Sonic Mania on physical media?

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VideoGameCritic
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Sonic Mania on physical media?

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 4th, 2017, 6:47 pm

I was looking ahead at the upcoming Sonic Mania Collector's edition which comes with a lot of cool items. Then I noticed something alarming. One of the items is a card with a download code for Sonic Mania. Wait WHAT? Are you telling me the game isn't going to be released on physical media?

https://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Mania-Coll ... 7s+edition

Looks like someone started a thread about it:
http://forums.sega.com/showthread.php?5 ... al-Release

I would hate to miss out on the Sonic game I've been waiting for since forever just because Sega was too lazy to slap it on a damn disc.

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Atariboy
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Re: Sonic Mania on physical media?

Postby Atariboy » March 6th, 2017, 12:01 am

There are signs of a retail release planned for it on the Nintendo Switch in PAL regions. So even if that's it, at least that should be an option thanks to the system's region free nature.

With it appearing to eschew physical media on the XB1/PS4, hopefully North American Switch owners also get that option without having to resort to importing a copy.

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Re: Sonic Mania on physical media?

Postby Rookie1 » March 6th, 2017, 9:06 am

I am pretty sure all the releases for this are a digital download, even if you get the physical set for this with the statue and what not.

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Re: Sonic Mania on physical media?

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 6th, 2017, 4:16 pm

To charge full price for what amounts to a scrap of paper with a code on it is an insult.
Physical copy or bust!

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Re: Sonic Mania on physical media?

Postby CaptainCruch » March 11th, 2017, 4:54 am

VideoGameCritic wrote:To charge full price for what amounts to a scrap of paper with a code on it is an insult.
Physical copy or bust!


I agree, this is very strange. Even the 'Collector's Edition' (which includes a Genesis style box and a Sonic Statue, according to Amazon), doesn't include the physical game! Instead you get a 'Sonic Mania Download Code'.... so why include all those collectables and not the actual game....? Is it so expensive to put the game on a cartridge or CD?

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Re: Sonic Mania on physical media?

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 11th, 2017, 2:05 pm

This special edition is basically a celebration of the physical media of the past - namely cartridges.
And then you're not going to give us a copy of the game???
Sega is dead to me. They lost their way long ago, and now I fear they are totally gone.
They don't get it.

My only hope is that the Switch version will be on a cartridge.
Otherwise I don't see myself reviewing this.

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Re: Sonic Mania on physical media?

Postby Atariboy » March 12th, 2017, 10:18 pm

Rookie1 wrote:I am pretty sure all the releases for this are a digital download, even if you get the physical set for this with the statue and what not.


Then why did GameStop in Australia post this professional looking Switch case mock-up with their since pulled product listing for the Switch version, for example? Heck, not only does it not look like something that one of their interns made in 10 minutes to serve as a placeholder, but note the ESRB rating box on a product image posted at an Australian online retailer. Exactly how'd that sneak on there if this isn't something that Sega themselves supplied to this retailer that prematurely listed it?

Image

I'm not seeing empty PS4 or XB1 game cases included with the collector's edition up for preorder for those systems at various retailers. I just see a cardboard box, a plastic figurine of Sonic standing on a Genesis 1, a metallic "collector's card" with the download key on it, and a plastic case shaped like a Genesis card with a tray that slides out with a golden ring like Sonic collects in-game. So why would Sega include an empty Switch game case for on the Nintendo counterpart?

NIntendo are where 2D platformers and the Sonic franchise since Sega departed the hardware world best perform. So I'm very hopeful that Sega has seen fit to give this a proper retail release on NIntendo's new hardware.

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Re: Sonic Mania on physical media?

Postby Rookie1 » March 13th, 2017, 10:48 am

Atariboy wrote:
Rookie1 wrote:I am pretty sure all the releases for this are a digital download, even if you get the physical set for this with the statue and what not.


Then why did GameStop in Australia post this professional looking Switch case mock-up with their since pulled product listing for the Switch version,


Key phrase, "since pulled." As far as I can tell, there are no confirmed physical copies as of right now. Just digital downloads. Could it get a physical copy on the switch? Maybe, I dont know. Dont really care either to be honest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Mania
Sega announced a Sega Genesis-themed collector's edition for pre-order, containing a 12-inch (30 cm) Sonic statue, a game cartridge cast with a golden ring, and a metallic collector's card with a download code for the game.


https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss ... onic+mania
All digits downloads

https://www.google.com/search?q=sonic+m ... 8&oe=utf-8
The rumor mill.

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Re: Sonic Mania on physical media?

Postby Atariboy » March 13th, 2017, 11:36 am

Which could easily mean that Sega wasn't prepared for this news to yet be made available, so they responded by removing the product listing. It's a very common practice for retailers to post something prematurely and have it be pulled when the publisher sees it. A lot of projects become known about because of retailer leaks.

Regardless, the point is that there's a very intriguing listing here that suggests all versions aren't just digital downloads. So it's very premature at this point in the face of this to proclaim that the Switch is all but confirmed to also be a digital exclusive. The evidence is pointing towards a different answer being a legitimate possibility.

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Re: Sonic Mania on physical media?

Postby CharlieR » March 23rd, 2017, 8:58 am

I have two thoughts on this:

1. Is this the first time this has ever happened? I don't recall there ever being a collector's or special edition of a game offering all these goodies, and then not having a physical copy. Seems cheap to just get a download code. Why include all this cool stuff, and not have a physical copy?

2. After reading the physical release thread here, it gives me hope for a physical copy, at least on switch. That console seems like it is getting physical copies of games based on what I read in that thread. I also wouldn't rule out a physical release, as games like Shovel Knight and Mega man legacy collection have physical copies


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