Last week, I talked to Mike Pollock, the current voice of Dr. Eggman and we had a grand ol’ time. If you’ve got 21 minutes to spare, you can listen in as we discuss Mike’s work on Sonic Unleashed and other Sonic titles. In addition, Mike talks about how he got into voice acting and he reminisces on his early days in New York radio and his work on his only film, Little Tug’s Big Adventure. He also does some voices for us!
Mike is currently signed to do voice work on an upcoming, to be announced Wii title. He recently was the announcer for AC/DC’s Black Ice album and has acquired credits for his work on commercials, Ultimate Muscle, and Kirby! Right Back At Ya!. For more information on Mike Pollock, visit his website.
Embedding and audio playback here at Sonic Stadium is wacky, so Jay (Disco Ponies) has hosted it at the Sonic Show website.
Do you have a question for Mike that was not asked during this interview? Who do you think that the Sonic Stadium should interview next? Post a comment then, dummy. 😀
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So what? I hear you say… Well, if anyone remembers Tetsu Katano claimed Sonic and the Black Knight was developed for the younger gamers and until now all other media have given this game an 8/10 or below and now a kids magazine called Toxic comes along and gives the game a 9/10 and their ‘Star Game’ award.
The reviewers from this magazine may not be kids but its these people’s jobs to actually look at the game from a kids point of view which alot of reviewers especially from the big gaming sites have failed to do. Toxic’s reviewers have reviewed it from a kids eyes and gave it a top score, other sites have reviewed it from an hardcore Sonic fan’s point of view and constantly complained about the gimmicks, gameplay and how it’s not like traditional Sonic. This game has been designed to be different and easy to pick up and play for kids but most reviewers just haven’t understood that.
Toxic, we love you! Tetsu Katano and the rest of Sonic Team would be proud!
Also, one of Toxic’s free gifts this issue is an official set of Sonic and the Black Knight stickers. –
After picking up this issue I’ve noticed it says their next issue is out tomorrow so merchandise fans wishing to pick this issue up will be out of luck at their local shops. I suggest contacting them through their website and requesting a back issue order of it. It’s issue ‘136 18-Mar-31 Mar’.
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Community projects and cool websites are one of the few reasons I bother to like Sonic anymore, aside from the adoration of the character at a young age. When amazing sites within this community pop-up, I take notice and rush to tell everybody about it. So, now, I’m tell you to visit Zone:0, the most comprehensive guide and analysis of the classic Sonic titles. The site can best described on its about page:
This rather colossal project of mine aims to combine the detail and accuracy of a well written FAQ with the visual features and organisation of an official printed strategy guide, all mangled together into a series of web pages. The ideal, although probably unrealistic goal (either way, we’re talking in terms of years here), is that every single game in the series will one day be covered within this website. The biggest emphasis here though is on the levels of the Sonic platformers, and each one, for each game, will have its own page personalised and dedicated entirely to it. Information will not only relate just to the specific obstacles and tricky bits you’ll encounter but also details surrounding its structure, appearance and tons of other trivia, relying on specific and consistent methods of organisation and analysis. Where possible, complete maps with the most detail you can find anywhere, as well as a load of screenshots will help illustrate the entire stage for you.
I’ll talk about it briefly, because I want you to go over there and see for yourself!
Zone:0’s administrator, LiQuidShade, recently put up a new ad here at Sonic Stadium to promote the redesign of the site. Not only is the design slicker and more appealing to the eye, but Sonic the Hedgehog CD joins the party, as guides for only Sonic 1 & Sonic 2 were the only games up before. There are also improvements within the image viewing department and comment boxes, which allow you to add content to a game’s page.
I was hooked on Zone:0 when I saw a count for the amount of rings in a given act. When I saw that statistic, amongst the dozens of pictures and details, I knew that I could trust this site for a comprehensive breakdown. Plus, the site hosts level maps, which have been hard to find, in my opinion, as of late. While the Sonic Research Zone is also a great resource, half of their maps are down. Sonic fangamers should frequently visit this site to read about how each level is constructed, in order to create the best possible level for their own game.
Zone:0 provides breakdowns and analysis of each zone’s appearance, level design, and strategy. Do you want to find the best path to time travel in Sonic CD? Zone:0 has got you covered. Do you need to know where all of the star checkpoints in Sonic 2 to create the best method of collecting the chaos emeralds? Zone:0 is on it. There is just so much information, it will make your head spin with joy.
Visit Zone:0
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A few weeks back, we set you guys the task of sticking a crazy barnet on the heads of your favourite Sonic characters. We received a whole barrel load of entries, and they’ve certainly given us a laugh! So, before we get to our winner, we’ve got some other noteworthy entries and some runner-ups too!!!
Continue reading Perms for Herms Art Contest: We Have A Winner!
