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monday links

Iwata Links: Smiles and Tears Edition

“On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer.” – Satoru Iwata, GDC 2005

Yes, we know, this has almost nothing to do with Sonic. But Satoru Iwata was one of the most influential people in the game industry, and I don’t think there’s any executive that you could find more lovable than him. And because of how much we admire him and the games that he made possible, it would feel wrong not to honour him somehow. So instead of your irregular Monday Links, we bring you these stories about him. Directly to you.
Iwata Links

A ton of heartfelt tributes that were made to Iwata [NeoGAF]
This series of incredibly interesting and entertaining interviews with the people who work at Nintendo is just one of many reasons why we loved him so much. [Iwata Asks]
This special Game Center CX episode in which Arino chats with Iwata and plays Balloon Fight with him is a must watch [Game Center CX]
A lengthy discussion between Itoi, Iwata and Miyamoto about the cancellation of Earthbound 64 [Yomuka!]
Hirokazu Tanaka, the original composer for Balloon Fight, made a remix of the game’s theme as a tribute [Tanaka’s Soundcloud]
All of the skits the Jim Henson Company made for Nintendo’s Digital Event from last E3 [Eurogamer]
Instead of firing his staff when things got rough for the company last year, Iwata cut his own pay in half [Polygon]
The last time Iwata did programming work was on Super Smash Bros. Melee, which he worked for three weeks on to make sure that it’d be released on time [Nintendo Life]
That time when Iwata and Reggie fought for real but then suddenly stopped and decided to fight in Smash Bros. instead [Eurogamer]
And last but not least, Iwata’s memorable “Heart of the Gamer” keynote from GDC 2005 [CARSLOCK]

July 13, 2015 by Scarred Sun

Miscellaneous

Monday Links: Downtime Edition

Yup, the site went down for a week. The effects of which were catastrophic. For instance, the last three months of Monday Links were suddenly removed from the internet and nobody even seems to be able to remember them. A very strange occurrence that’s in no way an unfunny excuse for my laziness.
Anyway, while I was busy watching a 274+ episode anime, the other Sonic Retro staff launched a new front page. I also watched an anime about cute girls making anime. So in short, we all made some progress.
I need to stop doing these with only three hours of sleep.
Retro Stuff

Barry and David will be hosting a panel at Too Many Games about Sonic X-Treme [It’ll be on June 27th at 4:50pm in Oaks, PA]
A new version of the Sonic X-Treme level editor was released [It being called SonicBoom is still weird]
P3DR0 has revealed his new fangame SONIC INFINITY which is set in the world of the Sonic OVA [The game’s name is in all caps so it must be good]
MainMemory made a whole bunch of scrolling Sonic background screensavers, and is still making more [Obviously still needs Splash Hill Zone]

Sonic Stuff

The Sonic 2 HD team put up a timelapse video of the Chemical Plant boss battle being coded [Done by mashing random keys on the keyboard really fast]
Nintendo announced another one of those Mario & Sonic cross-over games where beloved(?) characters from both franchises do stuff in the Olympics [It’ll probably have good music so there’s your reason to care]
It turns out that the other new Sonic game that releases this year is Yoshi’s Woolly World, in which you can unlock a Sonic skin with the Sonic amiibo [Not to be confused with the Mega Man skin]
We haven’t heard of the big new Sonic game this year yet (or if there is one at all), so of course rumours have started popping up. The most credible one being Sonic Mach 2, which is probably a working title. Might just be nothing like a small spin-off game, but we’ll see I guess [Also fans annoying Iizuka by asking him about it]

June 8, 2015 by Scarred Sun

Miscellaneous

Tuesday Links: Reboot Edition

So we all know that Hollywood loves to revive old movies and stuff. I mean, they’re even making two new Ghostbusters movies. But recently they’ve also started making more movies about games. There’s even going to be a movie about video games with Adam Sandler and Peter Dinklage. And as you probably already know, even Sonic’s gonna get a movie now. One that might be PG-13. So yeah, Hollywood is crazy.
And this is where I forget where I was going with this and instead made this Sonic doodle. Anyway, links.
Sonic Retro Stuff

Scarred Sun wrote an open letter to SEGA of America employees cause there’s stuff that needs to be archived [No seriously if you’re from SEGA America and for whatever reason are reading this than look here]
MainMemory updated the SADX Mod Loader to v3.2 [New SA2 version also coming eventually]
We now have another feature with even more links except they’re all links to SEGA stuff [So how about that new ToeJam & Earl game]

