Either they adopted that art internally in Advance for no real reason (makes sense that they would use an old unused design), or they just grabbed the nearest concept that could possibly represent the X Zone in SPP.
So, I was browsing a forum topic with video game trivia. Someone posted about the fact that the monitors in Sonic 1/2/CD, Sonic 3, and Sonic 4 are designed with a style appropriate for the game's time. Sonic 3's monitors are none other than early-90's Macintosh Color Classic monitors! My jaw hit the floor with that. Oh, that reminds me. In the same thread, there was mention of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQk7helyXYQ A secret "raft-platform" in the beginning of Sonic 2's ARZ2. Apparently, half of the people who played the game know about it, but the other half were just flabbergasted. I know I was.
I don't think this can be completely concluded. The only common features are the slot-loading drive and the icon. If the item-box were exactly the same, then why doesn't the Mac have the same unidentified protrusions at its base and near its middle? The comparison is rather tenuous. Was the Classic the only computer of that era that was a lofty white monolith? I don't think I ever noticed the raft, and maybe not even the fact that the platform could fall. derp
Wat. Well, fuck me. I did not know that. But then, I usually just spindash straight into the water and make no effort to stay on the high path (or at least make a failed effort on occasion).
Actually, if the leaked devkit documentation is anything to go by, at that point Sega had Macs as part of the devkit pipeline. I wouldn't be surprised if the artist just looked at a Mac monitor they were using to make the new sprites.
The Colour Classic was released in 1993, which was during the production time of Sonic 3 but I would say it's an odd choice to use for video game development, they weren't very powerful compared to other Macs available at the time.
Perhaps that is why they weren't being used as computers in-game; they could have been re-purposed to act the way they do during the game.
Okay, so nobody knew about the ARZ platform... but everybody knows about the one in OOZ that does the exact same thing, right?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKHkHXDhtBc&feature=related[/youtube] 33 seconds in [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODAE3D9Md_I[/youtube] 48 seconds in not to mention http://bit.ly/a55zSN and http://bit.ly/yy1tfZ (forum wont let me post another link) BioWare's finest.
Hmm guess bioware WAS taking ques from old game music just didn't do a proper follow through. good find. Can someone tell me if any of this obscure knowledge gets put on the wiki?
90% of the songs in Sonic Chronicles are conversions of ancient MIDIs made by Sonic fans, no less. Typically it's the first MIDI listed for the song in question over at vgmusic.com. This one is no exception, it seems to be a modification of this MIDI made by John Weeks aka EspioKaos, from 1998. There are much more blatant examples. EDIT: derp
That I would've paid to see! The Sonic 3 developers jumping on expensive mac computers in the name of SCIENCE RESEARCH!
I meant to say re-purposed in-universe, as in Robotnik-Did-It. What you said was hilarious though lol
Do you think a MacBook is big enough to possibly have hidden goodies inside? I think with how many components of my one are broken now, it's worth the risk. :v: