Lego: The Resurrection!

Hello everyone,

I'm sure (I'm serious) that you've at least heard of Lego. But what you probably haven't heard is that Lego, despite being a household name was on the brink of death not too long ago. Let's look into it, shall we?

This iteration of the Lego Logo has been plastered on boxes for nearly 30 years. Previously, the logo frequently went through several design changes.

I'm sure that many of you found great joy in the Castles, Spaceships, Pirates and the like. While those years certainly were fantastic, Lego began to decline once the late 90's hit. It was at this time that Lego got rid of all of their designers, and gathered 30 'innovators,' a group of top graduates in design colleges across Europe. Lego assumed that these innovators were going to design some of the greatest Lego sets to be manufactured. Now, in the eyes of a child, they did exactly that. From programmable robots, to pneumatic and pressure elements, rounded out with fiber optic cables that could be run throughout the Lego set they were included in.

Lego's programmable robots live on with Lego Mindstorms EV3.

So what's the issue? Well, what if kids dropped their robot? What if the pressure container was to, oh... I don't know, blow up? What if a child suffocated on the fiber-optics? These 'innovators,' as senior designer, Mark Stafford, puts it**, were "...great designers [but] they knew little specifically about toy design and less about LEGO building." These designers payed to much attention to the other toy markets instead of approaching Lego as it's own market (not a monopoly, mind you). Suddenly, there were Lego-built action figures, and doll house sets that included Lego manufactured dolls and specialized parts. Such themes as Galidor (often regarded as the worst Lego theme ever), Scala/Belville, and Znap (similar to k'nex) were the product of this dark age of Lego design.

I will admit though, I'm always wearing nostalgia goggles when viewing those sets, so I'm unbelievably biased, due to my appreciation for them as a child... and an adult.

*Ahem*...Back to our subject at hand, one of Lego's head managers decided to crunch the numbers regarding the cost it was to make all of the bricks they were producing. Not a big deal, right? This just so happened to be the first time someone had ever done that! Over the course of 50+ years no one thought of how costly molding their parts were! And thanks to those 'innovators,' there were now so many specialized pieces, many of which had no use anywhere else but in one set that may sell. The amount of parts they were manufacturing was rapidly climbing, meaning that the cost of parts manufacturing was more costly than the suggested retail price of the set they were going to be made into!

Despite the turn of the century being VERY difficult for Lego, they didn't file for any form of bankruptcy. Why is that? Well it was those 'innovators' who decided that getting a license from another company would be most profitable. This meant that, using the storyline and characters from this license, Lego could manufacture sets with the license's logo and all.
Lego signed with Lucasfilm, and acquired the license for Star Wars in 1999. Star Wars was an unbelievable success, and today, is now Lego's best selling product line overall.

The Bionicle called "Tahu" as he appeared in 2001

But that's not all, in 2001, these 'innovators' also took a dangerous turn into the action figure world. Although these figures looked cool and had a lush back story, most of them were costly to produce and had little success...

Tahu as he appeared in 2015. Uncannily similar, no?

...except for an oddball by the name of Bionicle. They were odd looking, but they were cool! They sold well, but they still weren't cost effective. Yet, Bionicle lasted for 10 years, and was the first Lego theme to ever be fully rebooted, as it did in January of 2015 (after a painful hiatus for some super fans. This is one of those series that had a huge fan following, similar to the series mentioned in my last blog post).

Despite Star Wars and Bionicle's success, there was still the matter of making everything more cost effective, so a new, more knowledgeable CEO, Jorgen Vig Knudstorp (isn't Danish fun!) came in, fired all of the innovators, and whittled down at the huge parts lineup Lego had to offer. Many of these retired molds now sit buried beneath a concrete slab, lost to the hills of Denmark.

In the following years, Lego saw a new spark of life light within itself. Lego acquired more licenses. They started to craft more specific themes that weren't simply decided on all "willy-nilly." These include: Licenses (like Star Wars, and Indiana Jones), Action (includes secret agents, pirates, ninja, and even space), buildable figures (Bionicle), toddler toys (giant sized pieces called Duplo), models (includes the Architecture and Creator themes) and the ever classic City theme (speaks for itself).

