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Theescapist 085.Pdf

Theescapist 085.Pdf

one product created by , be it an buzzwords. While Freeman did useful old school or the most work to identify, formalize, and codify recent iteration of Sonic for the . techniques -- and I too am a big fan of Gamers world-wide know and accept a Sega has been so ubiquitous in our his “character diamond” -- no game pantheon of gaming giants. These include: gamer world that many of us have deep- In response to “Play Within a Play” developer should expect to be able to seated emotions and vivid memories from The Escapist Forum: The find cookbook answers to the thorny and Atari – Console and software maker. about them to match their depth of “Emotioneering” slant of the article is complex issues of plot and character. Founded 1972. involvement in the game industry. interesting but let’s remember a key – Console and software fact: The book was first published in - coot maker. Founded in 1889, but didn’t jump And it is these deep emotions and vivid 2003, and FF VII came out in 1997. onto the videogame battlefield until the memories which prompts this week’s In response to “Play Within a Play” early to mid 1970s. issue of The Escapist, “Sega!” about … The Final Fantasy team did not use from The Escapist Forum: Regardless EA – Software maker and publisher, well, Sega. Russ Pitts shares his woes of “Emotioneering techniques” per se, they of what you think of the book or the Founded 1982. battle when he took sides with just designed a great game. I point this author, this article still raises some very Computer Entertainment – over the PlayStation 2 in that out to emphasize that excellent games valid points about what makes a good Console and software maker. The round of the console war. Newcomer and good game writing exist independent story compared to a forgettable or overly Johnny-Come-Latelies founded in 1993. Edward Moore can’t outrun his favorite of how-to texts, consultants, and cliche story. Sega game of years past, nor does he But there is one giant who predates all want to. Shawn Williams runs through of these, who from the very beginning the full history of the Sonic franchise. was about bringing electronic games to Spanner discusses his disillusionment the masses: Sega. Sega was founded with Sega through the mighty gaming originally as Games, and soon giant’s ups and downs. And Gearoid became Service Games (Service Games Reidy returns to explain his sense of déjà … Sega … get it?), in 1940. Back then, vu upon his first time arrival in . their purpose was to bring arcade games Find these articles and more in this to servicemen abroad. week’s issue of The Escapist.

And now, after decades of developing Cheers, electronic entertainment products, I dare you to find anyone, claiming himself to be a gamer, who has not played at least The so called “emotioneering techniques” those that are love related, in which I’ll Should they instead break up their game described in the book are very valid return to specific games. While I into 15 - 30 minute sections so that it methods of story writing, that have been definitely see the pull of the RPG, I can still be played by people without a around for a long time. Freeman has usually find myself returning to strategy lot of time? I’d personally be satisfied simply given them a name and games. Red Alert 2 used to serve that just to see more games implement attempted to claim some credit for purpose, but lately it’s been Advance Diablo II’s hardcore mode. It would force pointing out what authors Wars on the DS. Madden has also filled the developers to make sure the game already knew. But isn’t that what most those voids for me, with the structure and could be played successfully through non-fiction books do anyway? regimented flow providing a needed without failure through intelligent regularity in stressful times. planning and execution. It caters to both To say that the final fantasy team didn’t crowds in this, because I’m sure that use emotioneering techniques would not - Dr. Wiley there are people who don’t want to deal be entirely accurate. That would be like with making a new character or starting saying that nobody ever used gravity In response to “Dunbar’s Number” over if they make a fatal mistake. before Newtonian physics gave it a from The Escapist Forum: Neat article. name. I think you would have been I liked how it summed up this week’s - TomBeraha better off pointing out that Freeman issue of The Escapist by discussing some based his book (and his newly coined really interesting findings in the science In response to “Killjoy” from The methodologies) on the techniques used of psychology. I got my BA in Escapist Forum: The core problem is by already successful storytellers like the Psychology, and I have lost my intimacy that many engines simply final fantasy team. with it since I graduated (even though it don’t have the room for the kind of was less than a year ago). I was glad to creativity needed to save your neck in a - Goofonian revisit the subject within another subject bad situation. There are encounters in that I enjoy. any given RPG where it’s mathematically In response to “” impossible to not take a lot of damage. from The Escapist Forum: Just like -Blaxton Get rid of those. The player should comfort foods, there are definitely games always be able to think, fight, run, talk, that provide essential distractions/ In response to “Killjoy” from The or otherwise find their way out of an interactions in those stressful times that Escapist Forum: The job of the unexpected threat. follow a breakup. I find that there’s a lot developer isn’t an easy one here, Do of stressful situations though, not just they remove quick-saves entirely? Precisely where to balance it is an issue, quicksave/load exploitation enough to but I think you’ll find more in not remove the challenge of the game. having a variable (user-specifiable) difficulty level, so that the player always Of course such a system would probably feels no more threatened as they want only work for linear/mission-based games. to feel. Eventually they’ll realize that quick-saving all the time is boring. - te2rx

- Bongo Bill

In response to “Killjoy” from The Escapist Forum: I agree that designing games/levels that don’t kill you every 5 steps is the way to go, but in conjunction you need a limited save system that makes sense and isn’t exploitable. One of the most interesting save systems I’ve seen comes from Operation Flashpoint. The game has automatic checkpoint saves, but it also allows you one arbitrary savegame to use whenever you want during the course of a certain mission. It’s a nice compromise... it can be used either as a convenience save (e. g. saving after you’ve spent a lot of time setting up the perfect ambush) or a post-”omg I just did an epic maneuver that I surely won’t be able to pull off again” save, but either way it prevents We were having the office debate to end Dreamcast however, through some all office debates. programming voodoo, looked better. The lines were smoother, colors slightly Granted, debates are fairly typical, most brighter; it couldn’t bench as much, but occurring over who moved whoever’s it had legs. It also had internet cheese, what Accounting thinks about connectivity out of the box and a long Accounts Payable’s new stationery or list of launch titles. The scales, in other which team has a better chance of words, were fairly well balanced however winning what game; perhaps who’ll be you looked at it. the next to die on Lost. This, however, was no ordinary office debate, nor any Besides, the Dreamcast had an obvious, ordinary office. This was TechTV, bastion irrefutable advantage: It was currently of nerd television and repository of all available. The PS2 wasn’t due for that was holy in the world of emergent another month and would be hard to find technology media. The debate: on store shelves, we all knew, for the PlayStation 2 or Dreamcast? remainder of the year. Meanwhile the Dreamcast, which had launched the Sides were chosen, technical previous fall was readily available, as specifications examined, large words were over 100 games for it. And