Please note that this site is no longer being updated or maintained; as a result, there may be design issues, and links to images and other media may be broken. Links to posts may redirect you to the same article on the current Sonic Stadium website.
Happy Easter everyone! Now you get to play with a revival of the ‘Creamed’ skin from way back when. Don’t scoff too many eggs!
Sonic has had his fair share of racing games. Game Gear’s Sonic Drift, Sonic R on the Sega Saturn, and the recent Sonic Riders games are some prime examples. These racers tried something different (with the exception of Drift, really) and while interesting, didn’t really provide a stellar gaming experience. As much as I personally love Sonic R, turning corners and holding down that B button can be a right pain sometimes – and the fun’s over too quickly. Sonic Riders was… well, that was Sonic Riders.
In 2010, Sumo Digital has taken a punt at a Sonic racer, and instead of going for something different (although they did toy with a Sonic R-esque gameplay mechanic) the studio went with something a bit closer to what gamers knew best – a karting game. Why is Sonic, in fact, in a car? The answer is – who cares, really? Comparisons are inevitably going to be drawn with Mario Kart, but is Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing a fun game in its own right? Continue reading TSS Review: Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
Go nuts with a reinvention of the old Purple Catfish theme.
Well, BIGNEWS is no more (but if you ever want to tickle yourself with feline reportage, all you have to do is click the link in the sidebar to the left) but that doesn’t mean the big lunk is going anywhere soon. As a special 2nd April treat, we’ve launched a new skin for The Sonic Stadium – Purple Catfish returns!
Now you can surf your favourite Sonic fansite with the power of Froggy. I’ve also taken the liberty of tidying up the site design a little bit – Site Bites remain on the sidebar, but upcoming games have gone because it wasn’t a dynamic thing and I kept forgetting to update it. 🙂
Affiliates have been moved to a more appropriate place in the footer, and the search bar’s nested cosily in the breadcrumb bar. Speaking of which, the breadcrumb’s now more noticeable as a result.
I’ve also fiddled around with the stylesheets a bit so it will make it easier for me to crack out more skins. Purple Catfish is the latest in a line of returning TSS skins in celebration of our 10th Anniversary, and more will come. Expect an Easter theme or two in the coming days.
Update: Happy Easter everyone! Now you get to play with a revival of the ‘Creamed’ skin from way back when. Don’t scoff too many eggs!
We love our friends in the Sonic community, and even more so if they cover the works of Sonic musical legend Jun Senoue. News has just hit us that for the first 50 members who register to the Official German Crush 40 Fanclub (which means its legit, yo), there’s a special badge up for grabs.
You can see a picture of the badge above. I’ve seen it myself, touched it with my own hands. It’s a nice little badge, don’t you think? If you want one of these, then register at the site and it may well be on its way to your house.
Then you can wear it with pride and be forever strengthened by the rock harmony of Jun and Johnny. Gang of thugs looking at you funny? No problem. Embrace the power of the badge and rock in their faces until they melt. It’d be like a Sonic themed version of Brutal Legend. Maybe.
Go to the damn site already! Schnell!
Hey guys, hope you enjoyed our little April Fools gag there. You know us – we’re always game for a laugh on April 1st, and this year was no exception. Instead of tricking you all with some round-the-gardens thing again, we decided to let one of the best characters in the Sonic universe take centre stage.
BIGNEWS is the premier site dedicated to Big the Cat news. Be sure to give all of those articles a read, as it provides some fascinating insight into the world of the lazy cat we’ve all come to love – or hate.
Don’t worry about losing BIGNEWS either – we’re keeping it in archive well after April Fools’ day is over, so you can enjoy all the hard work Big put into this. It’s probably the most effort he’s put into something, so he hopes you’ll appreciate it to some degree. Or maybe he doesn’t hope that at all – he’s likely just snoozing in the Mystic Ruins again. Whatever.
Have a good day today – and don’t fall foul to any nasty tricks!
EDIT: April Fools Day is over, but you can still access Big the Cat’s very own website by hitting ‘BIGNEWS’ on the sidebar underneath ‘OTHER’, or by clicking here.
