Printable View
http://www.sega.co.jp/IR/cr/pdf/20030730.pdfdamn, so much for UGA. that just blows. oh, and what's up with Cinematic Online games?Quote:
Sonic Team + UGA = Sonic Team
Hitmaker + Sega Rosso = Hitmaker
Wow Entertainment + Overworks = Wow-works (tentative)
Amusement Vision + Smilebit = Amusement Vision
Sega AM2 = (same)
Suzuki Yu's company = Cinematic Online Games (tentative)
Smilebit + smaller part of Amusement Vision = Smilebit
Hahahah! Worst name ever.Quote:
Wow Entertainment + Overworks = Wow-works (tentative)
WOW-doesn't work is more like it!
ye haw!!
Wow-works is just plain horrible.
Even Overwow is better.
Interesting.
I don't know why everyone's so sad about UGA. Rez rocked but it's not like they made a huge list of great games under their short time as UGA.
like i've said in other threads, Rez is my favorite Sega game, so because of that, it makes me a bit bummed out. AM2 is my favorite Sega team though, so everything is cool as far as that goes.
There's no reason they couldn't still make a Rez-like game under the Sonic Team name. They probably won't since Rez wasn't a big seller but the talent is still there, just under a different house.
Wow, Smilebit was merged out of existence. Overworks at least got to keep half their name.
I don't know, I think Cinematic Online Games has it beat. That name's about as soulless as they get.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tain
Welll, I hope they just called the team Sonic Team JUST because of brand name recognition. I hope UGA isn't defunct as of now...
I actually like the name WOW-WORKS :p
[size=0.25]Where does Westone fit into all of this?[/size]
Aside from Cinematic blah blah, sounds good to me. Well, I wish they would've used Overwork's name instead of Wow-works, though, that's pretty lame too. Still, I was expecting far worse.
I find it extremely disturbing that Wow, the shitiest Sega dev is merged with one of my favourites.
hmmmm I think that as a team they divided up the parts.Quote:
Wow, Smilebit was merged out of existence. Overworks at least got to keep half their name.
Quote:
Smilebit + smaller part of Amusement Vision = Smilebit
Overwow !! I like that :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Planet
At least Smilebit gets to keep their name for the Sports game division..... :(
This sucks. Just when the branches were really making themselves distinct, this happens.
I'm a little confused..
Amusement Vision + Smilebit = Amusement Vision
Smilebit + Amusement Vision (smaller portion) = Smilebit
So, Amusement is split into a large and small part, to be a part of two separate teams?
Goodbye Sega Rosso and UGA, sort of..
Oh, and I love Over-wow! I hope it sticks. I hate "Cinematic Online Games".. sounds as bad as "Rockstar". Why didn't they just call themselves "Electronic Entertainment"? If you're gonna be generic, go all the way.. And does cinematic mean we're going to get more Shenmue-type games?
oh wait, it's tentative.. whew!
so there's only like 2 new names.....ummmm wow?
Goodbye creativity, goodbye.Quote:
Sonic Team + UGA = Sonic Team
This one doesn't seem to mean anything, has Rosso even made anything aside from Initial D (yet)?Quote:
Hitmaker + Sega Rosso = Hitmaker
Yes, this name is very very stupid.Quote:
Wow Entertainment + Overworks = Wow-works (tentative)
I'm curious on how this is going to end up. AV was mostly on the GC and Smilebit avoided the GC completely. It'll be interesting to see what kind of games come out of them.Quote:
Amusement Vision + Smilebit = Amusement Vision
Shenmue online? I certainly hope not.Quote:
Suzuki Yu's company = Cinematic Online Games (tentative)
I know this part of smilebit is the sports team, but I'm wondering what portion/people from AV are going to this.Quote:
Smilebit + smaller part of Amusement Vision = Smilebit
[quote]This one doesn't seem to mean anything, has Rosso even made anything aside from Initial D (yet)?
[quote]
Cosmic Smash.
"I know this part of smilebit is the sports team, but I'm wondering what portion/people from AV are going to this."
The guys who made Virtua NBA and Virtua Striker no doubt.
"Shenmue online? I certainly hope not."
Shenmue online would rock like crazy. Walking around and challenging people to fights or arm wrestling while talking shit would be fun as hell. Gambling with other people would be fun as hell too. Heck, you might be able to go to the arcade and challenge someone to VF1 or something, or just start a fight and trash the arcade. Maybe walk into a bar and start a fight as well.
Unless it's like RE online, then it might suck. Survival horror would be lame online. Your partner would probably piss you off like crazy if yout ry to finish the game.
Sakura Team would be better. :)Quote:
Wow Entertainment + Overworks = Wow-works (tentative
Whats with the Sonic Team hate? Their games always have awesome music and are more visually stylized than the games from any other SEGA team. They've been shit lately, but overall they are excellent.
"Suzuki Yu's company = Cinematic Online Games (tentative)"
All I can think of is someone asking, "So, didja get a load of that new COG game?"
Seriously. Sonic Team kicks ass. Not to mention Yuji Naka has been an important part of Sega since '84 and is a much bigger part of their history than any UGA members.
They made 3 games, 2 of which were truly awesome. There was alot of promise there, and they were really exploring the medium as anartform in a way few others were. I really wanted to see big things come from them. I don't think their ideology will mesh well with Sonic Team's management, but I hope Miziguchi's influence remains strong.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater
Yeah, UGA weren't about the legacy, they were about trying something new. And Naka is going to AM-2, remember?Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater
It's not imprtant but the only thing I am upset about is the loss of the name Overworks and their logo. I loved both and Wow-works is silly. It's tentative though, so maybe they will pick something better.
I'm cool with everything else, including the actual merging. I think it will be a good thing and I don't have concerns about UGA disappearing or anything. There will just be more different games come out of Sonic Team. :)
All this Sega reformation has me a bit confused.
If Naka is going to AM2, then Mizuguchi's probably taking over Sonic Team. So it's going to be UGA with sonic team coders. That's good, although they still have to make a Sonic game once in awhile. Nothing wrong with that though.
I don't think Naka is leaving ST. His role at AM-2 is as a co-chairman (or something like that) and it's in addition to his role at ST. Basically I think he's just overseeing the "new" team. I could be wrong, but thats the impression I have gotten.
If Naka does leave, then the Burning Rangers producer or the head of UGA would probably take over. Yo can't go wrong with either one IMO.
What's with the Sonic Team hate? WELL, let's start from the dreamcast.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kinopio
Sonic Adventure is released. I enjoyed it at the time! I'm going to assume that happened to me just because I won a dreamcast from it and it was the first 3d sonic and the first sonic in a long time (I'm sorry, 3d blast doesn't count.) Too bad it is easily one of the worst aged 3d platformers to date. Horrible camera angles, terrible gameplay aside from sonic whose levels were SO bugged that it nearly ruined them. Sure, the graphics were nice and the soundtrack was entertaining, but that was about it.
Fast forward! Chu Chu Rocket released. I really didn't like this puzzle game, but I guess that's just a matter of taste for me. I didn't understand the interest and I didn't enjoy the way it worked. The only thing I liked about that game was the mouse and cat character designs ;)
A little later, Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure comes out for NGPC. In my opinion, the last good Sonic platform game. No hate from me towards this game!
Ahhh, Samba de Amigo. I did enjoy this game, although the maraccas were quite expensive and didn't work as well as I would have liked them to. The song selection was average, but in total this game wasn't exactly a huge achievement in my eyes.
Their next game was Sonic Shuffle. To me, one of the worst board/party games of all time. It ranks down there with Crash Bash, and would be ranked even lower if it was not for the sonic team characters. The game was extremely hard in singleplayer, even at the easiest of difficulties, and the minigames were just not that fun.
Samba De Amigo 2000 is released! I don't think I've ever played this one, so I don't have much to say aside from it would have been nice to see this released stateside.
Ahhh... Phantasy Star Online released for the Dreamcast. An extremely overrated game that's complimented on it's "amazing" console achievements. Too bad it was just a full-3D Diablo that was extremely easy to hack/cheat. Combine that with there being absolutely no point at all to continue playing this game aside from the community (like most online rpgs) just put this game in a bad position for me. I guess it's just because I had been playing online RPGs where there actually was a point to level up high, and actually things to do once you got there. Oh, and this game easily had the worst music of any Sonic Team game I've ever played. I believe the only music I could stand from this game was the ending theme and a couple of the boss themes.
Chu Chu Rocket! released for GBA! Well, you know I already dislike this game and it on the GBA was no better for me.
Sonic Team then releases PSO version 2. Introduces some new things, but didn't fix any of the problems the previous version had. While some hacks and cheats may have been fixed, there were always many more around. New items, some new quests, a new difficulty and more levels, a few more little tidbits, nothing to really make someone who doesn't like pso like it. Add to that the new monthly fee and that just made me dislike it even more!
