With the excitement for Sonic’s 20th anniversary building, it should be of no surprise that Archie Comics – the company that has been making the Sonic comic for the last 18 years – is gearing up to celebrate in the best way they know possible. The news of the Sonic Genesis arc has been featured on this page beforehand, but next week in the United States (6/29/2011 for those keeping score) the first issue of that arc is finally meant to come out at direct comic book shops. Though it has gotten into the hands of certain subscribers early, the first of the four part story begins with the most familiar location of all: the Green Hill Zone. With Sonic jumping right into the action and not being completely aware of the insanity that happened last issue, he immediately begins to free Flicky and the rest. Though it begins as Sonic the Hedgehog does, it soon takes a turn right into Archie territory.
Monthly Archives
June 2011
To those of you who patiently waited and didn’t get a chance to sample the demo at Sonic Boom for whatever reason, your waiting is over. Starting tomorrow, both Xbox Live and PSN will be receiving the demo to Sonic’s upcoming adventure.
Unlike the Sonic Boom build patrons got to sample, this version will only feature Classic Sonic’s version of Green Hill Zone Act 1, omitting Modern Sonic entirely.
One small catch: the demo will only be available for 20 days. After that, the demo will be removed from the services and downloaded copies will expire. Whether this is an anti-hacking measure or a way to build up hype by releasing a second demo with modern Sonic remains to be seen.
Fox Xbox Live users, the same rule as other demos applies in that Gold level users will be getting the demo first with Silver level peons waiting until next week. Don’t think burning demos to a disc works, as members on our forum are saying that no longer works.
Demo aside, Sega will also release a 20th Anniversary Bundle consisting of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1, Sonic Adventure (and its DX add-on), and the Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 dynamic theme on PSN for $19.99/£13.99/€17.99. A similar deal is expected for Xbox Live users. The offer also expires on July 12.
[Sources: Sonic 20th Anniversary Twitter, PlayStation Blog]
So America got Sonic Boom during E3, and the U.K. is getting Summer of Sonic this weekend. But what about Japan, the country where the original Sonic the Hedgehog was conceptualized and produced? Well, this past weekend the Sega Joypolis arcade in Tokyo, Japan held their “Sonic the Hedgehog 20th Birthday Party Anniversary Exhibition.” While the Sonic display connected to it opened on the 11th of June, last Saturday was the big celebration, going full out for the 100 invited guests along with whoever else could fit through the door at the last minute. These diehard Japanese fans were not disappointed, able to see Naka, Ohshima and Iizuka live on stage. Sure, there wasn’t a 40 minute Crush 40 extravaganza, but Senoue was more then willing to show his smiling mug, and the Director of Sonic Generations was also on hand. After all, wasn’t the announcement of Sonic’s latest game that got this whole 20th celebration rolling?
There are many reasons why the classic Sonic titles have resonated with everyone for the last twenty years. The memorable characters, the amazing art design, the wondrous level layouts, the ability to roll to your heart’s content…but it wouldn’t be the Sonic experience without the music. Heck, even the worst games in the series still have had amazing music. But unfortunately, the games that started it all have never had a proper music release.
That’s why we should all be very, very excited about what’s in the pipeline. For the first time ever, the original Sonic the Hedgehog and its sequel are getting the full treatment, the 16-bit genius of Masato Nakamura finally getting the respect it deserves. For you see, it’s not just a case of a simple game rip being hastily thrown onto a music CD. Though a track listing hasn’t been released just yet, there are meant to be numerous bonus tracks. Is the full version of DREAMS COME TRUE’s SWEET SWEET SWEET going to be on there? Perhaps. But for the first time ever, the original demo tapes to the game’s music is going to be released. Yes, the music at its earliest, rawest form finally available for the masses. This is content people thought was lost to the ages, or at least buried so deep in Sega’s vaults that they would never bother to put it together.
A release date for the compilation has yet to be announced, but expect it to come out at some point this year in Japan. No word yet on a western release, so you may be forced to import the disc to celebrate Sonic’s 20th anniversary in style.