As you may have already read, I was the first person to sleep in the brand-new Sonic the Hedgehog themed hotel Suite at UK leisure resort, Alton Towers. My stay was earned by winning a quiz on the coach to the theme park on Friday; a coach that contained a bunch of community luminaries, bloggers and press (with myself in the unique position of both press and community). Except T-Bird, who is still in Japan. I missed his hat.
The special trip to Alton Towers was arranged by Sega, to celebrate the opening of the new Sonic Spinball rollercoaster (and of course, the Sonic Suite). After a three-hour coach journey, we all huddled around the ride entrance where Sega representatives and ‘Sonic’ officially cut the celebratory ribbon. We were then free to stumble in curiosity towards the rollercoaster itself. It was the day before Alton Towers opened for the new season, and so we were the very first people to try this attraction out.
Sonic Spinball may well be an older ride with a new lick of paint, but the nature of the rollercoaster seemed like a perfect fit for the blue blur. Four-seater pods periodically pass through the track, which start rotating as the ride begins and you turn the first corner. Then you meet the initial climb upwards, which was really quite fast, giving you barely any time to soak in the impending drops, twists and turns that lie ahead.
The following events involve high-speed belting around tight corners, V-shaped curves which force you to face the drop as you go down, and a zig-zag of highs and lows sporting a camera at the end. In the free hour given, we must have jumped on the ride six or seven times each, with free unlimited photo prints to keep those high-octane memories forever. To the side of the photo booth were two UFO catchers with Sonic plushies up for grabs – so our time was adequately split between riding the Spinball and attempting to win a Tails doll.
It had to end at some point though, so we all caught a coach back to the hotel where we all stayed; as everyone else took a tour of the special Sonic Suite, I was at reception signing out all of the gear that goes in it – two PS3 controllers, two Xbox 360 controllers, two Wii Remotes, one Wii Nunchuk and a bunch of Sonic games. These included Sonic Unleashed (PS3), Sega Superstars Tennis (360), Sonic 06 (PS3), Sonic and the Black Knight (Wii), Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii).
Once everybody else had taken their Sonic Suite tour and saved all their photos, it was mine and Jemnezmy’s turn to step in and soak in the room that we would be sleeping for the night. And despite it’s rather pokey size, it’s a rather impressive room for the big-time Sonic fan. Opening the door activates a sound clip that welcomes you to the room – ‘Sonic’ (in a rather trying American accent) introduces the Suite with different phrases each time the front door is opened, including “Hey-Hey! Have you tried Sonic Spinball yet?” and “Watch out for Dr. Eggman! Let’s Go!” alongside boost and spring sound effects.
The wallpaper is a colourful print which takes its design from the recent Sonic the Hedgehog 4 trailer, although there are new elements that you have probably noticed already. Extra platforms, springs and Sonic 2-esque dash pads all feature on the Sonic Suite walls, but none of them look like in-game segments of the game – rather like higher-quality images that have been imposed on top of the landscape seen in the three-second gameplay clip.
The widescreen TV is pretty snazzy, alongside the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles that are all hooked up to the unit. A drawer underneath the consoles reveals a couple of Sonic plushies, chocolate coins and a Priority Pass for up to 6 people to ride on Sonic Spinball. Yes, we totally cleaned that drawer out.
Awesome Sonic references are everywhere in this room. The lampshades are Chaos Emeralds, the bed’s headboard is a giant ring, and there’s the most awesome palm tree in the corner that I tried to steal the next day. People would have probably noticed it under my arm, though.
Other festivities that took place outside of the Sonic room included dinner in Alton Towers’ beach resort room (complete with steel drum band and playtests of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing), an open bar until 2am, giant Connect 4, and a day’s VIP pass at the theme park on Saturday. It was truly a delicious day, and I met several people who attended Summer of Sonic last year who came especially to ride Sonic Spinball. No doubt they all had as much of an awesome time as I did on the ride.
Head to the Alton Towers website to find out more about the theme park and Sonic Spinball ride, and to learn more about booking the Sonic Suite for yourself. You’ll have an awesome time, trust me. Gallery of all images below, go take a look.
The world’s Sonic the Hedgehog fan convention, Summer of Sonic, will take place on the 7th August 2010, we can announce today. Further details such as venue, guests and events have yet to be determined. Entry may be charged this year, in order to cover costs.