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If you’re a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog on Facebook, you can now vote in a new poll that may or may not determine the outcome of the next entry in the “Storybook Series” and the shameless gimmick that comes with it (that half of us will more than likely complain about 😉 ). Here are your options for this “just for fun” poll:
Film Noir
Greek Myths & Legends
Horror
Sci-Fi
Western/Cowboy
Other
Those who are on Facebook, but are not friends of Sonic should visit this link and “become a fan.” Not only will you get updates about Sonic from SEGA themselves, but you can vote in the poll above and chat with even more Sonic fans.
As for my opinion on the choices, horror could be the well along the lines of “Scooby Doo Meets Addams Family” from the old Scooby-Doo Movies or a playable version of a game with “Night of the Werehog” vibes. Film Noir would be all kinds of odd, in my opinion, as it’s not really a “setting,” but rather, a style of filmmaking that does not lend itself to action. Picturing Sonic and friends as the cast of The Big Sleep would certainly melt my brain. Western would be a fun setting to bounce about. Although, it probably comes with a six-shooter, so that choice is also a hesitant one. Sci-Fi and Greek Myths are fantasy settings, so like the two games that came before them, are more appropriate for the next Storybook game. That sutibleness is probably a good indication as to why they are the top two choices in the poll at this time. I can see it now: play Sonic as Gilgamesh and Shadow as Enkidu and try to take down the nasty Humbaba. The best part about the story of Gilgamesh is that Shadow, as Enkidu, dies. I’d pay to see that one.
That’s my two cents. We want to hear your takes on each of these settings! Sound off in the comment box.
EDIT: AAUK has informed us in the comments below that the three best wall posts on the poll’s page will win a bag full of SEGA goodies! Well, now you just have to go vote now. 😉
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Bentley Jones (aka Lee Brotherton) rocks ass. As we all know, this is official fact. He has spent more time in Sonic music than any sane person should and rocked the balls out at the Summer Of Sonic 2008 event. If you don’t know who he is, (fool) then think back to Sonic 06. Remember Silvers theme tune? Dreams of an Absolution? That was him… OHH YEAAH.
Back in November Mr.Jones was happy to announce he signed with EMI Music Japan and now FINALLY in the week just past his album “Trans//Lation” was released! We have samples of four tracks for you.
- 素直になれたら ～FINAL NIGHT～
- 気分上々↑↑
- ドラマチック
- GLAMOROUS SKY
After you’ve finished orgasming at the greatness of these tracks, head over and buy yourself a copy of TRANS//LATION!!
Amazon, HMV, CDJapan, YesAsia
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Epic Japan Goodness!Did you know M-Flo has contributed to the video games industry by both providing songs for games, and by advertising for these games? For the first versions of the video game Beatmania IIDX, M-Flo has contributed short versions of the songs “L.O.T. (Love Or Truth)”, “Mirrorball Satellite 2012″, “The Theme from Flo Jack”, “Been so Long”, and “The Rhyme Brokers”. Another music related video game, Dance Dance Revolution, featured the songs “The Theme from Flo Jack”, “Been so Long”, and “The Rhyme Brokers”.
Of course all we care about is this version of the track “Tripod Baby” (from the album Beat Space Nine) which was re-released for the Shadow the Hedgehog video game that came out in November 2005. A commercial for the game, featuring Taku and Verbal, was also aired. Taku and Verbal are big fans of the character Shadow.
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Last week, Brad Flick (aka Slingerland or Slingerland’s Corner Fame) talked to Mike Pollock, the current voice of Dr. Eggman and they had a grand ol’ time. If you’ve got 21 minutes to spare, you can listen in as we discuss Mike’s work on Sonic Unleashed and other Sonic titles. In addition, Mike talks about how he got into voice acting and he reminisces on his early days in New York radio and his work on his only film, Little Tug’s Big Adventure. He also does some voices for us!
Mike is currently signed to do voice work on an upcoming, to be announced Wii title. He recently was the announcer for AC/DC’s Black Ice album and has acquired credits for his work on commercials, Ultimate Muscle, and Kirby! Right Back At Ya!. Fo more information on Mike Pollock, visit his website.
Originall posted March 31, 2009
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I’m disturbed at Big’s massive teets.
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Earlier this week, the GoNintendo blog received a tip from one of its longtime readers, Pezmanmike, regarding the upcoming DS Virtual Console service coming to the Nintendo DSi. While it has been rumored that the first-party Game Boy catalogue would be apart of the DS Virtual Console service, the Game Gear catalogue is now in the mix as well.
The initial Game Boy rumor surfaced after a Club Nintendo event at this week’s Game Developer’s Conference. Pezmanmike backed the initial rumor that Nintendo mentioned bringing Game Boy games to a DS Virtual Console service, but also said that “SEGA was interested” in the service. “Nothing is set in stone, but [Nintendo] is looking into it,” Pezmanmike says.
