Sonic Boom announced (Wii U/3DS)

[ElectricAngel]

Speaking of Sonic's speed, looking at the trailer and developer interview his speed looks very Lost World-ish. What I mean by that is, in the short one second we see of the hub and the fighting scenes in the trailer, it looks like Sonic and co. have a base running speed. Then we see them running real fast with a streak behind them in the trailer. I hope the game isn't like Lost World with the "speed tiers" and is more like Unleashed, Generations and Adventure where you gain speed over time as you run as opposed to having fixed speeds. I know we still have very little footage so I'm hoping Lost World speed tiers won't be the case. From what I played in the Lost World demo on 3DS, although the tiers work, I would like a bit more freedom on how I manipulate Sonic's speed like in previous titles.

[Enesephus]

That was only in UnWiished actually but was added to Generations.

The dash pad spin? Yeah, I only ever got to play the SD version of Unleashed.

[ImPantsAtThis]

I just want to say something that's been on my mind recently.

 

I think we can all agree that Boom is being used to try and bring Sonic back into the public eye, at least in the west. The hope seems to be that they can inspire a new generation of Sonic fans by putting the blue dude in as many media as possible. At the same time, they're also marketing it as a fresh direction for the series; this appeals to those who became disillusioned with or didn't care about the series because they thought it was getting stale.

 

Now, the hard part for making anything for an IP with a fanbase as loyal as Sonic's is getting it past the 'old' fans. They tend to be the loudest when something shows a series they love in a bad light, or a big change is made -- look at Colonial Marines for the former, and MGS V having Kiefer Sutherland instead of David Hayter for the latter. If the Sonic fan stereotype is anything to go by (we all know it isn't though), then backlash would surely be something tangible for the Boom teams to fear. Despite this, most popular and fan reaction to Boom has been quite positive, with many accepting that it is a parallel universe and finding things to enjoy, even though there are things they can't get around like Knuckles. Think about it: on reveal day, many were going batcrap crazy over the designs, saying "Nope, I'm out" and all that. But you don't even see that hardly anymore. Even on YouTube, people are optimistic about this. It's a good sign if even the melodramatic reactionaries over there don't mind it.

 

What I find the most interesting is how this is being pitched to the fanbase though. I mean, firstly we have Frostman popping in the forums occasionally, giving us interesting and exciting teases and tidbits, and you have these interviews and behind the scenes videos where the crew and staff talk about how much they love Sonic, what their favourite is (for everyone it's Sonic 1? Okay) and they show the voice cast having fun. Then, it comes to talking about the game, and everyone focuses on talking about how it's story-based, with supporting characters getting bigger roles and characters having less irritating traits, such as Amy.

 

It overwhelmingly feels like SEGA are trying to convince us, the fans, that they know what they're doing. That this will feature things people have wanted for ages -- like multiple characters -- because this is the new direction they're going. That it won't be Sonic in name only. That this vision for Sonic falls in line with fan desires. It's almost as if they want us to look and go "Wow, they're getting their act together".

 

I'm impressed that they're putting this much effort into convincing us, to be honest. It shows how much they respect the fans if they're putting on an early preview campaign that shows the dev team and producers as skilled, retro, invested Sonic fans who want the same things we do without getting rid of SEGASonic. Almost too good to be true, in a sense.

 

I can't tell if all of this is as legit as they say, but I hope it is.

[ElectricAngel]

I think we can all agree that Boom is being used to try and bring Sonic back into the public eye, at least in the west. The hope seems to be that they can inspire a new generation of Sonic fans by putting the blue dude in as many media as possible. At the same time, they're also marketing it as a fresh direction for the series; this appeals to those who became disillusioned with or didn't care about the series because they thought it was getting stale.

Yes, absolutely. A lot of people I know here and in person got introduced to Sonic via a TV show. Sonic Boom can introduce many kids today to the blue hedgehog. The comic reboot is also welcoming in new fans, so you can definitely tell SEGA is trying to make Sonic a household name again and a proud icon as opposed to something the Internet loves making fun of.

