PixlBit

I'm loving this anonymous responder chain we've got going here. Any of you care to make an account so your posts can be a little more recognizable?

Oooh, burn! Nah, just kidding. I think it's funny because I've seen way too many cases on the Apprentice where businesses task people with making a viral commercial, and then they get upset or offended whenever there's any material that could have an actual chance of going viral. The mere fact that the video is so out there compared to what it good have been? That's hilarious to me, all by itself.

Oh, I don't disagree about All-Stars Racing. I don't really count it as a Sonic game, though. I also enjoyed Generations (on the 360/PS3) well enough, too. Colors, I didn't like. The game moved on auto-pilot far too often, had all of about one or two enemy types, the power-ups were underutilized, the camera was often wonky, and the platforming seemed off, since Sonic had an unnatural float to his jump. Also, so many stages reused segments from other stages to artificially extend the game, and I didn't enjoy that.

I'd like to see something new as well, and I don't like the Skylanders idea because of how expensive it is. I'm all for something new with Sonic, just to see how it goes. At this point, I hate how much Sonic is geared towards kids, not because it's family friendly, but the dialog during cutscenes is so obnoxious. If there's a plot to advance in Sonic, from now on, it should be done Kid Icarus: Uprising style, where the characters have conversations while you're playing the game. Then, at least, I wouldn't feel like I was just sitting there watching dumb conversations. Sonic Generations suffered from this, just like Sonic Colors did.

Anyway, I would like to see a Sonic reboot. As it stands now, it's all about hot, nasty speed in so many cases, and where it isn't, there's usually gameplay issues or seriously dull stage design problems. I say *actually* take the hog back to his Genesis roots, which doesn't mean creating terrible stages that try to mimic prior Sonic stages, but add boosters and chains of enemies to homing attack up, or restart it all, since the Sonic Unleashed-style 3D gameplay isn't all that exciting, even though it works decently at points.

I, too, have zero interest. Nintendo really must feel having Pokemon on a brand will cause it to sell anywhere, not that I would disagree with the thought.

I'm really digging the multiplayer more than I should be. I don't typically go for Vs. online multiplayer all that often, but with all the customization available with weapons, it makes for a lot of variety available. My favorite so far has been to take a fireworks cannon, give it +4 petrification, and then shoot charged shots like crazy. The cannon has good range and a very quick charge. While it does low damage, each shot hits multiple times and can hit a wide area with multiple enemies, so it works very well in supporting teammates. I'm currently working on rebuilding the cannon with extra range and a little more damage. It's taking some time. Good fun.

Whenever I do aim to check reviews, I do about the same as you. Be they product reviews, game reviews, movie reviews, or whatever. The difference for me is that I look for the lowest review in which the review isn't a raving lunatic. Sometimes some of the bottom-raters are just insane. I also tend to look for a single well-written higher review, to try to find the balance. It works well when it comes to techie things and such. The lower-rated reviews often mention issues with matters like DRM, and such, that can cause serious inconvenience that higher reviews tend to look over.

With Journey, I have to ask, what made you say "This is art!"? I look at it, and I see an artistic style, and I see a focus on a few concepts, but to me, the game doesn't really do much of a job expressing any deep or meaningful point. It could easily be my limited understanding, but any case where I've read someone suggesting the ideas and concepts which Journey relays, I find myself thinking that if the thatgamecompany really wanted to create a deeper piece of work, these suggested themes could have been established much more strongly than they were. The main theme I noticed when Chris played the game was the concept of rebirth, which, to me, is such a common art theme that for the game to take said concept doesn't impress me by itself, and unfortunately, Journey doesn't venture to any sort of interesting territory with the idea, either. 

Anyway, the point still stands that Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse was a great game.

I want to say I'm particularly proud of my flow flowchart. It's very nice.

Usually I'm not a fan of "I hope this is fixed in the sequel" type of talk. Particularly with obvious problems in games. However, I have to say I really feel this game is very close to finding something very fun, so I wouldn't be upset to see a sequel, perhaps one that lets lefties use the Circle Pad Pro, as well.

I think I'll pass on this one, most notably because I hate not being able to see enemy bullets. Looking at the screenshots we've got and reading it in NIck's review, I'm really not interested in playing another shooter where I can't see something, and then just die. It doesn't really matter how good the game is beyond that, which is a shame, since it looks like it's pretty solid.

I think the biggest problem here is marketing. Had they not made certain marketing claims, as well as a few claims in developer interviews, there wouldn't have been a fan outcry. If you don't want to upset your fans, don't promise one thing and then deliver another.

That said, it's pretty silly to change an ending just because people are upset about it. To me, that's very inauthentic, and so even if I were in the group that cared and wanted a different ending, I wouldn't be satisfied. I think the best response might have been to deliver something like unfinished scripts that were in development and then thrown out for the ending in the game, and let those die hard fans read and enjoy them. in those scenarios, I think fans would be happier, and they'd be recieving something more genuine, probably.