want a realistically rendered Mickey Mouse would you?

No, but just because it's cartoony doesn't mean the lighting and textures have to be so poor. Here's some other "cartoon" characters with much better texturing and detail

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Something can be cartoony and detailed at the same time. Funny you should mention mickey, because Kingdom hearts 2 has cartoony characters that look 100 times better than sonic and co.

Yeah, no doubt the 3D Sonics could use a graphical facelift.

But I just wanna derail any thought of making Sonic 'furry-ish'. I would not like to see a Sonic game rendered like the screengrab of Conker above shows.

 

[Nickel85]

Is there some kind of underlying racism at work here with Shadow? He's black.

This is really ridiculous!!! I hope it was joke or something else...

 

[shantyman]

Although I think the shine looks stupid, there are animals with a dull shine to their coats, especially horses.

 

[raYne]

Although I think the shine looks stupid, there are animals with a dull shine to their coats, especially horses.

Except he's a hedgehog....

 

[wipeout364]

I think people are over reacting. If you watch the cartoon Mr Robotnik is firng missiles dropping bombs and his robots using lasers and guns. Tails flies fighter planes, I mean Sonic media has not exactly been weapon free rather the opposite.

I am pretty sure you will be shooting mostly robots and monsters I doubt you will be gunning down people a la GTA. I am pretty sure the targets will not explode into pools of blood either.

Firepower has been a big part of the Sonic series, Now its just time for some payback from the hedgehogs baby.

 

[Pimpwerx]

In Sonic's defense, he started off as 16bit 2D character. Naughty Dog dropped Crash b/c they wanted to create something that could do justice the better hardware. Sonic had to make the transition not just to 3D, but to very capable 3D. Not really easy when his design was simplified for sprite animation. I said it a while ago, but at some point, he will have to be dropped as a mascot. That or get a complete visual overhaul in design first. But I'm not sure what more can be done with a solid blue rodent thingy. PEACE.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

In Sonic's defense, he started off as 16bit 2D character. Naughty Dog dropped Crash b/c they wanted to create something that could do justice the better hardware. Sonic had to make the transition not just to 3D, but to very capable 3D. Not really easy when his design was simplified for sprite animation. I said it a while ago, but at some point, he will have to be dropped as a mascot. That or get a complete visual overhaul in design first. But I'm not sure what more can be done with a solid blue rodent thingy. PEACE.

They dropped Sonic as their mascot before. Remember the Saturn? There was a brief stint where 'Bug!' was their mascot.

Of course, that's part of the reason why the Saturn was a massive failure(along with inferior 3D graphics and a $400 price tag).

Sonic games still sell very well today. Without them, Sega wouldn't sell very much of anything. Sonic games aren't as important for the overall gaming industry as they were in the 16-bit days. But for their parent company Sega, they are even MORE imporant today(though with some of their recent output, including the game which this thread is about, you'd think otherwise). And that is why you'll continue to see a steady stream of Sonic output for many years to come. As long as people continue to buy the games, Sega will continue to make them. The same goes for Mario, Tomb Raider, Madden, Tony Hawk, Pokemon, or any other successful franchise.

 

[goodcow]

They dropped Sonic as their mascot before. Remember the Saturn? There was a brief stint where 'Bug!' was their mascot.

Of course, that's part of the reason why the Saturn was a massive failure(along with inferior 3D graphics and a $400 price tag).

Sonic games still sell very well today. Without them, Sega wouldn't sell very much of anything. Sonic games aren't as important for the overall gaming industry as they were in the 16-bit days. But for their parent company Sega, they are even MORE imporant today(though with some of their recent output, including the game which this thread is about, you'd think otherwise). And that is why you'll continue to see a steady stream of Sonic output for many years to come. As long as people continue to buy the games, Sega will continue to make them. The same goes for Mario, Tomb Raider, Madden, Tony Hawk, Pokemon, or any other successful franchise.

Bug was never their mascot, that was made by SOA, and we all know SOJ never respected them, so you can't even consider that.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Bug was never their mascot, that was made by SOA, and we all know SOJ never respected them, so you can't even consider that.

