It must be decided

We should probably ignmore the CD zone names though, as they break "tradition" at every turn.

EDIT: But yeah, I agree.

 

It is now =D

 

What do those names have that Hydrocity doesn't? A space. And anyway, you wouldn't find Palmtree in a dictionary either.

 

Firestorm, I think you just argued both sides in a single sentence (no space in "HYDROCITY", but they use "palmtree" despite it actually being known as "palm tree") but that is beside the point.

Again, Sonic CD should be taken with a grain of salt, as ALL of the Zone names are fucked up. I think the only one in the entire game that makes any sense is "Stardust Speedway".

 

I did. It doesn't really matter what it's called.

 

Ahhhh I see what you did there. Clever, you rascal you.

 

Doomsday zone is another non-place name.

The only zone I can think of with a somewhat made-up name is Sandopolis, but that doesn't really count.


Also note that in many (if not all) dictionaries, "palm_tree" does appear, albeit as two words that act as one. For example:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=palm%20tree

 

I've always called it Hydrocity instead of Hydro City, just becase that's what my neighbor called it whenever I was at his house playing his Genesis. I tend to agree with him, but in no way do I consider my reasons definitive.

But my reasons are as follows:

Although this point has already been mulled over in this topic (and whether it be convention, or a typo, or whatever) there is no space between "Hydro" and "city." With Palmtree Panic, or Stardust Speedway, there is little room for varied pronunciations as the separate words are divided by hard consonants. Hydrocity is not as patent. There were spaces in all other Sonic 3 title cards; if "Hydro City" was meant to be definitive, they could have easily made it so. (And I do realize "hydro" on its own is not a word, but I don't believe to be too out of place for it to stand alone in this situation)

Moreover, the zone backdrop is kind of a stretch to call a city. It's more of a temple than anything else. Because of that, I lean away from calling it a water city and prefer the alternate pronunciation. Although, I don't consider "hydrocity" to be a combination the prefix "hydro" and the word "velocity" as much as I consider it a play on the two. I look at it the same way that I do for Sandopolis Zone.

These reasons joined with the fact that I think "High-Dross-It-E" sounds better lead me to pronounce it that way. However, both sides require a certain assumptions and, in turn, speculation based almost solely on those assumptions to make their points. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference.

 

...C'mon people. It makes perfect sense to be called "Hydrocity". Its the same as:
Sandopolis
Gigapolis
Eggmanland
Robotropolis

Also "Hydro City" sounds boring and retarded. So Hydrocity FTW.

 

Ironically enough, all of your examples are those with names that would be related to a city (-polis coming from the word "metropolis", another zone name interestingly enough, and -land, a common theme park and/or residential suffix)

 

Well, I noticed something earlier while going through my Comics. In issue #116 of Sonic the Hedgehog, in the third story in the issue called "Ultimate Power", Locke (Knuckles' Dad, for those of you who don't read the comics) mentions to some invaders who are after energy and have trespassed in the Chaos Chamber that if they need power, they should probably go try the Solar Cells in "Hydro City". Dunno if it matters or not since this is from the comics, but Locke clearely says "Hydro City", with a space between Hydro and City.

 

:P

 

Has any of you people read the manual? Tried to hack a space into there? Ever thought you can't fit a space in there?

Its such a silly thing to fight about.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

I repeat, the four examples given defeat their own argument. While they are written as one word, they ALL are involved with something related to being a city or complex of sorts, making "Hydro City" the more plausible pronunciation in that case.

...anyone thought of asking the production team what it was called around the office?

 

I'd guess it'd be something like "the water level".

 

Hydrocity sounds like a drunk guy trying to sound smart by making up words. Hydro City makes sense, too. The zone's full of water, water=hydro, city=large, populous area. There's no space in ICZ, but does that mean we should call it "Ick Ekap?". Hell no, look at the zone, it makes sense for both cases.
ICZ=large area of ice, an ice cap.
HCZ=full of water (hydro), well, the city part's kind of self-explanatory.
And for all the people that say it the other way, why do you think everyone abbreviates it as HCZ if it's one word?

 

It's not a city though.

 

Definitions given for the word "City":
City (courtesy of Dictionary.com)
City (courtesy of Webster.com)
City (courtesy of Encarta.com)
City (courtesy of Britannica.com)

Maybe the slang definition gives sense to why the production team (or whoever named the zone) gave the zone that part of the place name. Even though the zone doesn't look like a city (in the sense of having police stations, fire stations, a city hall, etc.) perhaps "city" implies a vast amount of water, and only in that extent.

So "hydro" is the adjective to the noun "city" (used in a slang term). This wouldn't sound farfetched, given that this game was originally intended for a young* audience.

Although, this slang use of the word "city" cannot be found on the online version of the Oxford dictionary.
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*young refering to children or teenagers...based solely on my opinion, not hard facts.