October 1999 Archive New Sonic Editorials - Sega Australia Flubs And A Facelift - WB 3:00 am CST, 10-30-99 Hi everyone! Just a note to inform you that today I took the liberty of restyling our editorials a bit. I converted our latest two editorials into html format so that in the future it would give them an overall better look and design similar to our current theme. Also included are new submission guidelines, as well as the option to place pictures within your editorial! ^_^ I encourage everyone who frequents here to follow the guidelines and write an editorial if you feel you have something you want to speak out on. Rebuttals are encouraged - after all: editorials are opinions. ^_^ So you may begin re-submitting now! Hope you like it. Todays newest editorial: A sonic fan from down under, Knux Of Australia, takes a look at the impending doom of the Dreamcast as Sega Ozisoft flubs again with its rampant delays. Is the dreamcast really going to fail in Australia? Also Tristan's old editorial on Bernie Stolar's departure is the first to get a facelift, with previous editorials soon to follow suit within the week. You may click our source link below or follow the Editorials Archive link button on the sidebar to read them. Later! Source: Sonic HQ News - The Editorials page Fan Game News: Sonikku Speaks Out! - WB 3:00 am CST, 10-30-99 Two days ago, as one of our news bytes, we got a report saying that Sonikku, maintainer of the Sonic Robo Blast fan game had vanished, leaving AJ Freda to take over the project. Well it seems he hasn't quite slipped into limbo per an email that was sent to me a day ago: Hi, Sonikku here...In regard to your news item on Sonic HQ - Nope, I am still alive, right now I'm moving house and can't update the page personally for a while - I will be online from my Dreamcast and school Internet accounts... but I'm not sure about my home address - I can only access it once a week. AJ suggested that I'd vanished and died (O_o), when in fact it was something far less sinister. Until everything is cleared up, I'll have to wait until next Monday to see if I can update the page - even then I'll have to send it to AJ or Mach, who will be looking after the page in my abscene. To make up for all this however, we've released a sneak preview of SRB2, bear in mind that this isn't the finished product and we've still got a lot of bugs to iron out, but if you've been sitting around at STJr waiting for something big to happen, this should last for now. I had a quick go and got a time of 0:56, which should esaily be beaten by anyone with a pair of thumbs. ;-) If you want to contact me (Sonikku) now, I have two addresses, I suggest the first address if possible - 1) 96wallbankj@kinghenry8.coventry.sch.uk 2) sonikku@uk.dreamcast.com Thanks for the update on your whereabouts Sonikku! Attack Of The Son Of The Return Of The Packaged Sonic Toys!!! - Tim 6:00 am CST, 10-28-99 I know it's a rather stupid news title - so sue me. ^_^ Sonic fan Tim Bernsten has been kind enough to update us on the status of the repacked Sonic toys! Well, six words. Big improvement over the proto types. Sonic's giant wobbly head problem seemingly has been resolved, Knuckles no longer looks cock-eyed, and Tails' chubby little snout has left. Also, they did a good job with the final painting of the figures. And, those little Power Ring and Emblem accessories look cool. Well, all we can do now, is wait until November for their final release. :^) Source: Resaurus Toys Sonic Adventure Online! - Sonic 2K Contest And World Rankings - WB 5:30 am CST, 10-28-99 Sega of America continues to push special downloads and online events in lieu of true online gaming. The latest events include a new set of download-able game elements and online activities that will be accessible only through Sonic Adventure. The list of new interactive items includes the Sonic World rankings, where gamers from around the world can upload their best scores and times to a database for achievement-based ranking. Just announced today is a Sonic 2K contest, an online event that will include downloads of special Sonic Adventure levels. You'll be able to run through these levels to try and earn the best times, which will be posted on the Sonic Adventure homepage. The contest runs through October 15 to January 14, 2000; the winners will take home a variety of prizes, including a year of free Internet Access from AT&T WorldNet Service and plenty of Sega Dreamcast merchandise, from T-shirts to games. Another online feature for Sonic Adventure is holiday-specific downloads, such as the current Halloween one that adds jack-o'-lanterns and new banners to Twinkle Park (Tremble Park respectively - VERY corny, but it fits the season). "Sega's plan is to continue to phase in online gameplay elements, giving consumers new experiences never seen before on a console," says Charles Bellfield, director of marketing communications, Sega of America, "Sonic Adventure is the first of many games that will be given additional `arms and legs' through the Internet." Source: Gamefan Online Game Gear Goes Belly Up - WB 5:30 am CST, 10-28-99 Pocket IGN has just gotten word from Majesco that the plans to relaunch the Sega Game Gear handheld and select library of games has been pushed to sometime next year. The only reason given was that the company wants to restructure its strategy on rereleasing such a product to market. Majesco Sales still plans on releasing the unit, but there is currently no release date. Majesco acquired the rights to Sega's Game Gear handheld and Saturn console last year after huge success relaunching the Sega Genesis in a new, redesigned system. The Game Gear relaunch would have been the same unit that was released in the early 90s, and the titles would have most likely been non-licensed popular Sega released games, like Sonic the Hedgehog, Columns, Decap Attack, and other non-Disney and Warner Bros. titles released in the system's four year lifetime. We'll keep you posted on any news regarding the Game Gear relaunch. Source: IGN Pocket Sonic The Hedgehog - Pocket Adventure! - WB 5:30 am CST, 10-28-99 According to Gamefan Online, the release date for Sonic The Hedgehog Pocket has been officially confirmed for Japanese release! Two of the most highly-anticipated NGPC games have now been given Japanese release dates in the month of December. Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure will ship on the 16th (selling for around $36 US). This will be followed on the 22nd with the fighting version of SNK vs. Capcom (selling for $41 US). No box art has been released yet of the game Source: IGN Pocket Spaz Does Donkey Kong! - WB 12:30 am CST, 10-28-99 This isn't exactly Sonic news, but it was nice enough to put up. For those of you that didn't know - Patrick Spaziante, cover artist for the Sonic The Hedgehog comic by Archie is also cover artist for Gamefan magazine! On this months issue Spaz has drawn his first "Nintendo Game" character cover for Gamefan magazine: being none other than the characters for the upcoming Donkey Kong 64! Could Super Mario be far behind? :) If enough people ask for it, we can begin creating a Spaz Gamefan cover archive in our Downloads section so you can see all the work he's done on Mortal Kombat, Zombie Revenge, Rayman, etc etc. ^_^ Source: Gamefan Online Ken Penders On Future Knuckles Lineup, Sally's Death, The Sonic Adventure Crossover, and Future Sonic Stories - WB 12:30 am CST, 10-28-99 Ken Penders' recently released A TON of information concerning the latest developments of the Sonic The Hedgehog comic after the Knuckles cancellation, along with bring up the old topic of just WHY he planned on killing Princess Sally at the end of "Endgame": Future Knuckles Lineup - Okay, now for some good news. I wrapped up work on the script to KNUCKLES: THE BEST OF TIMES, THE WORST OF TIMES and turned it into Archie's offices earlier today. It's 26 pages long, and features just about every major character you can think of, including the only Guardian who has never been seen or mentioned in the series before. It's got romance, drama, action, suspense, humor and one walloper of an ending. It is currently scheduled to see print in SONIC SUPER SPECIAL #14, and Steven will begin drawing it probably the start of next week. The final caption in the story reads: "The adventure continues in the pages of SONIC #86, as we and KNUCKLES embark on... THE ROAD TO ALBION." (News Note - "The 3 part "Road To Albion" trilogy was originally due to take place in Knuckles 35 before the cancellation.) So those of you who think Knuckles is only going to make token appearances in the SONIC series are mistaken. The stories will feature the same continuity and style of stories you've been following all this time. Sure, it's only eight pages a month, but it's better that than nothing at all, wouldn't you think? As for KNUCKLES: TWENTY YEARS LATER, now that I've wrapped production on THE LOST ONES #1, I'm spending the next couple of weeks concentrating exclusively on that one, and it is scheduled to see print in SONIC SUPER SPECIAL #16. (If we can move it up, we will, but for now, this is the best we can do.) Again, this one has some major surprises and revelations. Sonic Super Special And Super Secret Special - I can't compare writing Sonic with Knuckles because both experiences have been so different, that anything I say would sounfd more in favor of Knuckles. However, I've never lost my fondness for Sonic as a character, and i have some major league plans for him. Let's just say that when the Super Special, Spaz and I are working on finally does see print, that should finally put to rest any questions on what my feelings are for Sonic. it'll be the wildest Sonic story yet, in more ways than one. The approach further defines the character as an iconic hero. To say more at this time would really spoil a lot of surprises at this time. SSS#12 was supposed to be a part of the Sonic Adventure adaptation, but that's been pushed back to #13, and now #12 is just a collection of stories we've been waiting to use, including the Comic Shop News 14-parter. #14 leads off with KNUCKLES: THE BEST OF TIMES, THE WORST OF TIMES, which is 26-pages in length. As for the rest of that issue, we haven't decided what to fill the rest of the pages up with. #15 or 17 will feature the SONIC story Spaz and I have been working on, and #16 will feature KNUCKLES: TWENTY YEARS LATER. Sonic Adventure In The Comics - In the SA crossover, Sonic and Knuckles will be sort of sharing the spotlight, and this game adaption won't be like the last (i.e. Sonic & Knuckles, Triple Trouble) where Sonic does very little at all. Both characters are very much in the thick of the action. Also, the segments with Knuckles are not only an adaptation, but also continue the regular Knuckles continuity as well. (You're finally going to see the Mysterious Cat Country mentioned in the Brave New World Special, for one thing.) Usually, the most we ever see of a game BEFORE it comes out are a few pieces of production artwork and an outline of the story. That's it. We were lucky Spaz had a Japanese version of Sonic Adventure for us to work from, and even that wasn't as much help as we would have liked. We have asked Sega to supply us with all the necessary material to do the stories right, but nobody outside of the Licensing Department seems to think it important enough to do so. Future Tales Of The Great War? - When asked on the concept of Sonic's parents getting married in the comic book, Ken had this to say: The Great War took several years, allowing Bernie and Jules the time to court (albeit a short time to do so) and get married. That just happened to be one detail I overlooked. Reading your post however gave me the inspiration to do a story about that very subject. I now just have to figure where and when it'll see print. Why Ken Wanted To Kill Sally - Sega wanted to spare Sally Acorn on the premise they might still market her as a video game character aimed at the female market. Simple as that. As for why I felt Sally was holding back Sonic, it's more due to the inherit flaw in the premise of her being Sonic's superior. If he goes against her wishes too many times, he comes off as petulant and disobedient. On the flip side, if he tows the line too much, he risks being called a wuss. The name of the book is SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, not SONIC & SALLY, and so the hero has to have a certain amount of autonomy in order for the series to work. Part of the problem with writing Sonic (as well as Knuckles) is that he's a lone wolf, much like Spider-Man was in the early days, and yet the readers like to see him interact with friends and family. Lone wolves don't have much of an edge if they spend too much time with friends and families, y'know. Source: Ken Penders Webpage Sonic News Bytes - WB 12:15 am CST, 10-28-99 Hi everyone! I'm back from my week hiatus in Birmingham and ready to update! It's been a bit of a slow news week so I'll cover some smaller things that have happened recently: Sonic Internet News - Those of you wondering what was happening on the development of Sonic Robo Blast as far as fan games go, it seems Sonniku has vanished and A.J. Freda of Segasonic.net has taken over as programmer. Whether this is permanent we're not sure of, but we'll be sure to tell you as we find out more information. Sonic Underground No More? - According to Sonic fan Rlan - it seems Sonic Underground has been cancelled in Australia. Either it reached its 40 episode maximum or the TV program that hosted it, "Big Breakfast", has dropped it from thier line up. This makes the second country that has supposedly dropped Sonic Underground, with the first being the U.K. Bad quality in the program perhaps? Personally thats what I think... Two New Midis - Well known Sonic Music Composer, Jarel Jones has released two new Sonic Adventure midis! This time around, it's a remix of the Competition tune from Sonic 3. Realize that some of the chords are different, but Jarel did that on purpose. Two versions were made, one GM and one XG. But neither have XG effects. Their only difference is in musical intruments. The GM midi uses instruments that sound better with Sound Blast 32/AWE cards (and Wingroove) while the XG version sounds better on cards such as the Yamaha Soft Synthesizer (S-YXG100 is a good example). You can access the midis here: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Cavern/3294/Sonic/Extra/CompeteGM.mid http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Cavern/3294/Sonic/Extra/CompeteXG.mid Thanks for being patient with me in my time of absence and sending letters asking where I was. Especially those who knew why I was away. Lets get down to the news! ^_^ SatAM Petition - Tristan 5:05 pm CST, 9-26-99 Sonique has sent this to Sonic HQ News concerning a petition to get the SatAM series back: At Sonic Stuff and Perfect Chaos and various other Sonic sites, there is a petition you can sign to get the SatAM back on the air. I know you are all thinking of how it won't work but the reason past petitions didn't work was because the people in charge of them either gave up or didn't bother to send in the info. With the low ratings on SU, we may have a chance to get our favorite Sonic show back. New episodes? It's possible if enough people sign, but please don't disregard this petition because of others that didn't work. Sign it and show DiC and everyone else how much we want this back! Visit Sonic Stuff or Perfect