here’s tossed around, marketing double-talk another kick in Sony’s shins: It was scoffed at, discarded and redistributed as cheaper, too. About half of what the PS2 “accepted fact.” It was an all-out nerd would cost at launch. And yet, the war. Wide swaths of work weeks were numbers didn’t lie: The PS2 was a leveled in favor of poring over every last powerful machine. Or would be, when it detail to be dredged out of the gaming came out. press and all of the evidence was tried in the court of nerd. In the end, after weighing all possible pros and cons (real and imaginary) all that was The PS2 had beefier tech specs, a faster left were personal allegiances. Most of the processor and the ability to wrangle office, raised on PlayStation, remained almost twice as many polygons, making loyal to Sony’s second effort and praised for far more detailed graphics. The the machine as, not only a true next-gen game console, but a cheap DVD player to was riding on his decision, and with the plan was simple: I’d walk back in, hijack the PS2 from the product lab, sat Leo in boot; leaving only a stalwart few to wave fate of our console gaming lives - nay, the an editing terminal, display the a chair in the conference room and the Dreamcast flag, pointing crooked console gaming lives of our entire viewing awesomeness that was Sega’s next-gen popped in the DVD of . Then, fingers at the Sega name, harbinger of audience - in the balance, the stakes console, let Leo soak in its awesome as he watched bits of granite flying awesomeness from the days of yore. And were incredibly high. sauce for a bit, then hit him with the around in slow motion, while gun-toting by “few,” I mean me. After weeks of clincher: He could take it home. No big, uber geeks wearing black leather jackets debate, it had come down to the entire I made my case, the other side made I’d grab another. But if he wanted a PS2, shot up the joint, they hit him with their Screensavers staff versus me, with one theirs. Leo remained undecided. Then I he’d have to wait until Christmas, or clincher: He was watching the movie on undecided. That undecided was Leo, our played my trump card. I left the office, more likely, the following spring. Bing, the cheapest DVD player in existence. fearless leader, and the only one whose walked across the street to Toys-R-Us, bam, boom. Point, winner. It couldn’t Oh, and it also played games. Bing, bam, vote actually mattered. dropped just over $200 (less than the possibly go wrong. boom. Point, winner. By the time I price of the PS2) and returned carrying a returned, purchases in hand, it was all Leo had a nose for nerdity, a taste for retail Dreamcast and two games, Sonic It went wrong. While I was gone, the over. I’d lost, and so had Sega. (It’s hard tech and an ear to the ground of what Adventure and Jet Grind Radio, arguably rest of the team had pulled out the big to argue with the bank lobby scene.) really mattered in the dork dimension. the best games available at the time. My guns. They snagged a review model of When Leo liked a product, everyone liked I clutched my Dreamcast to my chest that product, not just because we were and nursed a single, salty tear as the kissing his ass (although that was often rest of the office slowly turned their the case) but usually because he was backs on Sega and their wonderful little right; the stuff he liked, he liked for good machine. This would be a scene repeated reasons, and they were usually reasons the world over. we could all get behind. Reasons like “this doesn’t suck,” or “it’s utterly awesome,” *** and more than just our office listened when he talked about tech. His prowess A month later, when the PS2 finally was the foundation upon which the whole launched, the Dreamcast had ironically of our empire was built. Leo was, in a become harder to find. Shipments had word, TechTV, and if he went on the air slowed, and stocks were slow to be saying something rocked his world, it replenished. It was as if the orders wouldn’t be long before that something weren’t even being placed, much less was rocking the worlds of everyone who filled. A few months later, the games, watched our show. Needless to say, a lot too, began to slide into oblivion, and the sponsored by seemed, could go wrong. And yet it did. speeds to the SegaNet online arena, President of Sega of America, asked IGN Sony beat them just by showing up to punishing players who stuck with the in December of 2000. “Absolutely, and the party, and by the time Sega pulled onboard 56k, which was most of them, when broadband comes, it’ll be a breeze the plug, only 10 million Dreamcasts had and introduced a measure of confusion for us. If broadband ever comes.” been manufactured, an estimated half of to what was really the most intuitive and which still sat in warehouses and on easy to install internet service going. Little did he know it was already store shelves. Still, early reviews of both the SegaNet knocking on his door. In fact, in service and the games playable on it retrospect, it appears that Peter Moore At first glance, it doesn’t make any were largely … well, glowing. knew very little about the state of sense, and considering only the machine, gaming in 2000, or the future of his own its capability and wide appeal, it doesn’t. “If this is where Dreamcast gaming is company’s console. Perhaps he and Sega But the problems with Sega’s machine headed, sign me up, Sega,” IGN said of were simply looking too far ahead. were legion, and most had nothing to do the first-ever online-playable console with the Dreamcast at all. sports game, NFL2k1. “Stellar, stellar has a problem because MSN job, people.” still relies on the internet. If you’re For one thing, Sega launched an online- going to try to go out and get involved capable machine and attendant internet NFL2k1 would be followed (mere months in a high-twitch type of gaming, unless service at exactly the worst possible before the Dreamcast production lines they do something different … time. It was the first of its kind, and in a were closed for good) by another first: the sometimes it’ll be good, and sometimes vacuum, that would have mattered. first ever console MMOG, it won’t work at all for them. Around the turn of the century, however, Online, developed by Sega’s stars, Sonic the internet was a volatile place to be Team. PSO reviewers praised innovative We’ve gone out with SegaNet and built Dreamcast sections at every local store doing business, especially as a service features like the chat lobby, group-based up the server hubs -- they’re fond dwindled away to nothing. In 1999, Sega provider. Internet use and online play questing, cooperative play and downstairs of saying that they own had launched with the best machine and were catching on in a big way, but so deathmatch, features PC gamers had everything from the cables to the the most high-quality games anyone had was broadband. Sega’s inclusion of a 56k come to take for granted, but which had to service to the electricity -- because ever seen. They had a well-supported in the Dreamcast rendered it date never before been seen on a console. with online play, you’ve got to be able platform which was easy to program for obsolete off the shelf, forcing users to to create an environment that is less and offered an abundance of after- upgrade the machine with a pricey “Will it be something that we can build, variable. There is nothing worse than market options and services. They had, broadband adapter or live with a less- where our competitors are so far behind inconsistency when playing online. in other words, a first-rate game than-fast dial-up connection. This in the learning experience of game console, launched perfectly and created a wide disparity in connectivity design online… ?” Peter Moore, then supported flawlessly. Nothing, so it In 2000, Peter Moore was already hardware business. The game, as they thinking about the future of the internet, say, was over. Nick Gibson, Senior and a few years later, at Microsoft, he Internet and Games Analyst at Durlacher would help make it a reality Research Ltd. suggests why:

