I think the fact that the main two CGI studios behind the Sonic games, Marza Animation Planet and Blur Studio, are now the ones responsible for the CGI in the Sonic movies is so freaking cool!
Unleashed is top, but the opening for Sonic06 was surprisingly good. they show sonic's real speed and power, and also have Jason Griffith so i cant complain XD
The last cgi intro that a sonic game got was supposed to be fontiers but they didn't use it to avoid spoilers (in other words, the intro showed too much and at the time, they didn't want to show what the game was actually about in the trailers) and they only used some scenes for marketing.
You mean they made an intro and only used some of its clips for marketing? Or they only made some CGI for marketing? Either way, kinda sad there wasn’t one now. :,(
@@zigzagintrusion they made one for the main game but decided not to, so they reused for marketing (there's about 4 minutes of cgi that people found ONLY from the TRAILERS. They probably alread used all scenes but out of order so I wouldn't say they are lost media
I'm so glad someone finally made a video about this topic. Marza's work on Sonic is some of my favorite animation every. It makes a lot of sense that Blur studios were the ones to train Marza, because Marza is the only studio I've seen live up to them. Hope we get more.
We're at most going to just get Tyson Hesse animated intros from now on for lighthearted and classic games. I don't think they want to spend extra money on in game CGI when the pre rendered cutscenes aren't bad anymore compared to before
@@ataladin87 Yeah , I agree, but shadow generations (and Superstars to an extent) seems to be changing that I'll guess we have to wait and see in the titles after that
@ataladin87 that's mostly because sega rushed frontiers late in development to meet the deadline (like always) so the pre rendered cutscenes were gonna look choppy and unfinished. Hopefully, frontiers 2 will fix that now that sonic x shadow generations seems to be hinting that they are improving and spending more on pre rendered cutscenes.
We dont need CGI cutscenes anymore with todays graphics, however Sonic Team need to outsource their cutscene animation so they can have the dynamism of the old CGI cutscenes
You "forgot" a point, we are getting 2D animated series for each games on RU-vid since Team Sonic Racing, and Shadow Generations too, with Dark Begginings, so Sega is pointing at using 2D animation + better ingame animations than CGI
I'm attributing it to changing eras. What I mean is that in the gaming industry many games had CGI throughout the 6th and 7th Generation of consoles due to graphical limitations. However, with the beginning of the 8th generation consoles were able to produce graphics that could either rival CGI or render it pointless. The reason we've really noticed the lack of CGI is due to the subpar animation from games Post Unleashed. Anyways, whilst CGI would be cool to have and I would prefer it to return to it's Unleashed glory and beyond, it shouldn't be necessary.
I feel like the more confident they are for the game and quality we’d get more cgi cutscenes. sonic unleashed and sonic Frontiers is prime example of having so much faith they created more than 1 cgi scenes
An interesting lesser-known piece of information about some of the newer CGI promotional material which may not look as expressive/dynamic as the older CGI in Sonic games: For some years now, Marza Animation Planet (responsible for much of the older CGI) has not been the main studio in charge of the animation in the trailers. Most of Frontiers' promotional material (except for the first teaser trailer, which was by Marza) were done by a Japanese animation studio called Shirogumi, supervised by Marza, and I assume the initial Sonic X Shadow Generations trailer is probably done by them as well. Just thought it might be relevant to mention that here.
Okay so fun fact when Tyson Hesse showed his animation to me and SEGA (and Christian WhiteHead) I was more shocked at how just one designer could make something so great especially for a game that was created by a fan no less and also worked with SEGA which we all know what happened before with all the games before Sonic Mania
I actually disagree with this take. While yes, the animation in game is better than ever now, i dont think that explains the lack of cgi. We need to remember that forces onward have cosmetics, which is impossible to put into cgi cutscenes. I think the lack of cgi is so the cosmetics could show up in the cutscenes to better keep the players immersion. Would be kinda jarring to play as sonic in a santa outfit for example, only for it to go into a cutscene where sonic has his default skin.