Chaos for a link to the petition! If you are a webmaster, you may want to concider putting up a link to this on your page! Good luck to all SatAM fans! SU on the Sci-Fi Channel - Duo 11:05 pm CST, 10-14-99 Apparently, Sonic Underground won't be on the Sci-Fi Channel for just this month. It will also be on at LEAST through November as well. In fact, Knuckles' first appearance in the show ("Friend Or Foe") will be shown that month. Strangely enough, on the 29th of November, they show "Wedding Bell Blues" again, followed by "No Hedgehog Is An Island" again. Without even showing "Flying Fortess", which seems really odd. As for if it'll continue into December is as of yet unknown. Sources: The Sonic Foundation and Sci-Fi Channel. "The Sonic Ideal" Finally Released! - WB 11:00 pm CST, 10-14-99 David Bulmer has been taunting us fans on the Sonic mailing lists about a super project called "The Sonic Ideal". So just what is TSI? Probably the most long awaited of any Sonic fancomic, and after viewing some art of it for quite a while I must say it looks to definetely please. In fact - the time and care put into it is QUITE obvious. Well the wait is over and TSI has finally been released! Dave let loose this "press release" on the mailing list today: For over a year, European Sonic fans have been waiting for the release of the Sega Dreamcast. That day has finally arrived, and to celebrate, Ideal Creations would like to announce a brand new web comic - the comic that started to take shape just as the Dreamcast was becoming a reality, and is finally ready to be unveiled: THE SONIC IDEAL - THE NEO EMERALDS. The continuing adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles Prower and Knuckles the Echidna, brought to you by a team of artists and writers from around the world, hand picked as the best Sonic artists on the Internet. It's free, it's for you, it's a celebration of what Sonic means to us. Doctor Eggman was killed when his escape shuttle was blown out of the sky when he tried to steal the Master Emerald, a giant green stone of incredible powers. Four years later, Sonic and Miles remain friends, but nobody expected Doctor Eggman to ever show his face again... BIGGER than any existing Sonic webcomic BETTER artwork than ever The Sonic Ideal is finally here, and all you have to do to see it is launch this website in your browser: www.encarnacion.simplenet.com/sonicideal We promised we'd do it, and we did. Thanks to Dave - Sonic HQ is one of the few Sonic websites that has a special affiliation link to it. You can find it on our front page right under our Mushroom Kingdom link. You'll need Flash to view this website to its fullest. Take care - and we'll be reporting more info on TSI's launch as we get it. ^_^ Source: The Sonic Ideal Wacky Hijinx from SOE - WB 10:30 pm CST, 10-14-99 This isn't exactly Sonic news, but its a hoot to look at! >;) Remember how we reported on the SOE advertising campaign a while ago? Well SOE's PR department just released its newest ad - and one of the boldest ever to come from the usually quiet SOE - >:) That wasn't that bad you say? Well what about the "mystery Sega fan" that vandalized the front of Sony Europe's headquarters with the same message: That goofy SOE! What will they think of next? >;) Source: Sega X The Dreamcast Arrives! Sonic Adventure #1 Again! - WB 10:30 pm CST, 10-14-99 For those that don't know - The Dreamcast was finally released in Europe today and EB (Electronics Boutique) has released the first UK top ten chart for the console. The Dreamcast top ten has been complied from software sales between midnight and 8.00 AM GMT, Thursday 14 October. According to EB, thousands of pre-ordered machines were collected as soon as the stores opened at midnight. Sales of software also got off to a flying start and guess who's leading the way? >;) Sonic Adventure Sega Rally 2 Ready 2 Rumble Power Stone Tokyo Highway Challenge TrickStyle Virtua Fighter 3tb Blue Stinger Monaco GP Dynamite Cop Steve Wilson, EB's console buying director said of the launch, "It was a fantastic start for Dreamcast. At store level, there was an incredible buzz in the build up to launch and, with the Dreamcast@Midnight (an event that brought out some of Englands best known stars for the DC launch - WB note), we are expecting to attract a significant share of first day sales. As for the software chart - it's obvious Sonic hasn't lost his touch." Source: Next Generation Online 250,000 Hits! - Vector 4:19 pm CST, 10-13-99 Sonic HQ has become the first Sonic site ever to reach ¼ million hits! The 250,000th hit occurred at approximately midnight last night, Eastern time. Special Thanks to all of you, the visitors of Sonic HQ! Neon Chaos Shuts Down Total Neon - Tristan 4:00 pm CST, 10-13-99 As one major Sonic site resurfaces, another has gone down. Neon Chaos has told me that he is shutting down SA: Total Neon in favor of a new project: I'm shutting down Sonic Adventure: Total Neon. Now before I get a hundred e-mails telling me to keep it up, just wait. Some of you may have heard I've been working on "Project Total Neon", and no that's not the site's real name, just a project name (I have already came up with the sites new name, I just don't want to tell the public yet). Anyway the site will have everything that this site has, but with tons of more stuff. I can't tell you what all of the new stuff is going to be but I will tell you this infomation. The new version of Casinopolis will have a HTML/Java Chao game that you can play. You go around the Casino finding Chao's then play with them. Casinopolis will also have new areas opened up, new games, and puzzles (like fighting a zombie or finding pieces of a map). The downloads section instead of being Sonic and Dreamcast stuff (which is what you can download here) it will be ALL Sega realted downloads! Also the site is going to have over 100 Sega wallpapers (and not that's not a typo; I will have over 100 wallpapers and 50-75 of them are Sonic realated) when the site opens!! When does the site open you ask? My goal is to open in on Halloween. BTW will not have our own domain (ie www.totalneon.com) but will much shotter then my URL now. So this means I will no longer be updating this site, expect to tell you the new address and if I open it later then expected. If you want to know the site's theme it's "Welcome to Your Dreams" because it will be a site that all Sonic fans have dreamed of. New Sonic Adventure Trick - Having Emblem Issues? - WB 12:00 pm CST, 10-12-99 Having problems getting those nasty emblems in Sonic Adventure? Well popular website Sega X just released a new trick in its mailbag for getting the pesky buggers: When playing as Sonic, stand at the base of any wall that has a slightly less than 90 degree bottom (even if it the bottom is not curved) Spin Dash ("X" button) at the wall like crazy and sonic will go up it really fast. A good place to learn and master this technique is in the first level, Emerald Coast. Right after the whale finishes chasing you, you will see a spikey gate, behind it really steep hill with bumpers, and off to the left, the base of a lighthouse. Run over to the left so that your back is towards the lighthouse and dash up the concave surface of the hill. Its really steep, so steer carefully, and hit "X" like mad. If done right sonic will dash all the way to the top and then probably go flying over the hill. You don't even need a running start. A trick like this can save lots of time when going for an "A Emblem", and works in other levels, but does not work on walls that touch the ground at 90 degrees. Source: Sega X SU Intro MPEG Video - WB 11:30 pm CST, 10-12-99 Thanks to sonic fan, Quickpaw Magic Mouse - us fans Sonic fans across the net finally have access to a fresh new Sonic Underground intro mpeg! It's 4.5 megs, 1:00 min. long, and is in stereo. If you wish to use this mpeg on your website please credit SSGoku for it. You can download it below and we'll announce when its up on Sonic HQ's cartoon section on the front page. Sonic Underground Intro: http://members.xoom.com/icgex /SUIntro.mpg Source: Quick Paw's Sonic Website Pandemonium Becomes Chaos !!! - WB 11:30 pm CST, 10-12-99 Ever wonder what became of Sonic Pandemonium and Soneec? Well - Soneec is no more, let us instead introduce you to Sonique! After a long hiatus from from the net, Sonique has put her website back up! But this time its got the total makeover - I have a new site called Perfect Chaos to replace Sonic Pandemonium. I will no longer be running hoaxes and WYTS, somebody else will as soon as all the details get ironed out. This site is a lot like SP but foccuss much more on Sonic Adventure than before. You can also sign up for the Sonic Underground Resistance and visist Mystery Sonic Theatre 3000! Enjoy! Her new slogan? "My Chao can beat up your chao!" ^_^ Let us be the first to welcome you back after your long hiatus Sonique! Source: Perfect Chaos Sega Europe - The Launch List - WB 11:30 pm CST, 10-12-99 Sega of Europe has released its full '99 release schedule, with a few interesting entries and obvious differences in launch between its American and Japanese counterparts: October 14 Blue Stinger Dynamite Cop Incoming Expendable Monaco GP Racing Simulation 2 Powerstone Ready 2 Rumble Sega Rally 2 Sonic Adventure Tokyo Highway Challenge TrickStyle October TBA (To Be Announced) Virtua Fighter 3tb Aerowings Buggy Heat House of the Dead 2 Mortal Kombat Gold Pen Pen Tricelon Speed Devils Toy Commander November TBA Fighting Force 2 Formula 1 Hydro Thunder Jimmy White's 2: Cueball Marvel vs Capcom NBA Showtime NFL Blitz 2000 NFL QB Club 2000 Psychic Force Red Dog Sega Bass Fishing Snow Surfers Soul Calibur South Park: Chef's Luv Shack Suzuki Alstare Racing UEFA Striker Worldwide Soccer 2000 Worms Armageddon WWF Attitude Note that many titles such as Soul Calibur (a runaway hit in America) is not to be released until November. O.o Games that were released as launch titles here are TBA in England. So yes - there are numerale differences in the European launch. Source: Gamefan Online Ben Hurst: Tails in SU - Duo 8:06 pm CST, 10-9-99 Ben Hurst had this to say today on alt.fan.sonic-hedgehog about the possibility of Tails being in Sonic Underground..... To my knowledge, Tails wasn't included in Sonic Underground. But if the show is popular enough to get picked up, anything is possible. Ah well, at least there's still Knux..... Source: alt.fan.sonic-hedgehog News Shorts - Tristan 2:20 pm CST, 10-8-99 If you've been wondering why Rlan hasn't updated the Sonic Fan Games HQ for the past couple of days, here's the reason: His computer will not let him upload files to EmuZone. This problem may take a long time to be fixed, so please bear with him if he hasn't posted any information about your fan game or what not. We are now less than a week away from the European DC Launch; stay to Sonic HQ News for coverage from Thursday through the weekend. And finally, I've written a review for Sonic Adventure, after 24 hours of playing the title. Look at it via this link. Ken Penders On Bunnie's Handicap, Lupe's Death, And Choatix Continuity - WB 12:00 am CST, 10-8-99 Someone at Ken Penders messageboard seemed to be pretty ticked off at Ken Penders' decision in SSS 11 to have Bunnie never be able to see derobotization. Not to mention the fact that Lupe of the Wolf Pack is now dead in the grave. @.@ Ken Penders finally spoke out to hopefully put the subject matter to rest once and for all. The previous messenger text in cyan, angry messenger text is in yellow, Mr. Penders' text in red. Actually, I wasn't surprised. Uncle Chuck said something about not being able to de-roboticize the Robians waaaay back in StH #... scratches head, but fails to recall the exact issue #... thinks the story was called "The Rise & Fall of Robotropolis" due to all the modifications--and even routine maintenance--done to 'em. After the "Mecha Madness" story arc, I figured this was a foregone conclusion w.r.t. Bunnie. Still, to come right out and declare it like that...Well, I can see why some fans are not happy campers ;) Heck, YES, I'm "not a happy camper", and I don't see what there is to SMILE about with this, either! I was SO FREAKING _MAD_ when I read that!!! My take on Bunnie is simply this... when I was considering de-roboticizing her some time ago, I received e-mail from several handicapped readers all asking me to reconsider. (I used to do a lot of online chats for awhile back then.) When they explained to me that they looked upon Bunnie as a source of inspiration in dealing with a hardship, as well as a visible symbol to the non-happicapped that even those who have some deformity are capable of making a contribution, I felt they made a point that a lot of us tend to overlook. In having her deal with the fact she is half-'bot and accepting of her fate, it made her even more heroic than if she had been restored. I also think she would lose her uniqueness if she were restored. (It also makes Antoine that much more noble a character in accepting her as she currently is.) Bottom line: if Bunnie, Antoine and all their friends can accept her as she is, why can't anyone else? Or are those who aren't accepting simply displaying a latent prejudice because she isn't "perfectly normal"? Something to think about there. Oh, and by the way, the Lupe story? IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!! Not as far as I'M concerned. Clunky, super-fast, rushed writing like that when it comes to such an important character doesn't count when it comes to me. Either write her death better and longer and more set-up or I will NEVER believe it. Lupe is still alive. She was never roboticised. So HA! Sorry, but in OUR continuity, she is. You're perfectly free to write a non-roboticized Lupe story for your own enjoyment, but you will never see her or her family again in a deroboticized state. For one thing, we just don't have the room to deal with all the characters we have as it is. Frankly, I thought the Lupe story was important simply because it showed that even a female could make the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of those dear to her. More often than not, it's the girls who are usually shown being rescued instead of heroic, and that's why I felt that this was an opportunity to really make a statement with this character. Well, I, for one, have not READ the Mecha Madness Trilogy. I came into the comics REALLY REALLY LATE, you understand. When I first even HEARD of them, everybody was talking about the upcoming Knuckles #25. By the time I BOUGHT some, #25 was out already. Anyway, I have not READ the MechaMadness trilogy, I have not read "The Rise and Fall of Robotropolis", and as far as _I_ knew, there WAS always SOME hope for poor Bunnie. What about that future thing where you see her deroboticized?! Okay, so that's a POSSIBLE future. But, follow my logic here: If it's IMPOSSIBLE for her to EVER be deroboticised, then the future vision, no matter WHICH one it was, of WHICH future, should NEVER have shown her as all-organic. But since it DID show her that way... ...that means that there must BE a possibility! How do you know it's not her daughter, a clone, her twin sister, an alternate world version, or some other possibility I can't think of at the moment? Don't be so rigid in your thinking. But probably not. I think Ken just LIKES her being that way so he'll NEVER fix it. I shouldn't be expecting continuity from this comic anyway. To name just one glitch, the Chaotix adaptation