Summer of Sonic has come in leaps and bounds since its introduction as a real-life convention in 2008. Organised by fans for the fans, and headed by Kevin Eva (ArchAngelUK) of Sonic Wrecks/Sega Europe and myself, it has proven to be the annual go-to event for Sonic lovers around the world.
Past guests include musician Richard Jacques, singer TJ Davis, remixer and artist Bentley Jones, Nigel Kitching and Nigel Dobbyn from Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic and Steve Lycett (S0L) of Sumo Digital. The event has played host to events such as Guinness World Records challenges and exclusive sneak previews of Sonic Chronicles and Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing.
Over 400 people turned up to East London’s Brick Lane to hit the Summer of Sonic 2009, situated at Truman Brewery’s Boiler House. A similar number is expected for 2010, with Sonic fans around the world coming together in London for another day of Super Sonic activity.
With the costs of Summer of Sonic 2009 exceeding expectations, it is being decided whether to charge a small fee for entry to this year’s event. We hope you’ll be supportive of this move, should we go ahead with it, as it will allow us to bring you even more unexpected surprises. There are many things in the pipeline for 2010 – you won’t be disappointed.
Further details – as well as an official SoS 2010 website – to come soon. In the meantime – start booking that date off of work, guys!
TSSZ News founder, Tristan Oliver Bresnen, has consciously published an unprovoked, veiled and malicious attack towards TSS’ own news writer, Shadzter. Shadzter has M.E., a legitimate disease also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The hate-filled and envy-laden libel was written when a reader of TSSZ light-heartedly joked about Bresnen being “late” with the news. This was his response;
“Well, SOTI, some of us had to dig out of a 30 inch snowstorm, and actually have to work for a living and not live off the taxpayer’s dime for some fake disease.”
TSSZ News has frequently published subtle jabs and digs at The Sonic Stadium for months, in an effort to beef up falling page hits. Its tactic is to offend TSS staffers and readers to the point where they will visit TSSZ News to comment and provide Bresnen with the hit-count he desires.
Several months ago, I personally told all TSS Staff to ignore such activity from TSSZ, in an effort to maintain a civil co-existence. Despite Bresnen’s continuing jealousy-fuelled attacks, we have succeeded in rising above the taunts. Realising that his usual strategy is not working, Bresnen has resorted to more extreme jabs, directly comparing and belitting The Sonic Stadium on its advertising page and implying that TSS’ recent Sonic 4 coverage was not motivated by fan excitement (rather as a “pursuit of precious page hits”).
I’m not one to react so aggressively to someone attacking The Sonic Stadium. In fact, I’ve avoided TSSZ News for the best part of 6 months in an attempt to make things right. But if you’re going to be sinking to the lowest of the scum and cap one of my writers at the knees while he’s already down, you can bet your arse I’m going to respond passionately about it. This is an open letter to Tristan Bresnen, demanding an immediate apology to be published with an explanation for this unwarranted outburst.
I’m not going to sit by and idly watch other administrators verbally assault my own writers. With this statement, you’ve made things personal. And I want you to know that I am angry. I am angry that you have the balls to attack someone with a disability. Shadzter is one of the nicest, friendlist, and kindest people on my staff, if not the whole Sonic community. The very thought of you attacking him on such a heartless whim just beggars belief.
I make a point to be friends with absolutely everyone in the Sonic fan community. Even those that don’t agree with me, and even those that hate my guts I abide. But no matter how much I try, you always seem to want to attack me and my staff, Tristan. And all because we posted a news article before you? Bless.
Of course, knowing the kind of person you are, I fully expect a news story on TSSZ reporting on this very article, once again twisting my words in order to present yourself in a more positive light. Or perhaps without any twisting at all – you’ll thrive on the very discussion of whether you’re really as malicious as you look.
I could throw a countless number of profanities around to make my point. I could call you names back. Hell, I could even bring up that court case you were in, where you beat the shit out of a female journalist (sorry, was that a low blow? Oh, you know how it feels, then).
But I won’t. I simply post this to defend my staff, and the integrity of the Sonic fan community. I want people to read this and know what kind of a person you really are. Don’t you dare attack any of my friends again. And I’d just like to point out, your libel is illegal, and I can take legal action.
