The Supreme Topic of 'Other' Knowledge.

Surprised no one posted this here but.... seems that Yuji Naka found an old VHS with some making of Sonic 1 footage. He seems pretty excited but people doesnt seem to care?

https://xcancel.com/nakayuji/status/1007978630209654785

 

I hope he posts it! I mean, a clip from 1990... That could be an interesting clip indeed

 

I think half of the reason people "don't seem to care" about it is that there's a good chance we're not gonna see that clip for a good while. I'd really like to be proven wrong, but you know how it is.

On another note, I decided to translate the character profiles from the March 2006 Sonic 06 doc today. I know the doc already has English versions of those profiles, but I found that a lot of them skimmed over a few things, such as Blaze having a Takarazuka-like costume in particular. Mephiles's English profile was also messed up big time, which is probably the fault of a hasty translation. I should probably mention that these profiles can and will differ slightly from the profiles listed in the strategy guides, Sonic Channel, or, say, Shadow's profile in an excerpt Maekawa posted on Twitter a while back.

Also, now's a good time to bring up that while Eggman's Japanese profile does have the word "feminist," it's important to know that the word usually means "one who indulges women" in Japanese rather than what you'd normally think a feminist is. So that one Heroes manual was correct about Eggman being a feminist all along. Just not the kind we all thought he was.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4Wgqqi5uj8

Kids can you write this stuff down on our wiki - I just don't have the time to maintain everything myself, and Mr. Burton has put out loads of wonderful things over the last few months.

 

Lol he had to change the thumbnail after people got pissed off at his use of ugandan Knuckles :v:

 

Which he changed to the Sonic R box art with added googly eyes, and then later to... Yasuhara's original level map for Regal Ruin???

I mean, that's definitely his handwriting, and the game does credit him for level design, but I never put two and two together and realized there'd be hand-drawn level maps floating around somewhere, much like we've seen for Sonic X-Treme.

We should uh, make it a point to acquire those.

 

Today I finally got around to making my own translation of the 2006 Shiro Maekawa interview, as the one that's currently floating around the Internet isn't really that great. This is probably not the only interview from the Creators Interview section I'll work on, because I want to see what Uekawa has to say.

Speaking of more Maekawa stuff, apparently he and some other peeps are going to appear on Emi Jones's 27th anni stream which will be on her YouTube channel and you will get to ask him questions. If you ever wanted to ask him something, now would be a good time.

 

Excellent work as always Windii! Really enjoyed reading that.

 

Well, Emi Jones's interview with Maekawa had just ended on her stream, and he gave a lot of interesting answers. I'll list them out now:

Spoiler

• "What defines the character of Sonic for you and how does it affect the story?"
  He said Sonic has almost no weaknesses, so it is difficult to place him as a dramatic protagonist as he doesn't get into tough predicaments often. That was the difficult part.
• "What would you change if you had to in the story of SA2?"
  He wouldn't change the storyline, but there are some scenes that he regrets were cut.
• "What if you had a chance to write a new Sonic story?"
  Looking back about 10 years after leaving SEGA, he thought working on Sonic was a nice time.
• "Are there any solid key points about the portrayal of characters other than Sonic?"
  A template exists for what the characters think, what they like, and their tone of voice. So even if the game is different, the characters should not swerve off course. Each game has a person who supervises it, and Maekawa was one of those who had that role.
  