showed clearly that all the different members of the team had just that minute met each other, and they were in a group. (Well, Charmy and Espio seemed to sorta know each other, but that was it.) However, later on, in I believe Knuckles #14, (I know it was one of that trilogy; coulda been #15) we have a scene set, we are led to believe, a couple years earlier or somewhere around there, where Mighty and Charmy meet each other for the first time--and it's a different setting and _no-one else is around_! So....how DID they meet each other? By Mighty burrowing through a mountain to startle everybody to death, or by Charmy flying up to Mighty while he (the armadillo) was dipping his feet in a quiet wilderness stream? According to the comics, BOTH happened. But that can't be right. Not unless one or both characters suddenly got amnesia! I suppose you COULD "meet" someone for the "first" time TWICE if that happened! Anyway, my point is, one the one hand, we were shown a POSSIBLE future where Bunnie was whole again, and if it's possible, that means that Dr. Quack's statement was WRONG. Maybe HE can't deroboticise her, but it's not beyond the laws of physics. If it wasn't possible, the future vision could not EVER have shown it. I mean, it was supposed to be a possible future, not an imaginary, totally-fake vision from out of someone's head. On the other hand, the incident I listed about with Charmy and Mighty shows that the comic has no continuity whatsoever. (And I'm still trying to figure out how a chameleon can live in the IceCap Zone and how infrared can see a crocodile, but never mind...) So...I don't know WHICH interpretation is true. Regarding the KNUCKLES' CHAOTIX SPECIAL, of which I've been taking a bashing on this board over it lately, it seems. That was done simply because Sega wanted a tie-in to the 32X game. The big problem, though, was they only gave us some character designs from the game and not much else. We never received so much as a scrap of storyline beyond the fact the game supposedly took place at some amusement park. When we wrote that story, my then-partner Mike was deteriorating from a long-term illness (from which he has since recovered from, thankfully). We had no clue at that time that anything we did with those characters would go beyond what eventually did take place, so we never planned for it. We simply took Sega's direction and worked from there. If I knew then what I know now, of course things would be different, but you have to judge in the context of when things were done. As for continuity, I try my hardest to maintain a tight ship, but I'm not infallible, so there's always a chance I'm going to forget something I did several months or years ago when I'm under a deadline pressure to finish the latest story. When I write, I'm more interested in telling a good story than I am in details that happened several issues ago. Most of the time there's no problem, but when there is, I know I'm going to hear about it one way or another. Source: Ken Penders' Message Board Toy Story - WB 5:50 pm CST, 10-7-99 They're heeeeerrrreeee..... Resaurus.com has finally made a section dedicated solely to the Sonic The Hedgehog toys! Move your mouse over respective picture buttons to view each Sonic toy related to our big three - Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails! Then click the links below to see the separate pages dedicated to each character! Script courtesy Resaurus.com. Available in November 1999 Sonic The Hedgehog Miles "Tails" Prower Knuckles The Echidna Source: Resaurus Toys Christmas Insanity With Sonic The Hedgehog? - WB 9:30 pm CST, 10-6-99 Is there a Dreamcast shortage on the horizon for Sega Dreamcast? According to Sega X maybe so... As God makes little green apples, so do hardware manufacturers warn of "shortages" when their consoles are birthed. The lastest announcement comes, unsurprisingly, from Sega of America. Vice President of Marketing, Peter Moore explained in a recent press release, "We are already in excess of what we expected to sell in the month of September. If we keep up at this stretch going into the busier months of October and into December, production will be challenged." It is true that Dreamcast has been selling optimistically in North America since its September 9 launch. 514,000 consoles were sold, just two weeks after the debut. Mr. Moore continues, explaining that while Sega will be able to meet a demand which exceeds one million units, it will become increasingly more difficult as that figure inches toward two million. Current forecasts projects the company selling in excess of 1.8 million units, by the close of the Holiday shopping frenzy. Whether or not SOA can meet the overwhelming demand for its 128-bit box remains to be seen. We'll keep you updated if we find out anything... Source: Sega X SegaSonic Takes A Spin Into Nintendo Sales - WB 9:30 pm CST, 10-6-99 According to Next generation, MmWire today reports the results of a recent study by Fairfield Research. The study indicates that sales of Dreamcast titles are taking a significant chunk out of the N64 game market, but are having no effect on PlayStation game sales. Nintendo could not be reached for comment at press time. Retailers were surveyed as to which titles were selling best on all platforms, including Dreamcast. Running about equal in sales during the week of Sept. 20-24 were Sega's NFL 2K and Sonic Adventure and Namco's Soul Calibur. Retailers rated Midway's Ready 2 Rumble as having the best merchandising program. Retailers also predicted the success of upcoming Dreamcast titles based on consumer and trade buzz. In order of their best-seller predictions, they cited: Sega's NBA2K, Majesco's Rainbow Six, Capcom's Resident Evil: Code Veronica and Marvel vs. Capcom, and the recently delayed Sega RPG Shenmue. Source: Next Generation So Why Is Knuckles Going Out On A Low Note? - WB 12:00 am CST, 10-6-99 Lately some people have been wondering why the Knuckles comic will be ending on the King Of The Hill arc instead of the upswing Sonic Adventure adaption arc, now due to take place in STH #79 and upwards issues. Ken Penders recently had this to say concerning why its ending the way it is and other things: I haven't said much about this, because I have the attitude of letting the stories speak for themselves. However, in this case, I think a couple of things need to be addressed. First off, when the KING OF THE HILL storyline was originally written, no one, least of all me, had a clue this would be the book's final storyline. Had we known, I would've done something different. At the very least, even with the reduced frequency becoming imminent, we figured we still had the SONIC ADVENTURE storyline to get through. (And even then, we still refused to take a completely negative attitude, hoping for some positive development along the way.) A second consideration why this story was constructed so can be explained in the past four issues. We didn't have any physical action, and this was designed to make up for it. I also wanted this to be an easy transition for Steven Butler to get his feet wet as the new KNUCKLES artist. Unfortunately, he couldn't do it, so the art chores fell into my lap, and I was grateful I had written the story as such, as it's been a bear of a past few months trying to get through all the deadlines I had to keep everything on track. I still hate the fact that Archie couldn't wait until after SA to do this. But business is business I suppose. Source: Sonic Comic Mailing List Sonic Underground Pulls A Lu-Lu - Rlan 5:00 am CST, 10-5-99 As if this cartoon wasn't weird enough... According to Rlan, a Sonic fan in Australia, this may possibly be a spoiler for those in America (if the episode hasn't aired yet) but supposedly Knuckles has returned to Sonic Underground in what seems to be a 2 or 3 part episode. Titled "New Echidna In Town", Doctor Robotnik supposedly has this giant Death Egg device that he's using to invade Mobius and is powered by a Chaos Emerald - however, thats not the crux of this news article. the thing is: DiC Animation has developed a "love thing" between Knuckles and Sonia....So much so that they exchange kisses at the end of the episode. Pardon me while I barf.... At any rate, look for Knuckles', Great Grandfather Athair (heavily redesigned by DiC) from the Archie comics to make an appearance as well. He's drawn completely different (glasses even) but has the same style and personality. This marks the appearance of another well known Sonic character (albeit a comics one) in the cartoons. It will be interesting to see what sad mutated rabbit DiC will pull out of its hat next. >;) Sega Europe - The Ad Campaign - WB 5:00 am CST, 10-5-99 Well this is.....interesting.... Sega has kicked off its advertising campaign for Dreamcast in Europe. For the launch of Dreamcast on October 14th 1999 a variety of ads will appear in lifestyle, trade and specialised press over the coming months. Needless to say there are some very strange articles >;) To see the rest of them, click the source link below Source: DC Europe Sega Speaks Out On Sonic Adventure - WB 5:00 am CST, 10-5-99 Remember the SA2 and spin-off rumor we posted? Recently the Sonic Adventure 2 speculations spread to news pages like wildfire. As IGN.com said: "Never underestimate the ability of the press to embellish." It seems a certain trade publication that originally ran the story may be practicing some bad journalism according to IGN... Recently, trade publication GameWEEK's Online counterpart, GameDAILY indicated that Sega Director of Marketing Communications Charles Bellfield indicated not only a sequel to Sonic Adventure, but also a spin-off title starring characters from the chart-topping Dreamcast platformer. In following up on the story, IGNDC has learned that this isn't quite the case, so we decided to take time out to get you guys in the loop. According to Bellfield, "The comment that was made was that obviously, [Sonic] is a franchise that Sega plans return to, and that one could even expect titles featuring other popular from the seires characters in the future." The rest, apparently was the product of eager journalists attempting to stretch said comments for all they are worth. Bellfield went on to say that while nothing concrete had been announced at present, that the comments were directed at questions regarding the future of the franchise which, of course, Sega has no intention of abandoning. Given that Naka-san himself confirmed that there were titles in development that have yet to be disclosed to the public, we'll be keeping our fingers crossed for the return of this franchise, among others, in the Sonic Team stable, and as always, we'll be sure to keep you posted when news does manage to reach the public. So this means that while Sonic Adventure 2 and the spinoff are not confirmed and just probable (thus negating that rumor, the Sonic 3 on DC report STILL IS. We'll keep you updated on any more as it happens. Source: IGN DC An Interview With Yuji Naka! - Steve 12:00 am CST, 10-2-99 Thanks to IGN DC - Mr. Yuji Naka, all time guru of the Sonic Team and creator of Sonic the Hedgehog has granted an interview! Mr. Brandon Justice of IGN DC talks to Mr. Naka on making sequels to his games, Phantasy Star Online, Jar Jar Binks, Chu Chu rocket, Samba De Amigo, and online gaming! Click teh source link below to read it. Very interesting stuff: Source: IGN DC - Yuji Naka Interview TWO HQ BREAKING NEWS STORIES!: - Two New Sonic Titles? Sonic 3 On Dreamcast? - Steve 11:30 pm CST, 10-1-99 Yes people, you read that title right - it looks like there are TWO NEW Sonic games in the works! Remember the Neo Geo Pocket "Sonic The Hedgehog" game we told you about a while ago, that is probably (my own guess) due in December or early 2000? Well DC Swirl (formerly known as Katana Edge) recently posted this news article on thier website: According to Game Daily, Charles Bellfield, director of marketing communications for Sega of America, confirmed today that not one but two new Sonic games are already in development. Despite Sonic Teams four titles being revealed already he confirmed that a true sequel to Sonic Adventure is already underway though no target date was announced. One can only wonder if Sega is trying the Crash Bandicoot route of yearly releases and hoping for release next Christmas. He also confirmed a more mysterious second spin-off title in the works starring one of the characters from Sonic Adventure. Besides a Sonic Adventure sequel, what the other "Sonic game", let alone what character it will focus on (PRAY that its Knuckles and the Chaotix) is still remains a mystery. So combining these two new announcements with the Neo Geo Handheld makes THREE Sonic games in the works! Sonic fans, It looks like the second Sonic Explosion has begun... ^_^ Source #1: DC Swirl Now for exclusive #2! Disappointed over the Shenmue delay? Still angry over Sega Rally 2 not being playable online? Hopefully, this piece of news will do something to cheer you up. Listen to what IGN had to say concerning Sonic The Hedgehog 3 on Dreamcast!!!: According to a very reliable source of ours in Japan, Sonic Team has begun development on Sonic The Hedgehog 3 for the Dreamcast! As our source told us, "basically Sonic 3 on Dreamcast will be an enhanced version, similar to Sonic Adventure, with a lot more". At the moment, it's not yet clear whether Sonic 3 will remain a 2d title, or if Yuji Naka has plans to drag the game into the third dimension. From what our source told us, we get the feeling Sonic Team is opting for the latter. While the news of Sonic Adventure 2 would have perhaps been better, we're certainly not complaining about Sonic 3 on Dreamcast! Sega has yet to make an official announcement on the matter, but we're expecting some solid details on this some time next week. Keep in mind that THIS second bit of news is a rumor as opposed to the above one which seems to have come from a Sega Marketing Executive. At any rate - keep a sharp eye out here as we'll be posting more on this as we find it! Later guys! Source #2: DC Swirl The Tails Toy Revealed ! - Tim 3:00 pm CST, 10-1-99 Ladies and gents - Its here! Resaurus has released its latest info and the Tails action figure is finally complete! In other news - Resaurus is also talking to Toy guru Toys R' Us in producing an 11" TALKING Sonic The Hedgehog toy as well! Keep an eye out for these! Source: Resaurus Toys Sonic #80 And Knuckles #33 - Covers And Spoilers - WB 3:00 pm CST, 10-1-99 Before we go any further - please note that Knuckles is STILL CANCELLED. Archie has said that the promos were sent out before the decision was made to axe the Knuckles book. At any rate, note that Chaos 0 appears on the Sonic 80 cover, while Big the Cat and Doc Eggman appear on Knuckles #33... Knuckles The Echidna #33 - (Penders) Knuckles really has his hands full this issue, as the wretched Robotnik and his horrid horde of Shadowbots descend upon the Floating Island! It's all part of Robotnik's quest to find "Perfect Chaos" - a hibernating dragon-like monster made of living water! In order to revive it, Robotnik needs a major power source - and he's got his evil eyes set on the Floating Island's "Master Emerald" - even if he winds up destroying a portion of the Chaos Chamber and its surrounding land mass to get it! As if things couldn't get any worse, Mammoth Mogul escapes in all the mayhem, and the Cat People aren't too happy about that land mass that's suddenly entered their coast! Cover