I await your heartfelt apology to Shadzter.
For more information on M.E, visit the M.E. Association’s website.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4’s reveal has had a huge impact on the Sonic fanbase. As I wrote in a similar piece, sitting in my position at the forefront of the community, it’s clear that this game has had the biggest impact in the fanbase than anything Sega has announced before. If more proof was needed, just look at forums such as Sonic Retro – who are pulling apart those short three seconds of gameplay and trying to eke as much information as possible beyond the official line. That shows how excited we all are about the announcement of this game, positive or otherwise.
Earlier today, Brad wrote his own feelings as to why there’s a reason to be worried about the upcoming ‘return to the classics’. It’s a topic that I have been debating with him and others who share his view on the SSMB Forums. There are two sides to every argument however, and as much as Brad was right in posting his feelings, so too should I write something of a friendly counterpost detailing why I think there’s nothing to worry about. Yet.
Oh, I bet you do. Just itching to get a hold of that teaser video to put on your iPod or something. You crazy kids and your technologies. Well, I won’t beat around the bush too much, you can download a copy of the video direct from our Media Portal. I’ll add it to the Videos section of this website soon, but for now just click directly to the link.
Sonic 4 Reveal Trailer (TSS Media Portal) – 176MB
Right click and select ‘Save As…’
I almost didn’t make this a news story, but it’s been the most controversial and hotly-discussed element of the recently unveiled Sonic 4 trailer that it sort of bears extra weight. RubyEclipse from Sega of America has revealed on the official company forums that the ‘Sonic trot’ does not represent the blue blur at his fastest speed.
“Actually, it is not his fastest speed! There is a faster animation for Sonic’s running that was not shown in the trailer,” wrote the SoA employee (emphasis not ours). “It is more akin to what you might be familiar seeing from Sonic 3 & Knuckles or Sonic CD.”
Good news all around. We’re to be treated to more footage featuring Sonic at full-pelt soon, apparently – until then, about the only legitimate complaint at this stage of the reveal has been nuked. Enjoy!
Via SSMB – Cheers G-Force!
So now we’ve all thoroughly enjoyed the Sonic the Hedgehog 4 reveal, let’s explore the other thing that was launched today – the official Sonic the Hedgehog 4 website. Sega are really milking the whole ‘drip-feed’ philosophy here, and that translates well to the official website, which has loads and loads of information sections… locked out.
Yes, the plan is to open more pages over time to maintain interest. Nothing wrong with that, really – curiously, many sections come locked with a countdown timer across where you would expect the link to be. Here are the times of the supposed reveals, and the headers they come under;
There’s also a secret regarding a fourth platform. Sonic 4 is already confirmed for WiiWare, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. What could the fourth platform (or service be)? It could very well be a PC distribution platform such as Steam, but Sega could just as easily be planning a handheld version for the PSP or something. Looks like it’s for the Apple iPhone. Who knew?
Besides the teases, everything on the website seems to be what we know already – 9/9/09 teaser trailer, badnik concept art and all. Stick with us and have a party when each of these sections get revealed – I know we’ll all be huddled around a computer until the time. Will you?
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 is the official name of what has been known for months as ‘Project Needlemouse’. The news was announced on Gamespot in conjunction with Sega of America early this morning, along with a teaser trailer. The game is being developed by Sonic Team. Continue reading ‘Project Needlemouse’ Is Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
Earlier today, Dutch fansite SegaOnline posted information from an anonymous source claiming to have insider knowledge of Project Needlemouse’s development. The website ran the story as a rumour earlier today, before mysteriously disappearing from view.
Key details that were revealed to SegaOnline included the game’s name, ‘Sonic 4’; that the game will only be released on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network; and that this will be the first in a series of similar games. The website’s source claims that the game will be titled “Sonic 4: Episode 1”, but says that despite the implications, each ‘Episode’ will be a full game in its own right.
On top of this, the anonymous source has said there will be 7 Chaos Emeralds, a return of the ‘Zone’ and ‘Acts’ level structure, and that the game will begin in ‘Splash Hill Zone’ and finish in ‘E.G.G. Station Zone’.
As you might expect, this could be either a hot leak from someone within Sega (or with close ties to the company) that’s about to have the hounds set on him, or it’s part of an elaborately hilarious trolling. Either way, the SegaOnline story has since disappeared. It was originally located here – now a 404 Error page sits in its place.