Yeah, part of Sega's eventual fall from grace was due to the fact that SOA and SOJ could never see eye to eye. Actually, Sega of America did consider Bug! to be their mascot during the first few years of the Saturn. Right up until the time Nights was released. I'm not sure how successful Bug! was in Japan, but I can imagine not very much so.

 

[J2 Cool]

And another thing. Is there some kind of underlying racism at work here with Shadow? He's black. Ok, so did they just HAPPEN to give him a gun and fancy sneakers or what? I remember that VGCats comic a while back where they joked about changing the rings to "bling bling" and telling Shadow that he was going to collect watermelons for health.

:lol No, black's always stood for dark side and white for light side. Terminator wears black in the bar in T2, he's just supposed to be bad ass. It's a 'cool' factor. That's why his bike's black. I don't think his bike's a bad person. It just gets him from place to place.

 

[goodcow]

Yeah, part of Sega's eventual fall from grace was due to the fact that SOA and SOJ could never see eye to eye. Actually, Sega of America did consider Bug! to be their mascot during the first few years of the Saturn. Right up until the time Nights was released. I'm not sure how successful Bug! was in Japan, but I can imagine not very much so.

Well, while SOA might've seen Bug! as their mascott, the fact is, SOJ was, as you said, doing their own thing, and they had the purse strings anyway. Had the two been able to actually cooperate, their tremendous fuck-up of the 32X and Saturn could've been greatly lessened, and they very well could've still been in the hardware business today.

Doesn't every branch of Sega now have a Japanese CEO? The Japanese side has seemingly never been able to run things properly.

 

[goodcow]

:lol No, black's always stood for dark side and white for light side. Terminator wears black in the bar in T2, he's just supposed to be bad ass. It's a 'cool' factor. That's why his bike's black. I don't think his bike's a bad person. It just gets him from place to place.

His bike touched me.

 

[Pimpwerx]

They dropped Sonic as their mascot before. Remember the Saturn? There was a brief stint where 'Bug!' was their mascot.

Of course, that's part of the reason why the Saturn was a massive failure(along with inferior 3D graphics and a $400 price tag).

Sonic games still sell very well today. Without them, Sega wouldn't sell very much of anything. Sonic games aren't as important for the overall gaming industry as they were in the 16-bit days. But for their parent company Sega, they are even MORE imporant today(though with some of their recent output, including the game which this thread is about, you'd think otherwise). And that is why you'll continue to see a steady stream of Sonic output for many years to come. As long as people continue to buy the games, Sega will continue to make them. The same goes for Mario, Tomb Raider, Madden, Tony Hawk, Pokemon, or any other successful franchise.

Saturn? What's that? Good point though. But jeez, he needs a major overhaul before moving to the next-gen. Like have a CG artist sit down and produce a new 3D model for Sonic that looks...well...better than what we see here. This was fine for Sonic Adventures on the DC. I don't know if it cuts it for the 360/PS3. The bgs, otoh, are fine. I liked what they did with the first SA, which is the last Sonic game I've played. PEACE.

 

[J2 Cool]

His bike touched me.

You shouldn't have spread your legs then! He's only HUMAN!

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I agree with that. Sonic Adventure 1 wasn't even that great in itself. It was good for first generation software(I mean, REALLY first generation software), but it's time has passed.

If they are to do another fully 3D Sonic(A mistake in my opinion. The series is best suited for 2D gameplay), they do need a completely built-from-the-ground up engine. No more shoddy camera work, useless RPG elements, dodgy platforming, crappy homing attacks, and poor textures/lighting. And ditch the sidekicks, please.

I really dig the way the new title for the DS is turning out, with it's 2D/3D gameplay. It stays 2D when the action is fast, to keep up the pace, and when its time to slow down(Boss battles), it shifts to a semi-3D environment. I'd like to see this done on a console game, but done on a much larger scale.

 

[goodcow]

You shouldn't have spread your legs then! He's only HUMAN!

It needed some air.