*** Hardware manufacturers have a symbiotic relationship with game Moore’s 2000 interview with IGN continues: publishers which leaves them with the catch-22 problem of needing to We are fully committed to the convince publishers to commit Dreamcast. The Dreamcast sold more resources to developing high quality units in its first four days than Saturn titles for a platform whose growth is sold in its first year. There’s no entirely dependent on the release of comparison there. And after the dust high quality titles. … Thus Sega, settles on this holiday, the Dreamcast weakened both financially but more will be at a very critical mass that will importantly in the eyes of the games continue to be attractive to third market by the failure of Saturn, parties. That said, I know we will lose and MegaCD, launched Dreamcast with some third parties. … Yes, it’s been a few expecting it to seriously challenge transitional period all around for Sega, its principal rival Sony in the longer but the thought that once this run. With little serious support from Christmas is over that Sega will publishers as a result, the self-fulfilling suddenly disappear out into the crowd prophecy of its demise as a retail … Nope. Nothing would be further from product was more or less complete the truth. Too many great Dreamcast before it started. games are in development for Christmas 2001 to ignore -- this In other words, it’s the games, stupid. platform will keep growing and growing. Sega, sensing a weakness in the market for A month later, Sega would announce that their Saturn console, which they had production of the Dreamcast would originally counted on to see them through a discontinue; they had decided to exit the five-year cycle, pulled the plug in favor of an advanced launch timetable for the Grind Radio, , Ecco the Russ Pitts is an Associate Editor for The Dreamcast. The third-party developers, Dolphin, , , Seaman, Escapist. He has written and produced annoyed at having thrown resources behind Soul Calibur, etc. Sega had never failed for television, theatre and film, has been a now-defunct console, were reluctant to as a game designer, and their machine writing on the web since it was invented commit again to Sega’s new platform, felt like it was made for their games. The and claims to have played every console costing the company the support of the games that actually made it to shelves, ever made. third-party developers they needed to however, were only half the story. Half- ensure the Dreamcast’s success. No third- Life, Max Payne, Tropico … the list of party games, no publisher support, no games slated for 2001 release on the audience. Cause, effect, close the doors and Dreamcast reads almost exactly like the turn out the lights. Had Sega been less list of games I ended up purchasing and skittish over Saturn’s long-term prospects, playing on my PC. Between the PC and or developers more bullish on the the Dreamcast, I weathered the first few Dreamcast’s, maybe they’d still be in the years of the new millennium, never once game. But they weren’t, and that’s that. sparing a thought for Sony, Microsoft or Sega now makes games, end of story. What Nintendo. But it didn’t last. happens when you throw a perfect console launch and no one shows? Dreamcast. Eventually, I caved and bought an and let the Dreamcast go in some *** tumultuous breakup or another. I never did drink the Kool Aid and buy a PS2. TechTV shared office space with a few of Not for a long time anyway. Not until it Sega of America’s divisions, notably, came with a plastic guitar. Personal Dreamcast. In the spring of 2001, they allegiances run deep, after all, and closed their doors and moved out, although I (and Sega) lost that round, I shedding inventory in an inter-office fire couldn’t admit it. Couldn’t concede. Then sale. I cleaned up. It was the most again, as has been well established, Dreamcast merchandise I’d seen in one prophecy has never been one of my place since buying the damn thing, and strengths. Nor has forgiveness. the most I’d see ever again. I carried my treasures home and played them over and over. They were great games: Jet To a significant portion of the planet’s reduce history to a boring list of dollar population, the name Sega quite literally signs followed by six or more figures. It’s means “games”: It implies innovation, not important. conjures images and feelings of high- octane entertainment, it’s a beloved What is of importance to contemporary epoch of childhood, it is a friend, and it Sega fans is something David Rosen said has been a lover. Sega is more than a when he bought his company back from company name – it’s an aspect of Gulf & Western, after the great modern history that requires no videogame market crash of the early definition for those who were there. ‘80s. With his then business partner, Hayao Nakayama, at the helm of Sega of But behind the name, and its many and Japan and himself as CEO of Sega of passionate sentiments, there’s a sadness America, the company publicly vowed which stems the flow of good feelings for “never to stick to one concept for too gamers almost as quickly as they begin. long,” acknowledging that every piece of There’s a feeling that the company technology “has a life and a death.” In hasn’t lived up to its promise. A regret principle, this policy was sound, and it that love’s labor may have been lost. was reassuring for customers to know Sega would remain committed to pushing Historically, the name originates from its the boundaries of videogaming. It has, conception as Standard Games - an however, been somewhat of a double- importer of coin-operated amusement edged sword; pushing boundaries while machines for U.S. servicemen stationed simultaneously dispossessing consistency. in Hawaii in the 1940s. When the company moved to Japan, it was Whether the management took this renamed Service Games of Japan and philosophy too literally or simply used it later merged with pinball machine as an excuse to circumnavigate importer, Rosen Enterprises, to become problems, it’s impossible to say. In Sega (SErvice GAmes), in the 1960s. As retrospect, one thing is certainly clear – a company, Sega has been repeatedly this belief has remained at the core of bought and sold in one of those tedious Sega’s principles ever since, and has financial paper trails that so easily turned the developer into something of store I was on the prowl for this magic initial foray into the home hardware box with a waterfront arcade inside. Not market ran headlong into the Nintendo that I could have afforded one anyway, Famicom and struggled to find a finger but the wave of disillusionment that hold on the Eastern shelves. washed over me when I finally hunted a down is still palpable today. Despite receiving great support from Taiwanese players, the SG1000 was once There was no , no , no again remanufactured (very early in its . All I could find propped life) into the Master System for the U.S. against the shelf was some cutesy Alex market. When the consoles didn’t Kidd rubbish and random sports immediately fly off the shelves, Sega’s I still recall the first time I really took platitudes designed to lure in parents, interest evaporated, and they licensed notice of Sega. While I was happily not players. I knew what the problem the Master System rights to toy giant partnered to a humble ZX Spectrum - was, of course. It wasn’t the game store . Of course, the toy truck an industry dichotomy; pledging which met all my gaming needs with that was lacking in shelf candy; it was manufacturer had no concept of longevity on the one hand by eight dazzling colors and a cassette tape my naivety that had played tricks on an videogames, especially in a market still establishing and supporting long-lived loading system which only required arcade-addled mind for believing that reeling from collapse, and the Master game franchises, embracing brevity on minimal supervision during its 10-minute promo in the first place. No matter, it System sold even worse under their the other by rushing out updated loading cycle – I happened upon an was gone from my memory the moment administration. In response, Sega hardware solutions and abandoning advertisement for the Sega Master I got back to the Spectrum shelf, and it immediately invoked