Ninjago would ultimately claim Bionicle's title of Lego's best selling non-licensed theme. It was entirely developed in house, and had a TV show to boot!

Lego managed to be extremely successful in the 2000's. They started to publish video games, opened up nearly triple the amount of Lego Brand Retail stores across the globe, and managed to overcome Ferrari as the most powerful company in the world. That was, however, due to some recent jumps in success including the introduction of girl specific themes like "Friends" and "Elves", and media driven action themes including "Ninjago," and the cult classic, "The Lego Movie."

If there is anything you did in life that you should admit to everyone, it's that you saw this movie.

Today, Lego may just well be in its golden age. After a hard battle restructuring everything that had happened over the course of the late 1900's, here they are now.

From this point, it's more than likely that Lego will be around for quite some time. I'm glad that I can be a part of it. Maybe you should check out a few of their sets yourself. You never know, you might find something really cool to enjoy.


Thanks all,

-Peter

EDIT: Some images were not showing upon initial publishing. They have been relinked, now giving you more of a visual experience.

**Mark Stafford spoke about Lego's past under his pen-name "Nabii" on Reddit.

Composed Writers + Fanfiction: My true OTP

Hello everyone,

What with all of the entertainment material that is being released, a quick glance on social media can tell you that some, if not all of them have some sort of following. There are those that are simply interested in the subject matter, and then there are those that furiously passionate about their love for the material.

These people are called "the fanbase," by most, but can also be given a more specific name, such as Lady Gaga's "Monsters," or American anime fans referring to themselves as "Otaku" (that's Japanese for nerd).

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has a massive fanbase that dominates the internet. This is spearheaded by a primarily male fanbase known as "Bronies" (a combination of "bros." and "ponies")

 Something present in most of these fanbases are obsessive fans that write fanfiction. Now this doesn't apply that often to superstars, but many shows, books, video games, and even toys with a cult following have hordes of fans that write these story expansions based off of what they believe. Such beliefs include telling the story of a forgotten character, to having two unlikely characters have... *ahem*... sexual interactions (these unlikely characters are typically referred to as a person's "One True Pairing,"or "OTP," the namesake of this post. Another term is "shipping" characters, using the analogy of setting these characters off on a boat into what lies ahead. As a noun it is referred to as a "ship.").

The issue here is that some of these fans (let's refer to them collectively as "Dave")... Dave is so unbelievably passionate about his fanfiction, that nothing else stands. His stance: This is the story, and how it ends. You nor anyone can change that.

This usually leads to other fans (many of which have conflicting fanfictions of their own) to absolutely destroy Dave's fanfiction, often done by either waving their own "OTP flag" to outright threatening Dave's life.

Legend of Korra, along with it's prequel, Avatar: The Last Airbender is full of lush characters that fans adore to pair up together, some a bit more outrageous than others...

Dave's passion for his fanfiction can also lead to him being absolutely enraged that his fanfiction has been destroyed by how the official canon (storyline) of the official show, book, etc. has turned out. This again leads to other fans wanting to rage war on his self esteem.

The issue, is that Dave is a little too passionate about his story, and that there are others like Dave who are as well. All of the Daves out there need to be a little bit more composed when it comes to their fanfiction, because, if they are flagrant with their story, they will ultimately be defeated by those who have no interest. If Dave presented his story as a possible storyline, and posted his fanfiction where composed fanfiction writers gather, he may just find that although he is passionate about his source material, just as many, many others, he may find constructive criticism that may blossom into something totally new.

In all honesty here, we all will have our own little fanfictions, but why not develop that into something more, create something out of that and accept the criticism of others. That's how I developed my love of writing (not the sexual kind, mind you), and I even touch up some old fanfiction fossils to this day.

Rooster Teeth's RWBY has a fanbase that is also susceptible to pairing characters up. The issue at hand is that Rooster Teeth loves to poke fun at these pairings and fuels the OTP fires.

Just be passionate, but don't get out of hand. It's okay to love these stories with a passion. That's why most forms of entertainment are created, right?

