Merchandise Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-Speed-ia (Dark Horse Books)

[phobs]

Statement by SEGA's PR team. I honestly think that their definition of "lore" (especially, considering that Ian Flynn is the writer) gave false hopes and basically was false advertising. Despite book being awesome to have great compilation of information about games, I expected more from it.

 

[Zaysho]

It admittedly did make me think it was gonna be the series' version of Zelda's Hyrule Historia so I don't think that was the best term to use. I don't think it helps when there's been collective confusion over series lore mostly because of the seemingly random restrictions on the comics (which are effectively the games continuity albeit split off into their own thing) and the insanely long game of telephone people play with Ian's words when he comments on them.

I personally wasn't super interested in a lore book (kinda gave up on that since the games change things every entry anyway) but it is kind of disappointing it seemed to be made out to be more than it was.

[Wraith]

Yeah if it's just a wiki there's no reason for me to be interested in this unfortunately. In the days where everything is well documented by fans you need something a little more when you pitch a physical book like this.

[GentlemanX]

I think the fact that we now have SoA people essentially doing damage control speaks a lot to how many people are disappointed that the encyclo-speedia isn't more than an official overview of the franchise's history. And to be clear, that's not a knock against Ian, Mike, Sega, or even the product at all. Ian's made it clear on twitter and the Bumblekast for months now about what this book was going to be and I'm actually pleased with the bits I've seen so far which included renders for Shahra, Mighty, and Ray we've never seen before or at least haven't been widely shared. Stuff like that is super cool to a nerd like me who cares about it and I'm excited to see what else is in the book. But the fact is the book isn't what most Sonic fans really wanted it to be and I think Sega needs to acknowledge that and realize "What if we just gave people what they are asking for?"

Again, I like this book. I won't get the more expensive version of it but I plan on buying the standard edition once it's out - I'd preferably like to buy it in store rather than order it. I'm sure everyone involved put together something really neat with some fun tidbit minutia I'll enjoy learning or confirming. But there needs to be a lesson here about why fans were initially more interested in this product than they are now and there should be a drive internally to produce the product that people want them to make.

[Dejimon11]

1 hour ago, Wraith said:

Yeah if it's just a wiki there's no reason for me to be interested in this unfortunately. In the days where everything is well documented by fans you need something a little more when you pitch a physical book like this.

On that note I hope they accidentally took information from the wiki like when Dark Horse localized the Mario Encyclopedia. Ironically Ian worked on that too but not to the extent of the Sonic one. 

[Natie]

Not too surprising and it looks good and full of personality for what it is, but boy the hindsight makes that description they gave hilariously misleading.

[Zaysho]

1 hour ago, Dejimon11 said:

On that note I hope they accidentally took information from the wiki like when Dark Horse localized the Mario Encyclopedia. Ironically Ian worked on that too but not to the extent of the Sonic one. 

Ian's somewhat of a regular with Dark Horse lately from what I understand. He did some fact checking for the Breath of the Wild "Creating a Champion" book, which is a translated product, not an original English one like the Sonic one apparently is. I never heard about the stuff with the Mario book though, that shit's crazy. To be honest, I'm half expecting something stupid like there's some stolen fan art they forgot to replace given this series' track record lately.

[Dreadknux]

Saw a lot of chat about Infinite’s “status” in the book, seems like he’s been “consumed by the Phantom Ruby”?

Makes for some pretty surprising/funny canon if the idea is that Infinite is ‘dead’. Lasted about five seconds.

[Iko]

So there is some lore in the book after all... very small amount of it but still enough to cause discussion in the fanbase.

As I said in the status updates, I expected this and until it was actually confirmed, it was my headcanon; though this does not exclude a return of Infinite some day. Consumed does not necessarily mean dead, well technically it means destroyed, but it's vague enough that might even mean just absorbed. They revived dead characters already, and Tikal is a ghost stuck in a stone too, so even if he can't come back directly, we can still potentially see the dude again in the future, it being a good or bad thing is up to you.

What I find more interesting is the definition they used for his "illusions": hyperrealistic virtual reality constructs... as far as I know, this is the first time that the powers of the Phantom Ruby are called differently than "illusions", and it being "virtual reality" makes me think of cyber space. At this point I wonder if they are planning something and the "death" of Infinite is the setup for the story of Frontiers (especially since, according to those rumors, Infinite's theme was used as a placeholder song in the demo).

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I think what’s even funnier is that Infinite didn’t even have the real Phantom Ruby and was using a prototype himself. Maybe that was revealed in Forces and I missed it, but the fact that he didn’t even have the real finished one is just funny to me, the fact that he still wasn’t even deemed worthy of the real deal just makes him look just a little more pathetic in consideration. 

[Blue Blood]

11 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I think what’s even funnier is that Infinite didn’t even have the real Phantom Ruby was using a prototype himself. Maybe that was revealed in Forces and I missed it, but the fact that he didn’t even have the real finished one is just funny to me, the fact that he still wasn’t even deemed worthy of the real deal just makes him look just a little more pathetic in consideration. 