its new philosophies console systems as soon as they appear System. It was in the form of a poster (I didn’t return until this issue of The and severed the damaged Master to flag in the market place. think it may have come packaged with Escapist came along. System limb, setting its attention firmly other games, though I’ve no idea how I on the future. Coupled with Sega’s insistence on sending got hold of it), with a single screen shot A few minutes of cursory research gives out confounding mixed messages of each available game. a different slant to my search for a But I wasn’t alone in that game store. (interest in its own products seeming to Master System, and one that backlights The same grubby-faced kids I knocked run hot and cold, and severe mood It was incredible. I vaguely knew the the ominous storm cloud that has hung elbows with in the back alley arcades swings guiding vital marketing decisions) name Sega from the arcades, but until over Sega for a long time. The Master were also hunting for this Holy Grail that there’s little reason to believe that many that moment I’d no idea those games System was the final evolution of two promised a wealth of top coin-op titles in of the gargantuan problems the developer could be brought home, especially in other games systems Sega never the living room. We didn’t know or care has faced (and, it must be said, thus far such a picture-perfect package. You’d granted a U.S. or European release: the who Sega was, or if they’d spent millions survived) were not entirely self-inflicted. better believe the next time I was in the SG1000 and the SG1000 Mark II. This of Yen developing hardware; we knew and the Testarossa’s moved on without, it would seem, looking Unlike the Master System, the Genesis, names, and if they’d been on the shelves back, toward the future of gaming: 16-bit through raw processing power alone, to tempt us, the Master System might consoles and, perhaps fittingly a machine was able to deliver that promise to the have lived up to its name and held a called “Genesis,” which at an home gamer, bringing everything but the very different place in history. approximated 29 millions shipped, is stale odor of unwashed males and the Sega’s best-selling console to date. mysteriously sticky floor of the arcade What I don’t know about marketing into the living room. would fill a warehouse, but selling a Sega’s marketing of the Genesis is fondly Master System to the likes of myself and remembered for a churlish goading of By the time the Genesis was tearing up other arcade creepers would not have Nintendo and a playful, almost irreverent the charts, Sega was comfortably under been a difficult task. It’s been said the indifference to sales figures. This kind of the umbrella of venture capitalist firm company’s first global console suffered confidence is infectious, giving power to a CSK with its founder, , in the due to a lack of a mascot that could product while instilling a sense of security game developer’s plush CEO chair. Okawa compete with , yet I remember in the customer base. Good (or perhaps allowed the creative teams virtual loads of them: We played them three lucky?) timing was also a significant factor, autonomy when it came to developing times a week and all weekend in the though neither of these accounts for the their games. As a result, the individual arcades! Fine, perhaps we didn’t know phenomenal triumph of the machine. logos of and AM2 were they were Sega mascots, but their nothing short of a seal of quality for loyal names carried weight with addicted Just as the Master System is accused of players, but they didn’t get much support gamers. We cared as much about fancy being unrepresented by a suitable from the marketing arm of the business. promotional campaigns as we did about mascot, it’s commonly held that, until global warming or going to school. All we Sonic shot into view, the Genesis was While the 3-D virus spread throughout wanted was the games, and if Sega, or equally voiceless. Yet for almost a the gaming world, the 16-bit Genesis whatever it was called, wasn’t going to decade, the arcades had rung to the faired surprisingly well with a stable of give us home conversions of the titles we splash of overfull coin boxes in games 2-D games, some original, some spent all our money on in the arcade, it such as , Golden Axe, franchise updates, but most clearly could go to hell and wait for us there. Hang-On, , and an exhibiting the power of the Genesis. army of other groundbreaking titles. Likewise, the arcades reached a peak not And so the Master System died young Almost inadvertently, Sega had built seen since the early ‘80s, in no small and was quietly buried in unconsecrated itself a Herculean empire from a wealth part due to pioneering visions like Sega’s ground. Sega, true to their beliefs, of franchises ready to come home. Virtua series. And yet, a slew of confusing hardware another. And yet throughout its storied, company was in serious debt, and even add-ons designed to prolong the lifespan often turbulent history, Sega has held slicing itself in half wasn’t enough to of Genesis and perhaps bar the gate, true to the promise of making playable, retain buoyancy. Step in Isao Okawa, the kept the gaming giant from carving out a boundary-pushing games. The short lives mega-wealthy entrepreneur and permanent niche on the console of its home consoles were shored up by chairman of the software developer’s hardware scene. The 32x upgrade would the developer’s one saving grace: parent company, CSK. Okawa gallantly supposedly enable the Genesis to incredibly playable franchises, delicately gave up his stock shares in Sega (and harness the power of 32-bit architecture, woven throughout its home and arcade other companies with an interest in but at over $150, was overpriced as an catalogues – though even magnificent Sega) to offset the company’s debts. add-on, and since it required the Genesis conversions of 2 and This $700 million gesture came only console, failed in every respect as a House of the Dead 2 only had so much weeks before the unexpected death of standalone upgrade. Sega experienced mileage in them. the Japanese businessman: a parting gift similar problems with the CD-ROM player with the potential to re-launch the new accessory. It was as if, for one brief The new millennium marked a harsh “software-only” Sega as the world moment, reveling in the success of a return to the cutthroat marketing gaming power it once was. triumphant console, Sega was unable to paradigm established all those years ago let go, live up to their founding by the founding fathers. Sega’s hardware The new hardware-less corporation rolled philosophy and charge ahead. Naturally was taken out into a field and shot, so out its franchise wagon like never before, gamers and developers alike appeared the company could move toward a and while classics like Sonic and Out Run perplexed by Sega’s apparent lack of platform-agnostic software future. A shifted units purely on the strength of focus, and neither, accordingly, were brutal, yet lifesaving amputation that their revered names, it was a far cry willing to invest in the future of these opened Sega’s real strength up to new from the days when Sega was turning half-baked hardware solutions. markets. This was the chance for two out these great titles from new. decades of some of the industry’s most It may seem like a long leap forward to revered gaming franchises to live again Unfortunately, many of those classic 2001, but the events of Sega’s turbulent on a new generation of game systems. games survived in name only, as the history are remarkably interchangeable. new Sega farmed out licenses to all and From the Master System to the Naturally, it was in Sega’s best interests sundry in an attempt to regain its Dreamcast, each of Sega’s forays into to play this hand as though it were a footing. With Okama no longer watching home-based game hardware has failed, considered and beneficial decision over the game giant, Sega rapidly began or fallen prey to one fatal misstep or (rather than a necessity), but the running out of breathing room, and its long reputation slipped, along with any repeatedly bang