price $1.79 Sonic The Hedgehog #80 - (Bollers/Fry/Pepoy) A special issue inspired by the popular new Sonic Adventure game for the hot Sega Dreamcast system! After their amazing journey in issue #79, the Freedom Fighters find themselves in an ancient city that is a brave new world to them. Filled with five-fingered Overlanders who call themselves "humans," the furry friends are given a warm welcome a la "Escape From The Planet Of The Apes" — the heroes receive a tour of the city, Amy goes shopping, Tails flies his plane, etc. But all is not right here, and true to form, Sonic's restless spirit finds him on night patrol, where his curiosity inevitably leads him to trouble and feats of daring do! The action continues in Sonic Super Special #12, shipping January 2000! Cover price $1.79 Source: Westfield Comics Sega Europe DC Release - Part Two - WB 2:00 pm CST, 10-1-99 Coming just a week after Blockbuster announced its new rental scheme for the Dreamcast, specialist games chain Electronics Boutique has revealed it is set to open at midnight on October 13th to satisfy customer demand for the Sega console. Over 100 stores, including those in such key conurbation's as Camden, Birmingham and Cambridge, will open on the stroke of midnight. The move is in response to huge consumer demand for the 128-bit console at EB stores nationwide. Source: Dreamcast HQ What in The World Happened To Sonic HQ ?!?!?! - WB 2:00 pm CST, 10-1-99 For those of you who tried to access the page yesterday and couldn't - sorry about that. Turns out EmuWorld - the people that give EmuZone thier space were doing something to upgrade their stuff supposedly, so it was down for one day and I couldnt get here in time to announce it before it happened. No biggie. Everythings back to normal. ^_^ Sonic The Hedgehog To Wed Mickey Mouse! - WB 4:00 pm CST, 9-30-99 The wedding will take place at Disney's Innovations expo at Epcot, set to open on Thursday, September 30th. Sega will have a 2900 square foot exhibit at the expo, featuring over 34 interactive stations, including playable game kiosks and a presentation of Shenmue. This is the start of a two year commitment between the two companies; as time goes by, we can expect the exhibit to change and grow. As suggested by today's press release, online gaming technology could be introduced through the exhibit before being released to the public Peter Moore, Senior Vice President (and recent company spokseman) at Sega of America was more enthusiastic than ever over the deal. ``Innoventions is an ideal forum for us to demonstrate Dreamcast's ability to make the world a smaller, more enjoyable place by connecting people via the Internet for the first time through a low cost gaming console, "said Moore. "Sega Dreamcast's 56K modem and realistic, evolving gameplay represent the future of gaming and technology. We look forward to continually updating our Innoventions exhibit as new technology and Sega Dreamcast games are introduced." So will this new relationship bring about a Sega game featuring Mickey and Sonic walking hand and hand through Mobius-Disney World? Sources say . . . NO. ^_^ Source: IGN Dreamcast Sonic Underground On Sci-Fi: Follow Up - WB 6:45 pm CST, 9-29-99 Continuing with the report of Sonic Underground on the Sci-Fi channel we reported below, thanks to Sonic fan Shayne da fox we now have a schedule of showings from October 4 to October 28th! Click on the source below to see it: Source: Sonicunderground.net - SU Sci-Fi Channel Schedule Green Hill Zone Goes On Hibernation - WB 6:45 pm CST, 9-29-99 For those of you that frequent the Neo Green Hill Zone webpage (the first really popular SegaSonic only website, and home of the SegaSonic Zone webring), its owner, Jared "Green Gibbon" Matte recently had this to say concerning its status: I've just been informed by the webmaster of Videogamers.com that he will no longer be doing web hosting. I'm not sure when the account will be cut, but freak not...I have a backup plan. I can't go into detail about it, as I've been asked to keep mum regarding the project. It's a pretty good deal, but the bad news is that it won't be ready until November at the soonest. Which means that, for the period of a month or so, the GHZ will be non-existent. Freak not once again, the message board is on a different server, so bookmark it and keep checking back there for progress reports. This is probably a good thing for me, as I'm working on so many things right now maintaining the site is just slowing me down. Let me emphasize, though, that I'm not about to let the GHZ die...I've devoted far too much time and care into this site to let it go now. We'll just be going into hibernation for a bit...GHZ veterans are used to this, and we're long overdue for a freeze-over. Once again, bookmark the message board and drop in every once in a while to keep up-to-date on the GHZ's status, or just E-mail me if you've got any questions or anything. Thanks everyone, I'll see you guys in November and it's gonna be a beautiful thing! Ja! As a regular frequenter of the NGHZ I can say that GG will be back and better than ever. He always does! ^_^ In the meantime, make sure to keep a bookmark of his Message Board, and we'll be sure to notify you when his page is back up and running on a new server! Source: Neo Green Hill Zone - Hidden Palace Forum SA #5 In the USA - Tristan 6:05 pm CST, 9-29-99 IGNDC is reporting the latest sales figures from NPD. From September 12th through 18th, Sonic Adventure dropped from #2 to #5. Final Fantasy VIII still holds the #1 spot. Happy Birthday Ken Penders! - WB 8:30 pm CST, 9-26-99 We'd just like to wish Ken Penders - Archie Sonic and knuckles comic writer - a happy birthday today! We're not sure how old you are, but out of respect we won't ask! ^_^ Happy birthday! Source: Ken Penders homepage Sonic Adventure: The Code Bank - WB 3:30 pm CST, 9-28-99 Our Sonic Adventure archive may not be done yet, but get a load of all these new codes IGN and Game Sages just recently linked to for Sonic Adventure! Those of you who are looking for new stuff to try should check this out! ***NOTE*** - Those of you that have asked about the "Play as Metal Sonic, or Play as chaos 0, or Play as Doctor Robotnik" stuff - THESE CODES DO NOT EXIST AND ARE PHONY! There - I've said it. On with the codes: 1. Cloning Knuckles Play through the game (with all the characters) until you get Super Sonic. In Super Sonics Adventure, go to the crashed island. There you see Knuckles and Doc Eggman (Robotnik). After the clip, press A+B+X+Y+Start. Then choose Knuckles. Go to the same place, and there are two Knuckles! This works with other characters, too, but it's not as weird as the Knux one is. submitted by Dark Vegetto 2. Aztec Forest Shortcut To get to the Frog and the Emerald as Tails in one step do as fallows. After riding the trolly to the Aztec Forest you should be standing up high on a platform overlooking the forest. If you stand on the edge and look down and to the left you will see two trees sticking out of the canopy that are close together. Fly toward the trees and land next to the one that is closest to the ledge you jumped from. You should be standing on top of the canopy. Walk around the first tree until you fall through the canopy and end up right by the emerald and the frog. submitted by tray@uswest.net 3. Better Living Through Chao Instead of throwing a Chao against a wall to hatch it, try just rubbing the egg like you were rubbing the Chao. Then set it down and back away. It will start jumping, and then it will hatch. They seem to like you better if you do this. submitted by sonic_tails 4. Black Morphing Chao First you have to be the E-102 Gamma. To get a black chao go into the Egg Carrier and go to the bridge. On the bridge you see three doors. Go in the one with the prison. Open the middle cell by jumping on the peg and take the egg back to the bridge. On the bridge go behind the chair Robotnik sits on, behind it is a door with 6 buttons in front of it, stomp on them in an order that spells E-G-G-M-A-N and the door will open. While still holding the egg step into the teleporter in the room, then you'll be in the egg catcher chao garden, now just hatch the egg submitted by Breaknec 5. Change View in Twinkle Circuit To change the view in Twinkle Circuit Race, press UP to toggle between inside, outside, and far out view. This also works when playing the first bumper car portion of the level. submitted by Omar Sharar 6. Clean Pause To remove the pause menu, press X and Y together at the pause menu. This is good if you want to take screenshots. submitted by Segaholic2 7. Drive with Anyone in Twinkle Circuit. After completing the game with all six characters, you will be able to race in Twinkle Circuit with anyone. Just select the character you want, then go to station square. Once your there, go over to the little patch of grass and weeds by speed highway entrance, and pick up the ticket. (It will be rotating, and easy to spot.) Then go into the Twinkle Park building, and instead of entering Twinkle Park, enter Twinkle Circuit. You will hear a special noise that tells you that the secret is unlocked. Now just repeat the process for all the characters. Best racers are as follows: Knuckles Sonic Tails E-102 Big Amy submitted by Eggman 8. Easy Emblems as Knuckles If you are having trouble getting the 1 minute emlems as Knuckles, here is a trick that will make it much easier. Find the first emerald shard, but don't touch it! Instead, pause the game and restart the level. Now run to it as fast as you can. Since the shards act as save-points, find the next one and repeat. Do this until you have all three. submitted by Segaholic2 9. Free Rings As Tails, go to any place with grass and look for a dark green weed. Wack it with your tail. If you are lucky, a ring or extra life will appear. While playing with Knuckles and have the Silver knuckle gloves, goto a place where you can dig and in most places (especially places with plants) you can uncover up to 20 rings. submitted by Mike Mehuys aka Rebeltropr (Rebeltropr@aol.com) 10. The Golden Chao Baby There are two open shops in the part of Station Square with the open manhole. The golden chao's egg is in one of them. Unfortunately every time you lift the egg from its pressure sensitive platform, the doors are barred shut. Go to the city hall area where you fought Chaos 0 and look near the walls and grass. An egg-shaped rock is here, and you can put it on the platform in the store. You may now leave freely with the golden chao egg. submitted by Vector 11. Sonic The Chao! If you give a chao about 20 of the pink animals (rabbits, kangaroos, deer) it will start to look like everyone's favorite hedge hog. submitted by Kevin Reopelle 12. Metallic Chao To get the one-of-a-kind metallic chao baby, go to the waterfall near the subway and look to the right of it. You will see a sort of platform. Go to it and push it. A metallic egg will fall down the waterfall and into the pond. When it reaches the land pick t up and bring it to the nearest Chao sanctuary. Throw it and it will hatch. submitted by AlexG 13. One-and-a-Half Play When you are playing Sonic's action stages and Tails is on the screen, a second player can control Tails with a second controller. Any rings Tails collects will be added to Sonic's totals. Be careful to not make Tails break open any shields, invincibilities or One Up item boxes as those will not be added to Sonic and will be wasted. This feature may seem trivial to most people, but you'd be surprised how much fun it can be trying to outrun player one (who's playing Sonic) when you're controlling Tails. ;) submitted by Chris Koeler 14. PC Wallpaper If you insert your Sonic Adventure game disc into a PC CDROM drive, you will have access to a directory called "extras". Inside you'll find a number of Sonic Adventure desktop wallpapers you can decorate your PC's desktop with. submitted by Chris Kohler 15. Secret Chao Puzzle Game After you start up the Sonic Adventure game, place a controller into the D port on your Dreamcast and have a VMS in the controller. A hidden Chao Puzzle game will appear on the VMS screen. It is a tile based puzzle game where you have to use the Dreamcast's controller to move the pieces of a moving picture around to win. After every five puzzles you solve, a little animation will play on the VMS screen. submitted by Chris Koeler 16. Sonic's Snowboard Select Just before entering the snowboarding part of the ice stage, press X to get Sonic's blue snowboard (previously seen in Sonic 3 and Sonic Triple Trouble). Press B to get Sonic's yellow board (only seen in Sonic Adventure.) submitted by Raph19@hotmail.com Source: Game Sages Sonic Toys Go "BOOM" !!! - WB 3:30 pm CST, 9-28-99 Those of you screaming for Sonic toys in America and Canada - The second wave has officially arrived! Grand Toys International, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRIN - news) today announced that it has acquired the Canadian distribution rights for certain Sonic The Hedgehog(TM) products from Toy Island Manufacturing, a privately-held toy manufacturer based in New York. Toy Island recently received the rights to manufacture and distribute Sonic The Hedgehog toys and plush throughout North America from Sega of America, Inc. The agreement gives Grand Toys the rights to distribute a wide variety of toys based on Sonic The Hedgehog, Sega's popular video game character, as he is featured in the new Sega Dreamcast(TM) video game ``Sonic Adventure(TM)'' and in the new animated television series ``Sonic Underground(TM).'' ``Sonic Underground'', which is distributed by The Walt Disney Company's Buena Vista Television, can currently be seen on the TELETOON network in Canada. Products covered under the distribution agreement include the desirable 5.5`` action figures, which in addition to ''Sonic`` will include ''Tails,`` ''Knuckles,`` ''Big the Cat,`` and ''Robotnik.