And next came, what I consider the death of Sonic, Sonic Adventure 2. This game was horrible in every way aside from it's cheesy tunes which I could still enjoy. Everything about this game seemed to bother me. The Sonic levels were pretty badly designed and there weren't enough of them, I liked tails better when he wasn't e-102, robotnik... I'd rather not play as him than play as him as e-102, knuckles/rouge levels were a COMPLETE load of trash; the treasure hunting was the absolute worst addition to sonic and the level design in these levels were TERRIBLE. Oh, I forgot to mention Goth Sonic, I mean Shadow; I didn't really like him as a character. The game was still completely bugged and the graphics weren't that much of an improvement from SA.
And here's where Sonic Team got, really, really lazy. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle... I can understand why they released it, heck it was one of the best selling gamecube games in USA for awhile, but that didn't make the game any better. More chao games and connectivity, a load of horrible multiplayer additions and nothing that really made this worth buying if you already had Sonic Adventure 2, or even if you didn't.
Sonic Advance came out, an okay game but didn't live up to ANY of the previous 2d sonic games, and I probably would have even preferred Sega to go the Nintendo route and just release the genesis games on GBA. Would have been more fun than this.
And then came some more shitty ports from Sonic Team. Phantasy Star Online for PC and Episode I & II for gamecube. At least they added some content for the gamecube version, too bad they forgot to give everyone a decent source of communication in the game. Eventually Datel did release a keyboard, but I put the blame all on Sega/Sonic Team for not releasing a keyboard for the gamecube. The good thing about the gamecube version over the dreamcast was it was not as easy to hack or cheat, and to this day remains the most secure version... if you want to call PSO secure. I didn't like PSO on dreamcast, I wasn't going to like it on gamecube either.
And yet, here comes another group of ports from Sonic Team. But, at least this time it was for some good games. My main problem with Sonic Mega Collection was that it offered VERY little more than Sonic Jam, and to me Sonic Jam was a MUCH better compilation of the sonic games. The least they could have done was actually give us Sonic CD (I don't care about any of the bullshit excuses they gave for not putting it on there, they should have done it) I also didn't like the way you unlocked the games, and I'm pretty pissed for just finding out that the japanese version of Mega Collection included Comix Zone and some other shitty master system game.
And now we're basically at the present! PSO EP1&2 for xbox finally comes out. I have no idea why this game took so long to come out in USA, and I always wondered what happened to the extra classes that I heard about it earlier. The only reason I can say I play(ed) this game is because of the voice chat. XBL easily saved this game, but Sonic Team's problems just couldn't keep me and many others interested in this game. As of today the game has one online quest, one downloadable quest, only a small handful of the battle and challenge modes, and only RECENTLY have we been able to actually use our photon drops. Oh, and this was also the EASIEST and most SIMPLE version of PSO to hack, not to mention there was a very simple duping bug that you could even do online that Sonic Team took a humongous amount of time to fix. Custom soundtracks could have made this game a little more enjoyable for me too, seeing as though I can barely stand the soundtrack. Not to seem like I'm jumping all over the place, but it really seemed like this game was put on XBL as an afterthought. The friends/guild card system worked terribly with this, and it would have been much better if you could find your friend on PSO if you had just their gamertag on your friendslist, rather than also needing their guild card.
All I have left on their currently released list is Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Pinball Party. Sonic Pinball Party is a decent game. It's a normal pinball game with a lot of very cool gba-sonic team music along with a few neat boards. It's really too bad that Sega screwed it up by making it only available at Target in USA... why? I don't know. And now to another pile of trash... Sonic Adventure DX. Probably the worst port Sonic Team has EVER done. I knew Sonic Adventure didn't age well, but I didn't know that meant it also couldn't be ported to other systems without making it technically worse. It runs like absolute shit on the gamecube. The framerate is terrible, and there's not one instant where I could say the framerate was at a steady and/or high rate. The only thing that had a chance of saving this game was them including the game gear games... but they gave you the absolute worst way possible to unlocking them all. Emblems. Sonic Team should have realized that at least half the people picking this game up were only picking it up for the game gear games, and making people play through and get EVERY SINGLE emblem if they want ALL the game gear games is an absolute load of bullshit. I would have much preferred the game to be Sonic Game Gear DX or whatever, with no mention whatsoever of Sonic Adventure.