the same Virtua drum The brilliance and innovation have been last vestiges of brand loyalty from the without any new rhythm. And by messing slow in coming, and missteps like Full gamers. CSK put Sega on the auction with the last thing that worked, the eight Auto and have block in 2003, where Japanese software development teams, Sega has severely eroded the footing of a once- amusement machine vendor Sammy, a drastically reduced its chances to succeed great giant. Where the name, nay the corporation known for buying out on the merits of its original franchises. word, “Sega” once represented struggling firms in an effort to squeeze brilliance, it risks now becoming an out what remaining revenue may be left This isn’t to say Sega can’t turn it all empty slug line; reminiscent of in them, bought controlling interest. around, but if they do, it’s going to need something which used to be great, to be quick. There’s little room for yet reduced to the role of minor publisher in Although Sega has continued to work another Virtua Fighter or an even faster an industry which has largely moved on. across the board, and has developed a Sonic, so we could soon see Sega drop great deal of consumer interest in the yet another business model like a hot new generation of consoles and brick and charge toward a future Spanner has written articles for several computers, a lot of what made Sega, without the franchises around which the publications, including . He Sega has suffered at the guillotine of company was built. If its former creative is a self-proclaimed horror junkie, with a corporate rationalization. genius can be harnessed once again, the deep appreciation for all things Romero. company’s vision of becoming the world’s When Sega became the plaything of leading developer might be a reality in 2003, the sooner than we could hope. Of course, second-party development teams were once the solid foundations of Sega’s consolidated into just three factions franchises begin to crumble, it might (from the original eight), forcing the finally meet a challenge it can’t outrun. teams who’d functioned autonomously under Okawa to merge staff and Most everything about Sega is still in mindsets. Even industry legend Sonic place: the names, the games, the Team now only exists in name (with Yuji business philosophy and the mistakes. Naka breaking away to form his own Sega’s promise to focus on games has, development team just last year, which to date, yielded little more than a slew of is admittedly close to, and partly funded rehashed franchises and repackaged hits by, Sega), while arcade pioneers AM2 from its console and arcade catalogue. sponsored by Here in Los Angeles, in the South Bay balmy aroma of fried dough and communities of Manhattan and Hermosa powdered sugar … Beaches, there is a concrete pedestrian path that hugs the shore. Lined with … and arcades upon arcades like there multi-million dollar mansions and was no tomorrow. Mediterranean-style beach condos, “The Strand” is easily my favorite place in the It was in this place, the Boardwalks of whole world to go running. As I don my Ocean City, New Jersey, that my two headphones in the early hours of the older brothers and I, ages 10 to 15, evening and begin my run under dark would spend the evenings of our summer palm tree silhouettes, set against the vacation in an electric feeding frenzy of backdrop of the fading Pacific sunset; it is pixels, color and music. Our bemused in these moments that conscious thought parents, welcoming the respite from their and mundane stress melts away, giving three little geeks, would sit on the way to the purity of rhythm and music. benches outside, keeping a close eye on my baby brother, enjoying a cool, During my runs, I feel truly grateful to be nocturnal ocean breeze and a slice of healthy and alive, and the image of fresh fried pork roll on a bun with cheese. sunsets and palm trees calls to mind childhood summer vacations, on a It was during these beloved different shore, where the sun touches summer in the mid that my the sea only at dawn. On this coast, in love for Sega games probably first my memory, the rushing waters of the started, and no game more powerfully outgoing tide echo beneath a pedestrian evokes poignant memories from this path of a much different sort, made not magical time than Sega’s arcade driving of concrete but of wooden floorboards, masterpiece, Out Run. bleached gray and desaturated by the sun and briny ocean air. This path is lined not Out Run’s innovative mechanical features, with mansions or palm trees, but with such as the candy-red, motorized sit- funhouse mirrors and roller-coasters, with down cabinet that pivoted side to side as miniature golf courses and water slides. It you drove and the force-feedback is a place filled laughter, smiles and the steering wheel that jerked in your hands as you crashed, supported a very tactile impressions and feelings of people, places a home version of Out Run ($4,000 was seated in the basement dining room of and uniquely immersive driving and moments from my younger days. The his best guess) - wishful thinking for a Pancho’s, a huge hall adorned with pastel experience for its time. But it was the beautiful thing about game music is that bunch of dorky teenagers with no money. murals, palm trees and year-round game’s replayable, branching course it’s a way to continue to derive enjoyment But Chris was a hard worker and Christmas lights. It’s a Friday night, it’s structure, vivid art direction and amazing from a game long after you’ve beaten it possessed much stronger musical talents crowded and a little loud, and he and I sprite scaling technology that truly or put it aside. Back in the 8- and 16-bit than I did. During his junior year of high are seated at a table in the corner, distinguished it from its contemporaries: console eras, sound tests were an school, he worked for months washing sipping on blended “Naughty” Margaritas, Few games offered the sense of velocity extremely common and welcome feature dishes at a local restaurant to save up our favorite. and tension as you downshifted from 290 in games, and for me, half the fun of enough money to buy a rack-mounted kph and power-slid into a hairpin curve. buying the game was playing it through Ensoniq Mirage Music Sequencer and “And the part where you get the wild first and experiencing the music Sampler and Roland MIDI Controller steel drum solo? That part was the best! For me, however, the most memorable afterward. Naturally, this worked out fine Keyboard. Once he figured out how to use You could only get to that part if got close and lovable aspect of the game is easily for home console games, but in order to all this music hardware, he taught himself to the end and you played really well.” the musical , composed by experience the full fidelity ofOut Run’s one of Out Run’s main , Hiroshi “Hiro” Kawaguchi, of Sega’s music, there was just no way to get “Magical Sound Shower,” and programmed Most modern games rely on overt legendary R&D Department, AM2. around it – you had to go to the arcade it into the sequencer. What he wouldn’t mechanisms to keep you playing - like and feed it quarters. give for videogame sheet music or an MP3 cut-scenes, power-ups or in-game money I have always loved videogame music, back in those days! - but Out Run employed a more subtle probably unusually so. I listen to it all the I remember my older brother, Chris, and I method. Its main soundtrack, comprised time, and it never fails to conjure used to wonder much it would cost to get Today, Chris also lives a few short blocks of three songs (“Splash Wave,” “Magical from the ocean in Manhattan Beach, CA. Sound Shower” and “Passing Breeze”), If it wasn’t for him, I never would’ve was really like no other game music at discovered the South Bay communities of the time, from the standpoints of both Los Angeles or moved out here in the first technical fidelity and style. It was this place. Although we are both very busy soundtrack that drove you to keep with our respective jobs, when we get playing, to hear the best part, all the way time to meet up, one of our favorite at the end. places to go is this Mexican restaurant