Will classics like Sonic: Triple Trouble become portable once again? We shall find out. Until then, I’ll keep playing an emulated version on my Wii.
[From GoNintendo]
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What’s going on???
Things change a little bit for episode six of The Sonic Show as we take you through a commentary of Sonic and The Gay Knight. NTom64 and Fastest Thing Alive of ‘Hellfire Comms’ fame are your tour guides for part one of this series of half hour playthroughs exclusive to the sonic show.
Sonic and the Ulala Knight
Sonic and the Barrel Roll Knight is a title within the Sonic the Hedgehog series, released exclusively on Wii as the second entry in the Sonic Storybook series, following on from Sonic and the Secret Rings. The game is directed by Tetsu Katano, who was the lead programmer of the Sonic Adventure titles and Sonic Heroes. Set in the world of King Arthur, the game combines Sonic’s trademark speed with a new swordfighting system, making use of the Wii Remote’s motion-sensing functionality.
Who are Hellfire Commentaries?
HellfireComms are a hugely popular team found on youtube who cover a wide range of video game featurettes. They are most well known for their commentaries of videogames, especially Sonic ones as this makes up the largest amount of their portfolio. HellfireComms is made of a large team but the most notable two are NTom64 and Fastest Thing Alive. With subscribers and 1,634,414 channel views in less than a year, it is fair to say that this team are making a big impact on the Sonic community.
To watch one of their other entertaining videos, please head over to
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Haven’t tuned into SSR recently? Cant cope with OGG? (hahahahhaa) then enjoy this mp3 treat!
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A second downloadable content pack for Sonic Unleashed titled Spagonia Adventure Pack is now available from Xbox Live Marketplace. 2 weeks ago we saw the first pack titled Chun-Nan Adventure Pack which contained extra stages for both Sonic and his Werehog form.
We are currently downloading this pack to investigate it’s contents and will update you soon. The description says four daytime stages and two night-time stages are available, three of them are all new and three are new missions. No word on if this is available on the Playstation Store which in the U.S. and Europe still hasn’t received the Chun-Nan pack.
UPDATE: I’ve had a quick play of the stages and here are my findings. Sonic: The first two are hard mode versions of Act’s 1 and 2 with the other two stages being completely new. One is a tricky platforming stage held in the skies of Spagonia and the other is a chase against some flying bots.
Werehog: The first is a hard mode version of Act 1 and the second is a completely new stage that see’s you travel round the canal’s of Spagonia.
Seem’s a pretty good pack that’s definitely worth the 250 MS Points.
You can download the pack here.
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The companies that brought you the incredible “Sonic the Hedgehog Chess” and squeezable Sonic figures, Jetix Consumer Products and Gaya Entertainment, have expanded their licensing agreement for more Sonic toys. CEO of Gaya Entertainment, Andre Schmitz, said:
“We are very proud to announce the teaming up of Jetix and Gaya Entertainment for this project. 2009 will be an important year for everybody´s favorite Hedgehog and being a part of it is highly appreciated. With our product line-up for Sonic, we intend to offer something for everyone, may it be old or young.”
Georg Liedmeier, licensing manager at Jetix Consumer Products also spoke:
“Jetix is looking forward to working with Gaya Entertainment and delivering quality products from one of its most cherished franchises to both fans of the series and model collectors alike.”
The company will be rolling out new collectibles by the end of May, but has yet to find a UK distributor. Three companies are in talks with Jetix and Gaya for UK distribution.
[From Toy News Online]
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Warning: This article contains spoilers to Sonic and the Black Knight.
A recent trend in Sonic games seems to be the increasing outreach to the online Sonic community, with today’s Sonic Team no longer the closed in studio it once was. There have been some good throwbacks to past games before – Sonic Heroes was a mish-mash of both classic and modern gameplay, with Chaotix (minus Mighty) making a welcome return. But Sonic Chronicles on the Nintendo DS marked the first time SEGA were willing to stretch a hand towards the community in terms of a game’s development.
BioWare produced a pretty sweet fan service in general in Sonic Chronicles’ dialogue, story and impressive knowledge of lore/filling in the blanks. The cherry on the cake was the studio allowing the online community to name an alien race in the game. On the back of that success, Sonic Team seem to have taken futher steps, by including easter eggs in Sonic Unleashed in the hidden Dreamcast, and acknowledging the chilidog as Sonic’s official favourite snack.