[Source: The Daily DL via Famitsu]
If you caught the tweet two hours ago, you’re no doubt already aware that Sonic Generations was spotted up on Steam in a beta state.
But before you go running off to try and somehow hijack it and do whatever it is you plan to do with it, learn that it cannot be downloaded. However, you can safely see its presence in the Steam index without any worry of breaking laws or losing your Steam account permanently.
Make sure your Steam client is up to date and download the Steam Registry Tool Kit here. You’ll need .NET Framework 2.0, so this is for Windows Users only.
Open the program, and open the file “ClientRegistry.blob” located in C:\Program Files\Steam (or C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam for you Windows Vista and 7 users.) Double click on ContentDescriptionRecord, which is a registry entry on the right panel. If you don’t see ContentDescriptionRecord, make sure the folder “TopKey” is highlighted on the left sidebar.
Finally, go to the Subscriptions tab, to the dropdown right below the tabs, and go to I.D. 8449.
Not the most exciting bit of news other than the impromptu confirmation for the PC version of the game. We’ll keep you posted if anything more develops or from official word from Sega. Special thanks to forum member Hinchy for the above process.
“What do you mean, ‘no contest’? I could have been way more drunk if I knew there was a contest!”
Linkin Park & Shadow AMVs. Embarrassing fancharacters. Dealing with 12-year-olds who get angry with you for daring to not be blindingly positive.
Man, the Sonic fandom can really drive you to drinking at times.
Therefore, it was a wise decision on behalf of Sega to hold Sonic Boom in a venue with a bar, because lord knows it was needed. To the credit of Club Nokia, they tried to join in the festivities of the night with a house cocktail: Sonic Rocks. Made with blue curacao, vodka, lemon and Sprite, the drink was described by forum regular Ashura2k as tasting “like a Chaos Emerald.” Your guess on interpretation is as good as mine. However, I do know one thing: a drink made with those ingredients is going to be relatively weak. That’s why I’m betting that the Retro community can come up with an even better Sonic-related cocktail–so much so that we’re giving away a set of Sonic shot glasses to whoever can create the best drink.
Details and rules after the cut.
Sonic Retro has largely clung on to this whole crazy Web2.0 movement, what with our own Facebook page after much demand, a Twitter feed, and even our own little Steam group. And yet, it feels like there’s something missing…
So, being arbiters of shameless self-promotion, I’m happy to introduce to everyone the Official Genuine Imitation Sonic Retro flickr™!
Right now, there isn’t too much going on there aside from some of the photos we took while over at Sonic Boom this year, but please check them out! Maybe even friend us, you aspiring photographers out there? I’ve seen some of the work you all do in Creative Works.
This week’s trip to Los Angeles was the first time I’ve been to the area for at least a decade, so I had quite a bit on my dream itinerary. Go to Sonic Boom? Of course. See Chimpo wear an obscene amount of hats? Duh. Play Samba de Amigo, Initial D and Lupin III: The Shooting while wandering around in the early morning? Admittedly not something I planned on, but still fun. However, there were still things I never got around to: going to a Trader Joe’s, seeing Krunk Fu Battle Battle, visiting MOCA. However…
I did go to E3, so I guess that pretty much evens things out. While I was there, I stopped by Sega’s booth to check out their entire Sonic lineup: Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Sonic Generations and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing for the iPad. Details on each are under the cut.
Clearly the biggest draw of the event was the ability to play a demo of Sonic Generations at Sonic Boom. At least 20 stations were set up across the venue for fans to take a crack at the tale of two hedgehogs.
Here we have yours truly going through both the classic and modern versions of Green Hill Zone. Being my first time running through the game at all (no fibs here), they’re not the most stylish, but they should address whatever concerns people have with the physics, or raise more. Who knows!
Sega announced that the demo was making its way to PS3 and 360 soon, meaning those who didn’t attend will get their hands on them soon enough.
Like what you see or want someone dead? Comments and trash talk about how much I suck are down below for your pleasure. And yes, the DJ was terrible. Feel free to mute the audio.
Tee Lopes has uploaded some of his very, very excellent renditions of Sonic 2’s soundtrack. Make sure to give him a hand on the video’s Youtube page!