The Supreme Topic of 'Other' Knowledge.

I was referring to having a dedicated CPU to run all sound functions; the UFO Catcher board doesn't seem to have any other CPU besides the one Z80, so I assume it's running the entire UFO Catcher in addition to driving the 3438, in which case there wouldn't be any way to use the DAC.

If Sega wanted to have the sound synchronized and timed evenly, they could have used the 3438's interrupt timer for that (they made a huge mistake not taking advantage of this functionality on the Mega Drive). But I figure sound would be rather low-priority for something like a claw machine, so I'm not betting on that.

 

Oh yeah, the timer interrupt. I forgot about that. Sega sure did mess up by not having the Mega Drive use it.

A Z80 can still drive the DAC while also running the UFO Catcher software the same way it updates the FM channels. It's like how PCs with a single-core CPU can run multiple programs at once. Though, if it takes too long to update the FM channels and run the UFO Catcher's software, then there won't be enough time left to output a decent number of DAC samples.

 

So Sonic Spinball has a few slight differences in music on the PAL version. This has been known for a long time, but I always assumed they had simply made some refinements in the interim between the final NTSC build and the PAL build (since the PSG looping in Lava Powerhouse was fixed it makes sense that the PAL build would be the later of the two). But then I noticed the September 17, 1993 PAL prototype also has these changes, including the fixed PSG. The fact that these aren't simply revised versions of the music seems weird to me; the intro cutscene I can understand because of timing differences, but the options theme and Lava Powerhouse being faster seems pretty arbitrary, and the fact that the PSG looping also works in this prototype makes me wonder why these music changes exist at all. Could someone with insight into GENS maybe explain what could be going on here?

 

I been collecting some items from the Tokyo International Forum unveiling of Sonic Adventure back in 98.






And some past items that are also in the folder:

 

Haven't seen that ticket picture in a while.

 

This is probably nothing, but here’s some B-roll footage of Sonic 1 being played at Sega Genesis booths in a mall in 1992:

 

Something to make you smile. Or cry.


I am far too lazy to check the details right now, but from what I recall, this cover of Play magazine was when we first time we got a good look at Silver the Hedgehog. There was excitement for all of ten minutes - I still think he's one of the worst named characters in the franchise but whatever, the kids liked him.

https://archive.org/details/PlayMagazineDecember2006/page/n17/mode/2up

I hadn't realised the issue had been scanned (I think it's missing pages, hence no Retro CDN mirror). And they have a review! What does exclusivity buy you?

9.5/10
"The best Sonic ever, hands down, 2D or otherwise"
"Still just a few little bugs... but ant sized"


They were more on the mark with Sonic Genesis later on, which only got a 4, but... you might still say that's still 4 points too many.

 

they were so right

Anyways, SEGA Japan posted a new job listing for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
https://hrmos.co/pages/sega/jobs/217
Interestingly, the listing calls for the ability to work with not only the in-house Hedgehog Engine, but also Unity and Unreal Engine 4. And despite being posted for the Sonic franchise, the listing also links to the webpage for the Olympic Games 2020 video game. (The regular Olympics 2020 video game, not to be confused with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 2020.) Just thought this was worth noting.

 

I have doubts that it's Olympics-related. Studios announced to have the official license to produce Olympics videogames is typically some few years before the event, Sega was first reported to have the rights for Tokyo 2020 in 2016, and they were originally announced to have the rights for Beijing 2008 at the end of 2005. (Although Sega declared they retained the Olympics license for Vancouver 2010 in early 2009; and Ubisoft announced their PyeongChang 2018 "Road to the Olympics" expansion pack for their --otherwise unrelated, already released-- sports videogame Steep at E3 2017.)

Nonetheless. The Beijing Winter 2022 Olympics already came and went this year with only this non-Sega related NFT smartphone game to show for it; and licensing rights for Paris 2024 have been available since 2021. If Sega was privy for having a Mario & Sonic Olympics game for 2024, I think we would had known about them acquiring the license by now.

Considering the job listing also asks for experience with developing action games and online games--a translation for it I read on another place has it phrased it as "network game production" and it cites P2P online battles as an example. My guess is this project is the next big Sonic spinoff to serve as stopgap filling between Frontiers and *insert untitled upcoming mainline game from Sonic Team here*; much like Team Sonic Racing between Forces and Frontiers. Which would be interesting given the "Concept K" proposal included in the various pitches for Frontiers (from the 2019 4chan leak) did mention online multiplayer; Iizuka also previously talked about various ideas that was being explored by Sonic Team for future games, with online play and battle royale being of particular interest. (It's also interesting in that barring the aforementioned M&S games and Runners; Sonic spinoffs haven't been developed internally since Free Riders at least, IIRC.)

 

It's been a slow news week/month, so how about some more vague numbers?



Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Sonic Heroes - which is the highest rated (on the GameCube at least)? The answer may surprise you... unless you've been paying attention:

Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut/Reception
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle/Reception
Sonic Heroes/Reception

58 | 73 | 77

The sample size isn't huge so don't read into the specifics, but the trends suggest Heroes > SA2B > SADX.