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Thanks all,

-Peter

NOTE: All of my examples are shows from the animation industry. A fanbase, and fanfictions are not limited to only animations, but even branch to live-action programs, such as The Walking Dead, that have massive followings and a fanfiction writing fanbase to boot!

Star Wars: The Universe That Never Ends!

Hello everyone,

Today I'm going to let you in on something that very few people know about me... I'm a huge Star Wars buff. I don't know if it was me being five when Lego first started to produce Star Wars sets, or that I played Star Wars: Racer for the Nintendo 64 religiously when I first got my hands on it.

There is something a little off about it though. It's nearly forty years strong and there is no end in sight. Literally. There are so many planets and moons in this series, and I don't mean the ones that get mentioned in an off conversation. So then, what makes it stand out?

I don't know what George Lucas was thinking, but somehow I can't help but be inspired. He managed to create a world and make it into something that people love. It's been a dream of mine to do the same. So much so that I have my own world/universe in process. But that's for another time.

Salicious Crumb

Ponda Baba

Have you noticed that pretty much all of the characters in Star Wars have some unbelievably outlandish names? Sure names like Luke Skywalker don't seem so out there, but names such as Salicious Crumb and Ponda Baba? (The former is seen aside Jabba the Hutt in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, and the latter gets his arm chopped off by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope). I feel that these names make this Universe so lush with diversity. They really feel like they are creatures from different worlds. I mean come on, names like Bob and Fred aren't really going to cut it.

Even then, the look of the worlds and the locales are so drastically different from each other. There is just so much to absorb. So many interesting things to enjoy in every building. Every Weapon. Even every vehicle!

Who doesn't love this modified YT-1300 light freighter?

Now who would have thought that the "Millennium Falcon" would become a household name?

Obviously there is so much to enjoy from the fantastic space opera that Star Wars is. I urge you, maybe even beg you (just a little bit) to see all six of these movie (please start with the Phantom Menace first, you won't enjoy the Prequel Trilogy (Episodes I, II, and III) as much if you have the Original Trilogy (Episodes IV, V, and VI fresh in your mind). Episode VII is just around the corner as well. The Sequel Trilogy begins the Winter.

You should check out the cartoon series (plural) too. Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels aren't just for kids.

Thanks all,

Peter

Lining Up for Disappointment

Hello everyone,

  Have you ever waited in line for something? I don't mean your average line at grocery store. I mean a line for a special event, be it a grand-opening, a new release, a convention... something more specific than the everyday sort of waiting in line.

  Odds are that, while you are in line, or just before you are in line, you start to make expectations for the new-release (let's use this example) you are about to take part in.

  Why!?!

  Why do you form pre-concieved ideas of what's about to happen? Odds are that you are completely off and will be disappointed because it did not meet your expectations that, technically, no one guaranteed for you.

  In case you didn't know, Nintendo is releasing one of it's most anticipated releases this year: the New 3DS XL (good for you Nintendo, more creative names (sarcasm)). So logically, many stores are going to have some early morning lines of Nintendo super-fans that want to guarantee their purchase (now why didn't they pre-order at one of the many locations on offer?). Many of these stores will, most likely, not have enough stock to fulfill demand, thus destroying many people's pre-conceptions. This often leads to anger and rage from people that can't afford losing their chances to get their oh-so-precious toy.

  Now, I admit it, I'm a bit of a hypocrite (surprise, surprise). I NEED a New 3DS. But I'm not going to be waiting in line for it. Sure I'll lose my chances at it for a while, but it's worth it not to get severely disappointed. Besides, what college student with a life has that kind of money?

So for those of you who will be waiting in lines in the future, clear your mind of any pre-conceptions. Or at least weigh both the positive, and negative possibilities. You'll be only slightly disappointed, or overjoyed. Either result isn't too bad don't you think?

Thank all,

-Peter

As Those Who Inspire Pass...

Hello everyone,

  On Monday this past week (February 2nd, 2015), I was treated with the tragic news that one of my favorite writers/animators passed away at a tender age.
  Monty Oum, an animator known for his efficiency among those in freelance animation passed away after he suffered from a severe allergic reaction. He was in a coma from January 30th through February first where he passed away in the afternoon. News of his death did not get out until February 2nd. He was 33-years-old.