This is not the first time that SegaOnline has had supposedly ‘leaked’ material removed shortly after publication – earlier this month the website had posted images from the Xbox 360 ‘Partnernet’ developer service, which detailed information on a port of Sonic Adventure DX on Xbox Live Arcade. It was suggested that Sega had sent a request to shut down the page.
UPDATE: Perhaps an elaborate trolling is in fact afoot? The story was picked up by TSSZ News, who has just recently received a request to remove the information by SegaOnline, and not Sega, and now the authenticity of the story has been thrown up into the air. TSSZ News writer Tristan Bresnen posted on the Sonic Retro forums;
“There is anger. That’s all I feel comfortable saying publicly right now about the authenticity of the story…at least until I can dig a little deeper.”
If this is all part of a game on the Sonic community at large, we tip our collective hat to you, sir/madam. Well played. Doesn’t affect us at TSS either way, but still – well played. If not, then what to make of it all? Let us know in the comments box below. In the meantime, we’ll just sit here and eat some popcorn and watch the whole thing play out.
While the Sonic Community begins its charity drive for Sports Relief, SEGA Europe has banded together to raise money for another cause – the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti’s capital, Port-Au-Prince. The company staged a Hats For Haiti fundraiser, which saw employees donate for the opportunity to wear silly hats.
The initiative raised £780 for the cause, which will help provide aid to those who need it most in Haiti. The image above is a group photo of the turnout, with even Sonic making an appearance (albeit in half-a-head form). According to ArchAngelUK, the canteen served “‘H’ related food” which included hot dogs and hamburgers.
If you wish to help contribute to the emergency appeal, you can donate via the Red Cross website.
Loads of awesome magazine articles, re-uploaded for your pleasure.
I know, not very meaty right now. I blame whoever wrote it a few years ago, in such a hurry… oh wait, it was probably me.
A little taste as to what to expect in our Game Archive Gameplay segments. Character profiles, enemy information, item details and other such jazz. As we’re simply restoring all our old info at the moment, you’ll just get character information for Sonic 2 for the moment, though.
Still missing a lot of the Sonic 2 BETA information, but it’s probably old hat anyway. It’ll come around as ‘Trivia’ on the page anyway soon enough.
Things are bad at The Sonic Stadium. Real bad. The staff members are at war. Over the last week, we have been constantly fighting over one hot topic. A topic that has been so controversial that it makes your eyes burn and your skin itch.
Who will be in Project Needlemouse?
With only five names left to go, tensions are higher than ever with TSS staff. Oh, if only there was some way you could know the sort of arguments we’re having, gentle reader. It’s pandemonium! With each staffer backing a different character, you can just imagine the chaos that’s taking place. Here’s a mere snippet of our conflict:
Guys, guys! Can we please just chill the hell out!?
No way! I think Sonic should be in because he has the most experience at being a Needle pimping mouse!! If it weren’t for him we wouldn’t even have this fanbase, the bunny with the stretchy ears idea? We don’t need any of that, how many game’s has Bugs Bunny starred in huh? Can he curl up in a ball? Sure he can run fast but can he break the sound barrier? No? I didn’t think so. Carrot munching? How about Chilli Dog munching? Now that’s hard core, Sonic’s got one tough belly. Take that you guys!
Hell no, it’s got to be Shadow! I mean think about it, it hasn’t been easy being the “Ultimate Life Form”. His best friend Maria died, he was left to rot in a G.U.N base for 50 years and then there was something about aliens that I’m going to totally ignore. But when it comes right down to it Shadow is a bad-ass and if any character in the Sonic cast will benefit from a back to basics 2D game it’s him.
Forget all of the silliness and remember how cool you felt grinding the bridge in Radical Highway being persued by the news choppers. If you strip back on the stupid back story and concentrate on navigating a level looking as cool as possible then it doesn’t get much cooler than the black and red hedgehog zipping through levels on his rocket skates. That is why Shadow needs to be in Project Needlemouse and if he doesn’t make it, I’ll eat my hat! (Or not, as I don’t own a hat).