Sonic Stuff

Sumo Digital uploaded a bunch of cool concept art of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing [We almost had our Sonic R 2]
Mike Pollock’s being nagged about a Boom Shadow [Boooom Shadow, Boom Shadow]
The Chaotix can be unlocked in Sonic Runners now [I still haven’t been able to unlock Vector =(]
Want a preview of the new Archie Sonic comic issue in which Sonic Heroes is referenced for some reason? Sure you do [I should probably start reading these at some point]
On the same subject, an interview with Bill Freiberger on writing the Sonic Boom comic [You know, the other good Sonic Boom thing]

March 10, 2015 by Scarred Sun

Miscellaneous

Monday Links: Recommendation Edition

So I don’t feel like writing anything with any real substance this week and I’ve been watching stuff lately so I’ll just recommend some random stuff: the Speed Racer movie, Death Parade, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Star Trek (the J.J. Abrams one), a rewatch of Cowboy Bebop, the Sonic OVA, and Dragon Ball Kai. Also 30 Rock.
Also these links.
Sonic Retro stuff

snkenjoi made this web based mapping / tile / DPLC editor called Flex. [Real handy for if you need a quick way to edit sprites]
biggestsonicfan got the debug mode in the Xbox 360 version of Sonic the Fighters to work. [Maybe we’ll finally find out if Ashura was gonna be playable!!!]
Felik revealed new blurry screenshots of his fangame called Sonic Mega Drive. [After which someone made them less blurry and revealed that his game is actually pretty nice looking]
Our good friends at SEGAbits interviewed our good friend Stealth about the Sonic 1 and 2 remasters. [Shocking development secrets uncovered!]
Hit Reset wants us to give Sonic 3D Blast another chance in this new video. [If anything it’s worth playing for the music at least]
Nova mentioned my Monday Links thing in his Something For The Weekend thing so I should probably mention it back [Also that Sonic remix album is pretty sweet]

Sonic stuff

Sonic Runners got a soft launch for everyone in Japan, Canada, and people who know how to get around the region block. [Also surprisingly it’s a pretty decent time waster]
Also files were found by forum user Woun indicating that lots of other characters including Big and Vector will be playable in Sonic Runners in the future. [Also Charmy for some reason]
If for some reason you thought Sonic would go mobile only, Iizuka has reaffirmed that Sonic Team won’t stop making Sonic games for consoles anytime soon. [So chances of a new Burning Rangers are still zero]

March 2, 2015 by Scarred Sun

Fan Works, Hacking, Humor, Miscellaneous

Monday Links: Weekly Edition

I did it you guys. I got Monday Links to actually be a weekly thing for every Monday of a month. I checked and this is something that hasn’t been achieved since 2010 when Slingerland was doing this thing. This is something that I’ve tried very, very, veeeery hard to achieve since I did my first of these back in 2013. And really I probably wouldn’t have done it without Bartman3010 starting it up again. Speaking of which, why isn’t he doing Monday Links anymore? I bet he’s probably doing “more important stuff” and “chasing his dreams” like learning how to make games for the Nvidia Tegra. Pfft.
Now what was I supposed to be doing? Oh right, links.
Sonic Retro stuff

UtopiaUK put up a video showing some WIP zones from his Sonic 3 Resort Island hack. [Watch the video here and take a look at the forum thread]
Cinossu made a Blue Sphere hack and he assured us that it’s not a jump scare. [Also don’t look at the spoilers, it ruins the fun]
Hez shows off his unlockable Wood Zone level in Sonic Classic 2. [Cause unlockables are fun]
MainMemory has added support for Sonic CD in SonLVL. [Please don’t make more Wacky Workbench levels]
Enemies can now be constrained to a 2D plane in Xaklse’s new release of SonicGDK. [Handy for those fancy 2.5D platformer]
LakeFeperd gives an update on what’s going on with Spark the Electric Jester. [Making games can be kinda hard]
flamewing has released the first new update for SMPS2ASM in years. [Less buggy song stuff]
We have a new feature called “Something For The Weekend” by our new writer Nova, with fun and cool Sonic stuff. [So go take a look at last weekend’s cool Sonic thing]

Sonic stuff

Jollyroger has gotten the Sonic X-treme prototype that was found to work on SEGA Saturn hardware. [Progress!]
The first Sonic Runners gameplay trailers shows that the game is about running. [Now with a more classic but also still modern Sonic]
Yuji Naka/Prope’s new game Rodea the Sky Soldier will be released in the west by NIS America. [You know, that game that was announced four years ago]
The sequel to the Sonic and Mega Man Worlds Collide comic cross-over will feature cameos of other SEGA and Capcom characters. [Viewtiful Joe please]
Enjoyed the latest Sonic Boom episode? If so, good cause we’re gonna see a lot more this year. [If not, stop hating fun you fun hating not-fun-haver]
How many toys can SEGA still make out of Sonic Boom? [At least this many apparently]