Monty Oum 1981-2015

  Some of Monty's original work includes an animation called Haloid, a fully choreographed battle between Master Chief of the Halo video game series and Samus from Metroid series of video games. It even included an interesting twist in the end for the Halo fans. The crazy thing is, Monty animated and choreographed the entire video all on his own. People do this all the time with mixed results, but what he did... take a look for yourself.

  For a freelance animator, that video there is something to behold. Monty has been known for his other animation series that combined the Dead or Alive and Final Fantasy franchises called Dead Fantasy (Some themes from this series are not safe for work).

  Sometime in 2010, Monty was hired by Rooster Teeth Productions to work on their series Red vs. Blue. Red vs. Blue, or RvB as their fans call it, was a "Machinimation" (an animation produced with assistance from production company Machinima). It strictly used assets from the Halo series of games, but Monty made RvB into something completely different. He used his animation skill to create action scenes similar to that of Haloid. Monty's work furthered a hidden story within the series, and without Monty, it's certain that RvB wouldn't be where it is today. Please note that RvB has strong language when viewing.

  By proving his worth, Monty was given the go-ahead to develop his own series. RWBY, as he called it, was a Japanese Anime styled web series that mixes the past, present, and theoretical future styles of the world, as well as some of the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales. Despite it's anime inspiration, the show is not as adult themed as most anime. It is safe for your viewing pleasure at any time. The result is something magnificent, and clearly developed by someone who loves what he does. (Note: Due to Monty being the creative mind behind RWBY, it is unknown if the series will continue).

 

  After his passing, the heads of Rooster Teeth gathered up and spoke of Monty's tendencies to get what he wanted done, no matter the cost of the tools, or his sleep. They even state that vacations for him was doing what he did at work. He is the ideal "I love my job" kind of person, and it showed. All of his work was finely polished, and showed effort and creativity in a way that not even I had seen before.

  You see, I have been a fiction writer as far back as I can remember. I was never motivated to get my ideas down on paper, or on a computer, but once I saw a little glimpse of how Monty handled these sort of things, I was inspired. Suddenly I had my own story-driven world that was developed mentally, and soon enough became an episodic journey that I've been slowly writing for the past year. Monty inspired me to create. To do something with my life and not waste time. He spoke of how you should watch and play as many things as possible to get as much inspiration as you can. Most importantly he assured everyone that they needed to do what they love, or there would always be a void to fill in your life.

  I encourage you to do the same, but to also let those who inspire you know that you care for them, and love what they do. Support what they do to the best of your ability, and also have respect for them as well.

  Do so before they are gone...

  Monty, you have helped me strive for a greatness I thought I couldn't achieve. You inspire me in a way that I never thought. Your work is unlike what I have seen, and in doing so showed me that a person needs to perfect their own style of doing things, set goals with those things, and "Keep moving forward." Thanks for showing me that.

Thanks all,

-Peter

Amiibo Scalpers: Like the Plague

Hello everyone,

  Sorry for the little hiatus. I'm sure many of you can understand how hectic the Holiday Season can be. I'm back now... back with a grudge.

  You see, while I was away, the little nerd within me got into something new. Something to collect. Something in extremely... extremely high demand.

  Odds are, those of you who owned a Nintendo 64 gaming console have heard of Super Smash Bros., right? I'm sure some of you don't, so allow me to explain. Super Smash Bros. was a fighting game developed in 1999 by Nintendo for their Nintendo 64 gaming console. Over the course of 15 years, 4 sequel titles would release: Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

  The two latter titles, were just released last year. Both of them are similar in design and layout, but the version for Wii U is the more complete version (the handheld one for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console is mobile and a lot smaller in comparison). Despite the unbelievably original name (sarcasm), the game is fantastic.

  One of it's many features is the integration of Nintendo's "toys-to-life" figurine line called "Amiibo."

