Sega All-Stars Racing Winning On...GameFAQs???

Go to GameFAQs and vote for Sega All-Stars Racing, you don't need an account to do so.

This is just the first few minutes of voting...and it looks promising.

I recently saw an Animal Planet special on "Animals of the Arctic."  And there were two starving arctic wolves and a huge pack of arctic ox.  But they couldn't possibly kill the large oxen so they singled out one of the smaller oxen and took it down ((un)fortunately, the wolves failed since the other oxen came to the victim's aid).  It's damn dirty but this is guerilla warfare--you do whatever s*** you can to improve your position.  Like spawn killing people in Perfect Dark/Call of Duty/Halo.  You go for points whenever you can.

And this GameFAQs poll is that baby ox...go vote for Sonic All-Stars Racing and kick the crap out of the competition.  It's not the Spike VGAs (the large ox) so it's doable.  I know on GFAQs, sports & racing games not affiliated with any major gaming mascot (I'm talking Mario Kart to the oblivious) usually fail to get any traction there.  But regardless, I want Sega All-Stars Racing to whip NFS/Forza's ass somewhere and I don't care if it's low-hanging fruit.  Remember, this is the same GameFAQs site that in November, forgot to include Sega All-Stars Racing in the poll, choosing LittleBigPlanet Racing over it so now I'm twice as pissed as before.

A win is a win so GO FOR THE WIN PEOPLE and vote for Sega Racing just to beat the doubters' sorry asses.  In this situation, we are the pack of hungry arctic wolves...we are small but can get s*** done. >:)

On the hunt for stupid Internet polls to dominate for false satisfaction of "sticking it to evildoers."  EA rings a bell?

Also great supplemental reading on GameFAQs...Top 10 Games for Shenmue Fans.  Finally, another Top 10 that doesn't suck.  You can't play Shenmue 3 but at least you can play these games.  Nice to see Shenmue get some props again.

EDIT: Poll is over, good job everyone, here are the results:

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed - 16.94% 

Need for Speed: Most Wanted - 13.01% 

FIFA Soccer 13 - 12.54% 

Forza Horizon - 10.38%

NBA 2K13 - 10.04% 

Mario Tennis Open - 9.39% 

SSX - 8.47% 

Trials Evolution - 7.77% 

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD - 5.98% 

Wipeout 2048 - 5.48% 

TOTAL VOTES - 20716

I don't know how the voting would've gone had it just been racing games (I assume that FIFA voters would've gone for Forza/NFS) but I'll take it.  If you look at the total number of votes per poll, the sports/racing one is dead last while the FPS poll was first.  You can get an idea of where GFAQs voters' priorities lie:

Best First-Person Shooter - 34436
Best Role-Playing (Japanese) - 33809 [was there any doubt on GameFAQs???]
Best Role-Playing (Western) - 30868
Best Action/Adventure - 28211
Best Fighting - 26828
Best Strategy - 23549
Best Adventure/Puzzle - 23272
Best Action - 21105
Best Sports/Racing - 20716

Clearly gamers are least interested in racers.  But what do I care, tonight we celebrate because we finally got one...

Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed = best sports/racing game of 2012 according to GameFAQs!!!

Oh, as if GameFAQs was trying to get the last laugh, they put Sega All-Stars Racing in a "Best of 2012" poll a day after and as luck would have it, apparently sits in dead last at a resounding 2.2% (Borderlands 2 is clear leader with 22.47%).  Sure, go ahead and vote for Sega All-Stars Racing but it ain't cracking 3%.  This is an example of trying to kill the entire herd of oxen--just give up, that's not our battle to win.  Let GameFAQs piss themselves over the same games we've seen before like New Super Mario Bros Wii U.

Mission accomplished, funny animal nickname squadron.  Return to base where we party with Tom Cruise.