• "Do you prefer to have the stages and build the story from there, or do you prefer to build the story first?"
  After all is said and done, as a story writer, he believes a better story is created when the story comes first.
• "Some people think Sonic doesn't need a story, what do you think about that?"
  It makes him feel a little sad, but he knows there are people who believe that running through the stages comfortably is good enough. He has tried to depict stories that will remain in the hearts of such people. He wonders if there are fewer and fewer people who think stories are important.
• "Do you have any advice for the people who are going to write Sonic stories from this point on?"
  He wants them to be free to take new risks and challenge new kinds of storytelling without being bound by the Sonic of the past, because he has written unconventional stories himself that exceeded players' expectations.
• "Which is your favorite story you have ever written and why?"
  The one he is most attached to is, at the end of the day, the first one he wrote, Sonic Adventure 2.
• "What was the most difficult stage to design?"
  Sky Deck from Sonic Adventure!
• "How did Sonic 06's scenario writing process go?"
  Producer Nakamura has asked him to write a story similar to SA2.
  The conditions were that the character Silver must come from the future with psychic powers, and for there to be Silver, Sonic, and Shadow stories. Silver's model is Trunks from Dragon Ball. Maekawa decided on the structure of the scenes and wrote the key lines. Yoshimura Kiyoko wrote in the details.
• "What was it like to write Sonic X plots?"
  He was in the U.S. at the time and not really involved. He was in charge of checking the scripts sent from the Japanese side. In Season 2 (Metarex), he was more involved and had weekly meetings with the scriptwriters upon returning to Japan. He is pretty sure Dark Sonic was Director Kamegaki's "auspices." Maekawa was mainly involved in the main storyline ideas and the setting. He remembers that they couldn't quite decide on what the Metarex wanted to do with the universe, so they decided on their purpose and true identity while looking at a nearby bamboo thicket at a boarding house.
• "What was the challenge in writing the scripts for the Storybook series?"
  The base plot for Secret Rings was written by Maekawa, but Director Ogawa rewrote about half of it. There was a lot of shilly-shallying between the two. For Black Knight, he got to write more or less as he liked. His one regret is that Caliburn was a girl in the initial design docs. He was surprised to hear the change later.
  
• "What are your hobbies, likes, etc.?"
  His hobbies are eating good food, drinking booze, and he also likes board games. He's addicted to Dominion.
  
• "Have you written stories for a game other than Sonic?"
  He hasn't written much.
  
• "Who are your favorite Sonic friends?"
  He likes Team Chaotix. He enjoyed writing the conversations between Vector, Espio, and Charmy. Charmy is his favorite member of the team. If given the chance, he would write a new Team Chaotix story.
• "What made you happiest in writing Sonic stories? What was your most memorable moment?"
  He likes the story of Black Knight, although it is simple. He was able to put the themes he wanted to convey in a short story. After the game was released, his own wife was the first to praise the story when she saw him playing it.
• "What was difficult in writing Sonic?"
  SA2's story was a difficult one to write, so to say it was memorable is an understatement.
  The story of Sonic 06 was complicated, and when he finished it, he felt as if he had solved a puzzle.
• "Which episode of Sonic X were you most involved in?"
  Sonic X had separate scriptwriters, and in Season 1, he was just an idea developer. He wasn't involved in any particular episode, but he was involved a lot in season 2, especially in the Chaotix scenes.
  
• "Are there any manga or anime that have influenced you?"
  There are so many that he can't even count them. But the works of Miyazaki Hayao influenced him in particular. He especially likes Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Also Beautiful Dreamer and Ghost in the Shell by Oshii Mamoru.

 

Okay, for some reason I got a security warning from my browser (Chrome) when I tried to visit this page? Something about a "r.a.p.t.r.c.o.m" (added periods to avoid directly stating the site in question if it is indeed dangerous) and that site/this page being a phishing site that can steal your information? Anyone else received this?

 

Strange. Nothing shows up for me, and I'm using Chrome.

Also, I just edited the Sonic X part in my post about Maekawa's answers yesterday. When he was talking about having more involvement in season 2, he meant the Metarex arc. He didn't know it was considered season 3 outside Japan.

 

Any ideas?

 

I don't know why this was done either, and then when Funimation did box sets they ended up with five seasons.

 

I'm getting it too. Running Chrome here.

It might have something to do with ashthedragon's signature, as that seems to link to the site on the security warning page.

 

I also got this notification. Should this be escalated as it affects forum use?

 

I'm also having this problem whenever I try to view this page and I also use Google Chrome. When the warning popped up it scared the crap out of me honestly and I exited from the page quickly.

 

I was taking a gander through a few more JP magazines when I noticed this bit in an article that focused on Sonic Jam;



According to the text above, Knuckles' design at first was Dinosaur-like. This was due to Jurassic Park causing a surge in the popularity of Dinosaurs at the time. The design was further refined by Yuda. I do wonder what Dino!Knuckles looked like

 

Maybe something like... Espio?