The Japanese studio took another step with Sonic and the Black Knight, but it’s more than the obvious. SEGA held a contest around the world to include some pieces of fan artwork into the latest Wii adventure. The result is an awesome set of slideshows that feature a bunch of American, European and Japanese work. Even the outcome of a discrepency in one of the European entries resulted in a fair and responsive reaction from ArchAngelUK, which really just adds to how far SEGA and Sonic Team are willing to go to put things right. Continue reading Reaching Out To The Fans – The Black Knight Story
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We’ve only got a few days more until our Perms for Herms contest draws to a close – if you want that mega-awesome signed Matt Herms sketchbook then get a Sonic character and slap a hairdo on them sharpish.
Behind the scenes I’m working on a few revamped Game Archive pages. I’ve been inundated with work this week so things may move slowly for now, but it looks like the first game to go online will be Sonic and the Black Knight. I’m currently filling in blanks for that – what I’ll probably do is do a quick roundup of each game, relaunch the Game Archive and then slowly go over them, inputting more detail as I go. Or I might just do one game and sod all the rest until I find time to dedicate myself to them. Who knows?
Seems the new design TSS is a bit of a hit – I’m glad. 🙂 We’ve changed how we present our content, and you’ll soon see a change to how we write our stuff. Opinion pieces like Brad’s will find a home in the Community Blog section, so there’s no confusion as to whether fact is being clouded by opinion. News and Articles will only feature factual stuff and previews/reviews (with an air for starting healthy discussion of course!), including celebrity interviews that you won’t find anywhere else. We have a few real cool chats coming right up, so you don’t want to miss this space.
Speaking of cool up-and-coming things, we may have another giveaway for you lovely lot soon too, to celebrate the revamped TSS. That and Easter’s coming up fast. Hm, I wonder if we can do anything to celebrate that too…….
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In our forth episode, Todd Hakusho takes us on his own “special” look at a classic Sonic cartoon.
Sonic the Hedgehog (also known as: Sonic SatAM, because it usually aired in a Saturday morning timeslot) is an American animated series created by DIC Entertainment with the partnership of Sega of America, and was loosely based on the video game series. The series aired from September 18, 1993 until May 1995 in the United States.
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Set “sarcasm” and “smart-ass” levels to 11. OK, ready…
I had an experiment last week. One that I said to take with as many grains of salt as you would like:
You can take as many grains of salt from this experiment as you would like to (it is just three kids after all), but, personally, Sonic Team’s failure to hit their target audience speaks volumes on the state of the series.
No foolin’. If you were level-headed enough to read the entire article, you got to read the above statement and made a level-headed assessment, either in agreement with the article or not. I assume that the unnecessarily disgruntled, drama-loving lunkheads who frequent the Sega of America boards and TSSZ comment boxes were too flustered to keep reading by the second or third paragraph of the article and went right to peeing their footy pajamas and raging about “experimenting on more kids.” Well, an “experiment” consists of testing a small group to draw a conclusion on the whole. Looking in a second grade science textbook can tell you that much. I guess the crowd that can’t deal with an opinion radically different from theirs was too busy looking at Cream & Marine hentai that they slid into their books while the teacher was going over that chapter.
It’s okay, lunkheads, because my new buddy, Core, has hooked me up with a similar experiment conducted by a French-language magazine. I have no idea which magazine, but Core and I can assure you that it’s real. In the article, they ask three kids about Black Knight. They even give the game a score out of twenty, so you can justify your purchase with a number! Wow! A number and an opinion that agrees with the lunkheads? Hot damn!
So, the three kids that I tested all disliked the game and these French children liked the game. Combine the two experiments and the game gets a 3/6, or a 50%. Fifty percent, hmm… that number looks familiar. Or, at least, is rather close to a certain Metacritic rating.
This new article leads me to draw a new conclusion when it comes to the the game’s reception to not just its target audience, but even the gaming public as a whole:
Sonic & the Black Knight: Mixed reaction. Mediocre. End of story. If you like it, great. If you don’t like it, great.
Nobody is stopping you from doing either.
A big thank you to Core for providing TSS with this article and for being cool about presenting an opposing opinion. Be more like Core.
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Good news everyone, ArchangelUK has let the community know in a new Sonic City Blognik entry that he has managed to track down Mega777!
For those who don’t know, a SatBK fan art contest winner by the name of Antonio Miniero entered into the contest a near exact copy of Mega777’s SA2 scene art piece despite the rules clearly stating that submissions had to be original artwork created by yourself. Antonio Miniero’s copy made it into the final shipped copies of Sonic and the Black Knight for Wii but Antonio was found out soon after the game’s release and was immediately disqualified, though he took it well and understood he had broken the rules.
Mega777 who’s real name is Francesca will now be sent a free copy of Sonic and the Black Knight together with a SEGA goody bag and some rare Sonic and the Secret Rings art prints signed by Ogawa-san from ArchangelUK’s own personal vault. Nice one AAUK 😉
ArchangelUK also informs us that Francesca(Mega777) has taken her talent to the world of work animating storyboards for TV shows and movies. How cool is that? Happy ending all round!
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The latest Nintendo Power (#240) has some new information and images of the upcoming sequel to the popular summer Olympiad game that the two iconic characters competed at this past holiday season. The issue talked about some of the sports that Mario & Sonic will be participating in later this year in Vancouver, such as alpine skiing, bobsledding, and speed skating. In addition to the titular characters, all characters that participated in Beijing will be returning for the Winter Olympics, in addition to some new faces. If you ever wanted to see a purple, morbidly obese cat ride a skeleton luge, this game may make that dream come true.
Co-Op and competitive multiplayer will be available for the Wii version, while the DS will only receive the latter. The Wii version will also put your unused Wii Balance Board to use. When it comes to the DS, you might want to invest in some screen protectors for this game. All that rubbin’ and scratchin’ will obliterate your touch screen.
Oh, and here are some scans, I guess:
[From BlueBlur]
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SEGA has ported its flagship Genesis title to everything that makes a mechanical whirring sound. The game is on cellular phones, home consoles on compilation discs and as a download, and it’s even on my grandfather’s pacemaker. It’s only appropriate that they port to one of the most popular pieces of technology available, Apple’s iPhone. I think the original Sonic has had more ports than any other game out there, so I bet SEGA will be finished porting it after releasing it for the iPhone. Right, Simon Jeffery?
“We are absolutely delighted to work with Apple to bring Sega’s timeless classic, Sonic The Hedgehog, to the iPhone. The great reception and success of Super Monkey Ball has demonstrated that the iPhone is a viable gaming console with immense potential. iPhone gamers can expect great products from Sega and what better way to start the New Year than with Sonic The Hedgehog on the iPhone.”
Never mind, then. I can’t wait for “Sonic the Hedgehog” for the iPhone 2.
The game will support portrait and landscape views, touchscreen controls, and a save/resume feature. It will be out as an app for the iPhone this spring.
[From PocketGamer]
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I always used to think that there’s a stigma with The Sonic Stadium that I had real trouble shaking off. The perception that myself and the writers here are ‘retrofags’ and that we bash on every new game that comes out without a word of reason. Seeing some comments fly around over the last few days, I’ve come to realise that it’s not me, or TSS, that has the problem. It’s a group of people that are otherwise known as ‘trolls’.
Trolls are people who try to ignite flamewars for no apparent reason other than the fact that they want to get a rise out of you. Their arguments make no sense, and they lower themselves to swearing and incessent idiocy. When you argue back, they argue more, causing a massive flamewar. If you do anything else, they’ll complain that you’re not allowing their opinion or voice to be heard.
Well, after having a brief influx of trolls on this website, I have decided to knock it on the head here and now. Anyone trolling on this website will have their comment removed and their IP blocked. This is a website that celebrates the Sonic series, and we don’t want anyone destroying the atmosphere for the rest of the Sonic fans that enjoy this place. Don’t confuse this with disagreeing with an opinion or review on TSS; you’re still allowed to voice your thoughts. Trolls don’t have opinions though. They have flamebait, and the mind of a basement-dwelling child.
Take our recent review of Sonic and the Black Knight. Apparently, I should not have written anything at all, despite the fact that I am obligated to write a report on it (for one thing, I’m a games journalist as well as a Sonic fan; for another thing I received a copy from Sega on the grounds that I reviewed it). Trolls think that the problem of awkward games will just go away if people stop talking about it. But if you’re not enjoying a game, why should one say it’s good?
Also hilarious is the notion that we hate every new Sonic game that ever comes out. OK, let’s review some of the games that we did enjoy then: Sonic Chronicles was received very well, Thumbs Up for all except Sound. Sonic Rush Adventure got a 10/10. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, 7/10. Sonic and the Secret Rings, 8/10. Even Sonic Riders got an 8/10… it’s really hard to argue that case all of a sudden, isn’t it? Continue reading Trolls, Who’d Have Them?
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Back in February, I posted a story from CasualGaming.biz regarding the intended audience of Sonic & the Black Knight. Once I read it, I found some solace in that I shouldn’t give a care about Sonic idiotically waving a sword at 300 MPH. Tetsu Katano, the director of the Japan division of Sonic Team, went on the record to tell us older guys to look down on Black Knight as child’s play.
“Sonic and the Black Knight is aimed at a younger, more casual audience. We’ve changed a lot of things, essentially. It’s thinking as children; approaching things from their point of view, thinking what they want to see.”
So be it, Tetsu. However, I still have to play it to keep myself informed. It’s part of my job here at TSS, because nobody wants to read articles by someone who is completely clueless. When I played the game, I went in with lower expectations than Sonic Unleashed. Considering how much I loathed the werehog, Black Knight was as low as I can get. My rental time with the game can be summed up in Svend’s review, or any review that you can find on the internet in the 60s score range and below.