Plus being a Sonic re-colour he’ll be easy to fit in knowing know how lazy the Sonic Team are. Oh snap!
I think you guys are WAAAAY off the mark. Everybody loved Vector so much in the Olympic games that SEGA decided they’d made a massive mistake cutting the bling-bling Crocodile from Sonic 1 in the never-to-happen sound test. Needlemouse is supposed to be going back to the oldschool right? I mean REAL oldschool! Then it makes sense they’d put in this guy…nothing would give me more joy than sliding through tight spaces with this dude.
T-Bird, Vector’s not in the running anymore.
Oh. Well, I think you guys are still WAAAAY off the mark. Everybody loved Vector Amy so much in the Olympic games that SEGA decided they’d made make a massive mistake cutting the bling-bling Crocodile love interest from Sonic 1 Needlemouse in the never-to-happen sound test Shower scene. Needlemouse is supposed to be going back to the oldschool right? I mean REAL oldschool! Then it makes sense they’d put in this guy girl…nothing would give me more joy than sliding through tight spaces with this dude. (edited for younger readers).
T-Bird, Amy’s not in it anymore.
Screw you all then, I reckon it’s Froggy. Why? Sorry, I don’t know. We are simply Na-tur-al.
Wait, you can’t do that! I wanted to pick Froggy! He is clearly the best character in the world, small, covert, able to get wherever he wants. It matters not that he was caught in the past because soon, he will…TAKE OVER THE WORLD, mwahahahaha, using his Sidekick Big The Cat as muscle of course.
I’m backing Mr. Needlemouse all the way, because he has a kick-ass website. Go chug one, a-holes.
KNUCKLES, DAMMIT. KNUCKLES THE MOTHER****ING ECHIDNA. HE DON’T NEED TO BE ON NO STINKING LIST. He’ll force his presence into this through the sheer power of echidna!
Well, good golly gilly gob bam, ah dohn’ kno’ much abaht no Sawnic da Hidgehawg, no’ssir. Ah just com ‘ere ta fix yaw boilah. C’n I pik Boilah Man?
What the-? No, because Boiler Man doesn’t exist. Where the hell did you come from anyway?
Texas.
No, I mean where in this area have you been hiding all this time?
…Boilah. Ah… Ah fix da boilah.
We need better security in here. Enough of that, I’ve already determined who’s going to win, and it’s certainly none of the losers you losers have picked. Losers. Everybody knows that it’s all about our saviour of the Sonic series, Big the Cat. Goddamn, that cat is pimpin’. Everything you know and love rests within that rotund vessel of consciousness.
Think about it. SEGA could totally remake Sonic the Hedgehog from the Mega Drive, only it will be in HD and instead of Sonic, you have Big the Cat, blanky busting badniks as he cannonballs down hills and destroys half of Eggman’s machines and pinball tables with his ultra-bulk. Think of Buzzbombers in normal Sonic 1 size, and then playing as a sprite three times that size. Because Big is so big, he can be the all-seeing destructor of evil.
The creator. The Alpha. The Omega. The Purple! It’s a…
Dude’s out of his nut, man. Is he going to..?
Oh, it’s a…
He’s going to sing it! Restrain him!!!
OH IT’S A WINDY AND SUNNY DAAAAA-AHHHH!
… Ahem. Sorry about that. Now you know how bad things can get at TSS Towers. This is the dark side of this website, for sure, and I’m glad you don’t get to see most of it. With hours to go until the last names are struck off, it’s a race against time before we all start killing one another in some kind of Pon Farr ritual (except less sexual). Who do you think will be kept in this list, and why? Why!? WHY!? Pledge yourself against one of the final characters, for great justice! And support him in the comments box!
And don’t forget to answer SEGA’s questions (or make the company a trending topic) on Twitter either.
The blog site that leaked sensitive information about Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing yesterday has now issued a defence of its editorial position, including a personal attack against SEGA Community Manager ArchAngelUK, after receiving a legal message from SEGA to remove its information.
“This [legal threat], from the Sega employee [AAUK] who, in his spare time, runs on his Sonic website a “Depository,” which is chock full of items just begging to be tagged as copyright infringement,” site editor Tristan Bresnen exclaimed on a front page bulletin.
