Topic: I hope "Secret Rings" doesn't suck...

[Smash_Brother]

He took the best path, IMO: put $5 down on it. If reviews saying it sucks emerge, don't pick it up and put your $5 toward something else instead.

Until Gamestop starts penalizing people for changing preorders, keep doing it. Hell, I've even preordered something that had a bonus in the past, picked up the bonus crap before it launched, then cancelled the preorder.

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
He took the best path, IMO: put $5 down on it. If reviews saying it sucks emerge, don't pick it up and put your $5 toward something else instead.

Until Gamestop starts penalizing people for changing preorders, keep doing it. Hell, I've even preordered something that had a bonus in the past, picked up the bonus crap before it launched, then cancelled the preorder.

I really doubt they'd ever penalize you, they are most likely making money on preorders even if you cancel since they are able to invest that money you gave them.

[The Traveller]

Go Nintendo has impressions with the game! Positive aswell!

[Smash_Brother]

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Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
I really doubt they'd ever penalize you, they are most likely making money on preorders even if you cancel since they are able to invest that money you gave them.

Yeah, that's true. The little preorder stuff is of no consequence to them, so long as they get their $$$ from you early.

[NWR_pap64]

I just realized something S_B. How could you reserve Secret rings? I thought that the pre-oder deadline would've been over by now.

I know that mom tried to pre-order Wii Play nearly 3 weeks before release and they told her that she couldn't reserve it because the time to pre order was up.

So how could you reserve Sonic a week before release?  

[IceCold]

Maybe they sold through their allotted units of WiiPlay with the pre-orders alone. That's what happened to my EB (I preordered a month before it came). Secret Rings probably wouldn't do that.

[KDR_11k]

I've seen a Gamestop take preorders on a game that another store was already selling so I don't think it's a time limit.

[Koekoenutt]

When I went to put the $5 down on the game, I originally asked him what Wii games can I put down on besides Super Paper Mario that will be coming out within about two months. He never said anything about Sonic and it was never on the list, but I asked him personally about it and he said even though there are a good amount of reserves, I still have a good chance to get one if I put a little down on it. I think after sometime, it's taken off the list but not in the computers. I think the problem with WiiPlay was that is came with a remote, and at the time of 2 months ago, a lot of people couldn't find a remote, and planned ahead. If I'm not mistaken, but wasn't WiiPlay held back about a month for the US? Sure that caused a few problems too.

Decided to stick with it and wait for Sonic. From what I can tell, the next game after that is SSX Blur and then Tiger Woods '07 for the end of Feb/beginning of March. Can't say I'm to interested in SSX Blur, and rather rate a few more weeks after Tiger Woods for another game to come out. March looks like a good upstart in games and we all know April has it's treat. Figure if Sonic really is that bad with decent reviews, I can always trade it in for some DS games or WiiPoints Card.

[Smash_Brother]

I'm still keeping my eyes peeled for SR reviews.

Not just because I have the game reserved but because I'm dire curious to know if this is finally the game which might redeem my childhood hero.

God only knows it can't be any worse than the 360/PS3 version.

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Originally posted by: pap64
I just realized something S_B. How could you reserve Secret rings? I thought that the pre-oder deadline would've been over by now.

I know that mom tried to pre-order Wii Play nearly 3 weeks before release and they told her that she couldn't reserve it because the time to pre order was up.

So how could you reserve Sonic a week before release?

It's probably because New Hampshirewhites aren't huge gamers, hence why I can reserve it at any Gamestop without much issue. Puerto Rican's on the other hand seem to love nothing more than to form huge lines inside every Gamestop.

Is that still happening or was it a holiday occurrence?

[Rhoq]

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Originally posted by: pap64
I just realized something S_B. How could you reserve Secret rings? I thought that the pre-oder deadline would've been over by now.

GameStop will allow you to pre-order any game at any time until the the store closes the day before it's expected to arrive at the store! This never made any sense to me, since they could get a flood of pre-orders the day before and not receive enough stock to fill them all.

[KDR_11k]

They just assume that won't happen because realistically it won't.

[Smash_Brother]

Indeed.

If nothing else, far too many people have been burned on 3D Sonics that I fear this one won't get the chance it deserves. I read comments replying to articles about Secret Rings and a lot of people say, "It's Sonic, it's guaranteed to suck." and there's no one to blame for that precedent except Sega itself.

God willing, the game will get some good word of mouth and rise up in the charts. From everything I've seen and heard, it looks like it will deserve it.

[Caterkiller]

An interesting review at gonintendo. You've got one guy giving it a chance and one that really doesn't. I think both their points sound pretty valid. They say its the best 3D Sonic so far. Is it really? You decide.

http://gonintendo.com/?p=13346

[NWR_pap64]

Is it the video review from EGM?

I would say wait till more reviews show up, mainly because EGM tends to exaggerate their opinions when it comes to reviews. Plus, I see Sonic being one of those games that some will hate despite quality (and with the rep the series has gained since 1999 it isn't surprising).

[KDR_11k]

God willing, the game will get some good word of mouth and rise up in the charts.

Pfft. Every Sonic game (with the possible exception of Shadow but I've even seen kids say "that's cool" when seeing the game) rises up in the charts, especially in the UK.

[Luigi Dude]

Well calling it the best 3d Sonic doesn't really mean much since all the other 3d Sonic games range from mediocre to complete sh!t.  The game just has to be decent to be considered the best 3d Sonic game.

This shows just how low Sega has set the bar for Sonic games.  Back in the Genesis days if Sega was to release a Sonic 4, the game would have to be of high quality or else the fans would be angry.  But now most Sonic fans will be happy if the game just barely passes as good.  

