While plans for Sonic’s 15th Anniversary all seems to be on the quiet side officially, on the Internet blue blur fans from all over the world are preparing to celebrate in their own special way.
The Sonic Stadium revealed some weeks ago to a surprised public that it will be leading one of the biggest fan collaborations in the history of the community, by launching a mini-site that will feature contributions from as many different Sonic fansites and fan creators as possible. Titled ‘The Summer of Sonic’, it aims to be a neutral ground for all fan creators and webmasters to get equal recognition for their hard work, while simultaneously promoting the exciting June 23rd birthday.
The website, once officially launched, will feature written articles on various aspects of Sonic history, a large gallery for all types of fan creation, a guestbook-style birthday card for visitors to sign, along with competitions for sending in photos and video footage celebrating Sonic’s 15th in unique ways.
Svend Joscelyne (aka Dreadknux), founder of The Sonic Stadium and creator of the Summer of Sonic event, says that this season is all about fans getting together above all else; “People outside of this community – and even some within it – tend to see the Sonic online fanbase as some kind of volatile environment. That every fansite hates each other, and we’re all competing to be better than the rest of them. This event will show that we can all work together for the same cause, and have fun doing it. This birthday’s going to be very memorable.”
The project has been backed by SEGA UK as their own plans for promoting the hedgehog’s landmark birthday have yet to be confirmed, with rumours that Remix Factory’s “Open Your Heart” arrangement could well see an official CD single release in the UK.
The Summer of Sonic website has officially launched (you can visit it here, although the event itself is not due to start until later this month. Svend Joscelyne gave no firm details as to when this might be, but asserted that it’s launch will be before or co-inciding with Sonic’s birthday date on June 23rd.
Contributors and fans of the event are encouraged to spread the word by linking to the event on forums and websites, using the banner displayed on this page if you wish.