Sonic 30th predictions

[Zaysho]

29 minutes ago, Salamander said:

With the success of the recent Mega Man and Castlevania legacy collections, it wouldn't be extraordinary for SEGA to think the time was right for (another) Sonic equivalent - and if they could bundle in some of the less often rereleased titles then it would clearly distinguish itself from just the usual classic rereleases.  Granted, I think I've already played all the ones I'm actually particularly interested in playing, but games like the early Dimps titles have historically not been all that accessible and it's reasonable to think they might have some pull.

The Dimps games were rereleased on the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan, but presumably weren't done in the West due to publishing rights issues with THQ (at least so I've heard from other speculation). I would like to see something like a GBA collection though. Personal ideal is Advance 1-3, Battle and Pinball Party, maybe with options of an upgraded, not garbage sounding version of the music. These games aren't even my personal favorites or anything (I don't even have any interest in Pinball Party, but it's there so why not), but I think it'd be nice to see them again even more so than a complete classic collection.

[Wraith]

41 minutes ago, Mr. Ion said:

Sidenote, will we ever get a Mania sequel? I know that Stealth is working on his own game, but how about Whitehead and the rest of the team. Mania was a critical darling, and the fans seem to want more. Has Sega or anyone said anything about it? I mean with something that successful you have to capitalize on it somehow...I'd be fine with a non-classic game from Evening Star, but in general, they should, ideally, follow up on something so successful, maybe as a side series in parallel to the main games.

It's more likely that we get one than not imo. The Classic world is still a big part of the branding and I know a few of the guys involved implied they wouldn't mind working with SEGA again. We don't know anything for sure yet though.

[BlueFlare]

I think Izuka stated in 2018 that there're no plans for Mania sequel AT THAT MOMENT, but things could've changed since then. It would be simply bizarre not keep going.

[FReaK]

26 minutes ago, BlueFlare said:

I think Izuka stated in 2018 that there're no plans for Mania sequel AT THAT MOMENT, but things could've changed since then. It would be simply bizarre not keep going.

To be fair, he was asked about a sequel for mania, not for another classic game. Sonic 5 from evening star would be nuts.

[Red Hot Jack]

Apparently the author info on the Sonic Encyclo-Speed-ia is saying Ian Flynn wrote some Sonic videogames huh? I would not be surprised.

[Soniman]

1 hour ago, Jack-al said:

Apparently the author info on the Sonic Encyclo-Speed-ia is saying Ian Flynn wrote some Sonic videogames huh? I would not be surprised.

Considering he hasn't wrote even one officially I find that claim extremely dubious 

[SBR2]

2 hours ago, Jack-al said:

Apparently the author info on the Sonic Encyclo-Speed-ia is saying Ian Flynn wrote some Sonic videogames huh? I would not be surprised.

That either might not be info that should have been revealed yet or it's a mistake based on him writing the Shattered Crystal in-game comic.

He also before Forces came out had a mysterious "Ghost Writer" credit for a game which vanished when I guess he realized Ghost Writers are supposed to be a secret. I'm not saying he did write some of Forces but I am saying to me at least some character dialogue does sound pretty close to his writing style. That's just me though.

[Blue Blood]

2 hours ago, Jack-al said:

Apparently the author info on the Sonic Encyclo-Speed-ia is saying Ian Flynn wrote some Sonic videogames huh? I would not be surprised.

Source please.

[Red Hot Jack]

2 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

Source please.

I can't find it, I saw a screenshot on a discord but I can't find the info on the website, it is supposed to be Amazon on the Encyclospeedia description, author info. Please don't be a joke.

[Blue Blood]

50 minutes ago, Jack-al said:

I can't find it, I saw a screenshot on a discord but I can't find the info on the website, it is supposed to be Amazon on the Encyclospeedia description, author info. Please don't be a joke.

Great, thanks! That's all that I was asking for; where you heard the information from. It's no use to anyone if you don't say where you heard it. Share the source whenever you hear news, even if you aren't sure of its authenticity or origin, so that other people can look it up too. 

Anyway, Amazon UK link with the following text:

Quote

About the Author

Ian Flynn, also known by his Internet brand, the BumbleKing, is an American comic writer. He is currently the head writer for the IDW Publishing Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. 

Flynn was previously the chief writer for the Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its various spin-offs. His tenure began in 2006 with Sonic the Hedgehog #160, and lasted until the comics' cancellation in 2017. He has also written a couple of episodes for the second season of Sonic Boom, and a number of stories for the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series and its spin-offs.

Either that's a mistake, or this is information that shouldn't be readily should yet. And I'm going to go with the former. The description implies that he's written multiple Sonic game stories, and to date we don't know if him writing a single one. Whoever wrote the "about the author" text could very easily make a mistake about Flynn writing for the games.