All that's left now is a look to the future. Phantasy Star Online Episode III, Billy Hatcher, SonicN, Sonic Battle, and Sonic Heroes. PSO Episode 3 looks terrible to me. I am a big fan of card games but looking at the previews for this game doesn't give me any hope at all. Billy Hatcher looked interesting to me at first, because I'm always excited when I hear Sonic Team is working on something new, but after playing the demo I was just disappointed. Sure, I don't want to judge the whole game by the demo, but the demo didn't give me any hopes for it. Horrible character design, marginal graphics, and a soundtrack in the ranks of the PSO soundtrack (at least of the demo) combined with gameplay that's basically sonic+monkey ball+crap doesn't make a good game. SonicN.... I don't think I even should bother commenting on this but a port of one of the worst 2d sonic games isn't going to tempt me into bothering with the n-gage, but that's another story. Sonic Battle looks semi-interesting, reminds me of power stone... but I think it'd be better suited on a console rather than a handheld. I'll still try it out though.
Lastly, we arrive at Sonic Heroes. I am pleased and displeased with what I see and hear about this game. I'm glad they're doing away with the adventure routine and trying something different, but I've heard from friends and previews that the gameplay is everything but stellar. I can't say I'm glad about the return of the Chaotix, Rouge the Breasts, and Shadow the Goth.
So in the end, while Sonic Team may have a very glorious history behind them, their recent past and present do not show me that they're going to have a very pleasant future.
So um....what's your point? :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Mairu
He asked "What's with all the Sonic Team hate?"
I answered.
:confused:
I thought the Sonic and Shadow levels in SA 2 were brilliant. You miss a certain rail or a short cut/path, and your time is slowed down considerably. The grinding aspect was done really well, especially in the final stages. The anti gravity level was insane as well. If you wan't to see the genius of the levels, race through them in 2 player battle mode. The Sonic and Shadow levels were very well designed. Especially rail chase in 2 player. It's hialrious.
Sonic Team didn't make Sonic Shuffle.
Yes, NiGHTS is the most overated game of all time, and yes, SA2 is an average game, but I fail to see how the two great games UGA has made puts them in a league above Sonic Team. Sonic Team is the 2nd most accomplished team SEGA has, by far.
I'm finally glad someone spoke up about PSO being a diablo clone. All the points you have are valid towards this game and I'm not too happy witht the port jobs sonic team did as they're not only behind on quests, but there's too many problems that make them even worth standing out.
Which makes me think I'm gonna see about selling my xbox ver and wait for a good game to make use of live or just stick to what's out for PC.
I only waited on PSO because I wanted to see how well it worked with live chat, turns out it wasn't worth it.
You know, sonic adventure could have been good if they took out the adventure elements and kept on track with the normal game development. Having each level with at least 2-3 rounds and the loss of that fat-ass big could have done wonders.
And..why are they doing all this ?
How come PSO is always labeled as a Diablo clone yet Sonic isn't called a Mario clone or Half-Life isn't called a Wolfenstein 3d clone?
PSO deserves more credit than that. Yes, it's similar to Diablo but it has just as much in common with the old Phantasy Star games. PSO and Diablo are simply two games in the same genre. Both are old-fashioned dungeon crawls that happen to be playable online.
"But you warp back to town to sell all your shit, just like Diablo!", someone will say. You mean just like Phantasy Star 1?
Good game - "Think up a better name for Yu Suzuki's team"
I mean, Cinematic Online Games is good... but Sega couldn have done better.
"This is a company that makes games"
"A Game Development Studio"
"AM2-PLUS!"
"Super Happy Fun Shenmue Virtua Fighter We Rock Games Incorporated"
Well, sonic did a good job branching out from the steriotypical action plaform genre that mario still dominates. Can't comment on half-life (haven't played it) :chick:Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater
But when it comes down to PSO, looking at the random caves/rooms, coming back to the same town, etc etc. I've played both and I was horribly dissapointed at how much this game tries to copy blizzard's work with a 3D perspective and a popular franchise name. Sure they add quests, but I was waiting to explore a 3D world much like the ones we've seen in previous PS, but they took the easy route with this!
That's why the next PSO (not episode III) had better be the real thing, otherwise there's other RPG's with worlds to explore just waiting for me.