I'm really happy that Sega are focusing on making the actual animations in game look the best they can instead of putting that effort into a trailer made just for marketing the game
To be fair, as much as I love the CGI, as long as the in-game cutscenes look decent, I don’t mind them being excluded. For example, although at the point of me writing this comment, the game hasn’t released yet, Shadow Generations looks like it’s gonna have some amazing in game cinematics. so in that case, I actually don’t mind there being a lack of CGI. I also think since sonic games are pushing for cosmetics, having the cutscenes be in game could potentially allow you to keep your unique look during the story mode. Which, at least to me adds a bit of personal flare to the experience. (this also means mod users can have their ideal sonic model on even in the cut scenes). Although with all that being said, I don’t think CGI should be completely excluded. Even if the main story of the game doesn’t have CGI I think there should still be some short animation at the title screen that plays to get you hyped up. This can either play if you don’t touch the controller for long enough or it can automatically play when you boot up the game and then it’s a skippable cut scene if you want to just get right into the action. That would be my compromise anyway
*I still hope that one day Sega locks in and gives us a movie or series fully animated by Marza Studios!* *also great video btw, definitely subscribing!*
As a kid in the 2000s, I used to always look forward to the CGI openings and cutscenes because they always looked so good compared to the graphics and always showed Sonic and the rest doing cool shit lol. Sonic Adventure was my first Sonic game and first exposure to Sonic CGI with the opening, and that got me hooked onto the CGI and games moving forward. Then I played heroes and all the cutscenes in that game were nearly CGI which I loved. Even the spin off games like Riders had CGI openings, it was like a staple that every Sonic game at the time had CGI openings so it was something I was expecting and looked forward to. When Unleashed came out and I first saw that opening, I had the biggest dumb smile on my face the whole time. That was peak Sonic CGI period. I sat through that every time, it was glorious. Once the 2010s rolled around, it was sad to see that the CGI openings basically disappeared, and the CGI cutscenes became less and less. I guess since a lot of the 2010s Sonic games became more simpler in plot, there was no need for some cool backstory cutscene. Also maybe cause they spent a huge budget on unleashed, and the game was sadly received poorly at the time, they felt like had to strip back on CGI and focus more on the core game itself, the budget didn't cut it for both the game and cgi, etc. If the CGI really is fazing out moving forward, I will truly miss it.
9:42 in Unleashed, SEGA actually set out with the Hedgehog Engine to make their animations and gameplay LOOK like a Pixar movie, and years later it seems like it actually is paying off, to the point they don't need full CG cutscenes.
I love how Frontiers cgi promotions look because how clean they look. I kinda prefer them over Unleashed because of it especially on the shot of Sonic destroying Spider and the Giganto battle. As much as I would kill for a game in the style of Jet Set Radio but I wouldn't mind a Sonic game looking like that
CGI cinematics wouldn’t be needed if they just used Unreal Engine 5 instead of Hedgehog Engine 2 for the games. They could make the ingame graphics on par and even better than the unleashed opening so that way all the marketing can just use in game footage only and it would look just as good as CGI.
"They are never coming back." Never say never. If they somehow remake/remaster SA1 and SA2, those games literally have opening cutscenes before going into the "Press Start" menu. Those could be CGI and would look amazing.
cool video man, I will say I loved the CGI for Frontiers marketing but it's unfortunate that there was no CGI opening and some of the cutscenes in the game were lacking in animation while others looked pretty good
It is a shame that ever since 06 SEGA began to run out of patience with CGI for Sonic games. It was mostly their fault for all the awful business decisions they made that affected Sonic as a series, mainly by pushing the release dates for these games sooner than they were ready, and splitting the teams to make more games. Don't get me started on their mismanagement of Sonic Boom. This series was supposed to be their golden goose, but I guess they had to cut it open to get the eggs quicker. For a while now SEGA seems to be more interested in investing in CGI for marketing since it's a '"safer" choice but if anything it just makes the games stand out as worse and erodes trust the broader consumer has in the brand when the game itself isn't even close to the quality presented. It's especially true when there is no CGI present in the game at all. Granted, investing in the game's animation and polish is probably the best choice possible even above bringing more CGI back because then the whole game becomes a better experience rather than having a handful of really nice cutscenes. Though what would be even better is if they could just do both, but Sonic Team's projects have been on a leash when it comes to time and resources for almost two decades so I guess we have to wait until the corporate overlords think it's worth it to invest that much in a Sonic release again.
Cgi looked good, but it gives me whiplash when it switch to ingame graphics, it makes a beautiful looking game look worse cuz u have something to compare it to.
It is great to see one of your videos getting much more traction. I've just subscribed, and will now binge through your entire video history! Well done, and thanks for the video.
Not sure why you felt like you had to introduce 06's presence of CGI cutscenes as "even 06 had them", as if 06 was some budget AA GBA title. It was the next mainline game, their most ambitious title up to that point, if I'm not mistaken it had a budget larger than any other game before it. 06 was meant to be their magnum opus, saying it like that with that undertone just doesn't fit the game we're talking about. Hate it all you want (which would also be unfortunate since it slaps) but that brushing off of that game's CGI cutscenes felt pretty meanspirited.
@@KOTSOSMC2002 I said, “these games barely had any CGI compared to the likes of Shadow the Hedgehog or even Sonic 06.” (1:32) You are misrepresenting my words and tone. I love 06 and I know that that game definitely wasn’t a budget title. What I said wasn’t mean spirited. Not even close
The Unleashed opening cutscene is the best without a doubt. I think the one to come even close is funny enough 06. I do think using 2D animation is better for Sonic, and seeing that SXSG Dark Beginnings is a 2D-3D hybrid, it makes me so excited.