 

[Mooreberg]

Don't judge the game with these screens. It will be as beautiful and good as Sonic Heroes!

:lol $50 saved

 

[FortNinety]

And it looks like Sega is going to lengths to make sure people don't mistake this as a kid's game, based on some movies I've seen of it (one video shows a CG movie of his buddy

Spoiler

Maria

getting wasted by soldiers)

Umm... they were pushed that game super hard on us at Nick Mag, plus they are going for an E+ rating, so they actually are trying to market it as a kid's game.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

This game better not get an E-rating.

 

[Pimpwerx]

And ditch the sidekicks, please.

NOOOOOOOOOOO! Tails rocks! They can ditch everyone else though, but damn, Tails has to stay. He's part of the reason Sonic2 is my favorite game in the series. I know that's blasphemy to some, but hey, I love me some Tails. PEACE.

 

[belgurdo]

Little update-some CGs

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Bokkun/dark_lord.jpg

big alien-maybe the Black Arms leader?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Bokkun/dooms_eye.jpg

Doom's Eye thing seen from preview movies

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Bokkun/sonic_in_shadow.jpg

Sonic. He seems to have lost his Adventure restyling a little

http://media.cube.ign.com/media/734/734824/vids_1.html

Gameplay movies-looks like he has other Sonic characters for backup

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Little update-some CGs

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Bokkun/dark_lord.jpg

big alien-maybe the Black Arms leader?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Bokkun/dooms_eye.jpg

Doom's Eye thing seen from preview movies

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Bokkun/sonic_in_shadow.jpg

Sonic. He seems to have lost his Adventure restyling a little

He doesn't look deranged, at least.

Still, they need to do away with the green eyes. He looked fine with plain black eyes. And also, make his spines shorter and sharper looking. They're not fins. Not just because it looks better...but also because there will be less of a chance of finding horrid Sonic fan artwork that take the style too seriously. The less anime influence, the better. Take this 'gem' for example:

 

[Lazy8s]

The Dreamcast models gained some depth from the self-shadowing.

 

[Barrage]

No, but just because it's cartoony doesn't mean the lighting and textures have to be so poor. Here's some other "cartoon" characters with much better texturing and detail

Goofy looks either high or doing a very mean imitation of an asian person.

 

[Beowvlf]

Someone needs to walk up to Yuji Naka with a copy of Sonic CD and Klonoa 2, duct tape them together, and beat the living shit out of him with it. Oh, and while they're at it, find the President of Sega Sammy or whatever, and do the same thing except this time with a PSP and a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga.

Seriously, Sega is such a laughably awful run company, it's almost sad. No wait, it is sad.

 

[belgurdo]

Someone needs to walk up to Yuji Naka with a copy of Sonic CD and Klonoa 2, duct tape them together, and beat the living shit out of him with it. Oh, and while they're at it, find the President of Sega Sammy or whatever, and do the same thing except this time with a PSP and a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga.

Seriously, Sega is such a laughably awful run company, it's almost sad. No wait, it is sad.

Thanks for your brilliant and news packed post

 

[Beowvlf]

Thanks for your brilliant and news packed post

It's hard truth, any way you slice it.

 

[D-X]

Did everyone hate Shadow when he first appeared or is it just since he had a gun? And on a different subject how do you control the second character? Like Heroes?

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Did everyone hate Shadow when he first appeared or is it just since he had a gun? And on a different subject how do you control the second character? Like Heroes?

I think it's just the gun. Shadow himself is cool. He's the only decent addition to the character roster since Knuckles first appeared. Edit: Scratch that E-102 Gamma was great as well, but the rest, bleh.

Although everyone else says it, I'd be a bit put out by a Sonic game that was just Sonic, and didn't have Tails, Knuckles and (now) Shadow in some form. Amy, Big and the 60 other reject animal designs can all burn in hell for all I care though. I'd still like to see more E-102 Gamma ('cause his story in SA1 was just so emotional and beautiful, especially the ending) but he'd not exactly necessary.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

On Shadow:

Actually, I'm not too fond of his character. When I first heard about the 'evil dark hedgehog' character before Sonic Adventure 2 came out, I was a bit excited. Finally, a nice rival for Sonic!