After my experience, I thought of this article by CasualGaming. How do kids react to this game? It was a thought that lingered in my mind until I finally put it to the test. I have spent the last week in Los Angeles, making connections, scouting apartments, soaking up sun, and visiting friends. I went to one of my old mentor’s houses in Burbank. He has a wife, three kids, and, most importantly, a Wii. On a slow day, I rented Black Knight again and asked the kids to play it.
The three boys have never played a Sonic game before, so I thought that this little experiment was an excellent opportunity to test Katano’s “kid-oriented” game and his other goal of using this game as a way to introduce people to Sonic:
“Sonic is kind of a cheeky, edgy character, and so we like seeing Sonic challenge new things all the time. The Wii is a big part of it, because it appeals to a wider range of people who maybe have not played a Sonic game before.”
The kids were hooked on the presentation, like most people, but could not stand to play the rest of the game. They complained that the game was “too difficult” and that their wrists were getting worn out. From my observations, the difficulty stemmed from the poor design choices in gameplay that a majority of the reviewers have been harping on. The kids refused to play the rest of the game and Katano’s primary audience of new, young Sonic players was violated.
You can take as many grains of salt from this experiment as you would like to (it is just three kids after all), but, personally, Sonic Team’s failure to hit their target audience speaks volumes on the state of the series.
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Sony has announced that the second title in the PSP Sonic series Sonic Rivals will be one of a new group of games to enter their ‘Greatest Hits’ range in the U.S.
No this isn’t a brand of video game nostalgia music albums but a range of classic games released on Sony’s consoles. To enter the ‘Greatest Hits’ range a game has to have sold over 250,000 units and be out for 9 months. The game will now retail in the U.S. for $19.99 from April 5th.
The ‘Greatest Hits’ range is very similar to the ‘Platinum’ range Sony has over here in Europe where Sonic Rivals is already among titles in the range so should we expect to see Sonic Rivals 2 enter the ‘Platinum’ range soon? I’d say so, we shall let you know if it does. Until then you can pick the standard copy up pretty cheap in both the U.S. and Europe if you shop around. Go on, you know your PSP is begging for some Sonic.
Source: Kotaku
UPDATE:
Sonic Rivals 2 is already in the Platinum range in Europe. So, if you want a new Sonic game for your PSP on the cheap during the credit crunch go get it now! Thanks to BADavid in the comments section for the heads up.
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For the last couple of years, The Sonic Stadium has been romanced with this idea that the Sonic Community and SEGA could be much closer than it was back in, say, 2004. And that idea certainly had a happy ending – SEGA are more receptive to what people are saying than they were before.
But when I first approached SEGA Europe and opened those metaphorical doors, I figured (maybe as a selfish concept of ‘reward’ or something) that TSS could be the ‘vessel’ that helps cross the gap between official and unofficial. That was a notion that formed some sort of success throughout 2005 to 2008, but today it’s different.
Sonic City’s Blognik now speaks directly to the fans and holds the official competitions, while Sonic Wrecks picks up any off-cuts/unused material and puts that in its Depository, making TSS’ role in the ‘gap-crossing’ venture sort of pointless.
Instead, this website appears to have become less of a fansite by definition (with information and substance) into more of a disposable news blog, and while I’ve tried to shirk that by introducing new writers which have brought new regular features, it’s something that still sticks in my mind.
So as you may have noticed, the site’s changed. Again. We’re taking it back to the old school a little bit here – some of you oldies will recognise the majority of this design as TSS’ layout in 2007. I’ve taken that and upgraded its resolution while changing some bits about to keep it fresh. Hit the jump for a full explanation of what’s in the pipeline (as you can see, some bits are still a bit janky, like the header image repeating itself etc) and let me know what you think so far of these changes. Continue reading The TSS Spring Clean
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One of the first things you can do in Sonic and the Black Knight is view a slide show gallery of artwork, created by blue blur fans around the world. Almost all of them recount classic moments in the franchise’s history within Sonic CD, Sonic and Knuckles and Sonic Adventure 2 among others. It’s a bittersweet irony really, given that the new-age Sonic Team – a studio that’s opening their hearts and willing to do good like an eager puppy – are willing to embrace fan input where it’s positive, yet block out complaints about rushed developments, poor gameplay mechanics and passionless level design and counter with more of the same. Continue reading TSS REVIEW: Sonic and the Black Knight
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Sonic Relief has been a big success having reached its £100.00 fundraising target by raising £102.00 for Comic Relief. We received 36 fantastic entries in total for the event and me and MK Skillz(founder of Sonic Relief) wanted to showcase some of our picks of the lot.