Most Dreamcast fans would likely rate these in reverse, i.e. the original Sonic Adventure comes out on top, SA2, while great at the time, failed to make the same impact, and Heroes was that icky non-Sega thing with the Eggmans Robots.

While the average GameCube fan had no interest in SADX, I figured its shortcomings were blown out of proportion by the Sonic community - compared to the original Dreamcast version it messes things up, but it's still broadly the same game, and that game sold Dreamcast consoles (it's why I got mine!). Turns out, nope, it didn't rate well at all.

In fact, it's currently sitting as one of Sega's worst rated GameCube games, which surprises me. Again, numbers, not totally reliable, things could change, but as far as its compatriots go:

- 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker (58) probably works better as an arcade game - it was a bit "meh" on the Dreamcast, so I suspect GameCube fans wanted more.

- Virtua Quest (55), I haven't played so wouldn't want to comment

- Shadow the Hedgehog (55) was always a stupid idea

- Super Monkey Ball Adventure (48) is practically unplayable


Meanwhile the original Sonic Adventure is one of the highest rated Dreamcast games - 91% after 46 reviews. A fascinating fall from grace.


For those interested in the PC version, again it's all 50s and 60s, but I think we knew that was a bad port.

 

Interesting. I imagine it would've gotten similar scores even if it were a perfect 1:1 port of the Dreamcast version, since besides the bad porting, SA1 had noticeably aged quite a bit by 2003, and the port did nothing to improve that as would be normally expected with a game titled "Director's Cut". I figure SA2B didn't receive the same derision due to releasing only 6 months after the original game, rather than 5 years later as is the case with SADX.

 

This is something The Geek Critique touches upon somewhat regularly in his Sonic videos: the second Sonic left Sega consoles, his games reviewed markedly worse. Sure, the state of gaming had changed a lot between 1999 and 2003, but even SA2B on GameCube reviewed notably worse than the Dreamcast version, despite only being released six months after.

 

I went down a little rabbit hole today to discover this Youtube upload of They Call Me Sonic.
As it turns out, "Metrophon Music Spain S.L.", who is listed in the credits of the upload, has started claiming ad revenue for Sonic Electronic, Rave Sonic, and King of the Ring from the Sonic the Hedgehog album by Arcade.
It seems like nobody bothered to get the revenue for the rest of the music; Not even Sonic and Tails.
What makes this a little more interesting is that one of the claims credit the made-up names, King of the Ring and Rave Sonic being credited as "Sonic" in the "Music" tab, which is technically correct since "Sonic" is credited for the songs, but Sonic Electronic being claimed as "Sonic Arcade".
They Call Me Sonic doesn't seem to be getting direct claims, but the youtube upload suggests it was part of a compilation that someone licensed and released.
Even weirder, Rave Sonic, when claimed, has the additional rightsholders of "Sony Music Publishing" and "UMPG Publishing".
So if this is an official action by a company with proper rights, it's a very lazy and sloppy one.

 

It's not the first time nor the last that publishing companies do a sloppy job when it comes to metadata of the works they own, hell even the big 3 do it sometimes. As long as the fingerprinting and the international codes lead to the correct song it's another day for them.

 

I'm not sure if others have pointed this out, but I noticed recently that the GHZ drawing appearing SPEC volume 7 features Sonic in a pose that is noticeably similar to the one from the Tokyo Toy Show screenshots:

https://xcancel.com/suddendesu/status/1609603531539111937

In fact, in the introduction text on the previous page, they mention the game being shown at the toy show. (It also tells that insipid Chuck Yeager/Christmas Island backstory; is this the earliest mention of it?)

Interestingly, in this artwork, the background is more similar to the final, with what look likes the greenery and waterfalls added to the foreground square-ish hills. The far off mountains are more similar to the final as well, not as founded or wide as those in the TTS screenshots.

I think given the date of this issue along with the clear mention of showing the game at the toy show, the artist was clearly working from a very early version, one that still retained the older pose but had newer GHZ graphics. I find it to be quite intriguing.

 

Not sure if it's useful to you guys at all, but I have one those SegaSonic UFO boards mounted for music playback:

https://xcancel.com/suddendesu/status/1604774708473663493

As far as I know it's already dumped, but I suppose if you need better recordings or photos or anything...

 

Flyer that advertised the Virtua Fighter series and the Sonic OVA.




Link

 

Flash Sega Saturn Vol. 16 has a video of Sonic Jam. It's not super exciting - sound effects might be getting cut off in the Mega Drive games, but there's a brief glimpse of Sonic World which seems to be earlier than both the final game and the playable demo:


video | final game


Tails picks up Sonic and they swing by the art gallery. I'm struggling to match up the cameras, but there's a missing floating platform, what looks like a shadowed area of grass, and the spinning totem pole thing might be further to the left in this shot. Also no HUD, though maybe there's some video editing trickery going on there.

I can't tell if there's ring placement differences, or if Sonic has already picked them up.

 

Ehm, looks like someone rehosted this on Google Drive, but I did the original scan and it's up on archive.org in original 600dpi tiff quality.

https://archive.org/details/vf_and_sonic_animation_flyer

 

It's also been on our wikis since you initially uploaded them as well.

https://segaretro.org/File:VirtuaFighterSonicOVA_JP_Flyer.pdf