in his neighborhood, Pancho’s. Very recently, I tracked down a copy of the North American “‘Magical Sound Shower’ was hotter than compilation for on eBay, a Cuban street fiesta,” he tells me. We’re containing pixel-perfect versions of Out Run and its arcade brethren, Space Set to the soothing bell tones of “Last Sega really captured something special Harrier and After Burner II. Released for Wave” and a relaxing tide of synthetic with Out Run, a timeless, universally the North American market by now- white noise, the Out Run high-score appealing title, nothing less than a true defunct publisher , the screen was a vivid gradient texture of icon. Few games succeeded at bringing game comes with a foil-stamped twilight hues and tree-lined boulevards. the player into its breezy, hyperbolic instruction manual containing some vacation fantasy, immersing players in interesting commentary from the “Please listen to this song at the end of the essence of being the laid-back cool composer, Hiro. summer, when you are all by yourself, in dude in shades, with the sexy, blonde the dusk, at the beach,” Hiro says from girlfriend, cruising to exotic locales in a “I like the song called ‘Passing Breeze’ the the liner notes. red Ferrari in the sunshine. Like best,” says Hiro. “The melody that makes Composer Hiro from AM2, I, too, feel that you feel sorrowful and the atmosphere, it It is this image, this feeling that Hiro’s words don’t fully describe what the game is hard to explain how great this song is.” words suggest, that has always been represents to me, but Out Run will always very meaningful to me. When I was stand out among its august arcade It’s really interesting that Hiro would young, that high-score screen was like a lineage as an entertainment experience characterize “Passing Breeze” as window into a place where life maybe like no other. “sorrowful” – if anything, I’d say that the was a little easier, perhaps a little more song was peppy and light. But I think I laid-back and carefree, a dream that I Edward Moore is currently a Senior Game understand what Hiro is trying to describe always knew I would one day work very Designer at Pandemic Studios in sunny - “nostalgia” – a feeling that any fan of hard to make happen. Los Angeles. Prior to this, he served as a Sega, past or present, would understand Game Designer at and and appreciate. “And now you’re living your Out Run Irrational Games in Boston. As a first- dream,” said my brother. “Palm tree time contributor to The Escapist, Ed looks Even in its handling of player failure, Out silhouettes by the beach in the sunset forward to future opportunities to share Run’s use of music is very smart. Beat any and everything.” I smile and dip a tortilla his geeky gaming insights with you. of the top-10 time records, you got to enter chip into the spicy salsa. While my life is your initials into the high-score screen. far from carefree, and the novelty of living in LA by the beach wore off a while “Oh my God, that high-score screen! That ago, I still try not to take it for granted, was like heaven!” my brother said. taking time to appreciate that I’m very lucky to be where I am. “I walk the streets of Japan ‘til I get lost,” rabid fan base calling for creator Yu sang Audioslaves’s Chris Cornell, “because Suzuki to finish the story. it doesn’t remind me of anything.” Yet there are no signs that he will. Obviously, Cornell has never played Shenmue 3 languishes in pre- Shenmue, because if he had, he would development, and six years on, Ryo and have been instantly reminded of quests Shenhua are still stuck in that cave. for sailors and high-pitched little girls talking about their kitty. After Shenmue flopped so famously, it took a brave company to return to When I first arrived in Japan several something so superficially similar. But in years ago, some things felt strangely (Ryu ga Gotoku in Japanese), familiar. The blinding white of the Sega returned to the streets of Japan. convenience store; the cozy, box-sized bars piping jazz played on a My First Where Shenmue painted a friendly world keyboard; the curving streets that of kindly surrogate mothers and innocent mixed concrete jungle with temples. It schoolgirls, Yakuza showed a seedier felt in some ways like I was revisiting an side of Japan. Replacing arcades with old haunt, but I had never been there - porno stores and martial arts training except in Shenmue. with stabbing your opponent in the ribs with a broken bottle, Yakuza’s Kamuro- Shenmue is a stunning testament to cho was ’s evil twin. Put videogames’ power to draw players into together, the two games represent a their world. Eight years after its release, greater push for immersion and Shenmue remains the most ambitious authenticity than any other developer game ever created. It recalls the has attempted. greatest excesses of Hollywood, in its ludicrous ambition and budget, which is Yokusuka Blues said to have run anything from $20 Shenmue is something you either love or million to $70 million. It divided gamers hate. The haters have any number of and critics, sold poorly, and still has a reasons: Some deride its interminably slow pace, some its fetch-quest gameplay, others its substandard plot suspend their disbelief were taken to a a touch of realism that infuriated some revenge for my father!” as if he was and voice acting. new world. players so much, Shenmue 2 allowed the likely to forget) to decide what you were player to skip ahead. But it was in that going to do that day. But those who love it share one common Just as Shenmue’s protagonist, Ryo time spent waiting that Shenmue came passion: the way it sucked the player into Hazuki, is destined to journey to the new alive: This was your world, and you had But aside from the environment, one of its world and did not let him go. Like a land of China, so too do we journey to a to fill your own time in it. the reasons Shenmue is so immersive hypnotist’s spell, it put you under, and just different world, a stunning recreation of may not even have been intentional. Ryo like hypnosis, it only seems to work for a 1980s Japan. A case example of You found yourself rushing home late at is a poorly written character, but an certain percentage of the population. Shenmue’s self-indulgence is the new night so as not to upset Ine-san, your excellent . His relationships with genre Suzuki declared for his game: FREE kindly surrogate mother. You woke up in the people around him are just vaguely In some ways, Shenmue is gaming’s (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment). Every your bed in the morning and looked at defined enough to allow the player to Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s classic also character you saw could be talked to; your diary (helpfully starting with “I’ll get assume them. He appears helpless at featured wretched expositional dialogue, almost every building could be entered, endless uneventful traveling and every floor of it explored: In Ryo’s home, ambiguous homoerotic subtexts, but you could open every drawer and closet, none of these could stop Tolkien’s world see what’s in the fridge. from seeping into your brain. Both sold poorly when first released, and likeLOTR Time passes and is more than a cosmetic before Peter Jackson, Shenmue is a change. Head out in the morning, and perennial fan favorite, but has little you’ll see smart-suited salary-men heading commercial appeal. to work; walk around in the evening, and the same salary-men are stumbling home Tolkien captured the imaginations of merrily from after-work drinking sessions. millions because of his ability to Play long enough, and you’ll start to see submerge the player in his world. His the same people walking around, just like anal , millennia of in your own neighborhood. created history, continents and languages, created something the reader Just like society, the game puts limits on had no choice but to believe in. This is you. Freedom, after all, is a concept that also the key to Shenmue’s success. Its cannot be defined without limits. If you plot was second-rate and the gameplay had an appointment for 2:00 p.m. often dull, but those who were able to tomorrow, you had no choice but to