February 23, 2015 by Scarred Sun

Comics, Game News, Hacking, Humor, Miscellaneous

Monday Links: Exclusive Leaks Edition

Oh man, you guys, we usually don’t do leaks by anonymous tipsters but this was just too good to pass up. Rayman is gonna be in the upcoming Sonic Runners! This tipster gave us this piece of promotional art in which Rayman is shown running alongside Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. What made this leak especially convincing is that just like Sonic, Rayman consists of a re-used model from previous games with black lines around the edges.
It makes sense as well. Just like Sonic will have, Rayman has had a couple of “endless runner” games that aren’t really endless but actually have stages. These games, Rayman Jungle Run and Fiesta Run, were pretty darn good. So hopefully they’re an indication of how good Sonic Runners will be. And who knows, maybe we’ll see additional guest characters from other mobile games as well, like maybe Mega Man!
Sonic Retro stuff

Fans want that Sonic 3 remaster by Taxman and Stealth so bad that they’re doing a campaign thing to get SEGA’s attention. [Here’s Stealth’s post about it]
flamewing has made some pretty big additions to his Big’s Fishing Derby hack. [It’s a hack in which you play as Big the Cat so you should probably play it]
Morph released a new update to SA Tools. (A thing that lets you mess with Sonic Adventure DX.) [Lots of new SADXLVL2 stuff]

Sonic stuff

Sonic Advance is gonna be released for the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan. [It’s the real Sonic 4 to us]
Unsurprisingly, the Sonic Boom games didn’t sell well. [Turns out that when a game is bad people don’t want it]
First 4 Figures is releasing an awesome looking diorama of Sonic on the tornado. [If only I could afford it]
Archie has released a preview of the next Sonic comic issue. [Now with more wrestling]
Ken Penders. [Ken Penders]

February 16, 2015 by Scarred Sun

Game News, Game Secrets, Miscellaneous

Monday Links: Swagtastic Introvert Edition

Okay look I was gonna make this Monday Links thing more about Sonic but then Atlus put out this amazing trailer for Persona 5 and oh gosh it looks so good. The style and the graphics and the characters and everything oh gosh. It’s like they took the swag levels of drunk Charlie Tunoku from Persona 4 and multiplied it by like ten or one hundred and then also made him introverted by day and oh gosh the game just looks great.
Also the opening theme of Persona 4: Dancing All Night is pretty good. By the way did you know that I usually put stuff beyond the jump in these Monday Links things?
Sonic Retro stuff

A video of Sonic X-treme’s level editor was released by Jolly Roger and Andrew75 [First official Sonic level editor that’s not that weird Play SEGA thing that was made in Java]
Gene made a funny front page post [Okay not much happened here this week sorry]

Sonic stuff

We got those Sonic Runners details we wanted to hear about so badly [It’s cause I complained about it last week]
Some guy called eLicense caused drama by putting illegitimate copyright claims on Sonic/SEGA Youtube videos by people [It was dumb]
Ken Penders continues to horrify everyone with bad CG renders of his characters from his not-Sonic comic [Say hi to Knuckles with weird robot eye, weird lips and tiny hands]
Meanwhile in actual Sonic comic news, here are the preview pages of the Free Comic Book Day issue of Archie Sonic [Apparently Sonic Rivals 2 needed more representation]

February 9, 2015 by Scarred Sun

Fan Works, Game News, Hacking, Miscellaneous, Music

Monday Links: Schrodinger’s Edition

Nobody knows if Monday Links is alive or not. Sometimes is just kinda pops up again, while at other times it just kinda seems to have died into obscurity. Some wonder if Monday Links was ever truly alive for the past year or so, as it only sometimes kinda popped up and then disappeared again for who knows how long. Others just don’t care cause really why would you you probably normally don’t even look at the front page and just go straight to the wiki or forums you jerk. >:(
Anyway, these Monday Links articles usually takes quite a bit of time to make so I’m gonna trim them up a bit from now on. From now on it’ll focus more on Sonic and less on SEGA in general. If you want to see the latest SEGA news and cool SEGA features, you should go visit SEGAbits. Those guys do a pretty damn good job covering all things SEGA and really I’m just wasting time linking all the stuff they put up there when you can just visit their site.
Also I’ll probably use more Space Dandy gifs.
Sonic Retro stuff

Ell678 put together a trailer and a couple of new screenshots for his snazzy looking 2.5D fangame Sonic Incursion. [I guess people really like to use Tenderoni for Sonic trailers]
The people working on Sonic 2 HD now put up a time lapse video of the new end level pose animation. [Cause who doesn’t like a cool end level pose?]
Andrew75 is still updating his impressive Sonic X-treme inspired fangame Project AXSX. [Go take a look]
S0LV0 has started a development blog on the stuff she’s doing for the Sonic Generations Unleashed Project mod. [Yup, work is still being done on that]
SonLVL now has support for Chaotix object layouts. [Admittedly I’ve never used it before but it sounds like a neat addition]