`` The Sonic The Hedgehog toy line will also include vehicles and playsets, wind up vehicles, bendable figures, plush toys, electronic plush toys, remote control figures and vehicles, paper and stationery products, spring and summer toys as well as junior sporting goods. Product is currently expected to be available for shipment at various ''roll-out`` dates throughout the year 2000. Steve Altro, Chairman of Grand Toys commented, ``We are excited to add Sonic The Hedgehog to our diverse portfolio of licensed products. The excitement surrounding the recent launch of the Sega Dreamcast system should only add to the appeal of characters like Sonic, which we believe can transcend the video game market into popular toys. The addition of Sonic further demonstrates our commitment to pursue strong and exciting new product distribution licenses, from sources all over the world.'' Source: DC Swirl Sonic Underground On Sci-Fi - WB 3:30 pm CST, 9-28-99 News Quickie - For those of you that can't seem to get SU (like me), check out the SciFi channel on cable! They show it monday mornings at 6:00. I'm not sure how long they've been doing this, but it should help some people see it more often. To find out if you have the Sci Fi channel, check your local cable listings. Source: TV Guide Poll Position - WB 1:00 am CST, 9-27-99 Ladies and gents - we've got a new poll up for you to vote on. But first, the results of our last two: Will you continue to buy Sonic comics after the Knuckles cancellation announcement? Yes - 124 Votes: 62% No - 12 Votes: 6% I Might - 13 Votes: 7% Don't Read Sonic Comics - 28 Votes: 14% They Make Sonic Comics? - 23 Votes: 12% Total Votes: 200 - Honestly I was suprised at the large contrast of yes votes to no votes considering the big hoopla that cancellation notice brought up. But at least some people still have SOME faith in the comics no matter what will be. And as for you "They Make Sonic Comics" people - what? have you been hiding under a rock? ^_^ Now for the other poll - The Playstation 2 VS DC: DC Stays Strong - 138 votes: 73% PSX2 Will Murder DC - 41 Votes: 22% Don't play videogames - 11 Votes: 6% Total Votes: 190 - Now this I wasn't surprised at the least bit. But it will be interesting nonetheless to see how the PSX2 will go along in its development. Now for our next two polls that tantalize both genre's of sonic fans - We've passed the landmark 75th issue: What do you think so far of Karl Bollers' stint as new writer for the Sonic Comics? (THIS is gonna be a trip) AND for you gamers out there - If you had your choice of a new Sonic game, what would it be? Lets get cracking! ^_^ Super Sonic Destiny Needs YOUR Help ! - Holli The Genet 8:00 pm CST, 9-26-99 I hope I'm not too late on this as I just found the report :P (sorry Arien, Holli and Hip-Hop), but the makers of the fan made movie "Super Sonic Destiny" need your help: A Super Sonic Destiny is a site maintained by Arien Dixon (aka) Technosaber, (or as I know him as Razor). The site shows the working of a Sonic fan made movie in the making. And you can be a part of it! The site is at: www.angelfire.com/nj2/sonicmovie All you have to do is ask Technosaber for lines, then you can record yourself onto your computer to make wav files of your voice. Then you can send then to Techenosaber. If you want to, tips are is to speak naturally and don't be scared to really act! Here's the latest news on the movie: The site is updated and now available again for checking out. The movie needs more actresses(female actors) for the rest of the desired roles. The movie preview is due for net week (hopefully) some time and is guaranteed to be two minutes long in length. The news page and art page will soon be up. Well ladies, come try out! And it's not to put down the guys, we could always use more auditions from either gender. You don't have to be the gender of the character you are trying out for either. If you guys have any questions about this movie, contact me, Holli the Genet, Dash or Technosaber. My address is: holli_the_genet@hotmail.com Dash, Technosaber's partner's address is: DashTH@aol.com Techenosaber address is: RazorG456@aol.com Have fun at A Super Sonic Destiny guys! Sonic Underground - Season 2? Manic To Get A New Power? - WB 8:30 pm CST, 9-26-99 Here's a quickie - On the Sonic Newsgroup at alt.fan.sonic-hedgehog, Benjamin Hurst recently revealed that there are in fact 65 full episodes written for Sonic Underground. The first season (which is currently playing) only contains 40 episodes, so if Sonic Underground is renewed for another season on local networks, expect the remaining episodes to air. If not, consider it "lost material..." In other SU news, just like how Sonic has his Super Spin Dash, and Sonia has her Tornado Spin Attack, Mr. Hurst says that possibly in the future, look for Manic to get his own special attack as well. What this new attack is Mr. Hurst wouldn't delve into. But its something to look for those that like the new cartoon. Source: The Sonic Newsgroup The Sky Patrol Has Arrived !!! - WB 8:00 pm CST, 9-26-99 Tails' Skypatrol has arrived that is! ^_^ For those of you that don't already know - the game Tails Skypatrol was never released beyond Japan. A predecessor to the next Tails solo game Tails' Adventure for the Game Gear, this game was known to virtually nobody for QUITE a long time. Well now YOU can play it if you have an emulator because the game has finally been dumped in ROM format! Check out the link below to the Sega Master System page for the direct link to it! Special thanks to Rlan for pointing this out to Sonic gamers! :) Follow Up Note: Due to letter requests on the matter (I had no idea you all cared so much ^_^), let me put up this notice for all you legal eagles. We aren't claiming any responsibility on what you guys and gals download. So its on you! We don't own that page, we're just linking to it because we thought you'd like to know (its a news page after all) but as a precaution and rule among things, all roms must be deleted within 24 hours of download, unless you own a copy of the cartridge you are downloading. Capice? Good. Now back to our regularly scheduled news briefing. Source: SMS Page - Tails' Skypatrol Dreamcast Goes Rental In Europe - WB 8:00 pm CST, 9-26-99 Entertainment giant Blockbuster announced today plans to put its full weight behind the Dreamcast in Europe. An upcoming rental scheme for the European market is set to begin in October. Unlike America though, Europeans won't be able to rent the machine before the launch, as the campaign won't commence until the 14th of October. For those of you who are still unsure as to whether or not you wish to splash out, though, the console will be available for two nights at £10, with a choice of seven games at £3.50 each. Other video shops such as Xtravision have yet to disclose information on their forthcoming Dreamcast offers, but it's most likely that they'll be at least the same price, if not cheaper. In the week prior to the European launch, we'll let you know where to go for the best deals, whether you're purchasing or renting the machine. Source: IGN Dreamcast Why Not Throw The Whole Thing Out and Start Over... - WB 12:20 am CST, 9-17-99 Year after year after year after year people that don't like the Sonic comics ask the question "Why not just throw the entire current Archie Sonic continuity out and start anew with Sonic Adventure, or base it off the games or something? Why not just start over?" Well, today someone posted about this on Ken Penders' messageboard and he finally spoke out as to what goes on about dealings with Sega on the comic adaptions, story structure, and other things... Posted By Amy Rose Ok, I'll probably get flamed for this, but in my opinion, most of the characters in the sonic the hedgehog comic are just plain annoying, and the plot is, well..kind of pathetic. What i think they should do is throw the whole thing out, and start over fresh from the beginning. They should forget about the freedom fighters, and base the comic on Sonic adventure in my opinion. Ive noticed that the personality of Sonic in Sonic adventure is much better than his personality in Archie. And Dr. Eggman is different too. In the archie version he looks like a giant lord of evil, and in SA, well, hes evil of course, but not like the Archie version. I like the SA eggman better. They will probably never do this, but i wish they would throw the whole plot they have going out and base it on Sonic Adventure, and just build an entirly new series. People that don't like the comic have asked and wondered that time and time again. This is Ken Penders' response which is rather interesting... Posted By Ken Penders We've known for over a year what was going to be in Sonic Adventure, at least in regards to the Japanese version. The graphics alone had everyone at Archie excited about incorporating the Sonic Adventure characters and plots into our series. However, we ran into a big obstacle, and that was Sega itself. They wanted us to do a game adaptation, but they didn't cooperate with us in the slightest. We had to go out and find someone to translate the Japanese version because no one at Sega saw fit to share anything with us. The video I had was made by Spaz, who recorded his gameplay. I understand why many people would want us to start over after seeing Sonic Adventure, but that wouldn't be fair to the large number of fans who already love the current cast of characters. Besides, as you'll see, our version and the Sonic Adventure are really not that incompatible. In fact, Justin was amazed how easily I incorporated the ongoing storyline in Knuckles with the game adaptation itself. What i find interesting is the debate whether Sonic is getting too anime in style versus whether he is anime enough. What do you think? We'd like to know. Listed below is the link to Ken Penders' messageboard, if you wish post your opinions there and on Sonic HQ's "Mobius Forum" as well. It could make for an interesting topic... Source: Ken Penders' Message Board Sonic Adventure Makes Top Two! - WB 3:00 pm CST, 9-23-99 The NPD group, the company responsible for those TRST reports you keep hearing about, has released U.S. software sales figures for the period of September 5th to September 11th. The Dreamcast, despite being released on September 9th, midway into the tracking period, was well represented on the list, with seven titles appearing in the top twenty. The national list of Top Five Games Is As Follows: 1. Final Fantasy 8 (Square) 2. Sonic Adventure 3. Soul Calibur 4. NFL2K 5. Ready To Rumble In addition to these figures, the NPD has also provided some interesting information for the entire week from September 5th to the 11th. Sales for the video game market, including hardware, software, and accessories, were up a full 133% from the previous week, with the Dreamcast responsible for 88% of the growth. 546,000 consoles were sold during the week, as opposed to 223,000 from the week before (before the DC's release). Finally, the DC captured 60% of the next-generation console business during its first week of business, although Nintendo 64 and PlayStation weren't affected too much, both combining for only an 8% dropoff in sales. Source: IGN.com Half A Million and STILL GOING !!! - WB 3:00 pm CST, 9-23-99 SEGA DREAMCAST TOPS HALF MILLION MARK IN UNITS SOLD, BESTS RECORDS SET BY SONY, NINTENDO, APPLE AND DVD SAN FRANCISCO (September 23, 1999) -- Sales of Sega(R) of America, Inc.'s 128-bit, Internet-ready Sega Dreamcast(TM) videogame system continue at a blistering pace. The company announced today at the Intelliquest Brand Tech Forum in San Francisco that in just two weeks, Sega Dreamcast has topped the half million units sold mark. The advanced videogame console has sold through a total of 514,000 units since it launched on 9.9.99. In contrast, Sony PlayStation(TM) reached the half million mark in four months in 1995 and NintendoÒ 64 reached the same number after two months at retail when it launched in 1996, according to the NPD Group of Port Washington, NY. Sega Dreamcast's record-breaking launch also beat sales milestones set by other high-profile consumer products. The much-touted Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iMac personal computer took six weeks to sell 278,000 units. And, DVD in its first year only sold 430,000 units. Today's announced sales figures for Sega Dreamcast well surpass the company's previous projections of hitting 400,000 in the system's first month of availability at retail. Since its introduction, Sega Dreamcast has been a sales leader, capturing more than 60% of all new console sales, according to NPD. In addition to hardware, software for Sega Dreamcast is also selling at a brisk pace. NPD research shows that four of the top five games for the week ending September 11 were Sega Dreamcast titles, including Sega's "Sonic Adventure(TM)," Sega Sports' "NFL 2K(TM)," Namco's "Soul Calibur(TM)" and Midway's "Ready 2 Rumble Boxing(TM)."Consumer demand for Sega Dreamcast is continuing at a record pace," said Chris Gilbert, senior vice president of sales, Sega of America, Inc. "All of our retailers are reporting huge sales for the system and we are working very closely with them to meet the massive demand we are anticipating for the holiday season." Sega Dreamcast's 128-bit architecture makes it the first console with evolutionary capabilities, allowing it to grow and change to match advances in technology and the needs and desires of the consumer. Sega Dreamcast is also the most powerful video game console ever created and the first to offer Internet connectivity including e-mail, browsing and chat using the Sega Dreamcast Network. It is 15 times more powerful than a Sony PlayStation, ten times more powerful than a Nintendo 64 and has four times the graphics processing power of the fastest Pentium II processor. In addition, Sega Dreamcast is the first console to utilize hand-held gaming through its Visual Memory Unit (VMU), which allows players to swap games with friends in the home, arcade or head-to-head using two VMUs. Congrats Sega America on a job well done! ^_^ Source: Dreamcast HQ Sonic And Knuckles Comics Spoilers - WB 3:00 CST, 9-23-99 This is interesting, even though Ken Penders himself announced Knux's cancellation, spoilers were still given on the next issue. At any rate, its unsure how things will go or even if this book will see print, but here it is nonetheless: Sonic the Hedgehog #80 by Bollers, Fry, & Pepoy A special issue inspired by the popular new Sonic Adventure game for the hot Sega Dreamcast system! After their amazing journey in issue #79, the Freedom Fighters find themselves in an ancient city that is a brave new world to them. Filled with five-fingered Overlanders who call themselves "humans," the furry friends are given a warm welcome a la "Escape From The Planet Of The Apes" - the heroes receive a tour of the city, Amy goes shopping, Tails flies his plane, etc. But all is not right here, and true to form, Sonic's restless spirit finds him on night patrol, where his curiosity inevitably leads him to trouble and feats of daring do! The action continues in Sonic Super Special #12, shipping January 2000! Knuckles the Echidna #33 by Ken Penders A special issue inspired by the popular new Sonic Adventure game for the hot Sega Dreamcast system! Knuckles really has his hands full this issue, as the wretched Robotnik and his horrid horde of Shadowbots descend upon the Floating Island! It's all part of Robotnik's quest to find "Perfect Chaos" - a hibernating dragon-like monster made of living water! In order to revive it, Robotnik needs a major power source - and he's got his evil eyes set on the Floating Island's "Master Emerald" - even if he winds up destroying a portion of the Chaos Chamber and its surrounding land mass to get it! As if things couldn't get any worse, Mammoth Mogul escapes in all the mayhem, and the Cat People aren't too happy about that land mass that's suddenly entered their coast! Sonic R Network Patch at last-- Sonic HQ Exclusive! - DocZac/Tails 8:30 pm GMT, 9-22-99 A.J. Freda, owner of SegaSonic.net has finally done it! While you're waiting for the DC Online gaming, try downloading the Network Patch for Sonic R PC! We've even uploaded it to our own server in case you're having problems downloading it: segasonic.net mirror Sonic HQ mirror Source: Segasonic.net 'Net News - Tristan 7:05 pm CST, 9-22-99 First off, we apologize for the lack of news yesterday, as we were having technical difficulties with the HTML format. Now, on to the news: The Sonic Saga has released a press statement regarding the state of the fan comic. Look at it here. Soneec has responded to Sonic HQ News regarding the shutdown of Sonic Pandemonium: I'm going to start all over again because people seemed to have lost a lot of interest in SP. I will be making a new website still Sonic based but without hoaxes and WYTS unless someone is willing to run those pages for me. As of now, I don't know when it'll be up, but hopefully, at least I'm shooting, for sometime this week. Knuckles Toy