  A "toys-to-life" figurine is a toy character figurine that uses a Near Field Communication system built into its base. Scanning the NFC system, or tag, digitally activates the character in the video game the figurine is tied (advertised) to.

Confused? This video should help!

  Now Nintendo isn't the only one in this industry. Activision has a line of toys-to-life figures called Skylanders. They have been unbelievably popular these past few years.

  Realizing this, Disney created Disney Infinity which uses the same technology, but rather than featuring gimmicky monsters, the game features popular Disney and Marvel characters (and eventually Star Wars!).

Smash Bros. Amiibo Wave 1

  Nintendo, however is the first developer to have their toys-to-life figures be available for multiple types of games. For example, I have an Amiibo for Mario. I can tap that Amiibo onto my Wii U GamePad while playing Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, or Mario Kart 8. Both of them do something unique to enhance gameplay, but I'm not here to promote the lovely features these little guys offer.

  You see, like many types of figurines, the Amiibo are highly collectable. This makes them popular, and highly desirable. I'm one of those people who are hooked. So what's the big deal?
  "You like toys, and you want to collect them. Way to be a man!"
  ...Sure, I see how it is. But you see, I'm not as obsessed as I could be.

  In this day and age, the internet literally gives us instant information regarding availability. Due to the high demand of Amiibo, this has opened the gate for scalpers, or resellers as they are often referred to. These people exploit the demand of Amiibo to buy as many of the figurines as possible, and sell them for over quadruple the price of retail ($12.99), because parents and collectors don't care how much money they spend. "If little Timmy wants it!" as they say...

Smash Bros. Amiibo Wave 2

  The amount of money these scalping hoarders make allows them to buy out entire stores just to make a quick buck, thus making children (the target age group) and collectors suffer for being only two minutes late for a store's opening! Yes. That's right. People make lines for these suckers. Nearly every time it's a disappointment, because some gentleman, who has no better thing to do with their time, was standing in line in front of you.
  Sure there are pre-orders for these things, but guess who pre-ordered several hundred of these figures before you did? That's right. A scalper.
  It's getting so out of hand, that some stores liquidate their stock as employees call dibs on the product before the product is even shelved! And what do they do with that? Sell it of course!

Smash Bros. Amiibo Wave 3

  Yes, folks, this is what the world has come too. Exploit rich parents  make money. Sounds fun right? You couldn't be more wrong. Scalpers are hated with such a passion by fans. All out brawls and complaints to management to enforce limits are made daily. I'm not one of those people, but I sure as heck despise that people think that this is an okay thing to do!!!

*Sigh*

Smash Bros. Amiibo Wave 4

  Sorry for the mini-rant, but this is a real issue that I'm dealing with here. Well technically I'm not the only one. There are so many fans of Amiibo out there. Sure I'm only after the Amiibo that are based off of the Super Smash Bros.video game, but there are so many characters that I have lost from right under my nose, some of which have been reported as "discontinued." Never to be restocked again... Well phooey!!

  So if you ever consider, or are currently in the reselling business, beware! If it has a fan base, people will hate you. Consider what you are doing first. Don't be selfish. Chances are, you'll make a collector, or maybe even a little kid very, very happy.

Super Mario Amiibo Wave 1

  Of course, I'm the person who tries to look for the best deals, so somehow I'm always out of luck...
so if any of you have either a Marth, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer or Pit Amiibo you are willing to sell for MSRP, I'm your guy.

I kid, I kid...


But seriously, I'll pay MSRP.  ;) :) (other positive looking emoticons)


Thanks all,

-Peter

The Sonic Cycle: The Modern Era

Hello everyone,

  In my previous post, I went into some generic details about the games that played part in Sonic the Hedgehog's "Dreamcast Era" and how they apply to "The Sonic Cycle."
  Here's a quick reminder on what The Sonic Cycle is: The Sonic Cycle is a pattern discovered in the way that SEGA has produced their Sonic the Hedgehog games since 1996. The pattern is a six game pattern, each with their own pros, cons, landmark breakthroughs, and gimmicky game play (depends on the game though).

