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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.

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Community, Fan Works, Humor

Charming Cartoon Shows Us Christmas with the Robotniks


The holidays are a special time. Some enjoy the winding down the beginning of winter brings, others enjoy punching people for that huge TV you probably didn’t need but it’s cheap so why not. Either way, for better or for worse, the holidays mean spending time with friends and family. This includes super villains like our favorite ovum-shaped robot overlord, Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik.
Continuing off from a series of Christmas movies starring Sonic and his friends (and relatives) begun in 2011, Sonic’s Christmas festivities hit a swerve when Dr. Eggman crashes the party and invites the cast to spend time with his own family. As with the other two, the writing is funny and the voice acting is pretty good, and (at least for me), I kind of enjoy the scribbled art look the movies sport. Great work by the folks at Balena productions.
Regardless of which holiday you’re celebrating, we here at Sonic Retro also wish all of you a happy holidays and to enjoy yourselves a Sonic game or two during this break. But not Sonic Boom. Even Santa’s mischievous counterpart Krampus wouldn’t be that cruel.

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Community, Fan Works, Hacking

PSA: Stealth Announces Project HC

Stealth, one half of the brains behind the recent mobile remasters of Sonic 1 and Sonic 2, announced he’s looking to train people into using his own Head Cannon Game Engine (HCGE.) Before you go running in hoping to recreate Sonic 3 or some other title, Stealth has the strict requirement that, regardless of skill level, applicants must dedicate themselves to this project and not just flake out when the going gets tough.
Early on, Stealth will work alongside approved applicants and teach how to run with the engine. As time goes on, Stealth will roll back and allow autonomy to take over. Project HC is focused as being a Sonic game (which most around here should be familiar with) in the same general area as Sonic Megamix, at least to get the ball rolling.
Currently, applications are open to all positions like programmers, musicians, artists, etc. For more information on the project and how to formally submit an application, hit up this lovely link.
Are you up to it?

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Community, Miscellaneous

FTCR to Stream Sonic Boom for Young Girl with Cancer

BoomCharity
This Saturday at 1pm EST/6pm GMT, the guys at Find the Computer Room will stream Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric to help raise money for Emily Monroe, a 3-year-old girl who has been diagnosed with cancer. Special guests lined up for the event include Mike Pollock and Cindy Robinson, among others.
FTCR member FTA has provided a video detailing everything that will go down:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD1ShRFesS4
The stream will take place on the FTCR Twitch page. If you would like to donate immediately, you can visit Emily’s GoFundMe page.

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Retro Contests

Giveaway: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal

rise of lyric box thumbnail
[The following article was written by site member GerbilSoft]
It’s that time again: GerbilSoft gives away new Sonic games! This time, it’s Sonic Boom for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.
The rules are simple. Send an email to me, GerbilSoft, with answers to the four questions listed below (and optionally the fifth question). If you answer all four questions correctly, you qualify for a chance to win one of these two games:

Two winners will be selected; the odds of winning depend on the number of correct entries.
Official Rules:

  • Participants will send their answers to the four questions below (plus optional fifth question) to [email protected], with subject: “Sonic Retro’s Sonic Boom Giveaway”. Entries must be sent by2014/11/06 11:59 PM EST (2014/11/07 04:59 AM UTC). (DON’T POST YOUR ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS!)
  • The giveaway is open to all legal residents (13 years of age or older) of the United States, Canada (except Quebec), United Kingdom, and Australia (except ACT). Other countries may be eligible; check your local regulations.
  • Only one entry per person; make sure your answers are correct before you send your email!
  • Sonic Retro, Sega Retro, and SEGAbits staff are not eligible to participate.
  • Two winners will be randomly selected from all entries that have the correct answers for the 4 main trivia questions. If no one got all four correct, then two will be selected for 3 out of 4, etc. If no one got any answers right, then you all suck and the contest will start over with new questions.
  • Winners will be announced within two days after the contest closes, and they will be contacted with regards to what game they would like to receive.
  • Prizes will be new games delivered to the winners using Amazon.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to some issues with the Sonic Lost World contest, I will be disqualifying anyone who:

  • Attempts to submit multiple entries in order to skew the odds in their favor. (This is only for users who maliciously send tons of entries; accidentally sending one or two duplicate emails will not be a problem.)
  • Complains about the choice of platform(s) and/or game(s) for this giveaway.

THE TRIVIA QUESTIONS:
If you want to win GerbilSoft’s Sonic Games, you just have to answer these four trivia questions. (The fifth one is a bonus question that won’t count for anything but bragging rights.) Send your answers to [email protected], with subject: “Sonic Retro’s Sonic Boom Giveaway”. (Confirmation emails won’t be sent; if you want a confirmation, enable the “Return Receipt” flag in your email client.) Entries must be received by 2014/11/06 11:59 PM EST (2014/11/07 04:59 AM UTC).