Revealed! - WB 2:30 pm CST, 9-17-99 Resaurus has recently released the picture of the Knuckles toy viewable below: Knux actually looks pretty good, but I think his eyes are a bit off. Other than that it looks pretty cool. all thats left now is Tails! Source: Resaurus Toys Online Gaming Not Delayed - WB 2:30 pm CST, 9-17-99 Over the past few days, there have been plenty of stories regarding Sega's Dreamcast network plans. Mostly, the news has been bad, with reports that Sega had delayed online gaming until the third quarter of the year 2000. We found this to be just about the worst news imaginable, and we cried and cried until our faces were blue. Then, we called Sega and got the official word on the state of online play for the Dreamcast. The story is slightly different from what's been reported. First off, Sega's official word since August has been "online gaming will be introduced over the next twelve months." So, basically, we've known since August that online gaming would be available on the DC no later than August of next year. In our conversation today, Sega added to this statement, saying "Online gaming will be active before Q3 2000." Q3 2000 begins in July, so it seems that we may actually see online games by mid year of 2000 (which, in case you're unfamiliar with the modern calendar, is before August). Finally, Sega made another comment: "The only news that was announced in Tokyo was that we would have roughly 12 online games by Q3 2000. Such games as Half Life will be included in this list." The picture doesn't look nearly as bleak with these new statements by Sega. Not only does it look like the DC will have 12 online games by mid year (assuming that Sega lives up to its statements), but the possibility still exists for actual online gaming to be introduced earlier in the year (we're going to assume that Sega won't be throwing out twelve online games on the same day). Of course, the question of how long we'll have to wait for true online gaming still remains, but Sega's statements point to the fact that we won't be waiting for as long as we originally thought. Source: IGN.com Hope Springs Eternal - WB 2:30 pm CST, 9-17-99 Is there any hope of Knux EVER getting his book back? Ken Penders had this to say... While letters of support ARE helpful, there is ALWAYS a CHANCE that KNUCKLES COULD RETURN if...and I'm talking BIG IF... sales show IMPROVEMENT! We HAVEN'T seen sales figures from any of the issues since I first told everyone the book was in trouble, so there is considerable room for HOPE. Even the publishers at Archie aren't talking like the book is dead and buried forever, leaving themselves room to manuver just in case they do decide there's sufficient support for revival. Source: Ken Penders' Message Board New Sonic Fancomic: Other-M - Ian The Potto 2:30 pm CST, 9-17-99 The new fan-comic, Other-M, launched today with a presumeably unprecidented 14 pages! Each pages is kinda big, but the creator says that the size will be reduced soon. Other-M sports the idea that they "take everything you know about the Archie Sonicverse, and twists it. Hard." Other-M can be be found at: http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/chronos/615/otherm.html Sonic Pandemonium: "Down Until Further Notice" - Tristan 11:45 am CST, 9-19-99 It's happened again, but this time, Soneec herself has shut down Sonic Pandemonium for an undetermined amount of time. She says that Andre Dirk and HQ staffer Zac had nothing to do with this, ans she asks that no one point fingers at them. If you can recall, SP was shut down by XOOM after some troubles with several people. We'll see what happens soon. I'm Back, but Sonic 2000 Won't Be - Tristan 11:30 am CST, 9-19-99 On Monday, the Webmaster of Sonic 2000, one of the most thought out fan game projects ever, posted the news: The FTP server is down due to a server move, so I can't edit the website. Basically, Mark has given up on the project due to lack of interest and enthusiasm. Makr currently wants to drop it all to regain his sanity. Anyhow, where an exerp of what he ICQed me. I'm ready to cancel Sonic 2000. I've known what the problem with the speed is for a couple of weeks now, but haven't had the energy to fix it. I'm going to work on an animation for a little while, not for comercial purposes, or even for publicity, just to relax. I doubt I'll get more than two or three seconds done (since I'm going to do it by hand), but I need a little vacation. And don't bother emailing him on why the project has been canceled. He won't be at his computer either. This is some rather sad news, since this was to be a 3D fan game, one of only two to be made so far. Sega Otaku Taking a Backstab at Defunct SegaNet - Tristan 11:30 am CST, 9-19-99 Sega Otaku and SegaNet have been long time rivals in the Internet community. Now that Fernando has moved on to Game Fan, and his site and affiliates have been left in the dust, SO Editor in Chief Lee Rogers is taking full advantage of it. Click here to read his somewhat nasty article on the situation. And the Number Stands At.... - WB 6:00 pm CST, 9-17-99 410,000 - THAT is the number of Dreamcasts currently sold in America. And its still rising! Peter Moore, senior vice president of Sega of America, announced last night in Japan that Sega has sold through 410,000 Sega Dreamcast systems in just one week. As we previously reported, the company had sold about 300,000 after just 24 hours. Sega promises another sales update in October Source: Next Generation Online Sonic Ideal - The Launch Date! - WB 6:00 pm CST, 9-17-99 Write down October 14th Sonic fans - thats when Sonic fan David Bulmer and the rest of many talented Sonic fans from America to England launch the HEAVILY anticipated Sonic Ideal online fan comic! We've seen pictures of the stuff and we can guarantee that its quite up to par - follows the SegaSonic storyline, and has excellent drawings. Not only that - but this is ONE fan comic that they DO plan to keep going. >;) We have heavy expectations on this comic from how much its been talked about on the lists so keep your eyes out for it. By Sonic fans - for Sonic fans! Source: David Bulmer (Sonic Ideal Addy witheld due to request) Happy Birthday Yuji Naka! - WB 6:00 pm CST, 9-17-99 Ladies and gents - everyone wish a happy birthday to Sonic The Hedgehog's very own creator Yuji Naki - leader of the Sonic Team - who has his birthday today! We don't know how old he is, but at the same time the least we can say is thank you! >;) Source: Neo Green Hill Zone Benjamin Hurst on SU - WB 11:30 am CST, 9-17-99 For those that don't know, we just began our cartoons page yesterday. But in my haste to get the page up after seeing Mr. Hursts comments on AFSH I forgot to actually put them on the news page! >;) Ben Hurst was the premier writer for Sonic SatAM - this is what he had to say concerning SU: To tell you the truth, I'm not positive who did the development on SU - I was sort of swept into it on the fly. I'm not familiar with the "Sheriff" moniker, but with my memory, that's not surprising. :) In SatAm, I didn't think of Robotnik as anything but just that, Robotnik - and tried my best not to add to the title. Single names have such a great wicked feeling and I think "Doctor" dilutes that. Just my opinion. Pat and I didn't start as story editors. We wrote the leadout episode and someone upstairs decided we had a good handle on the characters and decided to oust the story editor and replace him with us. Then, instead of having the time to plot the arc of the series, we had to hit the ground running. On top of that, a fair number of the episodes were given over to another story editing team. These guys were good, but the continuity of the series suffered, since they had a different "take" on the overall series. As you know from SatAm, I tend to take these stories seriously. I try to build an emotional arc, creating great tension and action - and bring out the humor in both the situations and the characters. I succeeded in doing this in a more than a few of the SU episodes, but the pace (two scripts a week) forced many compromises and that's why I said that we fell short of the mark. Fortunately, many of the episodes were still pretty good, but for the reasons mentioned above, the consistency and the overall "feel" of the series is not as developed as SatAm. Thats interesting to know. SU has gotten SERIOUSLY mixed reviews from Sonic fans saying that they either hate it, a few love it, or others just cant find it at all on television (myself included). Source: alt.fan.sonic-hedgeog Sonic Corner Closing For Good... - WB 11:30 am CST, 9-17-99 Today we found out from checking his page, that JD Harding has finally decided to close the doors on the Sonic Corner, one of the webs largest Sonic music sites on the net. Here's what he had to say: The Sonic Corner has closed down. Let me explain why. I've been working on this site for two years now. I've done a fairly good job keeping this place looking great, and up till now it's gotten a fairly large ammount of visitors, and I have no complaints about the site. The problem lies with me wanting to move on. I've lost interest in Sonic the Hedgehog. The games are still great, but my interest when I first started this site, and my interest now are two totally different things. My interest before was a desire, a want to make the greatest Sonic the Hedgehog site online. My wants and wishes now are more concerned with my life outside of this site. I've gotten a new job going now. I'm currently a Website designer. I would like to devote all of my time into work, and less time with this site. The rest of my time is devoted to my friends, and my music. What little time I have left is for myself, which leaves zero time for me to fiddle with TSC. I'm sorry about this. I know you all love this site, and come back regularly, and I'm grateful for your loyalty to TSC. You still can come and visit TSC. I'll keep the site up for a couple more years. I just don't have the time to update it. I want to thank all of the people who have made TSC a great site. The composers, artists, writers, the people who visited my message boards, and even just the people who came here to listen to a few Sonic MIDIs, and then left. It's great to have you all here, and even though this site won't be updated anymore, I hope you all keep coming back. Anyway, have fun with TSC. This is JD, signing off for the last time. Ciao! ^.^ Sonic HQ would like to wish JD good luck and happiness in his endeavors. If you'd like to check out his page, check our source link below. Source: The Sonic Corner Ken Penders At Comic Con 99 - WB 11:30 am CST, 9-17-99 For all of you in the Buffallo New York area, Ken Penders will be appearing at the Queen City Comic Con. Here's what the promo had to say: KEN PENDERS - Now this is one man you should stop and see. Ken Penders will be premiering his book the Lost Ones in October. This is Ken's first book out as a self-publisher. He is well known for his work on Sonic The Hedgehog. Source: Sonic Comic Mailing List Tails Sculpted Base! - Tim 8:00 pm CST, 9-14-99 Thanks to Tim Bernsten we've managed to find the Resaurus 3D Tails base! And it looks quite nice: This means that all that Resaurus has left to do is sculpt Knuckles and paint Tails. These hot toys are coming in fast! Source: Resaurus Toys Do NOT Send News to Me Thursday-Sunday - Tristan 6:45 pm CST, 9-15-99 I have to be very prepared for Hurricane Floyd, as it will hammer New Jersey sometime over the next 24-36 hours. Therefore, I have to take the next four days off as a major safety precaution. We wouldn't want anything happening to me, would we? So, until Sunday, please send the News to WB or other HQ News staff. Thank you. SegaNet Kaput - Tristan 5:45 pm CST, 9-15-99 One of the big time Sega fan sites on the net, SegaNet, is gone. If you try and get there via its domain, you'll get the main Gamers's Republic page. What does this mean? Well, the site and all of its affiliates, with the exception of Perfect Zero, formerly Chupamedia (currently located here) are gone. When they will return is something no one can answer. How did this happen? Current reports indicate that Fernando Mosquera, SegaNet's webmaster, left his job at GR for a position at GameFan magazine. So, whether he will bring back the site is still left in the air. Two New Polls ! - Knuckles And The PSX 2 - WB 9:00 pm CST, 9-14-99 Hi everyone! We're starting this week off with not just one poll - BUT TWO ! The biggest news stories have been the announcement of the Knuckles comic cancellation and the announcement of the PSX2 in the wake of Sega's launch. So today we ask you your views on both issues! Answer the questions on the right and we'll post the results in two weeks! Like A Broken Record... - WB 9:00 pm CST, 9-14-99 After mutilating the record set by Star Wars, The Phantom Menace, Sega today released the final tally of its record launch. The bottom line for the first four days - over $132 million in sales and 372,000 Dreamcast units sold. This was more than the N64's 350,000 units sold over its first six days. Sega said it sold an average of three games per unit, a very solid number. Several retialers reported very strong numbers. For example, Electronics Boutique and Babbages beat their previous sales records, and Toys R Us sold out its Dreamcast units by Friday. "There is simply no comparison to the launch of Sega Dreamcast," said Daniel DeMatteo, president, Babbage's, Etc. "This launch easily surpassed our expectations and we expect consumer demand to get even stronger as we head into the important holiday shopping months." Joseph J. Firestone, President and CEO of EB, commented, "Traditionally, our strongest day of the year coincides with the Christmas holiday. To have sales of this magnitude in September is truly an event. Many of our stores opened at midnight on the 9th and experienced heavy traffic flow. Our Sunset Galleria store in Las Vegas pre-sold more than 700 units, making it our top performing store on the initial release day." Source: Gaming Age So What About The Chaotix? - WB 9:00 pm CST, 9-14-99 Someone brought up a REALLY good point - with Knuckles now being cancelled, where does this leave everyone's favorite Chaotix (not to mention the long lost Charmy Bee) other than comic book limbo? Ken Penders had this to say: Espio still will have his 3-parter in KNUCKLES #30 through 32, and I'm hoping to work in a All-Chaotix SONIC SUPE SPECIAL down the road, very similar in format to the all-female special coming out soon. All I ask is for everyone to have patience. Thanks. So thats all we have to go on. At least an integral part of the Knuckles book isn't lost - namely the Chaotix, but this DOES severely limit thier appearances to a nub. At least it will be a full Super Special which we can look forward to. And at least those aren't in any danger at all. Source: Ken Pender's Message Board Sonic HQ Special: Site News And Apology - WB E-Mail 2:26 am CST, 9-14-99 Sorry for the no-updates yesterday gang. Its really late as I type this so bear with me. The Emu Zone servers were down so we could not access any of the site material, which explains why news wasn't updated. At any rate Andy Wolan has graciously fixed the problem so I'd like to use this space to adress some site news now that we are slowly getting back on track with things, before I hit you all with the barrage of regular news below. ^_^ The Cartoons Page - Our most asked about page: Scheduled to go up on YESTERDAY, server problems