   The "Modern Era" of Sonic the Hedgehog games are the games release between 2008 to the present. This era is titled the "Modern Era" due to the fact this will be the full era of Sonic games that use the modern version of Sonic, and the fact that every game has high definition graphics. However, this does not necessarily mean that they were good. What is also interesting to note is that the last handheld console exclusive title was released during the Modern Era, seeing that Sonic Generations was the first to start a trend of having a (horrible) portable version of a console game under the same name. I won't be tackling the details on the handheld titles, seeing as the juicy bits are in the home-console titles. Let's dive in shall we?
  The second loop of the Sonic Cycle begins in 2008 when the game Sonic Unleashed was released.
This game is gimmick-centric and practically features two separate games in one. You see, Sonic is cursed by some dark creature by the name of Dark Gaia, meaning that whenever the sun sets, he gets transformed into a werewolf-like creature called a "Werehog." This opens up an entirely new field of gameplay that is centric on the Werehog's wild and vicious behavior, where brawling Dark Gaia creatures fist-to-fist is pretty much the name of the game. By day however, Sonic is his usual Hedgehog-self able to run at top-speeds in a way that is much more fleshed out than Sonic '06 (see previous blog post).

Sonic the Werehog

  Does Peter agree with the fans? Yes. Although I think the Werehog is a very cool creature that boasts extremely unique gameplay for a Sonic game, he is extremely slow, and cumbersome to control. What's worse is that Sonic is literally traveling across the world in this game, meaning that we are forced to play during the night to advance. You would not believe how often this happens. It is too much, especially when you compare it to the fast paced running levels that take place during the day. Those levels aren't excellent, but they are better than the night levels. I wouldn't call them a highlight though, seeing as this is the first game to feature HD graphics. This game as a whole is eye-candy. By day you visit colorful and unique worlds based off of Greece, Italy, Africa, Antarctica, the Middle East, New York, and the Pacific Islands. Each of these levels feature some of the most stunning visuals I have seen in any game. That's saying something. And then at night you brawl through their more mystic-feeling evenings featuring a more darker feeling of the overall environment. Each level is accompanied by a fully orchestrated soundtrack that sets the game's tone in the most perfect way possible. Combine that all together, I say (several Sonic fans are going to hate me for saying this) I love this game. It ranks really high for me. If you have the patience to brave the night levels (don't be too frightened) I highly suggest you pick Sonic Unleashed up!
  At this point, many fans were curious if there would ever be another Sonic the Hedgehog game that would feature nothing to truly gripe about. Then we saw the picture in full color. Sonic Colors to be precise.
  Sonic Colors takes place in Dr. Eggman's (Sonic's archnemesis) theme park... in space... That sounds really odd typed out, but trust me, it's a lot different than you think! You see this theme park is actually a bunch of moon sized planets that are chained together, each with their own unique features. After Sonic spots Dr. Eggman's minions trying to capture a small alien creature called a "Wisp," Sonic gets suspicious of what is really going on behind the scenes and rightfully so. I'll let you find out the details yourself, but let me put it this way, this game's story is very predictable.
  Does Peter agree with the fans? Yes, actually. Despite the predictable storyline (and the dreadful one-liners. Ugh!) Sonic Colors brings out a very cheery atmosphere. The central planet is like one giant resort, while another planet consists entirely of dessert items (yes that's and entire world made of cake and ice cream). The game truly lives up to its theme park feel, all the while providing gameplay that is extremely satisfying to control. Another game worth trying.
  2011 marked Sonic the Hedgehog's 20th Birthday, and what a celebration it was, considering the fact that SEGA gave the fans a love letter in the form of a video game appropriately called Sonic Generations. In this game, an ominous creature known as the "Time Eater" is opening wormholes throughout time. Within the wormhole are different levels from earlier Sonic games stranded in a lifeless white void. So what would the logical decision be? Play through modernized versions of all of those wonderful, classic levels, of course! But that's not all! Sonic runs into his younger, rounder self from the nineties, meaning that you can play all of the modern day levels in a classic style. It's the best of both worlds really. The game features remastered levels from the Genesis, Dreamcast, and Modern Eras in their high-definition glory! Not to mention that every single song is remixed. Not a single one is bad!