 

It overwhelmingly feels like SEGA are trying to convince us, the fans, that they know what they're doing. That this will feature things people have wanted for ages -- like multiple characters -- because this is the new direction they're going. That it won't be Sonic in mane only. That this vision for Sonic falls in line with fan desires. It's almost as if they want us to look and go "Wow, they're getting their act together".

 

I'm impressed that they're putting this much effort into convincing us, to be honest. It shows how much they respect the fans if they're putting on an early preview campaign that shows the dev team and producers as skilled, retro, invested Sonic fans who want the same things we do without getting rid of SEGASonic. Almost too good to be true, in a sense.

I believe what SEGA is doing with the whole parallel universe is trying to experiment with the fanbase. You see, with Sonic Boom, we're getting what fans have been asking for. And since this is a new branch, they can easily explore with more freedom and drastically change the formula from what we've been used to. I think we were getting boost type games and oddities like Lost World because SoJ believed this was the right way to portray Sonic. The fact that this is a western developed product for western audiences shows that they are listening to fan feedback and are trying to give us what we want. I honestly think if the franchise didn't decide to branch like this, we'd just have the same old Sonic only, characters kept to a minimum type of games for a while. And I'll be honest, I'm impressed SEGA is putting so much effort and money into this project as if they are really confident that "The Year of Sonic" will be a huge success. If it's going to be anything like "The Year of Luigi" then I'm sure we're gonna see Sonic become a much more talked about subject. And I'm perfectly fine with that.

[Willsy]

A little bit of new info...

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=802428

While the gameplay shown so far doesn't look exactly like any one Sonic game, it conjures up memories of two of the strongest titles from the 'hog's recent past: Sonic Adventure for its diverse ground-burrowing, monkey swinging, tail-propelling, multi-character gameplay and Sonic Heroes for the fact that several characters are on-screen at the same time and must be used together to progress. Quite how you'll switch between them remains to be seen, but the three-character mechanic of Sonic Heroes was one of that game's greatest strengths, resulting in impressive and devastating displays of spiny attacks at a moment's notice. It's probably no coincidence that both those games appeared on GameCube; this is a Nintendo fan's Sonic title and no mistake.

Interestingly, it's not the standard version of CryEngine 3 used here, but one that has been enhanced by the team. According to Rafei, the technology's usual spec can't traditionally do split-screen gaming, yet Sonic Boom will feature a twin split-screen display, one on the TV screen and the other on the GamePad. "We worked in close contact with [CryEngine creator] Crytek in Germany," explains Rafei, "and the team there is pretty excited about that as well. In the end, it was simply the right choice for the project."

Player 1 will be on the gamepad, player 2 will be on the TV.

[FriendBot]

A little bit of new info...

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=802428

Player 1 will be on the gamepad, player 2 will be on the TV.

 

So like Lost World's multiplayer, sounds alright.

 

And it uses concepts from Adventure and Heroes?

 

Sounds great to me!

Edited April 15, 2014 by Soni

[Dizcrybe]

nvm 

[MegasonicZX]

Oh man its about time somebody started seeing the potential in heroes' gameplay, I'm so glad that they're taking inspiration from that one since I really liked the team mechanic in it (and its also my favorite of the adventure era so thats a nice bonus )

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Heres the full official nintendo magizine article

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/57651/previews/sonic-boom-preview/?page=1

[DarkLight]

Oh goodie, the guy whined about Nack, Rouge, and Cream being actual characters that exist and the whole 'Robotnik VS Eggman' like it it should still matter.

[ImPantsAtThis]

Heres the full official nintendo magizine article

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/57651/previews/sonic-boom-preview/?page=1

 

There is so much anti-Sonic bias in that article it's not even funny.

[PSI Wind]

It's ONM. Do you expect any better? 

