Ooooooooooo weeeeeeee… what up with that?

Did you hear some “news” that Integrated Alchemy (IA), not SEGA, produced the Needlemouse trailer?  Did you get mad when IA revealed that they hadn’t seen nor heard anything about the game?  Have you abandoned all hope for Project Needlemouse for no good reason?  Well, don’t worry, because today on “What Up With That?,” we’re going to clear up all of the questions floating around.

SEGA outsourced the trailer to another company.  What up with that?

That happens… fairly regularly.  There are whole production houses devoted to creating trailers all over the world.  Integrated Alchemy is no different.  Look at their website and watch their sizzle reel.  They make trailers for a multitude of gaming companies.  Shock.

It’s also not the first time that SEGA has handed over their hype to someone else.  If the Mazuri video didn’t leak, we would have seen this werehog/ring smash teaser first.

There’s no gameplay footage, images, or artwork.  What up with that?

That’s why it’s called a teaser.  You can build hype for a game without showing any media whatsoever.  That’s how hype works.  Remember those Halo 3 “action figure” commercials (these were also outsourced to another company)?  You know nothing about the game, but you know that you want it after having seen the teaser:

 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjhSp7xGsMc[/youtube]

SEGA told Integrated Alchemy nothing.  What up with that?

SEGA is famous for copious amounts of leaks, mostly through their FTP or the Australian ratings board.  Maybe they finally want to keep everything under wraps for once.  Isn’t that great?

Or, hey, maybe you’re one who thinks that they didn’t have anything at the time.  If you are, the next section is for you…

SEGA deceived us all by not having anything upon commissioning the trailer.  Needlemouse is full of lies.  What up with that?

This one is my favorite.  There are a few people out there who still don’t understand “teaser trailers” (please scroll up and read again if you still don’t).  These special few are of the belief that SEGA will not deliver on the promises in the teaser, since they didn’t make it themselves and did not show/tell Integrated Alchemy anything aside from “we’re making a new retro, 2D Sonic game.”  Well, let’s stop right there and make those people look stupid.

Do you remember when the trailer was released alongside a Q&A at GameSpot?  Ken Ballough reaffirmed that we would be getting everything that (literally) flew at us in the teaser.  Also, if SEGA didn’t entirely agree with the trailer’s content, then they would have axed it.  IA might have developed the trailer, but there is no way in blue hell that they would also release it.  When you’re being outsourced/commissioned to do something, you’re going to give the paying customer (in this case, SEGA) what they want.  In short, everything that you see and hear in this trailer will be in the final product.

Besides, SEGA wouldn’t want some company that makes trailers and motion graphics to dig a hole that they can’t fill.  SEGA already has a hard enough time filling the holes that they dig themselves.

Integrated Alchemy started this whole mess with their video’s description.  What up with that?

It’s obvious: they’re dumbasses.  Really good with After Effects… but dumbasses nonetheless.

I care a lot about whatever we’re talking about.  What up with that?

Go ride a bike.  It’s not a big deal… at all.