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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Welcome to The Sonic Stadium. Place looks a bit different doesn’t it? Yes, this is what we’ve been up to for the last couple of weeks – updating your favourite Sonic site to be a bit more ‘hip’ and ‘happening’. Whatever that means these days. Kids, tsch.
So why the change? Put simply, for the last two years, TSS has been a floundering Sonic ship – while we certainly worked hard to become one of the most popular fansites online, my university and other commitments over the years had put something of a hold on adding updates of any real worth to the site (having said that, we have been lucky in getting stuff like interviews with Yojiro Ogawa, Simon Jeffery and Lee Brotherton so we haven’t been sitting on our thumbs the whole time). There have also been many things I’ve wanted to post about Sonic but pretty much couldn’t due to the way the site was designed and how the front page was dealt and all that jazz.
We did have a new TSS code base in the making – you’ll probably have heard me going on about it for the last two years. That was a system B’man and I started working on from the ground up, but again, other commitments meant the thing was going nowhere, and as a result TSS suffered. A few months back I thought it was time to can the bespoke script we were making and just make do with a pre-packaged one and add our own bells and whistles to them. Continue reading TSS: A Whole New Approach
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By the time you read this, the world’s best loved Sonic community will return in all it’s former glory – it’s been a troublesome last month or so (had it really only been that short a time?) but the SSMB has shifted course from the ezBoard back onto local servers. No Ads. No Slowdown. Just classic SSMB. Make sure you read the rules before you actually register (it’s on the first page you see actually, so there’s no reason not to), and make sure you can actually type half decent and not like a dribbling baby.
Anyway, in other news, Sega Sonic Radio’s website will be revamped during the weekend, and then the first words on The Sonic Site Awards 2004 will be announced! Bet you cannae wait. Anyway, the new SSMB and SSR will tide you over the whole weekend and Bank Holiday, and then some, so enjoy what there is for now. Tata. ^_^
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Whee, look at that, we finally got our arses in gear and sorted this place out server-wise. For the time being I’ve removed the comments system and stuff, simply because the comments were being abused and the system we were using was crap. =D Sorry if pages seem ill-placed or if any errors pop up, we’re still sorting everything about, and are currently putting into action some things that you wanted changed on TSS to make it a better place: you can see this already implemented in the new look Games section, so be sure to check that out.
Next is the SSMB and Sega Sonic Radio, then Shadow Team and then sorting pre-Sonic Site Awards 2004 stuff out as well as sorting out the TSS Account stuff during all of this – not got a lot of stuff to do, eh? 🙂 But for now, I’m going to be sitting pretty for a few days for a break – that and E3 kind of prevents anyone from thinking straight. New Legend of Zelda game, wheee! ^_^ That Nintendo DS is so mine. Anyway, I’ll leave to prevent this place becoming a Nintendo fansite instead, lol. Update soon.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Sorry about the oddness of the main page for the last few hours – something must have happened to kerfuffle the page ^_^. OK, all my exams are over officially, so things are going to start gearing up again soon – once we get more space on our servers, that is. =D Next week expect a review and more of Sonic Pinball Party, a review of the European release of Sonic Adventure DX, and the opening of the Sonic Site Awards 2003 – the awards ceremony that started it all! To all those submitting hoaxes, fan art and comics, please be patient, as my ‘net access is very limited at this time. Oh, and HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY to Sonic on the 23rd! Plus, it’ll be my very own 18th birthday on the 30th June – like anyone cared about that =P. Finally, PLEASE support The Sonic Stadium by voting for us via the buttons – you’ll find them on any page at the bottom of the left/right hand navigation menu. See ya soon!
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Because this is my Message Board and all, I’d like to give my members a little sweet something every now and again. Sometimes I do, and right now is one of those moments. As you may know, The Sonic Stadium has been going through what has been noted as “Ein Rough Patch”. This will all change in September, because with any luck, we will get hosted by Zifei, who founded none other than Sonic HQ!
Continue reading SSMB UPDATE: Exclusive Sneak Peek At The New Sonic Stadium
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