MK Skillz:
Casanova’s video entry –
The Bestist Sonic Fan Fiction Ever
Indigo Rush’s entry –
Continue reading Best of Sonic Relief 2009
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Personally, “Knight Of The Wind” is s**t. However this track “With Me” is really good! The downlad link is just above! It’s from the final boss in the game. I don’t think it’s really a spoiler. I mean it doesnt explain ANY plot details… or anything for that matter. It just sounds cool!
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15-3-09 UPDATE:
SONIC RELIEF 2009: THE GRAND TOTAL
Red Nose Day has now been and gone and Sonic & The Black Knight is now on UK shelves… but there’s still one last thing to do before we say “sayonara” to Sonic Relief 2009 (which was conceptualised to celebrate the two) and that’s to announce the grand total we raised for charity.
Only a couple of weeks ago we asked you to “do something Sonic for money”, be it a drawing, a video, a song… literally anything. And you did. For a relatively unplanned event and a fairly short time span, we received loads of entries – all in the name of a good cause. Thank you to all who entered.
Certain members had vowed to donate money to Comic Relief based on how many entries we received (be it 50p per entry, a set amount whatever the number of entries, or strange mathematical calculations) and before I reveal the total I’d just like to say thank you to all of these. Without you, this event could never have taken place or been the success it has become. Special thanks goes to MK Skillz who originally put the idea through to me and without his constant help throughout the event, none of this could have happened. Special thanks also go to my wife Emma, Urtheart, vger, JJ4eva, The DJ and bolt7 for all their donations, you rock!
So then, shall we get on with it?
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for!
I can now reveal that Sonic Relief 2009 managed to raise a rather spectacular £102 for Comic Relief!
It may not sound like much but considering the short space of time we had, that’s a really respectable amount. It may only be a small addition to Comic Relief’s current total of over £57 million but it’s a valuable addition nonetheless – and it’s also helped to bring our community together to aid a common cause.
In celebration of this year’s success we are also planning to present some of the best Sonic Relief 2009 entries on The Sonic Stadium’s front page.
So, I guess that’s it for Sonic Relief then… right?
Well, no. Judging by the success of this first fundraising drive, I’m more than up for doing it again sometime in the future – and I’m sure that a lot of you would be too! With more time, more planning, and more support who knows what we could be capable of raising…?
14-3-09 UPDATE: That’s a wrap folks!
So if I’ve counted right, we have 36 entries! Some are from multiple entries some people submitted but it’s still an awesome number of entries.
Thanks to everyone who contributed, that’s £17.00 I will be donating to Comic Relief. We have £20 going to Comic Relief from The DJ, that makes £37.00. Urtheart will be donating so much per entry via his calculation that I can’t get my head around 😆 Other staff will be donating some cash too. Once we have a full total of the raised amount, we’ll let you know our grand total.
Thanks again everyone, you’ve helped a great cause 😉
6-3-09 UPDATE: To make things more official, gain optional donations and to put entries in a place where everyone can see and appreciate them Sonic Relief now has an Official Comic Relief site which you can check out here. Turns out these Comic Relief pages only allow 3 pics and 3 videos up at one time so we’ll be rotating entries so that everyone has some showcase time on the site.
To celebrate the UK release of Sonic & The Black Knight as well as Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day on Friday 13th March 2009, we’re giving you the chance to help raise some money for charity in the very first Sonic Relief!
Sonic Relief is a concept made by SSMB forumer MK Skillz, which simply asks you to “do something Sonic for money”. Thanks to the super power of teamwork, The Sonic Stadium is heavily supporting the idea and it’s been given the go ahead.
All we need you to do is to be a part of Sonic Relief! Whether you want to dress up as your favourite Sonic character, sing a song, draw us a picture… literally ANYTHING (as long as it’s funny and will make us laugh!) then we want to see it! The possibilities are endless!
For every entry that we receive, Shadzter (as well as other supporting members such as Urtheart, Vger, bolt, and SEGA Sonic’s Radio DJs The DJ and JJ4eva) will donate money to Comic Relief. The more entries, the more money we raise… simple!
For those of you who do not know who or what Comic Relief is, it’s a UK based charity which aims to make “a just world free from poverty”. Every two years, Comic Relief holds Red Nose Day – a live television extravaganza which is usually a guaranteed night in of laughter. The general public can also purchase specially made Red Noses or simply do anything to raise money, with all the proceeds going to the charity. If you wish to find out more, please visit http://www.comicrelief.com/ or http://www.rednoseday.com/
All entries should be posted in the SSMB Sonic Relief topic.
The closing date for entries is Friday 13th March 2009.
Thanks for all your support so far, stay tuned for more Sonic Relief announcements coming soon!
