Just Sitting Here Wasting Our Precious Time since 1997

I've updated the Sonic's 1-2 pages with what I believe is the final addition (for the moment). Now all enemy names are listed in the original katakana as well as English, for those who disagree with my romanizations. I thought about doing the same for the item lists, but really, those aren't as ambiguous as the enemy names. (Not much dispute over the proper translation of "pointo maakaa.")

Segaholic's used his mad calculating skillz to create a news script that reads directly from the newsboard in the forum, so if you want to keep track of what's going on in the land of Sonicdom without having to venture into the abyss that is the GHZ message board, you may now click on the "Newsboard" link to the left. As of this writing, the second article from the top of the page includes a link to an ancient Sonic manga scanned and uploaded by HarihariSonic of Act Select, an essential Japanese fansite. The manga, which was a supplement to the Shogaku Yonensei serial briefly mentioned in the museum timeline, contains loads of valuable information, both about the previously mysterious manga series which it is part of and also, surprisingly, about the origin of two prominent characters. It seems that Charmy Bee and series staple Amy Rose had their humble beginnings in this comic, which was published in 1992, a year before the release of Sonic CD and three years before the release of Chaotix. The amusing story, written by Kenji Terada and illustrated by Sango Morimoto, takes place 5000 years in the past and offers yet another possible "origin" story explaining how Sonic gained his speed. Moreover, it features a buck-ass nekkid Eggman, and I know that's something nobody wants to miss. The story, quite obviously, is not official game continuity, but it's a valuable find nonetheless. Read and be enlightened.

Forum regular Spazz, whose main occupation seems to be scouring eBay for rare Sonic shit, has recently won an auction for a number of Asian Sonic McDonald's toys. They seem to be very similar to the LCD games that ran in the US a year ago, except much higher quality because they originate from a land that hasn't yet abandoned the concept of corporate ethics. (I'm told that even the burgers are of decent quality over there!) The promotion apparently ran in the month of September, though this is the first I'd heard of it. The games include: Sonic Skateboard, Tails Soccer, Knuckles Baseball, Amy & Rouge Tennis, Shadow Basketball, and Cream Flower Catch. They come with boxes and everything!

The Museum and Sonic Café pages have been updated, as per usual. In light of the aforementioned discovery regarding the Shogakukan manga, I've updated that chunk of the page with a bit more detail, which can be found in the year 1992. -- Green Gibbon!

Moving on to other points of interest, one Psychobob has conducted some very thorough research on Sonic Team's old Central American vacation, which, of course, served as the inspiration for many of the stages in Sonic Adventure. Emerald Coast, Lost World, the ancient echidna village, Windy Valley, the Emerald altar, and Sand Hill were all based on actual locations south of the border. Check out On location with Sonic Adventure for the specifics. It is most enlightening. Also of interest, the Sonic Stadium has opened the voting for the Sonic Site Awards 2004. The fervent big_smile has been nominated for best reporter, and he friggin' deserves it, so let him know he's loved. The GHZ as a whole has been nominated for the elite awards, so if you're happy and you know it, cast your vote.

I've added even more info to the Sonic 1 page. There's now info on the Special Stage items, as well as some speculation on possible inspirations for Eggman's design. I've also updated the Sonic 1 8-bit, Sonic 2 8-bit, and Sonic 2 16-bit pages with the same level of info. The museum timeline and Sonic Café pages have also been updated.

Judging by the unfriendly e-mails I've been receiving, I'd wager there are those who have noticed that updates have been slow as of late. There is a very good reason for this. For those who are still unaware: this semester, I bid my not-so-fond farewell to this load of happy horseshit known as "higher education." Which means that I am currently waist deep in my senior thesis project. (I should be about chest deep at this point, but nevermind.) It's not that I'm so busy I have no free time at all, it's just that I'd rather use that time to, y'know, play games and wank and stuff. In fact, there is the very distinct possibility that this will be the last update until December. That's not to say it definitely will, but when the culmination of my undergraduate studies beckons, I have little choice but to answer. So if you load the page on Thanksgiving day and you're still seeing this same old text, it's not because I've died or abandoned the site. I humbly request that you do not e-mail me about it until Christmas. -- Green Gibbon!

It's been a bit longer than usual, but I actually have most of what I promised last time. The museum main page has been tidied up a bit, and now features a list of upcoming Sonic Team games along with their forecast release dates. The entire Sonic Café page has been updated and is probably a bit more accurate than it was prior. The Sonic Heroes page is finally up, though it's still lacking a couple of minor bits of info (the Japanese strategy guide didn't have as comprehensive a list of moves as I'd hoped). I'm sure I let a couple of cracks slip through, but in general I made an effort to write the page without the use of piercing sarcasm, as a service to those who actually liked the game. (It's wrong to make fun of the mentally retarded.) Finally, I've updated the Sonic 1 page, which I'm now confident contains such a ridiculous amount of info, there are things on there that absolutely nobody cares about except me. I actually discovered that there are two versions of Meleon, and it's both cool and unsettling to find something new in a game you've been playing for the past thirteen years. I've also added information on the arcade Mega-Tech and Mega Play versions of the game, which, as far as I know, were only released in Europe. Which is a pretty inconsequential continent to the rest of the world, but y'know. Historical relevance and all.

The Encyclopedia isn't quite ready yet, but the first group of entries (from Sonic 1) are underway. Ideally, those should be up by the end of the week or so, but realistically, they'll be up God-only-knows when. And he hates me.

Over in the forum, where things have been considerably more active than on the front page, gr4yJ4Y, whose unwieldy moniker I guess I have to forgive, brought this 1up interview with Naoto Oshima to attention. The father of Sonic turned perpetrator of Blinx doesn't have anything particularly interesting to say, but he's at least looking a bit healthier these days. Maybe Blinx 2 won't suck. Maybe.

Of similar interest, Vlad the Vampire of French Sonic site Sonic Online scanned the Japanese manuals for Sonic & Tails 2 and Sonic Labyrinth, which I believe were the last two Game Gear manuals missing from our collection. Thanks to Crazy Penguin and big_smile, the scans have been uploaded for all to peruse right here. As expected, the manuals include previously unknown information such as enemy names and the original profile of fan favorite Fang the Sniper. All the info will find its way onto the site as soon as I get around to it. -- Green Gibbon!

This page has been accessed 187710 times since the site last moved on 01/15/04. Since the site opened in May, 1997: your guess is as good as mine. Send all complaints to Jared "Green Gibbon!" Matte. Hosting provided by Emulation Zone and Emulation World. They're your daddy.