Too bad they went and made him yet another 'friendly' rival. Sonic already has one of these in Knuckles, we don't need another character who fills the same role. I wanted Shadow to be an evil character and work for Dr. Robotnik.


So he's pretty much an anti-hero now. Who's gothy. And weilds a pistol. And yes, he smoulders with generic rage.

 

[mj1108]

Did everyone hate Shadow when he first appeared or is it just since he had a gun? And on a different subject how do you control the second character? Like Heroes?

I remember when it the title was first revealed and the gun was shown and the haterade that commenced. It's definitely the gun.

 

[raYne]

Did everyone hate Shadow when he first appeared or is it just since he had a gun? And on a different subject how do you control the second character? Like Heroes?

As stated, it's the gun. No one really had a problem with him in SA2 'cept for the fact that he rollerblades... at super speed!

:lol

 

[D-X]

It's strange how people think that because Shadow's black that he's a animal representation of a black person or that he's a goth. The correct answer is neither. Traditionally black is associated with night and therefore the danger of what is hidden within it. Oh and the other clue is his name, Shadow. Does anyone really think that when Sonic Team were designing Shadow they were influenced by black or goth culture?

As for the guns it's a misguided way to add maturity to the series but I'd rather have Shadow [tired catchphrase]smouldering generic rage[/tired catchphrase] than Cream screeching "Mr Big can do it!"

As for Shadow taking a similar role to Knuckles, well it seems this game will allow you to choose whether to go down that route. Most likely you will play both scenarios then one final scenario where all the characters join forces etc etc.

That latest video looks like the controls have been tightened and the Chaos Control zoom looks even better although the early bit looked a bit shifty.

Plus at least thay have the best voice artist in the series doing the lead role.

 

[shantyman]

Except he's a hedgehog....

I was responding to those who said animals fur never shines.

I said it looked dumb, what else do you want man?

 

[raYne]

I was responding to those who said animals fur never shines.

I said it looked dumb, what else do you want man?

Calm down man I wasn't directing anything towards you. I was simply saying that since he's a hedgehog he shouldn't be "shining" in the first place. I thought that was easy to see coupled with what I quoted.

 

[Ranger X]

Am i the only one shocked by this game? Is it because of my nostalgy of Genesis's Sonic games that i hate this title so much? How can this game look and BE so bad?
I can't believe this bullcrap. It's one of the most awfull Sega effort ever. (holy the word "effort" can't even apply)

 

[Instigator]

Am i the only one shocked by this game? Is it because of my nostalgy of Genesis's Sonic games that i hate this title so much? How can this game look and BE so bad?
I can't believe this bullcrap. It's one of the most awfull Sega effort ever. (holy the word "effort" can't even apply)

I suspect you liked the Dreamcast Sonic games a bit so it's not like Sonic going 3D is the problem. There have been Sonic spin-offs before, but this Shadow game appears to be the most high-profile and quite frankly, the game is an insult, more so than Sonic Heroes ever was.

And on DC, Sega could not get away with releasing lazy ports or bad Sonic games like Sonic Shuffle, but on NGC, it seems they can.

 

[DECK'ARD]

I'm sure the rumoured next-gen Sonic unveiling at TGS will make the pain of Shadow go away ...

 

[Ranger X]

I suspect you liked the Dreamcast Sonic games a bit so it's not like Sonic going 3D is the problem. There have been Sonic spin-offs before, but this Shadow game appears to be the most high-profile and quite frankly, the game is an insult, more so than Sonic Heroes ever was.

And on DC, Sega could not get away with releasing lazy ports or bad Sonic games like Sonic Shuffle, but on NGC, it seems they can.

I've been deceived by Sonic games (not spin-off, i don't care about them) starting with Dreamcast's Sonic Adventure. Never played a good Sonic game since Sonic3+Knuckles locked on.

Sonic Adventure was not crap but it wasn't great. I'm even shy to call it "good". Clearly over-rated as far as i am concerned.