It's a real shame that Forces' storytelling is so piss poor, because the ideas of the Ruby being sentient and using Infinite (and Eggman) for its own devices is so cool. So much could have been done with the Ruby and it was squandered. Makes me wonder if the Ruby could ever return. It's totally unclear what actually happened to it. 

[Indigo Rush]

Infinite returning is probably predicated on his popularity, and let's just say he's nowhere near as popular as Shadow was when he supposedly died. I don't think our homeboy with the donut steel is coming back canonically.

[TheOcelot]

Wouldn't have a problem with Infinite returning if he was an interesting character which he isn't. Easily one of the most forgettable villain's thanks to poor writing and his lame design in Forces. So if being consumed by the Phantom Ruby means SEGA are done with him it's probably for the best.

[Diogenes]

1 hour ago, Iko said:

What I find more interesting is the definition they used for his "illusions": hyperrealistic virtual reality constructs... as far as I know, this is the first time that the powers of the Phantom Ruby are called differently than "illusions"

Nah Forces describes it as a virtual reality thing at a few points, that's always been the intent.

1 hour ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I think what’s even funnier is that Infinite didn’t even have the real Phantom Ruby and was using a prototype himself. Maybe that was revealed in Forces and I missed it

I feel it's kind of implied by the real ruby being in the final boss robot.

Anyway regarding Infinite's death people keep saying he could still be brought back, and...yeah, it's fiction, and not very grounded fiction, ultimately they can do whatever they want. But they made a point to write something seemingly conclusive, where they could've just as easiily left it completely ambiguous. And they're not going to write something as heavy handed as "Infinite's existence was completely obliterated and there is no way in this or any other universe for him to come back" or whatever would be required to confirm beyond any doubt that he's dead for good (and even that could be retconned, so). Dude seems pretty dead and I don't see reason to hold out hope (fear?) for him to come back.

[Red Hot Jack]

I have to agree with Indigo in saying if he's dead, he's gone, they are not bringing him back for major appearances, SEGA has been very clear not to bring him back in IDW, in spin-offs such as TSR and Tokyo Olympics, unlike say Zavok, IMO it's pretty evident they want him to stay dead. Unless a character is very popular like Shadow, they aren't brought back. Forces mobile makes sense as an exception because it's still Forces in some way.

[Razule]

Apparently writing something we saw happen in the game is confirmation now. 

[PC the Hedgehog]

9 minutes ago, Razule said:

Apparently writing something we saw happen in the game is confirmation now. 

You mean when he shoots through the air for no discernable reason and is never seen or heard from again? 

[Razule]

33 minutes ago, PC the Hedgehog said:

You mean when he shoots through the air for no discernable reason and is never seen or heard from again? 

Yes. Instead of "Infinite is forcibly pulled into a tower (where the Phantom Ruby is)", we know "Infinite was absorbed by the Phantom Ruby". We still have no idea what that means for him, and if it was said directly in 2017, people would still be wondering if he could come back.

It'd be different if he fell into the atmosphere, or the sun, or into a black hole. But what the hell does being "absorbed by the Phantom Ruby" do to a person? Did that destroy his consciousness? Is he just asleep in there? 

If they want to bring him back, then he still could. He probably won't though.

[Wraith]

This conclusion is just written in a way so that they could bring him back if they feel like it. No one likes him and Forces didn't do that well so they probably won't ever feel like it, but the door's open and all that.

[Indigo Rush]

Never played Forces, and I'm not bothered to look at all the endgame cutscenes right now, but was it confirmed that the Phantom Ruby was destroyed at the end? If that things gone, then so is Infinite.

[Diogenes]

5 minutes ago, Indigo Rush said:

Never played Forces, and I'm not bothered to look at all the endgame cutscenes right now, but was it confirmed that the Phantom Ruby was destroyed at the end? If that things gone, then so is Infinite.

I think it's meant to be destroyed, though the game's not entirely clear about it. We don't see it get destroyed, nobody outright says it was destroyed, but there's an earlier scene where the characters talk about classic Sonic being sent back to his world when it is destroyed, and he does vanish at the end without further explanation.

[NegaMix]

Sounds to me like if (and it's a big IF) he were to ever come back, it would have to be alongside the Phantom Ruby itself since he's been "consumed" by it.

But I severely doubt we'll be seeing the Phantom Ruby again anytime soon (and even that's being generous) so... yeah, he's pretty much kaput.

[Razule]

15 minutes ago, Indigo Rush said:

Never played Forces, and I'm not bothered to look at all the endgame cutscenes right now, but was it confirmed that the Phantom Ruby was destroyed at the end? If that things gone, then so is Infinite.

Or it released him and he escaped unnoticed.

[Dreadknux]

I’m sure if SEGA ever wanted to bring Infinite back they’d find a way to wonk it, destroyed Phantom Ruby or no. I mean, they brought back Shadow with no real direction as to how or why, so if there’s a will with Infinite there’ll definitely be a way.

[Indigo Rush]

Just now, Dreadknux said:

I’m sure if SEGA ever wanted to bring Infinite back they’d find a way to wonk it, destroyed Phantom Ruby or no. I mean, they brought back Shadow with no real direction as to how or why, so if there’s a will with Infinite there’ll definitely be a way.

If we do this, can we skip the alien bloodline plot device at least?