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Resident SSMB member ‘KIRBY‘ informed the forums earlier today with some exciting news regarding the release of Sonic Chronicles in Japan. Unlike Europe and America, Japan never saw a release of the game last September, a similar act as with Sonic Rivals 1 and 2’s Japanese no shows. While the majority of Japanese fans simply felt left in the dust, SEGA have finally uploaded a teaser site to the Internet advertising an eastern release for the Nintendo DS turn-based adventure.
Sonic Chronicles was met with mediocre reviews when released in Europe and America last year, with high criticism to the plot and sound track noted. The majority of fans however enjoyed the title, with Bioware’s extensive RPG experience clearly shining through. More information will be uploaded to the website April 10th, hopefully giving us a release date for Japanese fans to look forward to.
Source: SEGA Japan.
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Once again, the embedding here at TSS is being an ass, so click here to go directly to GameTrailers.
Like we’ve stated many times, we don’t like to talk about reviews. However, I have the utmost respect for GameTrailers and their reviews. I, personally, find them interesting, in-depth and having visual aid for any complaints that they air during the review is always nice. It’s hard to argue with GTs gripes with Sonic & the Black Knight, so here it is at TSS for your viewing pleasure.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to my L.A. spring break adventure.
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So out of nowhere Kevin (Aka AAUK) posts on the blognik that Sonic Unleashed has DLC online. So I pop onto the 360 and there it is. The Chun-nan Adventure Pack offers new acts and missions to the Chun-nan area which overall are a bit “meh” but then again, they are actually worth the measley 250 points they are asking for them. We’d recommended them only if you actually enjoyed Sonic Unleashed lol.
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It’s been a good three or four months since the release of Sonic’s super fast/generic action’y title on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, Sonic Unleashed. SEGA have updated the Xbox Live Market Place today with some of the first Downloadable Content available for the game, a Chun-Nan ‘Adventure Pack.’
The adventure pack weighs in at around 530MB in size and contains four new day time stages (Act 1-2, 2-2, 4 and 5) and two new Werehog stages (Act 1-2 and 3.) While act 1-2 for both characters is simply a more difficult obstacle course of the standard Act 1 stages, Act 4 and 5 for Sonic and Act 3 for the Werehog offer entirely new areas of Chun-Nan for players to explore. Act 2-2 for Sonic simply adds an extra two ‘laps’ on to the already existing stage, though both of these are cleverly designed and a good challenge for even the greatest Unleashed enthusiasts.
Currently, the Xbox 360 DLC is avalible in Europe, Japan and America, while the PS3 DLC is only accessible in Japan. Worry not however, as word has it the European and American PSN will be updating later tonight with the content.
Alongside a DLC update, SEGA have released a patch for the game currently only downloadable through the Xbox Live Marketplace. While it doesn’t fix everything, incorrect totals on the map screen have been fixed and a slight optimisation of the code for the Adabat stage has been put into place, lessening the frame rate drops by a small amount.
Hopefully more Adventure Packs will be made available to download in the future, alongside more frequent patches for the game, hopefully fixing art book glitches and the loss of frame rate in Eggman Land especially.
Are you happy with the Chun-Nan DLC? Were you expecting something more? Entirely new stages? Remakes of classic zones perhaps? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: SEGA Nerds.
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The road to Sonic’s land mark 200th issue continues today, with #198 now available in comic shops across America. In it, Sonic returns to his fight with Eggman, and his newest weapon, the Egg Pheonix! Archie’s newest artist, Renae De Liz, also debuts in this issue. I must say, I’m rather dissapointed that her excellent pencils didn’t hold up to Archie’s inking and coloring team. You can see the cover and four action packed pages below:
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #198
“Egg Phoenix Down”: The countdown to the epic Sonic the Hedgehog #200 continues! Sonic leads the fully assembled Freedom Fighters and Chaotix on an invasion of Dr. Robotnik’s city, but the doctor unleashes a terrifying new weapon that may make their fight a short one! Don’t miss all the egg-plosive action!
SCRIPT: Ian Flynn
ART: Renae De Liz
Scorching hot cover by Tracy Yardley!
Shipping Date: March 4th, 2009
On Sale at Comic Specialty Shops: March 11th, 2009
On Sale on Newsstands: March 24th, 2009
32-page, full color comic
$2.50 US
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So, you fancy winning yourself a copy of Matt Herm’s Sketchbook? Not only has this renowned Archie comics artist signed this book of sketches, it’s also got a hand-drawn sketch of Sonic on the back page too!
Not too shabby a prize eh?
So, if you would like to add this cool-ass comic to your collection, get yer pencils out!
Sonic and the gang feel like their hairdoos just aren’t hip anymore – they’re just too nineties! So, what we want to do is to give your favourite Sonic character a new haircut, as our resident Roarey Raccoon demonstrates!
You don’t need to be an artist! Points will be awarded for style and originality! Closing date for entries is the 27th of March…so get scribbling!
Send all your entries to permsforherms@googlemail.com.
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