I'm gonna be fully honest, I'm not mad at all at the fact that we're not getting CGI cutscenes in game. If anything, the games now moving to fully in game cutscenes is a LOT better and says a lot more about Sonic Team's mindset for the future. They want to show that they can create cutscenes that rival CGI and they proved that with SXSG. The game looks fucking incredible and I even thought that what we saw WAS CGI, and was shocked when they confirmed it was ingame.
In my opinion, no one has to agree but I think it can be a good step foward and a bad one. They’re showing that they don’t need cgi cutscenes and can make nice look cutscene animations in game which is good which can make the game look like it had more depth to the gameplay and scenery. But yeah I can understand why people miss cutscenes but at least the new in game scenes look good too. Maybe one day they can do both
finally gave this a watch after youtube wouldn't stop recommending it to me. Here's the reason why there aren't CGI cutscenes anymore. IT'S EXPENSIVE AF. Having to write, storyboard, and animate an entire intro to a game is way more expensive than 20 seconds of no dialogue CGI for a trailer. CGI looks better for trailers anyway because its more appealing than footage from a game that's not even finished or ready to be shown to the public. Sonic 06, despite it's reception did sell well, and people were anticipating SEGA's next take on Sonic, and so Unleashed had more budget. You forgot to mention that Sonic Unleashed got it's own CGI teaser as a result (the one where he smashes the ring into the wall). Sonic Lost World proceeded Generations which is still arguably the most popular game in the franchise, plus the Nintendo deal, ergo more budget. The simple answer to your question is that interest waned as the quality and review scores for proceeding games fell and so SEGA has had to prioritise their budget. Video games are a complex and expesive form of entertainment, these decisions aren't made lightly.
Well first, thanks for finally watching the video lol. Second, yeah I can totally see that. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the reason. I also kind of forgot that Unleashed had that cgi teaser lol
I'm happy we finally got out of the Wii exclusive era of Sonic games, but the loss of CGI primarily from that era sucks. Sonic '06 was my technical first Sonic game, and personally my second favorite behind Adventure 1 and part of that reason is it's really good looking CGI cutscenes which improved the already amazing character designs and realistic environments like Kingdom Valley. Sure, Sonic Forces looks great and personally isn't as bad as people say, but the lack of CGI cutscenes is jarring since fans have loved them since Shadow and Riders.
Sonkc team always had a huge art department for all their games. I don't knkw the ins and outs of japanese game development but I do knkw artists are talented and some may understand the principkes of animation. They had a large amount of character aninatirs in frontiers and while the cutscenes lack anination, many of frontiers enemies have solod anination, and the titan parrys and finishing moves are all ani.ated wonderfully. I think SxSG is the natural evolution. Sonic team asking themselves how can they do better after frontiers
(LONG READ, PREPARE) Let me shed some light on the lack of CGI content. The reason why Sonic games were so freaking awesome back in the day was because Sega was trying to put "not so popular" 3D sonic (not 2D classic) out there on the market and make him more appealing and iconic. They succeeded, on Christmas, birthdays or whatever when a parent thinks about getting their kid a videogame either Mario or sonic is first on their mind. Now that Sonic is popular and known by all ages there's no need to spend so much money on Sonics game just to reap big profits. Even Mario don't have crazy good realistic graphics because it's a Mario game and kids going to want it despite. The only way Sonic would have CGI and more complicated animations and gameplay if the creator himself wanted that but Sonic WASN'T initially created because it was the creator's dream to make his own game. If you look up the history Sonic was created solely on rivaling Mario. Sega even sent a guy to America back in the day to show character art designs to random people to see what would their target consumers wanted in hopes of surpassing Nintendo which worked. As much as an improvement as frontiers were they could have added all kinds of Sonic skins especially the movie Sonic. Couldve added most of the franchise characters playable in the open worl. so many things could have added to that game but they didn't because they didn't have to spend so much to reap so much.
In regards to SxSG, you're forgetting about the Dark Beginnings animation (which yes, despite how it looks is CGI, just utilizing cel-shading, outlines, and other NPR effects to make it look 2D)
Yeah but I mostly wanted to focus on the actual game marketing and in game CGI. Not things like prologue animations. (This video would be way longer lol)
I love Sonic Frontiers a lot, but ya I agree Shadow X Sonic generations the animations the new Shadow story looks amazing compared to Sonic Frontiers . I'm preordering Shadow X Sonic generations this month at GameStop. I'm so freaking excited it looks amazing.
I remember seeing somewhere that the Nintendo Switch is Sonic's main player base, and since the switch is relatively underpowered (at least somewhat compared to other consoles), we stopped getting cg cutscenes. I mean it does line up with Sonic Lost World being the last game with them. It may or may not be true, but it may also be a factor, idk.