  • When Sonic Adventure 2 was ported to GameCube, one of the options on the main menu was removed. Which option was this?
  • What two Game Gear Sonic games were not released on cartridge outside of Japan?
  • What assembly language do you need to know to hack the Sonic Advance series?
  • Shadow the Hedgehog (the game) has branching story paths. What is the total number of possible paths throughout the storyline?

Optional bonus question for bragging rights:

  • What C++ library used in recent Sonic games has the same name as one of Sonic’s signature moves?
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Community

SEGA’s Sonic Boom 2014: Lost in New York


SEGA’s Sonic Boom event took place this past Saturday in New York, and I was able to attend, representing both Sonic Retro and SEGAbits. The whole night was a lot of fun, and it was great to meet so many people responsible for one of my favorite SEGA franchises. Stephen Frost did an excellent job hosting the show. All the guests were friendly and willing to go above and beyond for fans, most notably Ted Poley and Mike Pollock who were able to stick around and sign additional autographs outside their sessions. If you’re interested in reading how the night unfolded, make sure to check out my impressions over at SEGAbits.
What made this year’s Sonic Boom unique from previous years was the focus on SEGA West’s Sonic Boom franchise. Outside of the live music, which featured tracks from Sonic Adventure through to Sonic Lost World, and Iizuka being present, the night was mostly about Sonic Boom. All the bases were covered, with Archie Sonic artist Tracy Yardley manning a busy table featuring a convention exclusive Sonic Boom poster for sale, and guests from TOMY, Sanzaru Games Inc., BigRedButton Entertainment, and the full voice cast doing interviews and signing autographs. Fans expecting a peek at what Sonic Team are up to were out of luck, but for those who wanted to learn more about SEGA’s new branch in the Sonic franchise, the night did not disappoint. I can easily say that I am far more excited for the 3DS version and the cartoon show now, though the Wii U version and the comic book are still a gray area. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric looks far better in person, however I’m not sure how well the game will be paced, and the camera in the speed sections needs work. The comic book is sure to have great art, but I’m not sure how the stories will play out. Still, following the event I am more sold on Sonic Boom now than I was before.
Being the only Sonic Retro writer in attendance this year, I’ll admit to feeling a bit like a lone wolf for the first half of the night. Thankfully, I came across several Sonic and SEGA fan site and YouTube channel owners which included SEGA Driven‘s SonicYoda, The Sonic Stadium‘s T-Bird, Tails’ Channel’s Matt, SomeCallMeJohnny, and the Find The Computer Room team. It was great to meet these guys in person, and I was glad to find such a large pocket of people at Sonic Boom who liked seeing Shadow getting kicked in the face, thought mid-20s hipster Chris Thorndyke is the greatest idea for a cosplay, and believed Big the Cat deserved his own game (okay, maybe I’m the only one who believes that last one).
After the break, check out a gallery of photos from the night, and there’s also those additional impressions I mentioned *cough cough*.
Continue Reading

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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!

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Site News

Three New Sonic Game Gear Prototypes Found


[The following was provided by forum moderator and researcher JenHedgehog.]
Sonic Retro member Orengefox recently acquired three new Sonic Game Gear prototypes, which have now been made available for download. These are review copies of Tails Adventures and Sonic Labyrinth, and an early demo of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (all obtainable here.)
Sonic 2 is a rolling auto-demo showcasing mainly the prototype version of Green Hills Zone, which was prominently shown in many early magazine articles prior to the game’s release. Sky High Zone and Underground Zone can also be seen. The auto-demo has a time stamp of Dec. 5, 1991, making this an extremely early version of the game that was compiled almost a year before the final version was released.
As well as the Game Gear games, Orengefox is releasing some other new Sonic demos including a previously unseen Japanese Sonic Adventure trial, and a trial version of Sonic & the Secret Rings[forum link] which was distributed in limited quantities to competition winners in Japan.
To see what our members are able to find hidden inside these games once the digging begins, head over to the forums, where all these prototypes can be downloaded right now.

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Community

Sonic Center Goes Fast to Kill Cancer

1401242723860With a successful Sonic-a-thon crossing the goal post with an impressive $20,622.10 raised for Child’s Play, Sonic speedrunning hub The Sonic Center is looking to blaze its own record on the leaderboards in their charity drive to support the American Cancer Society.
I don’t really need to go on about the horror stories of cancer since you all likely know your own share of stories already. However, it’s a good feeling to watch people ram through Sonic games for the benefit of helping to find cures for diseases or at least make the world a less horrible place.
Currently, flying fox is slashing through the entirety of Sonic and the Black Knight. The marathon runs through Aug. 23, so there is still plenty to see and to cheer these guys on.

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Community, Fan Works, Hacking, Podcasts, Site News

UPDATED: SEGA Channel Retro Presents Sonic Hacking Contest Special at 6PM Central


SEGA Channel Retro is reporting live from the Sonic Hacking Contest starting at 6PM Central. For our stream we’ll be checking out mods for Sonic Generations and Sonic Adventure DX in a three hour special.
Now available on YouTube you can check out each mod that was made for Sonic Generations and Sonic Adventure DX in a convenient playlist.

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