[Badnik Mechanic]

So I was just looking at this image again and I noticed something really odd abut it.

 

 

Take a look at the logo behind the guy. And zoom in.

 

It doesn't say Sonic Boom. It says something else. 

 

The top word is Sonic. But the second word isn't Boom. I can't quite make it out but it looks like the first two letters are S Y. Anyone with some mad photoshop skillz able to enhance/enlarge that? 

 

Also heres another odd thing. Anyone noticed the PS4 and Xbox controllers in the background?

[Komodin]

Heres the full official nintendo magizine article

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/57651/previews/sonic-boom-preview/?page=1

 

Eh, at least the article is somewhat informational. The digs against the supporting cast and Robotnik/Eggman were kinda dumb and unnecessary, though.

[PSI Wind]

So I was just looking at this image again and I noticed something really odd abut it.

 

 

Take a look at the logo behind the guy. And zoom in.

 

It doesn't say Sonic Boom. It says something else. 

 

The top word is Sonic. But the second word isn't Boom. I can't quite make it out but it looks like the first two letters are S Y. Anyone with some mad photoshop skillz able to enhance/enlarge that? 

 

Also heres another odd thing. Anyone noticed the PS4 and Xbox controllers in the background?

Most likely it was the working title and before Nintendo stepped in, it was in development for X1/PS4. I'm more interested in the Sonic life icon shortcut on the desktop.

[Willsy]

I can see an Xbox One console in the background too. Maybe Boom is just a timed exclusive?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

SO it appears likely that the sequels will be multi-platform. Either that, or it's just one of their typical work spaces which just so happens to have all the consoles in it; which in that case, would just make it a random coincidence.

[ImPantsAtThis]

SO it appears likely that the sequels will be multi-platform. Either that, or it's just one of their typical work spaces which just so happens to have all the consoles in it; which in that case, would just make it a random coincidence.

 

I don't know; the whole room seems like a very deliberately set up space. I doubt Boom would get a sequel considering it's a tie-in. For the life of me, I can't work out why there's an Xbone there.

[Willsy]

Here's also a PS4 (dev kit?) in there I believe. Though I could be wrong.

I dunno, maybe they're also helping Sonic Team with their next game?

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Or, Or, this is just a big guess, but they are an independent, and rather well based third part developer who have several backup projects in development, you really dont think they would put al,l their eggs in one basket do you? more likely than not they have a team or two getting acclimated to those consoles for whatever they are working on next, just in case

[ImPantsAtThis]

Doubt it'd be set up right next to a big ol' mounted TV with a Sonic logo on though.

[sonfan1984]

Oh goodie, the guy whined about Nack, Rouge, and Cream being actual characters that exist and the whole 'Robotnik VS Eggman' like it it should still matter.

 

These guys can't write a Sonic preview without picking on other Sonic characters in some way, shape or form no matter how shoehorned and unnecessary it is (seriously why is this guy picking on Nack who hasn't made an appearance in a Sonic game for over 15 years anyway? ).  

 

Honestly I hope those characters do appear in the Boom series. All those characters has a lot of potential to be awesome characters if treated right like they're doing with Amy. Also, if this guy thinks this game will only star the 'pure oldschool' characters then boy is he wrong.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Doubt it'd be set up right next to a big ol' mounted TV with a Sonic logo on though.

Because its a conference room? In which they do all updates and presentations, and need to be able to do any of them in there and do gameplay examples and concepts, and show off progress

[ImPantsAtThis]

Because its a conference room? In which they do all updates and presentations, and need to be able to do any of them in there and do gameplay examples and concepts, and show off progress

 

I get that, but I dunno man, the whole room looks like it was set up for the interview. They moved the board of character concepts in, for example, since I doubt they keep it there all the time, so why wouldn't they get rid the other stuff? If you're going to change the room around, you'd do it properly.

[Willsy]

Maybe Sonic Boom 2: Even More Sportstape has begun development?