EDIT AGAIN: I suppose to some it's hypocritical that I make a big deal out of a poll because when my favorite game loses, it's "stupid" or "nobody cares." Right now, it's notsomuch trying to win the favor of the gaming public (do we REALLY care what GameFAQs thinks?) as it is trying to get the games' names out there. Sales of Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed have been underwhelming thus far and the fact that this "underrated little gem" is able to win a poll on these sites is good news. Especially if you consider this silent group of Sega fans out there who helped prop up the game so I can't help but feel a little encouraged by the poll results. That's all.

Sumo Digital Q & A's, Not Bad...

Hey guys, I hate to play the role of "news reporter" (as opposed to news analysis/pundit) but here's the new Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed trailer.

Wow, there's an After Burner track. You can see it in the video--it's just like the first stage of the game (nice and blue). That, OutRun, Virtua Fighter, Shenmue--it's nice to see AM2 games get some appreciation again. This can only mean Daytona USA 1/2, Scud Race, and Sega Rally, yeahhhhh!!! There's also Samba de Amigo, Space Channel 5, and Skies of Arcadia tracks too.

Already mentioned it, but here's the Sumo Digital AMA thread and I got the chance to ask DarthSol a few questions (page 133).  The thread is huge--it's been around since May so I couldn't dig up everything (maybe later). I can't say the answers for me are that great but what can you say. If he's reading this then thanks for putting up with my dumb questions!


1. What exactly was the rationale/influence behind this game? Or who came up with these Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing games and why? I know there's Mario Kart but let's put that aside. Was there this huge desire from the fans (like me) wishing for Sega to make a new racing game again (I know this is Sumo but close enough)? Or was there a desire to see more games celebrate Sega's roots so you guys decided "What the hell, let's do both?" I suppose this is a good answer but any more details I forgot would be great.

We'd done two games, we went 'Let's do a third' and went from there. We decided more could be done with a racer with land, air and sea in a single track, which meant Transforming vehicles. Initial design was probably written on the back of a beer mat - and we've been figuring it out ever since!



2. Some of my friends who are more into the "hardcore racing" side of Sega like OutRun & Daytona are concerned about the game's framerate. Should we be worried about the FPS dropping below 30 in the final build?

We're aiming for a locked 30fps, unless you're on PC of course. I'd love it to be 60, but the water alone means that's unlikely.


2.5 EVEN MORE, I guess I should reiterate the previous question. The guys are concerned that the game will cater more towards the Sega fanbase rather than the racing fanbase, hence this isn't as "good" of a racing game as it could be. Could you reaffirm to me and the other guys that this is still a serious racer, just once more to get them to ease up on the game?

We're aiming to make a pretty awesome SEGA Arcade racer based on all manner of classic SEGA franchises. It's been done by the same team as ASR, and I have the Lead Designer of Blur and PGR3 and 4 working full time on the project. This time we're going for a slightly older look so not to distress the hardcore. Not sure what more I can do to convince anyone really!


3. How much effort has been put into balancing the character tiers? In the first game, my favorite character was Jacky Bryant but he was dead last in tiers. I always played as him online though but barely kept up with the Sonic/Shadow abusers :S

It's no secret that we've brought in volunteers to do a better job of the balancing. We're committed to getting it right. We want to avoid tiers and there are things in the game that make that even less likely to happen.


4. How about backwards drifting? Has that been nerfed or not? My preference is towards removing it (seeing as it was unintentional, I think) but what do I know.

Not in. Wasn't supposed to be in the original either and we very nearly killed it with an update.


5. Any new content pertaining to Daytona USA, OutRun (besides the bonus track), Crazy Taxi, Sega Rally, Virtua Racing, or Scud Race?

Read the first post in this thread. If it's not revealed, we can't and won't discuss these kind of things!


6. Has Yu Suzuki, Toshihiro Nagoshi, or the AM2 team sounded off on this game? Do you think they will seeing as they were also responsible for OutRun 2 and other Sega racers in the past?

We work closely with SOJ. Some of the people mentioned may have played it, I'm not at liberty to say :P


7. What will Danica's character look like in the game (realistic, cartoony) and what will she be driving? I don't ask this because I'm attracted to her, I just wonder how she will fit into the scope of the game.