So you're saying because UGA isn't in a league above Sonic Team, Sonic Team is excellent?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kinopio
nicely said.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
huh, i can't believe i never thought of that. he's got a point. hey, looks like there's a chance of getting a good Sonic game this generation after all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Canuck
Sonic Team didn't make that. Dimps did.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mairu
didn't Travellers Tale make that?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mairu
didn't continue to read the rest of your post Mairu since im assuming it was you being wrong over and over again about games that Sonic Team didn't develop, and probably had no point to it to top it off.
as for Sonic Team vs UGA, well, the only recent Sonic Team games that im a fan of are PSO and ChuChu. aside from that they haven't made anything good since Sonic 2. i really like PSO a lot though, but not more than Rez. PSO is easily Sonic Teams best game ever though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by voltz
A 3D perspective compared to a top down one makes all the difference in the world. Not to mention that PSO is more like a beatemup. The move variety is pretty low for a beatemup though.
Sonic Team not making sonic for ngpc just further proves my point in sonic team and while I may have made 2 mistakes I fail to see how that invalidates my complete post.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucas Barton
I guess the only way to get real responses is to stop bothering to add content to my posts and just reply with witty one-liners or emoticons. You're so amazing, TNL!
edit- and anyways Dimps worked on Sonic Advance and SNK did the NGPC sonic, omg you quoted the wrong part or were just mistaken! your whole post must be filled with false information!
Actually, Dimps made Sonic Pocket and both Sonic Advances.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mairu
Ahh, guess I should stop getting my information from ign then :PQuote:
Originally Posted by sggg
If memory serves, the only Sonic Team involvement on the Sonic Advance games was that of an advisory role. Dimps handled the primary development duties for the games, as has been noted before.
my apathy towards sega grows strong. show us the fucking games, and i'll get re-interested. and i used to be such a fan! =P
which reminds me that we got a preview copy of billy hatcher in. w00t. the one upcoming sega game i'm actually interested in right now.
Any other besides UGA. It's a good fit. Well, Smilebit had thier talent too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kinopio
Everybody's entitled to their opinion, unless it's nuts. The tone-setting music from the title screen? The stirring orchestral introduction? The cool retro-sci fi character creation theme? Pioneer 1? The hunter's guild? Quest complete? PSO has a ton of brilliant music, even if you don't like the ambient approach to the dungeon themes. I wish the world had more music in PSO style, and I'd kill to get my hands on the sound library they used.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mairu
PSO did have a good soundtrack, but after 40 hours or so, it drives you nuts. well, the dungeon music atleast.
"From Seeing the Rough Wave" and the first few notes of the opening theme made it all worth it. ;) . The former is probably my all-time favourite piece of videogame music.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucas Barton
I've never had a problem with the maracas working. I get perfects on most songs most times I play. The world seriously needs a Samba 3. The first 2 are the best music games ever made, but they are way too easy. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mairu
Someone should put that on the back of a TNL shirt and sell it. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by StriderKyo
Ahem, and anyway... I can't imagine there being worse music than there was in Sonic Adventure 1 or 2. The music in those games was so incredibly bad and you could not turn it off. It made me sick to my stomach and made me want to cry. Literally. :(
I quite like both games in spite of that however. ;)
I LOVED both games' music. Especially SA2.Quote:
Originally Posted by sggg
The music in the SA games was great. I listen to the songs from them all the time on my Sonic 10th anniversary CD.
Cinematic Online Games? Thats a really poor name. If I remeber correctly Virtua Fighter is now going to be from that team from now on, and Virtua Fighter is harldy "Cinematic".
There team breakdowns I think will all turn out fine, and should save sega some money. Some teams were just not doing enough to continue to work on their own it seemed.
I kinda like the name Wow-Works.
I'd buy two of 'em.Quote:
Originally Posted by sggg
They could abbreviate Cinematic Online Games though... COG. But then it sounds like some start-up PC game developer in Fresno making games based of the Half/Life engine =/ COG
I thought the music was the highpoint of Sonic Adventure. It was corny, but extremely catchy, and fit the game well. SA2 had some good tunes too.Quote:
Originally Posted by sggg
More games need to have tracks with vocals used during gameplay.
how did that go again?
hear i am, rougher than the rest of them, the best of them, tougher than leather. you can call me knuckles, unlike sonic i don't chuckle, i'd rather flex my muscle
i don't like the games, but the music was alright. anyways, knuckles lyrical skills are amazing. that's clasic shit.
The best SA2 track was the one in the first stage. It was so lame and so cool at the sametime!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucas Barton
" Moving around at the speed of sound. I got places to go go, gotta follow my rainbow " :lol:
while i wouldn't go quite that far, it completely pales in comparison to genesis-era sonic music. that series used to be known for great music and now it's known for .. cheesy but amusing music. or something.Quote:
Originally Posted by sggg
passable but not interesting. IMO.