The downfall of Sonic Team?

I read this article and thought of this website, so I figure you all would want to read this:

http://www.tssznews.com/2009/01/05/t...t-you-to-read/

Supposedly an employer at Sega posted a blog entry that went on at length about how the Sonic Team are basically just being forced to make Sonic games on a 'factory assembly' basis, and no longer have their original creative spark.

I never knew about the drama surrounding the NiGHTS development.

The article makes me sad, especially in regards to AM2 and Smilebit being dissolved. Smilebit made all my favorite Sega games of the Xbox era, pretty much.

In a nutshell, everyone here already knows. Everyone here was there when Sonic was repeatedly raped in his ass over and over again, and we did nothing.

I will give Sonic Team credit for Sonic Rush though, its by far and away the best sonic game in 14 years...easily. It really holds up well, there are certainly aspects of it I am truly annoyed by, but overall it kicks the ass of just about every sonic game post Genesis. But IIRC Sonic Team in reality had nothing to do with Sonic Rush, they merely supervised its development...so maybe that's why it turned out so well.

Sonic Team used to make AMAZING games:
Sonic Jam
NighTs into Dreams
Burning Rangers
Ristar
ChuChu Rocket
and TECHNICALLY:
Kid Chameleon
Comix Zone
Die Hard Arcade


these were really awesome games.

The NiGHTS sequel isn't bad, but the story is kind of dull.

At least Reala's still awesome.


Wasn't Sonic Rush developed by another team?

Yes it was, but it was supervised by Sonic Team and it of course bears the logo of Sonic Team on its box, poster and in game...but in reality they had nothing to do with it.

...Journey into Dreams doesn't even come close to the original (edit...) as far as I'm concerned.

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Originally Posted by Tanegashima

...Journey into Dreams doesn't even come close to the sequel as far as I'm concerned.

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And that's a shame, too. JID was one of those games that generated a lot of buzz . . . well, "hype" would be more accurate. I think everyone had high hopes, but it just didn't seem to deliver.

We need a new ChuChu Rocket

the only recent Sonic Game I like wasn't even made by Sonic Team, instead it was made by the greatly talented Bioware: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

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Originally Posted by cj iwakura

I read this article and thought of this website, so I figure you all would want to read this:

http://www.tssznews.com/2009/01/05/t...t-you-to-read/

Supposedly an employer at Sega posted a blog entry that went on at length about how the Sonic Team are basically just being forced to make Sonic games on a 'factory assembly' basis, and no longer have their original creative spark.

I never knew about the drama surrounding the NiGHTS development.

The article makes me sad, especially in regards to AM2 and Smilebit being dissolved. Smilebit made all my favorite Sega games of the Xbox era, pretty much.

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Holy Crap man....Thank you

Somehow I new this was going on. I mean if you look at the Sega line up of titles over the years and then you look at them now you can tell that something is very wrong.

Thank you again for the article. ;)

This is like a punch in the face to me. I would have never expected there to be such a thing. I just hope Sonic Team doesn't end up going the direction of Sega Racing Studio(that sucked bigtime).

Let's face it, the game market is meant to cater to the masses now. It's not what it used to be quality is gone now, it seems like every company is just trying to make games for the casual gamer to pick up and play for a bit and never finish. It's really a shame as the direction of the market is not looking good for any publisher now.

Hard times for the poor publishers indeed.... not. Hard times for (some) developers (and gamers) I say, as the publishers control the games' content. The last time the software market was in a similar situation with it being flooded with bad and/or movie licensed games, Atari had to bury billions of ET carts in desert sand.



Regarding Sonic Team: There are certain questions that came up when reading some of the guy's statements:

- Nights 2 is developed in the US but Sega of Japan is the one forcing to move the game over to Wii ? Considering it "was originally developed as an Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 title" - how would you control the game without Wiimote ? (I never played it but the point is that I doubt it was initially planned as a 360/PS3 game)
- Let's assume the game's done for 360 (and the guy claims he played it!), why would it be released for Wii only ? (instead of Wii and 360)
- If "according to Mr. Andac, [..] Sonic Team was kept external strictly as a sweatshop to milk the Sonic cashcow, assembly-line style", how come "Sega of Japan had intended NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams as a brief rest from the never-ending onslaught of Sonic game after Sonic game.", and previously allowed Sonic Team 1) not to release a Sonic game for half a decade 2) to release Nights, Burning Rangers, Ristar, ChuChu Rocket, and Phantasy Star Online; while 3) Sega of America and Europe published dozens of (mediocre at best) Sonic games they handed out to other developers, just like they do today with Bioware and Sonic Chronicles or whatever it's called ? My point being: I would like to know who forces whom to keep the annual Sonic ball rolling ?
- If Sega of America is not interested in pushing Sonic Team to keep the games coming while Japan keeps Sonic Team as their factory slaves (as the blog suggested), how come that Sonic Unleashed gets delayed in Japan, but not in the US ?