Dr. Eggman

   Does Peter agree with the fans?  Yes, because without having both the modern and classic variations of Sonic, this game would have felt very empty. To put it simply, if one variation of Sonic was playable but the game still went over Sonic's entire lifespan, it just wouldn't have felt right. The inclusion of classic bosses and the little hidden throwbacks that can be found throughout are icing on the cake!
  2013, the beginning of all of Sonic's recent woes. Sonic was back as a Nintendo exclusive, but this time on the new Wii U game console. Sonic Lost World is about Sonic finding a... you guessed it, a lost world hidden in the clouds called "Lost Hex." This world is made up of a bunch of hexagonal shaped "continents" that are slowly falling apart (that has nothing to do with the game's plot by the way). On this planet are demon-like creatures known as the Zeti. After retrieving some sort of mind-controlling conch shell, Dr. Eggman has seized control of six Zeti known as the "Deadly Six." Eventually, Eggman looses control, and the Deadly Six use Eggman's forces to conquer Lost Hex for them selves.
  Does Peter agree with the fans? Yes, sure the colors of this game are quite vibrant (a bit more cartoon-ish compared to Sonic Unleashed) but the game only really pays homage to Sonic Colors (you get to use the Wisp powers, including a few new ones. That's it, really). Sadly this game is quite challenging and doesn't bring anything really new to the table, besides Sonic's new parkour moves (which are very complicated to execute). This leaves the game with very little replay value outside of its downloadable content (DLC). You see, since this was kind of Nintendo and SEGA making up after all those years of competition, they released exclusive Yoshi and Legend of Zelda themed levels. They are brief, but much more entertaining than most of the game. There is also another bit of DLC that serves as sort of a boss rush, but with a twist in it being based off of SEGA's Nights: Into Dreams.

The Deadly Six (from left to right, top to bottom) Zazz, Zor, Zavok, Zomom, Zeena, and Master Zik

    Oh joy. Here we are again.
  Much akin to Shadow the Hedgehog, in 2014, Sonic went for a bit of a change of pace, himself. After nearly ten years, Sonic finally was getting a new TV show. To celebrate the show's release, they decided to release a prequel in the form of the Sonic Boom game for the Nintendo Wii U. Sonic Boom is an open world game (no restraints on where you can move... sorta) where you can play as a new version (in appearance) of Sonic and his buddies, each of them with their own characteristics. Sound's good, right? Nope. Sonic is slower than ever before. The game has so many glitches that you can beat the game in 45 minutes (normally it takes up to 10 hours). Sure this game has many colorful locales, but not one of them is easy to navigate. The game is fully voice acted throughout. The only problem is that some of the lines that are used to inform the player of how to play, are repeated constantly throughout each, and every level. Including the final boss! The storyline is okay, but getting through it all is a serious undertaking, what with the "altered" gameplay from normal Sonic games. Don't get me started on the music. Unlike any other Sonic game, the music is so drab that you are better off playing this game on mute! I'm dead serious! You won't miss anything (except the amazing voice actors. The bad script isn't their fault).
  Does Peter agree with the fans? Yes. This game is so different and so far from anything that Sonic is supposed to be. So much so that you can literally skip this title without missing anything story-wise, being that Sonic Boom (and its TV show) take place and a completely separate universe than the other games. Do yourself a favor and avoid this one. Unlike Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic '06, NOTHING can save Sonic Boom from being just downright bad. (If you like Saturday morning cartoons, the Sonic Boom TV show is worth a try!)

The official box art for the Wii U version of Sonic Boom

  And the next game in the Sonic Cycle is?... Wait. So according to the Cycle, Sonic Boom is not the loop 2 equivalent of Sonic '06? And Sonic Boom was nearly just as bad! This means that if the Sonic Cycle were to continue, then there is another horrible game coming!!
  I truly hope that it is regarded better than how Sonic '06 turned out, because I don't think Sonic will have a very bright future if it doesn't.

  Thank you all for bearing with me in this review process and taking a look at how Sonic the Hedgehog has been faring for the past decade plus.
  Do you like reviews like these? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks all,

-Peter