That doesn’t seem true the cutscene this video is talking about are pre rendered so not that impactful on performance Plus the switch is stronger than the 360 and that had unleashed
@@chaosenforcerdhm969 that is true, the timing is still rather weird though, especially considering the apparent Sonic Frontiers Beta, which looked a lot bigger than the actual game (Kronos, Ouranos and I think Rhea were supposed to be connected). But I suppose it's just a theory.
You know... it's crazy to me despite sonic team have gotten a much more higher budget after the massive success of sonic frontiers they are still not willing to use CGI instead putting their budget on the animation quality of the games which it's not a bad choice by any means but man..I'm really gonna miss the CGI cutscenes..and all that details and it always looked spectacular and amazing visually it kinda sucks ngl but oh well.
if they arent going to rely on cgi in the games, i really hope the ingame cutscenes looks just as good as they did in unleashed cause honestly frontiers ingame cutscene didnt look that good
1:01 technically the entire opening cutscene of generations is CGI because it’s a pre rendered video. And so are the later cutscenes involving the 2 eggmans and the final boss thing
@@SanicBoi right when you hit new game and you're watching the cutscene of Sonic at his birthday party. That entire cutscene is just a pre rendered MP4 in the games files, same with any cutscene featuring the Time Eater. It's not being rendered in real time with the game's graphics engine. I would guess because the engine can't handle the particle effects of the time eater in real time back on the 360 and PS3
It literally could handle it though? Because there are a few cutscenes where it shows up in the white space. And the entire final battle has WAY more particles than the main game and it still runs fine. Pre rendered doesn’t mean CGI tho. It just means that all you have to do is let it play.
@@SanicBoi Facts that’s why I don’t normally watch him, I only watched because people were in GamesCage’s chat spamming to react to it. But what I found crazy is that he predicted the Overlord banter between Shadow 1 day before the footage got released from the same source. And yea I know the original had it too, but Gens doesn’t normally have dialogue in boss or rival battles even though this one’s different. But I still don’t really trust him, it’s just that I kept hearing people saying the same thing so idk.
It’s a shame you skipped Boom. I’ll say this respectfully but skipping it just because of what happened to it isn’t fair imo but I do get it at the same time. But for those who are curious, the game’s marketing used CGI and that’s it. Though I will point out despite the game not doing well, the in-game cutscenes has some of the best Sonic and friends character animations in a Sonic game. Go watch it on RU-vid and compare it to other Sonic games (besides a few decent ones) and you’ll see what I mean. The game itself may have failed, but the cutscenes have wonderful animations that are worth taking a look at if you’re interested. The animation was *NOT* why the game failed after all. Also, Frontiers (for the cutscenes that don’t have them just standing) are a *vast* improvement compared to most other games if you pay attention to the expressions like Sonic and Amy’s ears twitching or slight eyebrow movement. No, it’s not as good as Boom or Dream Team but it’s close and you can tell they at least *tried* to do more with the way the characters interacted to Sonic Horizons when Sonic’s taunting the titans. If you just pay attention to those tiny details, you may find something special. That’s just me though. 🤷♀️
@@essycogany2738 i am aware that I said I left it out because “we knew how that series turned out” but really it was for the sake of wanting the video to be more streamlined. I might make a video going over spin off stuff but I’m not sure
@@SanicBoi That’s fair. Totally understandable. Honestly I’d just like more people to appreciate the animation within that game and even Frontiers and Dream Team. They’re not too shabby when you compare them to what we use to get in Sonic’s IN-GAME cutscenes.
I actually hate cgi because I don’t want the cutscenes to look different than the game. Also modern consoles have insanely good graphics which makes cgi even more pointless. They could do pretty much anything in real time. CGI was mostly a good tactic back in the PS1/Dreamcast days where the graphics were so awful you essentially needed CGI cutscenes to make a compelling story. For example final fantasy 7.
Didn't Sonic Frontiers not have any in the actual game? O thought some of those scenes with the ancients were. But it would have been nice if Sega added a cgi opening in one of the updates, like that one that was cut due to time constraints.
@SanicBoi Lol, pngs?! I thought we moved past those! That's bottom of the barrel low budget! Even some worst games like 06 or Rise of Lyric didn't have those! Imagine the next game had all cutscenes entirely png like Free Riders or TSR, or even Unleashed Wii had a lot in the 'hub worlds'. I think Forces also had most cutscenes consisting of talking heads over png maps, which is also low effort, so Frontiers is at least a step above that. Shame as some of the ancient cutscenes actually looked pretty cool. Did any other mainline sonic games use png as the main cutscene presentation? To be honest though, I'd rather have png than still models standing around barely animated. Also, do you think Frontiers will still get updates?