Sonic stuff

Here’s our first look at the Sonic X-treme OpenGL port [Holy shit you guys it’s Sonic X-treme]
A Sonic remix album called Spindash is out now for ten bucks on various digital platforms. [Officially licensed by SEGA]
No, Sonic’s not going to be mobile and PC only. SEGA of America is gonna have a huge re-structure but that’s not gonna affect any Sonic games Sonic Team or whatever has in production. SEGA is gonna push mobile and PC games harder (which they’ve already been doing), but they’re not gonna stop making console games. It’s still bad news of course, but not as bad as some make it out to be. [Not really Sonic related but it’s a rumor that needs to be cleared up]
This anime fighting game called Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax that has a Green Hill Zone stage will be getting a western release. [So it’s still Sonic related I guess]
We thought that we’d get to see what Sonic Runners looks like last month but we didn’t. [😐]

February 2, 2015 by Scarred Sun

Miscellaneous

Monday Links: That Game With The Smashing Edition

Chances are that if you played some video games this past weekend, that you were playing Super Smash Bros. for 3DS. And if you did, chances are that you noticed that Sonic’s taunt is not nearly as fun to use as it used to be. No longer does Sonic annoy other played by saying “You’re too slow!” or “C’mon, step it up!”, instead he just says “Sonic Speed!” or “C’mon!”. Sadly this isn’t nearly as satisfying to use.
So it’s a good thing that Shulk from Xenoblade Chronicles is there his incredibly British voice. He’ll shout “I’m really feeling it!” or “Now it’s Shulk time!” when taunting, which really fills in the gap Sonic’s lack of satisfying voice lines left. He can also say “This is the Monado’s power!”, but I don’t think that’s quite as satisfying to use as his other two taunts. Also, one of Shulks alternate costumes is him wearing nothing but his undies. Basically my point is: everyone should be maining Shulk instead of Sonic.
Oh right, this article is supposed to have links in it. They’re all after the jump cause oh god there are so many. Continue Reading

October 6, 2014 by Scarred Sun

Miscellaneous

Monday Links: Faster Than a Subway (or Metro) Edition

Remember that time some guy with a Sonic hat on just ran alongside a subway? Cause some guy somewhere did that, and there’s a video of it that I can’t find right now. There’s this gif though which pretty much shows all you need to know about it anyway, that being that some guy with a Sonic hat ran alongside a subway. Or it’s a metro, but who can tell the difference really?
By the way, I recently started watching this anime I barely ever see mentioned called Dennou Coil and it’s super good and all of you should watch it. Just thought that I should put that out there. Anyway have some links:
Retro News

Josh has finished his Classic Sonic retrospective for the Mega Drive-Saturn era [Go watch all of it here]
Forum member doc eggfan found a Sonic Labyrinth proto [Gotta preserve as much of that one game where Sonic lost his shoes]

SEGAbits News

In this week’s Round Table SEGAbits and Sonic Retro writers speak about what they think Sonic Adventure 3 should have been like [My answer: “Just rename Sonic Unleashed to Sonic Adventure 3” didn’t make the cut]
Barry talks about the Power Stone 2 box-art in his new SEGA by Design feature [He just loves the US one]
Ben has a few words to say about what Japanese RPGs could learn from Skies of Arcadia [For one thing they need more pirates]
This new edition of Sonic Talk is all about those Sonic Adventure games people liked so much [I thought incredibly long names were exclusive to Street Fighter games]
My Life with SEGA busts some ghosts in this new episode about [Ghostbusters]

Sonic/SEGA News

New gameplay of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal was shown at Tokyo Game Show [It looks about as good as it did at E3]
Also Rise of Lyric‘s release date has been pushed up to November 11th, a week earlier than the original release date [No change for Europe though]
Yakuza Zero looks far too awesome for something that’s probably only gonna be released in Japan [I’m not gonna shut up about that until we get it!]
As if that trailer wasn’t enough reason to want Yakuza Zero, it will also feature various classic arcade games by AM2 [Just let me have this game please]
Wait, China is getting Yakuza Zero but we’re not? [AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH]
SEGA will be publishing Persona 4 Arena Ultimax in Europe this November [Still a big improvement over the way previous Persona games were handled]
Alien: Isolation will have a survival mode, which will just have one map. It will also have DLC just three weeks after release with more maps. [Hmmmm…]

September 22, 2014 by Scarred Sun

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