It's a rather despressing fact.

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: Luigi Dude
Well calling it the best 3d Sonic doesn't really mean much since all the other 3d Sonic games range from mediocre to complete sh!t.  The game just has to be decent to be considered the best 3d Sonic game.

This shows just how low Sega has set the bar for Sonic games.  Back in the Genesis days if Sega was to release a Sonic 4, the game would have to be of high quality or else the fans would be angry.  But now most Sonic fans will be happy if the game just barely passes as good.  

It's a rather despressing fact.

Considering Sonic Adventure was my favorite Sonic game, I think that is promising that it is one of the best Sonic's. Then again that comment could have been referred to the post-DC era Sonic which was molested.

[couchmonkey]

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
God willing, the game will get some good word of mouth and rise up in the charts.

Pfft. Every Sonic game (with the possible exception of Shadow but I've even seen kids say "that's cool" when seeing the game) rises up in the charts, especially in the UK.

True.  Peer at IGN did a blog entry on marketing and sales where he compared Shadow the Hedgehog to Shadow of the Collosus.  At the time (October 30th 2006), he said:

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So far, Shadow the Hedgehog has sold 407,000 copies for GameCube in the US (according to NPD), 285,000 copies on PlayStation 2 and 106,000 copies on Xbox...we're seeing two things at work here. For one, Shadow sold more than half-a-million copies despite overwhelmingly negative press coverage. But on the other hand, Shadow didn't sell as well as its Sonic predecessors.

The game still sold reasonably well, and although I think goodwill is running out for the series, I also think there are a lot of people out there who have enjoyed the 3D games.  In fact I've probably said that several times in this thread alone - Sonic is still popular with a lot of people, especially kids who weren't raised on the 2D games.  I think this game is going to sell a good half million in the next few weeks.  

[Smash_Brother]

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Originally posted by: couchmonkey I think this game is going to sell a good half million in the next few weeks.

I truly hope it does because then maybe Sega will wake the f*ck up and finally see that A) Sonic's proper home is on Nintendo consoles and B) big surprise, people buy Sonic games because they want to play as SONIC.

It's basically impossible for SR to NOT outsell STH on 360/PS3. From what I heard, the 360 version sold less than 50k copies on opening week and the PS3 version sold even less: absolutely PATHETIC numbers for a Sonic game.

If Sega has anyone working at the company who can do basic math, they'll realize that the development costs for making Sonic games on the 360/PS3 aren't justified, what with the HD requirements and the fact that the games sell like sh*t.

Maybe it'll be the Wii's market disruption which finally forces companies like Sega to shift their development focus to the platforms where their games actually sell. I mean, the Sonic games ALWAYS sold better on the GC anyway. Now, if the Wii version sells 500k+ copies and the 360/PS3 version doesn't even break 100k, this might actually be a powerful enough wake up call to Sega to stop bothering with the other consoles.

Before, they could justify porting the same game to three consoles. Now that the Wii is so different and doesn't require huge HD budgets for its games, it's readily possible that making Sonic games exclusively for Wii will be more profitable than trying to cover all three consoles.

It's funny: my friends and I joked that the downloadable demo for STH on 360 wasn't a demo, it was a warning...

[Ceric]

I have to agree with Golden Phoenix.  Personally I found that Sonic Adventure is probably my favorite sonic.  I do beleive it would have been better if some parts where cut out but I still liked it for the most part.

[KDR_11k]

I truly hope it does because then maybe Sega will wake the f*ck up and finally see that A) Sonic's proper home is on Nintendo consoles

If it was possible to clue them in on that the sales of every 3d Sonic game would have done it already.

[Smash_Brother]

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Originally posted by: KDR_11k If it was possible to clue them in on that the sales of every 3d Sonic game would have done it already.

See, that's my point: in the past, porting the game to all three consoles of that gen resulted in still reasonable and profitable sales on other consoles.

Now, we can clearly see the the idea of a big, sh*tty anime clichéd story driven, HD graphic Sonic didn't pan out...at all, but that's what 360/PS3 ARE: traditional control systems with an emphasis on graphics.

However, in mere days, we will be seeing what a Wiimote-driven, gameplay oriented Sonic game will do.

This will be the first time where Sega is actually taking a LOSS from bringing Sonic to non-Nintendo consoles. My only hope is that they don't try to port SR over to 360/PS3 but I largely suspect they will anyway, despite the fact that people who have tried the game say it'd suck with an analogue stick.

[KDR_11k]

Does the Wiimote really do anything in Sonic that buttons wouldn't do just fine?

[Smash_Brother]

For the purpose of jumping and attacking, no, but for the purpose of steering, yes.

You have to figure that an analogue stick has roughly 90° of steering that it can do from left to right and the sad truth is that human beings just AREN'T that precise in their thumbs, at least not without more training than the average player will have patience for.

One of the reasons Excite Truck was so damn good was because of the fact that you literally have 360° of steering at your disposal: when you want to make minute adjustments to your direction, you can, but when you want to cut the wheel as hard as possible, you can also do this by tilting the controller near-vertically.

I haven't played the game yet, but I have seen places in videos of the game where Sonic is expected to make small, rapid movements left and right and, IMHO, that's not going to work terribly well on an analogue stick because doing it quickly is nigh impossible without overshooting.

Granted, none of this is a real roadblock to Sega porting the game to other consoles, but I can already tell you that it will play better with the Wiimote than it would with an analogue.

[Artimus]

I think it's one of those cases where it could work with an analog stick but it wouldn't be as fun.