I have known Bartman3010 for a long, long time. How long, I’m not entirely sure. We go way back, to the days of The Moogle Cavern and EZboard, before Sonic Retro was even a thing. It was during the golden age of Skype that we started talking regularly. Before, it was us coexisting in places as I lurked. On Skype, we just talked normally. Human interactions, and all that.
We both became part of Retro in the early 2010’s, writing on the front page. Bart took the further initiative of wanting to utilize the future of the Internet - streaming audio and video. He created SEGA Channel Retro on YouTube and Twitch. named after the 90’s SEGA cable service. The channel served as a place to show off some SEGA related content, connect with the community, and read a couple fanfics along the way.
The first time I met Bart was also the first proper Retro meet-up I went to. That was at the Sonic 25th Anniversary Party, where both Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces were announced. There were drinks! There were chili dogs! There were, for some strange reason, the best dang onion rings I’ve ever had. It was an intersection of all things Sonic, for not only were there the Retro peeps, but there was MykonosFan, there was Barry, there was Jamie! And upstairs where there was unlimited supply of Dan Aykroyd’s Crystal Skull Vodka, Tom Kalinske and Al Nilsen sat and watched as Christian Whitehead came on stage to talk about the next Sonic game, done in the style of the games they helped shepherd to the masses all those years ago...
I would tell the whole story, but this is neither the time nor the place. Also, I’m sure the alcohol has removed some of the details.
Also on this page are a handful of fanfic readings performed during the Sonic Amateur Games Expo. At the time, SAGE had some affiliation with Sonic Retro. It was run briefly by NeoHazard, who was part of both Sonic Retro and SFGHQ at the time. It feels appropriate to place them here for that reason, and not just because he also partook in the Crystal Skull vodka. Performances connected to the world of Sonic Fights Robotnik can be found elsewhere on this very site. Can you find them?