Again, you'll need to wait and see. We should have footage out shortly for this though!


EDIT: More questions & answers!!!  Here's what I got:

1. I know there's drifting in cars, but what is the equivalent boats and planes? The ability to do stunts for boosts I suppose? Or can you "drift" in planes/boats too?

Each surface has its own way of handling ...like in the air a tumble left or right can get you right back on the ideal racing line... But yeah, they all have 'drifting' of a sort, but it's not identical in each form. 

2. What are your tasks & responsibilities pertaining to the game (anybody who answers)? Probably already been answered but since I'm into game development, I'm wondering how I can relate to your tasks at the moment? I'm a programmer BTW.

S0L is "Guardian of the Library of All Knowledge", and I think he is known by mortals as "Executive Producer" (correct me if I'm wrong buddy) He is also, the "Argumentor Persuivant" ...the upholder of the forums. If anyone has fought for the wishes of the forums, it is S0L!

I am commonly called "the Twit with Part of a Crayon Stuck up his Nose" and also known amongst the beasts of burden as Lead Artist/Creative Director. My powers are weak and age shrivelled, like an old current which fell from a cake many, many years ago, disappearing down the back of the sofa... A old and desiccated thing. 

SumoSpartan is known only as "Tim". A shy mysterious creature, he flits mainly from dark corner to dark corner, fixing design issues where he is needed. If Commisioner Gordon shines the "Tim" lantern onto the night sky, you'll probably end up with Batman turning up wondering what the hell that shape is. And then "Tim" will arrive with his powers of 'creating unsolvable puzzles' to bamboozle all! He survives mainly on a diet of gingerbread men.

3. How would you say the atmosphere at Sumo Digital is right now? I suppose everyone is excited but are they exhausted rushing to get the game done? Would you say everyone is serious or are they laughing & having fun? Dumb question but I'm just interested in you guys and hope all is well.

Everyone is working hard at the moment. Well it seems we always are... But on the whole enjoying it. Lots of late nights and weekends... No home life, stress, depression, waiting for that comet with our names on to end it all, but, yeah. On the whole, good clean fun.

No more multiple questions now guys.... It's hard work! Lol.

Take what you want out of this, but I guess it will reassure you all a bit.  Yeah, me posing in my Daytona 2 avatar & signature...the Daytona Universe is still omnipresent.  NOTE, if you want to post questions too, only ask three at a time (he's adamant about that now).  Also if I ask more questions, I'll let you know.

Salute The Veterans On Veterans Day

Thank the servicemen and women today.  God bless 'em.  Semper Fidelis.

The military rocks...therefore we salute you.

EDIT: BTW, today was that day of the big Carrier Classic, the college basketball game on an aircraft carrier. That's interesting.

After Burner.

Yu Suzuki Addendum: We Love Him Anyway

Interesting news; I've made over 365 posts which means I've exceeded one post per day for the first year of my blog (started July 21, 2010) so that is AWESOME, BABY!!

This is a continuation to my Yu Suzuki Steps Down post.  I didn't want to clutter that post any further.  Check out this 11 minute video from 2005.  It's originally in French but has English subtitles.



* Sega was the only place that would hire him...wow, that's sad...like the Tom Brady story, no one loves me but I'll prove the haters wrong!!

* Hang-On (1985) was the first game he worked on.  Tilt the bike back and forth to steer.

* OutRun (1986) was a classic.  It used parallax scrolling which projected "3D scenery" with just 2D sprites.  This was also used in Space Harrier and After Burner.

* Virtua Racing (1992) was supposed to be a rally game but was made into a F1 game instead.  The animations on the tires and the pit crew served as the basis for Virtua Fighter.  Obviously, the models were low-polyand the tires were more like hexagons than they were actual circles.  EDIT: He also was able to implement multiple camera angles which were fascinating at the time.

* He talks about the differences between the developer and the average Joe player...he takes a cup for example.  If the character picks up the cup but his fingers clip through it (bad animation), then the developer cringes but the player is like "OH WOW THAT'S AWESOME!!"