Unless he himself wrote it in which case... Oops. Can't really make anything of it at this stage though. I would like to see Flynn work on the games however. Still think it's much more likely to be a mistake though.

[Wraith]

I think it's a mistake, but him working on the games wouldn't be that absurd if sega trusts him with an official encyclopedia anyway. 

[Blue Blood]

35 minutes ago, Wraith said:

I think it's a mistake, but him working on the games wouldn't be that absurd if sega trusts him with an official encyclopedia anyway. 

FWIW, SEGA also trusted Pontac and Graff with writing the stories for several Sonic games, and they're somewhat infamous amongst the fanbase for their lack of knowledge of- and interest in Sonic. And other other books and similar materials that SEGA have put out have had whole chunks of text lifted from Wikipedia almost verbatim. I'll believe that SEGA cares about who's writing these things when we see the proof in the results.

[Jango]

All I can say is that I wish this encyclopedia wasn't so expensive to import, because damn it looks beautiful. I want.

[Iko]

Didn't Ian Flynn write those comics like the Sonic Forces prequel and so? If that's the case, maybe that's what they were meaning.

[Razule]

Imagine people campaining for the guy to write for the games all these years only to find out he's already written for a "number of stories for the games and its spin-offs".

Maybe it's referring to the tie-in comics he's written? Secret Rings, Boom: Shattered Crystal, the Forces prequel comic.. etc.

[Salamander]

15 minutes ago, Razule said:

Maybe it's referring to the tie-in comics he's written? Secret Rings, Boom: Shattered Crystal, the Forces prequel comic.. etc.

That seems credible, as those are indeed "stories for the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series and its spin-offs".  If it was describing work on the games directly, I would expect it to be worded a little differently; "game scripts" instead of "stories" maybe.  It doesn't follow that Flynn would have stories written for multiple unknown Sonic games; or that he'd already written for multiple Sonic games without being given or desiring credit.

[Red Hot Jack]

Nothing is confirmed, or assured, but as we said, it wouldn't be surprising, fans love Ian, and now so does SEGA, they wanted to reconfirm him quickly for IDW after the abrupt Archie end, they are having a very close work contact with him on the current comic, he recently stopped the uninterrupted run of comics to work on something else, last year in Summer he was visiting SEGA of America studios for some reason, some project talk and took part to an official livestream (it was the Tangle and Whisper in Forces and Dash one). I am so tempted to assume stuff but want to resist, maybe it was just the encyclopedia, who knows?

[SBR2]

1 hour ago, Razule said:

 the Forces prequel comic.. etc.

I mean TBF those are the first bit of unquestionably Game canon material he's written. 

[Razule]

7 minutes ago, SBR2 said:

I mean TBF those are the first bit of unquestionably Game canon material he's written. 

Or so we've been led to believe.

[Iko]

Team Sonic Racing has a tie-in comic as well: that one would cover the "spin-offs" part.

[Razule]

1 minute ago, Iko said:

Team Sonic Racing has a tie-in comic as well: that one would cover the "spin-offs" part.

Wasn't written by him.

[Red Hot Jack]

The other closest thing was the Archie adaptation "prequel" of Lost World. I remember that was written very well, and obviously yeah as we said those Forces prequels posted on the official social media, there was a lot of fun stuff and set up, especially the ruby making illusions of Echidna Tribe, Silver's arrival, and maskless mercenary Infinite meeting Eggman.

Also, those comics are proof that the idea of "game accurate stories are boring/don't work" in my personal opinion is just not true.

[Iko]

14 minutes ago, Razule said:

Wasn't written by him.

My bad, so "spin-offs" is definitely not referred to that one. I'm not a big comics expert and I didn't search because I assumed those comics were all written by him.

[Zaysho]

I think the vague wording is just meant to refer to his comic work basically. Assuming Dark Horse wrote that bio I could see they just associate him with the Sonic brand altogether and lump all his work under that umbrella. And technically he's been somewhat involved with the games since he's written prequel/tie-in comics that are primarily published by Sega even if they're just by the usual comic staff. 
 

I'd like to see Ian do more and actually write/localize a game script but after about ten years of hoping for that kind of change it feels like Sega just sees him as "the comic guy" and that's about it.

[Gabz Girl]

23 hours ago, Zaysho said:

I'd like to see Ian do more and actually write/localize a game script but after about ten years of hoping for that kind of change it feels like Sega just sees him as "the comic guy" and that's about it.

But now that Pontac & Graff are out of the picture and not writing any future Sonic games...

Ian Flynn is right there. It would be really foolish to not have him as a writer on the game series from now on. He even wrote for some Sonic Boom episodes so there’s no excuse not to use him! 
 

Wonder who the new writer(s) will be otherwise.