Just because the guy knew something about some upcoming Sonic game, doesn't turn his views into the new ten commandments. You rarely can smell your own shit on your knees, so I highly doubt any of this guy's interpretations, but I would be VERY interested in hearing more about the actual problems between Sonic Team, Sega of Japan and Sega of America.


The article mentions that this would be proof that "members of Sega’s staff are unhappy with the direction Sonic Team as a development studio has headed." - Well, I am here to say that I give a flying fart about Sonic nor Sonic Team, but I am VERY unhappy with the direction Sega as a company is headed.


"While it was easy to assume such, we now have confirmation of internal strife between Sonic Team and their parent subsidary, Sega of Japan. In relation, this goes a long way to explain the shortcomings of games produced by Sonic Team: They are forced to work on a franchise they no longer care about, and when they do get a chance to stretch their legs, it is under tight restrictions."

Okay, glad that one thing's out of the way, but I wonder how that explains the shortcomings of all the other games produced by Sega ? Seems to me they all are forced to work on franchises for a company they no longer care about.

Yeah, the details on NiGHTS are a little shifty. It was originally for 360 and PS3 with no Wii version, with development far enough that there was at least a playable alpha. They were forced to move it to the Wii later on, but had to stick to the same release target. So they hurriedly threw it together for the Wii, on a limited budget. So why is NiGHTS for the Wii such a competent game technically? It's one of the better-looking games for the system. Also, I remember hearing rumors about a Wii NiGHTS long before it was announced, even back before Nintendo came out with the name Wii. Although I guess those rumors could've just been wrong.

Further, Iizuka gave this interview:

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GC: Having more "family friendly" games is certainly applaudable especially since the video game industry has been marred by those select few games that contain more adult content. Nintendo has been seen as the "family friendly" game console despite the emergence of "Manhunt 2," which is a game meant only for a mature audience. That said, what was the basis behind making this game solely for the Wii?

I-san: I thought the best platform match for the "NiGHTS" character was the Nintendo Wii. Partly because it’s marketed as a "family" entertainment console, but mainly because of its user-friendly design making games easy to pick up and play. I am also very excited about the online features that the system offers and I thought that it was the best fit for the title.

GC: Speaking of which, I've heard rumors that you originally wanted to have this on the XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3? Is that true and, if so, are we going to see a sku of "NJD" on either systems?

I-san: Initially, when I thought about the game concept of "NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams," I really didn’t consider what platform I wanted the game to run on. It wasn’t until I started the actual game design that I discovered that the Wii was the most appropriate platform because it had the right features to fit the game I was designing.

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So it sounds like it was never for anything other than Wii. Of course, he could have been lying, I guess, but I trust Iizuka over some blogger.

Uh...does Journey even have any online features?

Seems to have online multiplayer modes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nights:...ltiplayer_mode

...but I think Iizuka was referring to the weather channel thing that probably resembles what they did in the original Nights with the calendar features.

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Originally Posted by cj iwakura

I never knew about the drama surrounding the NiGHTS development.

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I think the worst drama probably was to keep the release date (mid december 2007), I remember reading reviews claiming that the game would have been really good if they were allowed to finish it.


I don't understand why any publisher would risk to publish a bad and/or unfinished game just so it would be released on time for xmas... I mean no one on earth needs a bad or unfinished game. Not on xmas, nor any other time of the year, really.

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Originally Posted by MrMatthews

Uh...does Journey even have any online features?

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Why yes it does! Aside from the weather channel features, it has a 2-player race mode that is playable online, as well as world rankings/leaderboards, and registered friends lists. The game has this "My Dream" area, which is similar to a Chao Garden (but different), and you can visit other people's dreams online (either friends or random people). You can also exchange gifts with your friends, and when they're online, you can "call" them to invite them over to your dream.