* Yu Suzuki is satisfied that he was the first to make a 3D fighter in Virtua Fighter (1993).  Without it, the fighting genre may not have been the same.  He wasn't able to add textures to polygons just yet so he had to emit a certain level of detail through plain colors alone.

* Fast forward to Shenmue 1 (2000) and 2 (2001).  First, he wanted to implement Virtua Fighter's gameplay into Shenmue but that wasn't necessary.  The purpose of the game was to show the beautiful Asian landscape and to allow the player free-reign over the game (as oppposed to being funneled down the same path like many RPG's).  QTE's were inspired by the Simon electronic game and allowed you to do complicated things you couldn't normally do with a controller.  Brilliant game but it obviously didn't sell well.  A $70 million budget was put into Shenmue 1 (both the Saturn & Dreamcast versions) so when it didn't pay off, Sega was pissed.

* Finally, and this is weird, a developer shouldn't always take the advice of cohorts.  The game will turn out like every other game...like a rose without any thorns is just a carnation.  Try to do something different.

Of course this video was in 2005 so people were probably expecting a Shenmue 3 at any moment but now it is 6 years later and no such thing exists...

Also be sure to check out Yu Suzuki's words of wisdom for the game developer's book I own.

Magical Journeys Throughout Europe Just Got More Difficult

I really have tried to stray from political issues, but if this true, then it is disturbing.

Some people at the European Union are trying to ban gas-powered cars from cities by 2050.  What for?  Cause of climate change???...but Carbon Dioxide only makes up 0.035% (give or take) of the atmosphere and if anything, the earth is getting colder.  Record winters & snowfalls everywhere.  Remember the '70s Time Magazine cover of the coming Ice Age and all the panic these big heads get into over extremes.

And if cars are deadly...well, there's plenty of things that people get killed by, such as planes, knives, peppermints (assuming you choke on 'em), swimming pools, etc.

I also don't even know how this is supposed to work--you can use cars outside of cities but not in them...so if you live in the city, you have to ride a bike over to the parking garage on the outskirts of town then drive away, go to another city, park the car outside that city then walk to the destination?  Makes a whole lotta sense.  Go ahead and ban all cars while you're at it.  Ok, now that is sick.  Please God don't let 'em do that.

I wonder what luxury auto makers like Ferrari, Porsche, and so forth will respond. I love cars, I want to drive cars around, cut this government intervention crap. I hope this is one of those phony baloney stories that is being blown out of proportion.  EDIT: No more cruis'n around OutRun/PGR style.  Whatever happened to letting the private sector determine supply and demand?

I know some of my long-time friends are from the UK.  Stand up for liberty and freedom, people!  If they take away cars, then what else can they take away too?  Maybe fast food, video games, flushable toilets, etc.  For the greater good I guess?  Wow!  We may have bigger problems on our hands than all these stupid depressing video games and Sega's ineptitude after all.

-------------

Oh yeah, two more things.  Afterburner Climax and Crazy Taxi are just 400 MSP on Xbox Live for one week only.  So go go buy it, go go go go go go go go.

Also, WHY ARE THEY MAKING CUSTOM XBOX LIVE AVATAR FIGURES NOW...first Fatheads, now this.  I hate these avatar things now with all the expensive accessories, make em stop...  What a crappy day.

See You Guys Later

Going to Orlando now, hopefully to make a pilgrimage to the 8-player Daytona USA cabinet in Tomorrowland.  Rofl.  Will take plenty of pictures.  And we'll see about those gaming colleges while we're there.

Like I said, maybe I can post while I'm at Orlando, we'll see.

Check out this cool site--it has OutRun music from all sorts of games (as well as Afterburner), sweet: http://www.outrun.org



Going for a long drive now...

Check This Out (Afterburner/Jet Fighter)

Real pictures of a guy as he ejects from the cockpit as the jet crashes!  This is wildly interesting, thank God he is still alive:

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/07/23/4739027-pilot-ejects-an-instant-before-fighterjet-crashes

Ian Martens / Lethbridge Herald / CP via AP