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“Sonic Central” Broadcast to Announce New Projects, Events, and More

Sonic Central image, May 27th, 2021. 9:00am PT | 12:00PM ET. Tune in for a first look at some of our upcoming projects, partnerships, and events to celebrate Sonic's 30th anniversary!

This image from the tweet dishes all the juicy details. Click through to see the tweet.

This morning, the official Sonic Twitter account shared the above image to announce a broadcast titled “Sonic Central.” As you can see in the attached image above, it promises a look at what we can expect throughout Sonic’s 30th anniversary. While small tidbits have been shared regarding SEGA’s plans for the franchise this year, it’s not a surprise that people have been wanting to hear more, especially when it comes to what games are in the pipeline for the blue blur. Recently, there have been some rumors spreading thanks to two now removed product listings on the French gaming site “SoGamely.” Sonic Colors Ultimate and a Sonic Collection were listed, with no further details. Could these give some indication of what to expect? Come May 27th, 12:00pm ET, we’ll definitely have a better idea.

SEGA HARDlight, the developers of mobile games like Sonic Forces: Speed Battle and Chu Chu Rocket Universe!, quote tweeted the announcement with their official account, adding “Be prepared for some exciting HARDlight game announcements! 👀 #Sonic30th”. Whether this is alluding to a new game from them or new content coming to an existing game remains to be seen.

Accompanying this announcement was a short video titled “Unstoppable.” Uploaded to the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel, it celebrates Sonic’s history while looking forward to the next 30 years. It takes some time to highlight folks like Evan Stanley and Tyson Hesse who have contributed to the franchise. And if you look closely, you might spot some never-before-seen CG of Sonic running through a forest. What’s that from? Guess we’ll find out soon enough!

 

 

Game News, Merchandise

Sonic Makes a Surprise Appearance in Ralph Breaks the Internet


Surprising? Yes! The second Wreck-it Ralph movie, Ralph Breaks the Internet takes a sharp turn from the world of video games to exploring the realm of social media and online entertainment. Oh and the fact that Disney now practically owns everything from Marvel to Star Wars.
However recent ads for the movie show that there will still be at least one appearance of the blue blur Sonic as he explains the definition of wi-fi to Ralph as seen in ad spots recently surfaced to promote the movie as seen in the TV ad above, re-hosted on YouTube via the channel “The José Critic”. The film’s director Rich Moore already confirmed earlier that Sonic would re-appear after responding to a user on Twitter. It wasn’t until recently that footage began to surface showcasing cameos of popular gaming mascots.
Ralph Breaks the Internet is set for release in theaters next month on November 21st in the US and November 30th in the UK. Release date may vary by territory.
EDIT: Revised release date information.

Fan Works

Pre-SAGE 2018 Livestream


There’s only a short amount of time before the launch of SAGE ’18. In the meantime we’ve gone live with the pre-show going through a handful of titles that will be available this year. Come join Neo Hazard and the rest of the SAGE crew until the event launches!

Game News, Interview, Interviews

GDC Vault Offers the Sonic the Hedgehog Postmortem For Free Viewing


If you’re like me who wasn’t able to visit GDC this year and are hoping to find a way to watch the GDC talk on Sonic the Hedgehog. You’re in luck as GDC has begun uploading this year’s panels, along with the Sonic GDC panel, onto their website the GDC Vault. The video has been made available for free viewing on their website and may even appear on their YouTube channel. Currently the GDC Vault does not allow video embed, so you’ll have to go over to their site by clicking on the image above or one of the many convenient links like this one here.
In case you missed it, Naoto Oshima and Hirokazu Yasuhara hosted a panel talking about their perspective on the creation of the character, what made him stand out as well as the game design and art direction that brought us the Mega Drive/Genesis title. Previously we were only given a glimpse thanks to the efforts of Frank Cifaldi on Twitter. Now we are able to witness more with an edited video that presents the two speakers along with their slides for easy viewing. The Q&A session follows after the panel, plus a bonus speed drawing from both Oshima and Yasuhara.
The GDC Vault is home to plenty of talks that range from game development tactics, to important topics and postmortems of other games. Some panels will require a paid subscription for viewing. You can watch the Sonic panel or other panels from this year’s conference here.
[Source: GDC Vault]