wait, times, as in his ability to respond to his long to do it for us. Yet on first play, pass the time, its feeling of being caught compared to , but the schoolmate Nozomi’s affections, but this Yakuza is static and limited. Only up in a good murder mystery. comparison flattersGTA ’s cartoonish allows us to overlay our own feelings on selected buildings could be entered, and world. Apart from the tendency to get his actions. How much of this was only selected characters could be talked Yakuza’s creation of Japan is just like its attacked by thugs every four steps, intended by the game’s writers is to, and even then, it was text-only. For fights: based in realism but exaggerated walking down the streets of Kamuro-cho questionable – the point is, it works. those who dig deeper, Shenmue’s enough to be fun. Just as the fights can is like real life, or at least a movie: neon influence is apparent: Its mixture of cause the player to wince and laugh all stores, word-perfect street signs, Stiff Little Fingers about-town exploration with Virtua at once, so too does Japan combine schoolgirls standing in front of Or at least, it did for some. Shenmue Fighter-inspired fighting, its optional humor and realism. It is to the real convenience stores, chatting on their cell was the Dreamcast’s flagship game, but extras like mini-games and collectibles to what the stories of Raymond phones. Real-life stores like Don Quixote it failed commercially, and in retrospect, Chandler were to LA. Yakuza is often stand exactly where they would be in it’s easy to see it has limited appeal and real life. practically no cool factor whatsoever. Then came the second act. If Shenmue The game constantly plays with the seedy is Lord of the Rings, Yakuza is its side of the real-life red-light district of Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, a Kabuki-cho it is based on, allowing you to darker, meaner imitation. chat up hostesses with some wonderfully cheesy dialogue or have a massage Stephen King once wrote that all high (quotation marks optional). Barmen tell fantasy writers like Terry Brooks and you about the real-life spirits you can Robert Jordan were “trying to bring drink, and you can drink them ‘til you Frodo and Sam back from the Grey were legitimately wasted. Havens because Tolkien is not longer around to do it for them.” Yakuza doesn’t suck the player in quite as Shenmue does; Ryo’s a blank slate, but “A thousand pages of Hobbits hadn’t Kiryu Kazuma is a well-constructed been enough for three generations of … character. But the plot more than makes fantasy fans,” said King, and 100 hours up for it; a plot that is more than a of Shenmue wasn’t enough either. In function to get the player from the picking up Yakuza, many players were graveyard level to the ship level, but a real trying to bring Ryo back from China, story, with believable characters who face because is taking too damn challenges and overcome them. Yakuza was written and acted by professionals, revolutionary levels of freedom and and in the Japanese version at least, it detail, or Yakuza’s attention to detail in shows. Tellingly, the story is so strong, it is crafting an intricate plot and believable set to appear in movie form later this year, characters, Sega has done more to directed by Takashi Miike (the famed create convincing worlds than any Japanese director who collaborated with physics improvements or higher Yakuza’s author, Seishu Hase, in The City resolution textures could hope to do. of Lost Souls). Neither game is about the end of the The game’s sequel, released late last world, that story crutch so many lesser year in Japan, improves on almost all the games fall back on in an attempt to flaws of the original, notably its irritating make their unconvincing worlds appear loading times. It also expands the important; they are simple stories in a amount of sub-quests and side-stories to world in which the player has a true ridiculous degrees, allowing Ryo to try emotional investment, with characters his hand at being a host, or even run his that are to be cared about. When games own cabaret club. finally stand as an art form the equal of movies or books, it is games like these Worlds Apart that will deservedly be thought of as the Although coming out just a year after milestones along that journey. the first game,Yakuza 2 is not a cheap cash-in, but an expansion of the world that Kazuma lives in. Kazuma’s world Gearoid Reidy walks the streets of Japan expands to include , his ‘til he gets lost because he has no sense relationships with characters from the of direction. His website is www. first game continuing and changing, his gearoidreidy.com. past explored, his loyalties questioned.

The four games that make up these two series do exactly what games – no, what art – should do: push boundaries. Be it Shenmue’s offering the player It was 1990, and Sega was on the ropes. could handle it! It had Nintendo had a firm lead in almost every “Blast Processing,” a phrase not many country in the world, Super Mario Bros. 3 people really understood, but nobody had just been released, and the Super cared, because “Sega does it, Nintendo was looming on the horizon. Nintendon’t!” Hayao Nakayama, then president of Sega, issued the challenge to his Since his original launch in 1991, Sonic company: Sega needed a new mascot, has appeared in a new title every year. brand recognition and a game that could Some are considered classics of gaming, sell a million units. After a number of some are considered sad attempts, and rejected ideas, Naoto Oshima (a some just aren’t considered. But Sonic character designer), has weathered time and changes with (the original game and level designer) the same determination, speedy red and (the programmer) from shoes and carefree smirk that endeared research and development team AM8 him to millions of gamers all those years brought their talents together to form a ago. If only what he represented had character and game that would become weathered the change as well. legend: . Sonic Fashion In one stroke, AM8 (who changed their When he broke onto the scene, Sonic name to Sonic Team after Sonic’s was a rotund, blue hedgehog with bright launch) found the perfect blend of style, red sneakers. He was a heroic figure who design and attitude adroitly capturing sought to free his animal friends from the image Sega was trying to spread the evil clutches of Dr. Robotnik (known about its new machine: It was cool, fun as Dr. Eggman, now, to match how the and, above all, it was fast. The game Japanese have always known him). showed off the Genesis’ faster CPU – clocking in at a blazing 7.6 MHz, it left Sonic was a fun, carefree character that the slower, fatter, mustached Mario and wasn’t killing anyone – he merely broke his pitiful 3.58 MHz in the dust.1 And it the robotic devices enslaving the animals wasn’t just that Sonic was a fast game – and freed them from their eggy overlord. it was such a fast game, only the mighty It was a vastly different sort of gaming than we’d been used to: Instead of feeling was a bit darker than the Sonic ability to plug the Sonic 3 cartridge into exploring levels, you focused on how fast most people knew. The game was the back of the Sonic & Knuckles you could burn through them. When extremely enjoyable, but here we saw cartridge, which then plugged into the Sonic curled into a ball and shot through the first signs of Sonic leaning toward Genesis. What did this do?Lock-on the various pipes, ramps and loop-to- more “mature” themes and gameplay worked to fuse both games together, loops, you weren’t playing, you were and again Sonic demonstrated his (and which allowed players to move through holding on for dear life. the Sega CD’s) speed. Unfortunately, the the two games seamlessly. Sega CD lacked market penetration, so In 1992, launched sales were nowhere near as strong as Adding a bit of dimension into Sonic’s for the Genesis, Master System and Sonic 2, although Sonic somehow still usual adversaries, Knuckles went against . In the Genesis version, two- maintained his fame. Sonic because Dr. Robotnik had tricked player action was introduced, along with him. In Sonic & Knuckles, Robotnik the