Sonic Wrecks, among sites such as The Sonic Stadium, hosts media obtained through SEGA products, but it is agreed that such use is not damaging to the company’s intellectual property. SEGA may see the leak of confidential information on an unreleased game as a different circumstance.
Bresnen further defended his position, stating that the discovery was not by way of hack but through files that were “already available without restriction” on the official game website. XML files were discovered, at which point the blog used ‘decompilers’ to uncover the information. Bresnen suggested that “Sega let something loose,” which is a bit of an extreme argument given the blog had to actually go out and find it for itself.
TSSZ sparked controversy when it obtained flash code from the official game website and reverse-engineered it to reveal material that had yet to be announced. Such content included new playable characters in the Bonanza Bros. and Opa-Opa from Fantasy Zone. It certainly was controversial when TSS picked up on it, for all of a sudden the subject became taboo.
SEGA is obviously not very pleased with the situation. ArchAngelUK’s letter to the TSSZ blog reads; “I’ve been asked to confirm upon you SEGA’s official request to take down the following posts made about information on SEGA title Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing with immediate effect. The posts below…contain information that puts TSSZ News in breach of SEGA copyright and I am told additional legal issues as well that facilitate this request.”
Bresnen concluded his announcement by suggesting SEGA is responsible for the blog’s actions in the first place. He implies that he had no choice but to sanction a subversive investigation into ASR’s official website, following an interview snub from SEGA with Sumo Digital’s Steve Lycett.
“Were those at Sega Europe better coders and better communicators–instead of those who seemingly can’t be arsed to return an E-Mail until it’s too late–it would have been possible for us to deliver you the information in question, and perhaps more, without subsequent fear and backlash erected from a situation that, again, rests on their shortcomings.”
Damn. This could get ugly, real fast. Remember No Drama ’09, and how it ‘completely failed’? Yeah, you’re looking at why we didn’t suggest a No Drama 10. Awkward.
Source: TSSZ
SEGA has once again been the target of tech-savvy fans, as some disassembling of the official Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing flash site has revealed unannounced information, including the presence of the Bonanza Bros. and Opa-Opa (from Fantasy Zone) as playable characters.
The find came from fan blog TSSZ, with writer Ryan Bloom publishing a wealth of images that pertain to characters and All-Star moves. The snapshot above is apparently taken from the Characters page from the official website (which in itself is a replication of the game’s actual character select screen). Behind recently-confirmed Akira from Virtua Fighter is a tuft of blonde hair, leading the blog to suspect that companion fighter Jacky could be racing with him.
More obvious is an image of the Bonanza Bros. next to Big the Cat, and a silhouette of Opa-Opa. Exploring the “Moves” files uncovers a Kapu-Kapu from Chu Chu Rocket!, the ‘PARTS SHOP’ balloon from Fantasy Zone and the blimp from Bonanza Bros. It is assumed that these are clues to All-Star Moves, which if proven correct leads to the presence of the Chu Chu Rocket! playable vehicle as well.
Quite how SEGA will react to its website being torn apart remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t be the first time eager fans have been impatient to find every last morsel of detail about one of its games. We’ll bring you word of any comment from SEGA about the find.
Part of the Sonic X series of storybooks, we cover the ‘Aqua Planet’ issue, where there are copious typos, annoying amounts of Chris Thorndyke and the amazing DOUBLE MINI SUB.
Again, not a lot of content to begin with, but our archive from way back when for Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car has been restored.
Only a little page, as there wasn’t much on it to begin with. But there you go.
As part of TSS’ revitalisation, we’re going through the old Game Archives and giving them a spruce up. First up, the Mega Drive’s Sonic the Hedgehog.
Happy New Year everyone! On October 24th ten years ago, I created this website. And it has been awesome to see it grow throughout the decade. This year, I’m celebrating our existence in style. You can expect a whole bunch of updates tonight and throughout the weekend, while you’ll have no doubt noticed one major change.
This current theme that you’re seeing is a modern reproduction of the 2007 ‘Sonical’ skin – said by our readers to be our very best design. We’ve not only brought that back, but also the theme switcher and some classic alternative themes – Two Foxy, Knucklehead and (for the first time since 2005’s Shadow Week) All of Angst. Continue reading Happy 2010 – TSS’ 10th Anniversary