Community

Sonic Videos on Youtube Getting Copyright Claims From eLicense (Updated)

elicense

Update 2: SEGA has confirmed that eLicense is sending out the claims without their say-so, and that they intend to keep them from doing so any further.
Update: Members on our forum are saying that the copyright claims are being removed, even without disputing the claims. So it looks like it’s safe to upload videos with Sonic/SEGA music again.
Turns out that copyright laws can stop Sonic after all. Much to the annoyance of various popular Sonic video creators, a lot of Sonic videos on Youtube have been getting copyright claims because of the music used. This means that the Youtube users who uploaded these videos no longer get ad revenue from them. And this isn’t just affecting Let’s Players like ClementJ642, modders like Dario ff, Melpontro and Paraxade0 have been getting these claims as well for the use of Sonic music in videos showcasing their mods or speedruns. However, we don’t know if these copyright claims actually come from SEGA or not.
While it doesn’t look likely that SEGA’s American and European branches are behind this, we haven’t had a confirmation yet if SEGA Japan is behind this or not. The claims are being sent by a Japanese company called elicense, which has a service that specializes in finding copyrighted content on Youtube. And with no clear answer on whether or not SEGA Japan is trying to remove monetization from videos using Sonic music, people are speculating on if elicense is Content ID matching these videos for SEGA. This has also made Youtube users hit by these claims uncertain on if they should dispute them or not. SEGA has put out copyright claims on Youtube videos in their own name in the past though, and elicense is even targeting remixes of SEGA music.
Various users have tried to reach out to SEGA on Twitter, but so far they haven’t given a response about this.

Community, Fan Works

Watch the complete Classic Sonic Retrospective video series from The Geek Critique


Throughout the summer, YouTube channel The Geek Critique has been covering the classic Sonic games in a six part Classic Sonic Retrospective which is, as described by the video’s creator, as being “essentially a feature-length documentary covering every single game in the classic series”. The retrospective covers why Sonic was such an influential series personally, and to the industry as a whole. It also does a good job in tackling the recent notion circulating the internet that Sonic was never good to begin with. Give the series a watch and stay tuned to The Geek Critique’s channel as he plans to cover the Sonic Adventure series next summer!

Community, Fan Works, Game News, Game Secrets, Hacking, Site News

Windy Valley Beta Restoration Released for Sonic Adventure DX PC (2004)


Back in 1998, our first glimpse of Sonic Adventure showed what would be the first true 3D experience with Sonic and friends. After the game’s release, the level we were told was Windy Valley was nowhere to be found in the final game, instead having been completely reworked before hitting store shelves. Even though shots of the original design were used to advertise the GameCube rerelease Sonic Adventure DX, the original look and feel of Windy Valley became one of the holy grails for Sonic enthusiasts interested in the development process.
After the retrieval of the AutoDemo, work has been performed by several people including many dedicated members of the Retro community, who have pooled their efforts to get these stages back up and running. Finally, after fifteen years we can witness this one of a kind experience with a mod for the 2004 PC edition of Sonic Adventure DX, with a fully playable beta version of Windy Valley. With recreated graphics and fully functioning camera angles, CorvidDude wants you to jump over to his YouTube video for more information as well as instructions on how to download and install the mod. Special thanks go to CorvidDude, MainMemory, ItsEasyActually, Catley, Melpontro, and many more who were involved with this project.
[Source: YouTube]

Podcasts

Vidya Retro Highlights: Sonic 4 Episode II Co-op Run

YouTube: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

Twitch: [Link] [Uncut]

Ever wondered what its like to play Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II online with a friend? Me and Guess_Who, (With GeneHF and Retro user AndrewRoks1998 also providing commentary!) play through the game despite the struggles, frustration, and desyncs that got in our way in this Vidya Retro highlight. You can watch the misadventures segmented on YouTube or on Twitch in 60 frames per second.

Game News

Yogscast DLC Revealed for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

charityDLCTransformed

S0L has been teasing a new controversial character to be added to the roster of the PC version of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Nothing has been set in stone as of yet, but according to a recent stream from the Yogscast, one of UK’s top Youtube channels. Recently Yogscast revealed that they’re pushing for a new Humble Bundle that is currently not active, but reportedly has the racer as part of the deal, in addition to their livestream that they revealed not only the bundle, but that there is charity DLC on the way for the PC version. They didn’t reveal what exactly it is, but given S0L’s comments, and what they mentioned and showed on the stream, which isn’t much, is that you get to play as Yogscast’s own Simon.

Now before you throw your rocks, keep in mind it is entirely for charity and not a deal of a Lets Play “celebrity” taking away a spot of a potential SEGA character. S0L also mentioned that there is more stuff on the way that would be bigger. But for now, this is whats set for December 6th, and they’re also giving away free copies of the game and putting the game as part of the Humble Bundle.

Do it for the children.