ability to play as Miles “Tails” Prower. Such was his popularity at the time, he also betrayed Knuckles, and now Knuckles Sonic picked up some new tricks, too: He starred in not one, but two animated joined forces with Sonic. It was a bit now had the Spin Dash Attack, which series - Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog more depth than previous Sonic titles, allowed him to spin up to speed in place and Sonic The Hedgehog. Both series were and with fantastic gameplay to before charging forward. We also saw a produced by the same company, starring accompany it, the game was (and still is) new incarnation, the almighty Super the same cast. Merchandising for the held in very high regard as a pinnacle of Sonic, an invincible-but-difficult-to- franchise took off, and Sonic could be seen 2-D gaming. control version of Sonic. Critics and in every conceivable market, from shampoo gamers alike enjoyed Sonic 2, and Sonic to a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade But soon, Sonic became a victim of his became a household name. balloon. Sonic – and Sega – was own success: Never mind shampoos and everywhere. From 1989 to 1993, Sega cartoons - because he was such an icon, In 1993, Sonic CD came out for the Sega went from $800 million in annual sales to it seemed developers felt they could slap CD and introduced another of Sonic’s over $3.6 billion. Sonic wasn’t a mascot, his face on any game, and it would sell. friends, Amy Rose, as well as Sonic’s he was a leviathan. From 1994 to 1999, a number of “Sonic” arch-rival, Metal Sonic. Sonic was a bit titles came out on a variety of platforms. sluggish in this game – although he got In 1994, came From the truly horrible for the the new Super Peel-Out, he was out for the Genesis, to be followed later GameGear to the downright blasphemous vulnerable to running into enemies when that year with the “other half” of Sonic Sonic Schoolhouse for the PC, Sonic’s using it, and it slowed down the 3, Sonic & Knuckles. The two games once-golden image was badly tarnished. gameplay. On top of that, the overall made use of “Lock-On” technology – the Sonic Redemption? While Dreamcast fans were still darker, grittier hedgehog. A hedgehog so with his baseball hat cantered sideways, Sonic Adventure came out for the staggering from this brutal treatment, gritty, he grinds like a rollerblader. Sonic screaming, “To the max!” Dreamcast in 1999 and successfully arrived in 2001 and and Shadow ground so hard, they had transitioned Sonic to 3-D. The game promptly delivered a swift kick to the their own model of SOAP shoes and Sonic Doom played differently than other Emeralds. Although, in design, it inspired kids to get their own and grind With the arrival of the high-performance games; it featured a mix of platform wasn’t a bad game, the Sonic gamers along with them. gaming platforms like the PS2 and Xbox, gameplay, puzzle solving and even had grown to love was suddenly no gamers were expecting new Sonic titles exploring. It was a triumph, not only in longer a fun, carefree hedgehog. With As a result, Sonic ended up looking less to really shine. In 2004, what gamers restoring Sonic’s good name but also in the introduction of Shadow The like a cool, hip re-imagination of himself, got instead was for the restoring him to the status of loved and Hedgehog, Sonic’s villainous rival, the and more like a joke – a mockery of GameCube (then ported to the PS2, trusted mascot. Once again, Sonic series seemed to be trying to shed the “cool,” brought about by boardroom Xbox and PC). demonstrated the capabilities of a game fun image that made it such a favorite. executives and a PR department. All the system, this time proving the In its stead was a new game with a game lacked was an “X-treme” athlete The Sonic Team was trying to do the Dreamcast’s power. Although Adventure right thing, visually: Heroes harkened suffered from difficult camera control back to the original Sonic series in its and some troublesome control schemes, look, but little else. Terrible control its sum was greater than its parts, and schemes haunted the game, and again the world loved it. poor camera control and numerous bugs plagued its release. Instead of focusing But just as the Sonic brand was making on Sonic and his speed, attention was a successful comeback, Sonic Shuffle split between a dozen characters with arrived for the Dreamcast, in 2000. It much more focus on combat. was a disaster. Abandoning any pretense of original gameplay, it was a clone of But if combat was more of the focus in the hugely successful Mario Party on the Heroes, it was all the focus in Shadow Nintendo. With ear-shattering music, The Hedgehog, released in November terrible gameplay and horrific load- 2005. Although the game focused on times, it accomplished the exact opposite Shadow instead of Sonic, Sonic was a of Sonic Adventure: Where Adventure character in the game and was featured demonstrated the advanced capabilities extensively. The game earned an ESRB of the Dreamcast, Shuffle made it look rating of 10+ (the first Sonic title to do like a technical disaster. so), and it bombed commercially. Ironically enough, it would be Sega’s old poor control, buggy code, and horrific Shawn “Kwip” Williams is the founder of rival and their superb handheld platform camera control. N3 (NeenerNeener.Net), where he toils that managed to save some of Sonic’s away documenting his adventures as the dignity. That same November, Developer Sonic Symbol? worst MMOG and pen-and-paper RPG avoided the mistakes that Sonic Sonic is no longer the mascot gamers player in recorded history. Team made. When they released Sonic grew up loving. His image is completely for the Nintendo DS in 2005, it paid muddied and iconic of nothing. He can’t homage back to the speedy rush of be counted on for fun gameplay, he isn’t blazing through levels that made the symbolic of a powerful and fast system – original Sonic games such fun. It was you can’t even associate him with what gamers expected in a Sonic title. family-friendly titles. Perhaps it was because Sega no longer focused on a was released in celebration sole platform, or perhaps it was because of Sonic’s 15th anniversary on the of too many incarnations to keep GameCube, PS2, Xbox and PC, in 2006. straight, but Sonic himself is no longer The game was supposed to be about focused on a central message. Sonic, is speed – only this time utilizing “Extreme no longer Sonic. Gear” (though we still have no one shouting “To the max!”). It was another Sonic may never regain the market tough turn for Sonic fans, as the game significance he once had, but few other was “Extreme”-ly difficult and mascots ever single-handedly played frustrating. This time, the attitude was such a pivotal role in the world of right, but the gameplay was wrong. Most videogames. No matter what came after fans liked Sonic better before he started his first appearance, no matter what is slumming with Tony Hawk. still to come, Sonic was an incredible influence on the world of gaming and will Then came Sonic The Hedgehog for the always have a place in our hearts. And (and soon the PS3). Instead of maybe some day he’ll be fast again. re-imagining Sonic, as the title seemed Maybe someday, once more, he’ll to imply, the game followed right along scream. We can only hope. with much of what had come before: EDITORIAL PRODUCTION BUSINESS Executive Editor Producer Publisher Julianne Greer Jonathan Hayter Alexander Macris

Content Editors Lead Artist Account Executive Joseph Blancato Jessica Fielhauer Rebecca Sanders Russ Pitts Layout Artist Chairman of Themis Group Contributing Editors Jason Haile Thomas S. Kurz JR Sutich Shannon Drake Lead Web Developer Whitney Butts Research Manager Nova Barlow Web Developers Erik Jacobson Contributors Tim Turner Edward Moore Gearoid Reidy IT Director Spanner Jason Smith Shawn Williams

Issue 85 © 2007. The Escapist is published weekly by Themis Group, Inc. Produced in the United States of America. To contact the editors please email [email protected]. For a free subscription to The Escapist in PDF format please view www.escapistmagazine.com

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