hindered this. All that is left is for all 26 RM files to upload to the Emuzone servers. Expect the full release date of our new cartoons page with Anime, Sonic Underground, SatAM, SatAM cartoon downloads, and just about EVERYTHING Sonic cartoon related that we can get our hands on this Wednesday night GUARANTEED. And if its not up on Wednesday send all personal flames here! No jive! >;) Expect some new stuff to be added soon to our overall staff page as well as a "Sonic HQ Mission Statement". Basically the staffers, Vector and I will be preparing a statement about what we're about, what we plan to do, why we created this page was created for the Sonic fanbase and just what you can expect from us in the future. Basically, what our "vision" is all about. Consider it a way of us getting more personal with you. No we're not hiring right now, but who knows what may come in the future. Those of you that have sent in ideas, requests, and whatnot rest assured that I have read your letters Vector and I will be getting back to each and every one of you soon. But I'm already telling you right now - we're not looking to hire just yet >;) After this Friday if things go smoothly, the main Sonic HQ staff email will be re-routed to sonichq@emulationzone.org. For those of you that have our old sonichq@yahoo.com address saved - delete it. We will no longer be using it after this Friday. >;) Thanks to those people that have sent in kind words of encouragement. Its really meant a lot to me be you a staffer or a regular joe that visits here. We check our guestbooks and email periodically so if we don't respond just remember that we're busy and have real lives outside of Sonic too, but we DO try to read everything you say. So keep on sending in those compliments and complaints. And lastly Brian has returned from his two week trip to Disney World. So the Q&A page will be reopening soon. Once cartoons is launched Samanfur and Zachary begin work on the Fleetway page, while Vector and I will be hard at work bringing you the MUCH NEEDED Sonic Games List Revamp AND....THE SONIC ADVENTURE WALKTHROUGH. yes you heard it right. I plan on helping to compile a thorough SA walkthrough from Chao to Chaos to Super Sonic himself! >;) All in all we have A LOT of things planned for you guys and this is just the beginning! Stick with us - the best is yet to come! Your webmasters Jonathan "WB" Gray and J. "Vector" Lazor Sonic Adventure Gets the Gold !!! - Aaron Max E-Mail 2:20 am CST, 9-14-99 It seems that in the latest issue of EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthy #123 - Spider Man on cover) Sonic Adventure is shown as getting the EGM Editor's Choice Gold Awards (which is rivaled only by the Editor's Choice Platinuim Award)! It got a scoring of: 9.5, 9.0, 9.5, 9.5 out of ten possible totals for each review. Two Dreamcast games DID already recieve a Platinuim (Ready 2 Rumble and Soul Calibur). Congratulations on an award well deserved Sonic Team! ^_^ Source: The Sonic Foundation The DC Launch Party Hits Station Square! - WB E-Mail 2:20 am CST, 9-14-99 The DC Launch party has managed to leak into its mascots videogame? Its seems so! Sonic Team celebrates the US Dreamcast launch with a Sonic Adventure download that adds banners and balloons in Station Square. Once you get your Dreamcast internet ready just pop in SA and choose the net option. Follow the links to get the DC launch download (40 blocks are required) Source: Dimension S What If Sonic Ran On Windows 98? - Munkee E-Mail 2:20 am CST, 9-14-99 Not exactly Sonic news, BUT it is Sega related and VERY noteworthy. Ladies and gentlemen - Bill Gates may have his eye on the videogame industry. Take this article for what you will of it, but it seems (believe it or not) that Microsoft may be making their own game system to compete with Sega, Nintendo, and Sony. It is currently codenamed "The X-Box". I try not to make it a habit to put up too many unconfirmed rumors on this newsboard, but this may not be true considering the fact that Microsoft is a big partner with Sega on the Dreamcast. But who knows where Bill gates is concerned. >;) Check it out for yourself and you be the judge: Source: ZD Net Phantasy Phorever - WB E-Mail 2:20 am CST, 9-14-99 Attention RPG fans, in Sonic Team related news, According to videogames.com the new issue of Dreamcast Magazine alludes to the fourth project from Sonic Team. It will supposedly be an online version based on a revitalization of the old Genesis Phantasy Star RPG series. Hmm...that would mean Dreamcast would be the first system with a sci-fi based RPG, in fact with TWO sci-fi RPGs with Turbine Entertainment (the guys behind the up and coming Asheron's Call) creating one with SoA. We'll know for sure if Phantasy Star Online is definitely coming in a couple of weeks. Source: Dimension S New Sonic Comics On Auction - WB E-Mail 2:20 am CST, 9-14-99 In addition to the bunch we posted last week, Ebay.com has posted NEW Sonic comics for auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161785857 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161813856 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161830238 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161849824 Minimum bid is $7.95 for each one, and #2 has that on it already Source: Sonic Comic Mailing List Suneet At DC Launch Party - Rlan E-Mail 2:26 pm CST, 9-12-99 On September 8th, Suneet Shah visited the DC Launch Party in San Jose, and he has a huge report about it at his site, The Sonic Zone. Click here to read it. Source: The Sonic Zone NiGHTS 2 Confirmed - Rlan E-Mail 1:48 pm CST, 9-12-99 In an interview in the latest issue of the Official Dreamcast Magazine, Naka confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt what many have suspected since the release of Sonic Adventure, which contained more than a few instances of foreshadowing. Nights 2 is coming to Dreamcast. Source: DC.IGN.COM Follow Up: Knuckles Cancellation - WB 7:30 pm CST, 9-11-99 After someone made a rather mad post about the cancellation of Knuckles (news report below), Ken Penders had this to say: Poster: How do I get my money back? I just renewed my Knuckles subscription using the 12 issue subscription form and I sure as heck am not going to pay for no product. : Paying extra to support the Knuckles comic doesn't bother me, but there is a difference between paying $16 for 12 issues and paying $16 for 3. Ken Penders: In the event of a cancellation, Archie will either refund your money or ask if you wish to transfer the subsubscription to SONIC. NOW BEFORE YOU OR ANYONE ELSE JUMPS OFF THE DEEP END.... ...PLEASE PAY ATTENTION. I said the BOOK was getting cancelled. I DIDN'T SAY IT WAS THE LAST OF KNUCKLES. For one thing, the stories that were scheduled for KNUCKLES #33 through #35 WILL BE APPEARING in SONIC #79 through 85! Same stories, same characters, same writer, just different book, okay? The story scheduled for KNUCKLES #36 WILL BE APPEARING in the SONIC SUPER SPECIAL #14. Stories I HAD PLANNED for FUTURE KNUCKLES KNUCKLES ISSUES WILL BE APPEARING in an altered form in the back of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG BEGINNING WITH ISSUE #86. Instead of going around saying KNUCKLES is dead, how about acknowledging we're still in there fighting the good fight and keeping the series going, albeit in a different format? Acting like Chicken Little does no one any good. This is not Orwellian speak coming from me. I stated the facts plain and clear, so let's not distort them any further, okay? Well thats reassuring somewhat. It means that while Karl Bollers will still be doing the front, Ken Penders will have complete control over the back, doing the previously planned Knuckles material. It will be interesting to see how this will affect the Sonic series as a whole after issue 86....Its still not reassuring concidering the Knuckles book has been cancelled since its been a favorite since it came out, but at least the subscription bit is cleared up. We'll post more on this information as we find out. Remember - if you have any questions post them to Ken Penders MB linked below. Source: Ken Penders Message Board Knuckles Base Emblem - WB 6 pm CST, 9-11-99 Check out the sculpted base for the upcoming Knuckles figure from the ReSaurus Sonic Adventure line. These figures are expected to hit stores in November and each comes with its own unique base. Stay tuned for more Sonic news! And remember to go get your Dreamcast this week! We can't wait! Bring on Sonic! Source: Resaurus Toys Sonic the Hedgehog - The Action Figure! - Tim 6 pm CST, 9-11-99 What does everyone want to see? A picture of the proto type Sonic the Hedgehog action figure! Thanks goes to tSf (Sonic Foundation), for digging up this pic: Personally, I think it came out good, but it needs some work. Sonic's shoes could be a little bit bigger, and something about his head looks kinda weird, but other than that, it looks way past cool! Source: The Sonic Foundation And Resaurus Toys Sad News Knuckles Fans - WB 6 pm CST, 9-11-99 As of Knuckles #32 - The comic book Knuckles The Echidna has officially been cancelled. Coming straight from Mr. Penders, this is what he had to say on the subject of the cancellation, the Sonic Adventure crossover, and the future of the Sonic Super Specials. Sadly, the KNUCKLES series will end for now as of issue #32. The good news is that he isn't going away. The material developed for issues #33 through #35 as part of the SONIC ADVENTURE game adaptation will be appearing in the pages of SONIC starting with issue #79 of that series. The story scheduled for KNUCKLES #36 will now appear in SONIC SUPER SPECIAL #14, which then leads into the KNUCKLES 8-page back-up series that begins in SONIC #86. It'll be a regular feature for the forseeable future, unless sales of the last few issues show enough of an upward climb to encourage Archie to restore Knuckles to his own series once again. At this point, KNUCKLES: TWENTY YEARS LATER will appear in SONIC SUPER SPECIAL #16. If there is further news, please refer to this website, as i will keep everyone updated with the latest developments. So what does this mean? It means that ONCE AGAIN we're gonna have backup stories in the Sonic book in the near future >:| How this will affect the coherency of the SA crossover is another thing but lets not get into now. It seems that the specials aren't in any danger, but at the same time we're back at square one. So what does this mean for those that have renewed thier subscriptions for the book? Well, we're not really sure yet. Someone asked Mr. Penders as this newsbyte was just released but he hasn't responded yet. If you have any questions we suggest that you post them on Mr. Penders board located below. Source: Ken Penders Message Board DC European Launch Titles: 14/10/99 - DocZac 5PM GMT, 9-11-99 Here are the titles for the Dreamcast launch in Europe and UK, 14/10/99 (and four to be launched soon after, indicated by their release date): Dynamite Cop House of the Dead 2 (29/10) Incoming Ready 2 Rumble Red Dog (12/11) Sega Bass Fishing (5/11) Sega Rally 2 Snow Surfers (12/11) Sonic Adventure Toy Commander Virtua Fighter 3TB Fan Movie Voices Needed! - Holli E-Mail 1:51 am CST, 9-11-99 There may be a shortage of voice actors for the fan-made Sonic movie, A Super Sonic Destiny (Page down until after September 20th). If you're interested in joining the cast, please email RazorG about available roles. Sonic HQ RA News - Tristan 5:35 pm CST, 9-10-99 Here I am, with the first Sonic HQ RA News. Yes, this was to be done yesterday; we weren't hit by the 9.9.99 bug, instead I got bitten by the "Back To School" bug, so that, combined with the existing hectic activity here at the HQ caused a delay. But it's here, and you need RealPlayer 5.0 to get in on the listening. Get it here. Please note, the location is on Wheres, is under 2 megs, and I should have a streaming version ready by tomorrow. Also, in the actual broadcast, there is no music (however, we should have a theme composed by Ergon soon), no script, so there may be a few pauses, and is being done in conjunction with my site, TSSZ, so I am not forced to do double duty. Enjoy. Mystery Of The Defective Dreamcasts Solved - WB 4:30 pm CST, 9-10-99 As announced by Tristan, one of HQ's news reporters, the mystery of the defective dreamcasts popping up all over the country has finally been figured out and is NOT located only in California as I so wrongly pointed out yesterday. Here is IGN.com with the full story and what to do should you have a defective DC, web browser, and/or game: Among the thousands of insanely pleased e-mails from new Dreamcast owners across the country, we've also seen a trickle of reports that indicate all is not well in launch land. Reports of everything from consoles overheating to titles refusing to boot at all have made their way to various sites across the web, so we decided to dig a little deeper into the situation and give you guys the full story. Charles Bellfield, Director of Marketing Communications for Sega of America, was kind enough to give us a call and fill us in, and while he admits the DC launch has hit a few snags, the problem is not what many are making it out to be, and has also provided multiple solutions for replacing faulty materials. The problem apparently stems from a faulty software run, which has been isolated to product shipped from a single distribution house. Several first-run titles, including small numbers of Sonic Adventure, Blue Stinger, Ready 2 Rumble, Hydro Thunder, and in particular, the Dreamcast Web Browser, have had issues booting up, but Sega insists it's not a hardware issue. Additionally, Sega is on top of the problem, offering numerous solutions to DC owners. Said Bellfield, "As part of our commitment to our consumers. Any software that does not boot, will be replaced at the retailer where the title was purchased." As for the web browser, Sega has several outlets to replace faulty disks, including: E-mail support@sega.com, with the subject line "DC web browser," including in the mail body your name, address and phone number, and Sega will send a new one out by Monday or Tuesday. Or, call 1-800-USA-Sega. An operator can then take your information and send out a disk directly. There will also be an additional toll-free number sent out to help deal with the volume of calls. Sega will be releasing the number shortly. Lastly, consumers can go to Sega.com and fill out a customer support form in the Help section. Sega was quick to emphasize that the problem is software related, and that gamers should not return hardware units without first investigating the known software issues associated with the Midnight Madness shipment. We'll keep you posted should any more information surface. Hope this helps anyone that was having problems. Source: IGN Dreamcast Ken Penders Running The Archie Letters Page - WB 4:30 pm CST, 9-10-99 Ken Penders, premier Archie Knuckles The Echidna writer, had this to say concerning the letters page on the comics of Knuckles and Sonic Super Special: I may be foolish for doing this, but I am going to be handling the letters pages for every issue of KNUCKLES and SONIC SUPER SPECIAL from now on. That means if you send your thoughts, comments and questions to me via either posting it on this board (link located below) or e-mailing directly to me at KenPenders@aol.com, I'll select the best ones and include them on the page. As of now, I'm putting together the column for KNUCKLES #31, which will feature