Sega Tells Reviewers To F*ck Off With Sonic Boom

SEGA has declined to provide advance review copies of Sonic Boom on either 3DS or Wii U, forcing reviewers and journalists to buy the game for themselves if they want to review it (or to wait for post release review copies). Of course, given how much of a trainwreck we know this game is, it's not like we need reviews, but most of Sonic Boom's target audience isn't comprised of knowledgeable gamers who get their information from forums.

This is shitty and scummy- it's right up there with having launch day embargoes for your video games, or misrepresenting the final product by sending reviewers review copies that leave out some more controversial aspects of your game.

What the **** is going on today?

Making a thread which links to another one of your threads? Really Chaz? lol

Who cares. Sonic games are all shit anyways.

Sonic died with Genesis.

wow. That isn't a good look. I'll have to wait for these reviews before I go out and buy it. I had high hopes for this. What a shame if it doesn't pan out.

Yeah, today has been a weird day. Both Sega and Ubisoft outta be ashamed of themselves. Just give us 2D or 2.5D Sonic games, screw the 3D crap. And Ubisoft, we don't need a million NPC's on the same screen, just optimize the damn game, the entire franchise actually. Makes me sick!

They need to hurry up and make sonic 4 episode 3.

wait for reviews before buying..just means I won't be getting it at launch/today. :P

I don't blame critics for not reviewing the game then.

I'm not seeing where sega said such a thing. Too many misquotes on this forum.

Also there's no difference between this and all the other companies having sites wait till launch day to publish the review. They only do that so pre orders go through.

Ubisoft basically did the same thing with AC Rogue. No review copies were sent out in advance and that's why you're not seeing many reviews for the game even though it released today.

And Unity is a separate issue but still a giant middle finger to journalists, as review copies were sent in advance but the review embargo was in place until this morning.

haha nice

I gotta say though its kinda good that publishers are starting to give the finger to the gaming media. I know that the publishers are a part of the problem, but still.

Classy move.

This game is not going to score well. It's probably going to get reviews somewhat similar to Sonic and the Black Knight and Sonic 06.

I wanted to remain a bit optimistic that this game might be able to score a six somehow, but it's looking very unlikely now. Maybe even a four at this point or worse. It's a shame too because, if they had gotten it right, it could have been a good Sonic game.

Sega should **** off with their shitty games tbh. Maybe then they wouldn't have to do things like that.

Why give out review copies they will miss 50% of sales that way

Didn't EA pull similar shit with the Sims 4?

Rogue seems to be getting pretty good reviews so far. As for Sonic Boom, who knows.

If they don't send out a review copy, 99% chance the game is terrible.

Are you insane? The media gives consumers the information they would want before they go out and buy a game.

Makes sense. That way they can trick some parents into getting for their kids this holiday.

Wow. To think that Sega at one time was going to pretty much finish Nintendo off, and now this.

in a pure world maybe. But there's been plenty of situations where the media has been bought and their integrity compromised. Media is the wall that prevents a publisher from contacting their fanbase directly. Its why I like Nintendo Direct. Its just Nintendo telling you what's up with their products. No media BS spin.

The only thing I want from sega at this point is the yakuza series on PC.

Good, at least we know SEGA aren't paying people off for reviews when there are no reviews.

Don't really get why people buy things day one anyway, wait a couple of weeks for the price drop.

The game is going to suck, no doubt. Having said that, they owe reviewers or journalists nothing to begin with. Advertising is much more important in the grand scheme of things.

Well...is a Sonic game, did anyone else expected something good?

Sega should consider co-developing their next main Sonic game with a developer of more competence. Otherwise, just confine him to kart games and Olympic titles with Mario.

I'd actually prefer if Sega retired Sonic altogether. Speed was a good idea in a 2D space. But in 3D its tough to pull off blinding speed. I think they should consider doing a exploratory 3D open world game without Sonic.

@charizard1605: How many months ago did I tell you that Sonic Boom was going to wind up atrocious?

Had to toot my own horn at least once.

@bunchanumbers: Maybe they could do Mario Sunshine 2 ^^. On a more serious note, that might be a good idea. Perhaps they don't even need to come up with a new character, however, as they do have other franchises on which they could rely.

They even know this game is the next Sonic the Hedgehog 14.

fixed.

Will sell more copies than Bayonetta.

While this is usually a clear sign that the game is a p.o.s., I have a hard time calling it "shitty" or "scummy". That would imply that publishers have some kind of ethical OBLIGATION to provide advance review copies. I don't see it like that. If I'm giving out advance copies of my product before release, it's because I have confidence that the early reviews will help to drive sales. I'm doing that for personal benefit, not because it's some kind of obligation. Failure to give out advance copies is therefore not "scummy", it's simply indicative of a lack of confidence in how it will be received.

Now, one could maybe make the argument that releasing a product that one lacks confidence in is "scummy", but I have to bring up two points. Firstly, their lack of confidence doesn't mean that some consumers won't like it. Secondly, this isn't some safety issue, like cars that shut off during driving or actions figures that spontaneously combust. The issue here is "the game is not fun", which is largely subjective and doesn't really hurt anyone.

So...yeah, this is a clear sign that they know the game sucks. But to be fair, I don't see how they owe advance review copies to ANYONE.

Sadly, yes... -_-

I think anybody legitimately interested in Sonic and has played every game to date probably doesn't care what it gets for a review score. Not even Sonic Colors, which got quite a bit of praise, barely sold much at all. Sonic Lost Worlds for the Wii U and 3DS wasn't that much of a big seller. At this point I'm sure Sega is less like "**** off" and more just "why bother".

Sonic was fine on the DC. And who cares if reviewers have to actually buy the game.

I think reviewers are better off not playing this at all, so SEGA's doing them a favor.

They should be applauded for this.

My thoughts exactly! This thread is silly.

Dear Sega, Sonic Generations is your most beloved Sonic in the past 20 or so years. You struck gold with it so why are you still messing about with the franchise?