Mama Robotnik
Member
Credit to Alvin Flummux over at GRCade for spotting this story...
tssznews.com has an interesting article, with sources and links, about a blogger who years ago, seemed to have more insight regarding Nights: Journey of Dreams than anyone else.
The story gets more interesting. In the blogger's tirade, he went on to mention the mechanics of Sonic Unleashed, a year before they were made public.
After publishing said comment, the blog suffered a quick mass-deletion of posts, and was then replaced with:
There are other glimpses of insight to be had in the article, and the linked archived blog entry, but I find this perspectve to be very interesting:
Discuss?
(I know the website is not well known, but the article seems fully sourced.)
tssznews.com has an interesting article, with sources and links, about a blogger who years ago, seemed to have more insight regarding Nights: Journey of Dreams than anyone else.
In particular, it reveals an internal strife between Sonic Team and Sega of Japan, highlighted by the fact that NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams was originally developed as an Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 title - going so far as to say he (Ben Andac) played an Xbox 360 build of NiGHTS at one point. Upon witnessing the overnight success of the Wii, Sega of Japan apparently forced Sonic Team to retool the game for Nintendos lower-spec platform, something its producer (Takashi Iizuka) was not happy about. Despite the shift in platform, the games fast-approaching release date and limited development budget remained firmly unchanged, giving Sonic Team roughly one year to rebuild NiGHTS exclusively for the Wii (when most games typically take two years or more to develop).
The story gets more interesting. In the blogger's tirade, he went on to mention the mechanics of Sonic Unleashed, a year before they were made public.
Sonic Team are a relic from a past age who have overstayed their welcome. For the same marketing reasons that their name was initially kept (and has since backfired) they should be dissolved - it may already be too late for NiGHTS (and I really hope it isnt and they manage to turn it around, which with Iizuka-sans passion for the project is a possibility), but for the good of the companys image; for the future of Segas other prestigious IPs and lastly for its iconic mascot it needs to be done before they release another Sonic game with a transforming Evil Night Sonic who looks like a werewolf and can stretch his arms out Dhalsim-style. It will happen, mark my words.
After publishing said comment, the blog suffered a quick mass-deletion of posts, and was then replaced with:
The sidebar of his blog now contains a typical My opinions are my own and do not reflect upon my employer, and I will not discuss my job with you disclaimer, but most importantly, reveals the blog owners true name: Ben Andac. Ben Andac, as it turns out, worked as a Game Consultant and an Admissions and Recruitment Executive for both Sega Europe and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Bens job was most likely to evaluate the quality of products coming out of the publisher and potentially scout for new recruits to develop software.
There are other glimpses of insight to be had in the article, and the linked archived blog entry, but I find this perspectve to be very interesting:
Sega of Japan had intended NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams as a brief rest from the never-ending onslaught of Sonic game after Sonic game. In Bens own words: Theres no doubt that Sonic Team have lost their quality touch. They are worse than talentless: they are without passion. Bored, weary, closed-minded and out of touch with any sense of what makes games good anymore. Quite simply put, after making so many of them, Sonic Team is tired of Sonic games - something Ben cites as a reason for Yuji Nakas resignation in 2006.
Discuss?
(I know the website is not well known, but the article seems fully sourced.)