comments concerning KNUCKLES #27. I need to have it completed by Saturday, so you have until noon Saturday, September 11, to submit your comments. If more than one ask the same question(s), I may batch them together so more people get mentioned, so please also list your city, state and age to make my job easier. Thanks. So Ken controls the letter pages now. The link to Mr. Penders board is located below if you wish to make input on the comics for letters page from now on. This probably wont make Archie Comics email addy obselete, but this is probably a better way of trying to get your letter in the comic as this is the writer himself doing it. Source: Ken Penders Message Board Dreams Come Forth And Dreams Delayed - WB 4 pm CST, 9-7-99 Ladies and gentlemen - 9.9.99 HAS ARRIVED !!!! Whereas some places may have been delayed as Tristan reported, some places DID get thier entire DC lineup in time. I just got back from my local babbages to pick up a Dreamcast, VMU, Sonic Adventure and a copy of Power Stone. I'll post my first impressions of the game along with any other news tonight after I'm through wasting my mind away on the DC! ^_^ In other news, confirming the scarreed 9.9.99 release date Gamefan had this to report: What happened?! Early Dreamcast adopters in the Southern California area were in for quite a surprise after waiting in line for the 128-bit super system this morning. Nine out of the ten retail stores we contacted (ranging from Toys R Us to Software Etc...) still have not received any first-party titles or peripherals. While shipments are rumored to arrive later today, the reason for the delay is still not known. For those in that area - sorry you had to get delayed for a day, but for those NOT in that area, what are you waiting for? Go get your Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure! The wait is over... Dreams Defected? - WB 4 pm CST, 9-7-99 Whats going on? Are defective dreamcast systems popping out on the long awaited launch date? Gaming Age recently had this to report going from other peoples testimonies... Click here to take a look. Sonic Comic Auctions On eBay - WB 8:40 pm CST, 9-8-99 eBay.com, a premier net auctioning website has just placed several hard to find Sonic comic books for auction. The list of comics as well as links to actual auctioning sites is as follows: Sonic #1: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=158908980 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=156728375 Knuckles Dark Legion #1-2: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=157132159 Sonic & Knuckles: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=157135174 Triple Trouble: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=157137464 Sonic #22 & 46, Knuckles #18 & 46 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=158355297 Sonic #11: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=157262008 Sonic #3 (original miniseries) and #22: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=159948324 Source: Sonic Comic Mailing List BREAKING NEWS: 9.9.99 COULD BE SPOILED - Tristan 6 pm EST, 9-8-99 Sonic HQ News has learned via the DC Tech Pages that some stores have NOT RECEIVED THEIR DC SYSTEM AND GAME SHIPMENTS!!! This could mean serious problems for some people across the country, as for a pinpoint location, I really don't know, as this seems to be widespread. I've heard reports of some retailers getting the DC as late as Friday afternoon! Stay to Sonic HQ News as tomorrow could become a spoiled launch day for many. UK Dreamcast Media - DocZac 9 pm GMT, 9-8-99 Tomorrow is the big day for all you lucky Americans-- unless you've been living under a rock for five years, you should know that 9/9/99 (tomorrow) is the day of the American release of the Sega Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure! Unfortunately it's not all that simple for those of us who live in Europe. Here DC and SA don't get released until 14th of October-- that's over a month away! However, there is already media building up on the DC launch. For example, there are various new DC mags, such as the official one (the preview issue of which is almost identical to the US version, only not quite as many features), with a special DC preview video; and others such as DC-UK and DC Monthly. All that is said about SA is that it's coming our way! ^_^ Also, there was recently a special DC launch in London this last weekend, to which many big stars (don't ask me who; I haven't a clue) turned up to try it out. The main attraction of the DC is, apparently, its internet capiabilities, rather than its amazing 128-bit specifications! ^_^ Sonic Adventure Review - WB 3 pm CST, 9-8-99 IGN.com has placed a very interesting final review of the American version of Sonic Adventure on thier website and its not all happy. Going indepth about the good points as well as bad points in the game, click here to read it. Source: IGN.com Sonic HQ: New Webmasters - WB And Vector 12 am CST, 9-7-99 Hi all! For those of you that don't know, Zifei resigned as president of Sonic HQ. Taking his place will be the new joint webmasters WB and Vector! No big changes are planned for HQ (we like it how it is for now) so we are FINALLY back on regular update status. For the time being, the news page will be maintained by WB, Tristan, and Zac! Vector and I hope that you all will be patient with us as we settle into this new position and I hope that we can be everything that you all expect us to be. Thank you for your time - lets get on with the news! ^_^ SegaSonic Sweepstakes - Win A Dreamcast! - WB 12 am CST, 9-7-99 Sega.com begun a Sonic Trivia contest today, with the Grand Prize Winner getting a free Sega Dreamcast unit and a copy of Sonic Adventure. The nine runners-up will receive a copy of a Sonic Adventure game. So if you can answer questions like "What two new characters appear in Sonic Adventure?", and "Tails uses his two tails for which purpose?" then why not click here to enter. Source: Sega Of America More European DC Delays? - WB 12 am CST, 9-7-99 Word has been sweeping around trade show floors in both England and Germany that Sega could delay Dreamcast in Europe again. At a recent trade show in Berlin, Germany, industry scuttlebutt towards a second delay for Dreamcast in Europe began to surface. On August 27, the company announced that Dreamcast would not meet its European launch date of September 23, instead being pushed back to mid-October release. As if that wasn't bad enough for hungry European Sega fans, many people are now preparing themselves for another delay, this time until November. Speaking about a second delay for Sega's live-or-die console, one ECTS attendee said, "The rumors began in Berlin and it wouldn't surprise me if Dreamcast slipped again in Europe." However, Sega says it still expects to launch on October 14. Source: FGN Online Japan Finally Gets Sonic Blast! - WB 12 am CST, 9-7-99 Although reported that Travellers' Tales produced Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (once again, that's Sonic 3D Blast to us Americans) was released on January 14th in the Land of the Rising Sun, it turns out that it's only just about to hit. The new date is set on October 14th, meaning it'll ship simultaneously with Sonic Adventure: International. S3D:FI hit the shelves with a retail price of ¥3800, and will be the last in-house Saturn game released in Japan. Source: Neo Green Hill Zone Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie - WB 12 am CST, 9-7-99 The famous Japanese Sonic anime has finally been released in stores as of today! You can pick up a copy of it at any Suncoast Motion Picture Company, Electronics Boutique or Babbages at your local mall. While the animation is on par with Sonic CD's anime intro's needless to say, the voice acting is getting mixed reviews. One Sonic HQ person quaintly described the voices like this: "Imagine Tails voice as a young kid with a snotty cold" Sad to say - that statement is very true... Dreamcast Destroys Star Wars? - WB 12 am CST, 9-7-99 Sega announced today their anticipated early sales records for the Dreamcast. It is currently predicted that the system will generate nearly $45 million in sales within its first 24 hours of availability, breaking the previous record set by Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The George Lucas epic managed to take in $28 million in its first days in the theater in May of 1999. Peter Moore, senior vice president (and apparently the company spokesperson since Bernie Stolar's departure), had this to say. "Sega Dreamcast is making video game history with a long string of firsts and superlatives. Topping the retail sales record set by a movie as celebrated as Star Wars: The Phantom Menace would prove that all the hard work over the past years to get the right retailers, third party publishers and technology partners on the board has paid off in spades." Source: IGN.com T-Minus 36 Hours -Tristan 12 pm EST, 9-7-99 We're 36 hours and counting to the Dreamcast launch. Stay with Sonic HQ News for the latest information and coverage of the big launch come 9.9.99. SU in Canada - Mike Deckard E-Mail 6:00 pm CST, 9-5-99 SU will be shown in Canada on Teletoon beginning Monday @ 5:30. Check out the show's listing here. Teletoon, being a Canadian Specialty Cable Channel, would only be available in the U.S. to people with satellite dishes. SU, combined with a series adaption of Brian Jaques 'Redwall' books, should make for Teletoon's best season since its founding two years ago. Zifei Resigns - Tristan 3:30 am CST, 9-4-99 It's a sad day here at Sonic HQ; for Zifei has resigned as President of Sonic HQ. Taking his place will be Tony. Sonic Saga Press Release - Tristan 9:45 am CST, 9-3-99 You can read the article here, but here's what's in it in a nutshell: Several jobs have been cut, and Dash says that the comic will be of top quality from here on in. Penders: "SU Was Doomed from the Get-Go" - Tristan 9:45 am CST, 9-3-99 This was bound to happen. First some of the Sonic site webmasters call this latest Sonic cartoon incarnation terrible, now Ken Penders has gone on record saying it as well: If anyone wants to know where to point blame regarding SU, one need look in the direction of the producers of the series. They're the real villains of this piece. Sega wanted to have a SONIC cartoon on the air, and in order to do that, they either had to go along with the program at DiC or it just wouldn't have happened. Subsequently, lots of decisions were made for all the wrong reasons. I myself know a lot of what really happened, but I can't say yet because of promises made. There's always the chance some other Sonic cartoon will emerge again, because if there is a demand waiting to be filled, someone will always seek to capitalize on it. If you like SU, fine. If you don't, that's understandable. These are pretty strong words, and that combined with all the negative feedback from fans means it's no wonder SU is at an "Off the Air" status in the UK. The Full Story About SU - Vector 1:07 pm CST, 9-2-99 The release of SU has been rather confusing, thanks to numerous delays and the fact that it doesn't seem to be showing on the same time and channel in any 2 areas. I'm hoping to clear things up with this report. First, SU is not part of a network. When we say that it's showing on WB or UPN, we mean that it's usually on a local station that is affiliated with one of those networks. Those stations have more open areas in their schedule than a station affiliated with a larger network. SU could show up on a Fox station or a fully independent station, but we've heard no reports of this happening so far. It seems that the long delay in the United States was caused by Sonic Underground's distributor, Bohbot Entertainment. Bohbot wanted to make SU part of a 2-hour block of programs called BKN2. BKN1 ("action shows" marketed to older boys) and BKN2 (shows with less action, marketed to girls and younger boys) were supposed to be sold to competing local stations in the same time slot. Apparently, things haven't worked out exactly as they planned. Personally, I think this was a stupid idea, because real people's tastes aren't predicted so easily by stereotypes. Fortunately, it seems that SU is showing up in some places on its own, so Bohbot may be allowing stations to buy shows individually, instead of forcing them to buy the entire block. As Zifei mentioned earlier, you really have to check your local listings to find the show. You can find searchable listings at msn.com, go.com, ultimatetv.com, and tvguide.com. Many (if not most) areas don't seem to be getting SU yet, but that may change in the next month. SU May Return - Vector 1:06 pm CST, 9-2-99 Dr. Zac told us today that he didn't mean SU was cancelled in the UK, but just off the air. He has a feeling that it's not gone... just in the rotation. More SA Toys! - Zifei 9:12 pm CST, 9-1-99 ReSaurus today released 2 more conceptual designs of the upcoming Sonic Adventure toys. Here are Sonic and Knuckles. SA International. - Zifei 9:11 pm CST, 9-1-99 As it turns out, one of the four games Sonic Team announced will be none other than Sonic Adventure: International (American, European versions). This means there will only be one unknown game to be announced (the other 2 are Neo Geo Sonic and NiGHTS 2). Sonic & Sally Poll. - Zifei 9:09 pm CST, 9-1-99 Remember the Sally/Sonic poll Archie asked for on their website sometimes ago? Well, here are the results directly from Ken Penders thanks to Rick 2Tails: I talked to Ken on the phone yesterday & he said the results were roughly 50% to keep the status quo, a little over 25% for Sonic & Sally to marry, & a little under 25% for them to split up. Well, so that's that... More On SU. - Zifei 8:59 pm CST, 9-1-99 Dr. Zac is telling us that Sonic Underground is being canned in the UK. The only possible reason is its poor rating. Mettle Sonic is telling us that Sonic Underground will be showing up in Canada soon. Return to Top

Sonic News Press Welcome to the best Sonic news source on the net, this page will be updated everyday. Please email WB or Tristan if you have any new news to report. As a rule, you must give us a link credit if you want to take news reported by us. Thank you. Sonic Comics Poll - Karl Bollers We've passed the landmark 75th issue: What do you think so far of Karl Bollers' stint as new writer for the Sonic Comics? I like it! He's made some good changes and advanced plot well. I hate it! He's made bad changes and hasn't advanced plot well. Its OK. It could be better if he worked on it a lot more and made some changes. Results Sonic Gaming Poll - Anticipated Games? If you had your choice of a new Sonic game, what would it be? Sonic RPG - A true Sonic role playing game with a full cast of characters from all Sonic genres Sonic Jam 2 - Complete Knuckles Chaotix, Playable Sonic Crackers demo, Playable Sonic XTreme Demo, and any other good Sonic game stuff! Sonic R 2 - A sequel to the Sonic racing game done right and in the DC style! Sonic Championship 2 - An updated DC Sonic fighting game from AM2 (makers of the first one) Sonic "2D" - A new Sonic game in the old roots of 2D! Bigger than Sonic CD, with the whole works added! "Sonic Party" - A new Sonic party game in the vien of Mario Party Sonic Sports - A Sonic themed sports game for DC Results

All news are from sources of Sonic HQ or Sonic HQ itself. Sonic HQ must be given credit if you want to use the news for your page.

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