Author Archives: Big Elk

Sonic Hacking Contest 2022 is live right now

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As of Monday, October 20th 2022, Sonic Hacking Contest 2022 is now open, with all the many fan hacks and mods developed by some of the most creative Sonic fans out there ready to try. There are tons of mods from every Sonic game from the original Genesis classic to Sonic Forces, all of which change up each game in many creative ways. Some of them even create a brand new experience off of the foundation of a classic Sonic game you may be well familiar with already from start to finish. Even if you don’t have time to try every game for yourself, (And there are already so many that you most likely don’t have that kind of time. After all, I’m still going through some games from this year’s Sonic Amateur Games Expo.) many online content creators have been streaming these games throughout the week, including favorites like Blue Vivacity, Sam’s Procrastination Station, SomeCallMeJohnny, MegaGWolf, and up-and-coming YouTube personality Chaomix. 

Since this is a contest, the creators of each of these mods are also being judged on their creations. Everyone is encouraged to vote for each of their favorite mods in a variety of prestigious awards, so if any of them has you particularly impressed, make sure you vote for it in whatever award it may be nominated for. 

See beyond the break for a few of my personal highlights of this year’s mods. Otherwise, click here to check out the website to download these mods for yourself or to see who is currently streaming.

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Unreleased Dreamcast game Dee Dee Planet online features finally running unofficially

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Dee Dee Planet cover art

The unreleased Sega Dreamcast game Dee Dee Planet has now had it’s online servers finally brought to life thanks to the efforts of the fan-run Dreamcast Live online service. Due to the game having been cancelled, it’s online multiplayer has never once been playable by the public until now. If you want to try it for yourself, you can download a version of Dee Dee Planet that’s been patched for Dreamcast Live functionality from Dreamcast Live’s downloads page. One of Dreamcast Live’s founders, and prominent Dreamcast superfan and preservationist, pcwzrd13, had previously gotten a hold of a nearly complete build of Dee Dee Planet last year, and now Dreamcast Live user Shuouma had been able to create server code for Dee Dee Planet using the server code from Chu Chu Rocket, one of the games previously brought back online through Dreamcast Live, as Dee Dee Planet was designed to use a very similar online server setup already.

Chances are many of you have no idea what Dee Dee Planet is, so check past the break for a brief history of both Dee Dee Planet and Dreamcast Live.

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Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack updated with Alisa Dragoon, Beyond Oasis, and Earthworm Jim

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On Thursday, September 15th, Sega added three more classic Sega Genesis titles to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack lineup, after skipping a month from their usual bimonthly update. Subscribers can now play Alisa Dragoon, Beyond Oasis, and Earthworm Jim on Nintendo Switch. Japanese players get all the same 3 games in their own update at the same time. Each game will be immediately accessible after updating the Sega Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online application on your Switch to its latest version. You can learn more about each game within this article.

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Radiant Silvergun has surprise release on Nintendo Switch, then is swiftly pulled from North American eShop

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In a surprise announcement from the September 13th Nintendo Direct video showcase, the Treasure-developed Sega Saturn classic Radiant Silvergun was just released onto the Nintendo Switch eShop, courtesy of publisher Live Wire Inc.

Well, to many of you, this may be a surprise. However, Treasure had actually teased a re-release of a “highly requested” game from their storied past for their 30th anniversary celebration in June of this year. Two weeks ago, during Tokyo Game Show, the exact game was leaked online through some unused images on the Happinet website, who hosted several company’s’ games at their own booth. For anyone unaware of of all this, you are likely pleasantly surprised.

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New music album/Windows 95 simulator developed for SEGA Genesis by Mike Yedley

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A musical album released in the form of a game cartridge or ROM might sound like an odd concept, but quirky homebrew developer and musician Mike Yedley has done just that, and it’s not even his first one. Not too long ago, he debuted his second Genesis music ROM on his itch.io page, called “mikeyeldey95”. Being a ROM, it can be run in your favorite Genesis emulator or on original hardware with a flash cartridge such as any of the Mega Everdrive line of cartridges. In a very interesting twist, this album also doubles as a retro Windows 95 desktop simulation, full of fun easter eggs and mini-games. You can change the desktop background and color scheme, explore a web browser (This game has no way of actually connecting to the internet), and even explore an MS-DOS environment. There are 11 main songs total, but exploring a bit more can uncover several hidden songs, including some full PSG tunes.

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The story of the cancelled Game Boy Color-to-Dreamcast official connectivity solution

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Yes, you read that right. Apparently, at the turn of the millennium, an ambitious “TV Adaptor” was planned for Game Boy Color, that would at allow it to communicate with the Sega Dreamcast via your TV screen. This was planned for release in 2000, just a couple of months before Sega would announce their departure from the console race, shocking the world.

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Game Gear, Master System, and SG-1000 games playable on Analogue Pocket OpenFPGA

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Fans of FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) console clones may remember Analogue’s FPGA Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive clone system, the Mega SG, released to widespread acclaim in 2019. Since then, they’ve been busy working on clones of other beloved early 90’s consoles, including the subject of this article: The Analogue Pocket. For the uninitiated, the Analogue Pocket is an FPGA recreation of the Game Boy and capable of playing your Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges in crisp HD and on your TV if you buy the separately sold dock. This also includes tons of options to tweak the video and sound if you are technically savvy enough and patient enough to mess with it and get the most out of your games, just like Analogue’s other systems, and that’s hardly half of it’s capabilities. So, did you click NintendoBits by accident? How does this involve Sega, you ask? Well, the Analogue Pocket can also play your Game Gear cartridges as well, provided you buy the Game Gear cartridge adaptor, which is also sold separately. 

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Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack updated with Comix Zone, Mega Man, Zero Wing, and Target Earth

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Since the launch of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, Nintendo and Sega have been updating the service with new Sega Genesis games every two months. On June 30th 2022, they surprised everyone once again with four more games for subscribers to play. This time, Expansion Pack subscribers now have access to Comix Zone (1995), Mega Man: The Wily Wars (1994), Zero Wing (1991), and Target Earth (1990). As a quick fun fact, this is the first update to the service to feature third party Sega Genesis titles since the initial launch lineup. The same four games have also been added to the Japanese NSO + EP service at the same time.

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Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable coming to PS5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC

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Spread out throughout the month of June 2022 was news that Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable would soon be launching on Xbox consoles, PC platforms (Persona 4 Golden has already been on Steam since June 2020), and PlayStation 5. For Xbox and Windows PC users, all three will also be part of Xbox Game Pass following their launch on Microsoft platforms. It was finally also revealed at the end of Nintendo’s Mini Partner Showcase Direct from June 28th that all three will now finally release worldwide on Nintendo Switch as well. This is all part of Atlus’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Persona series of games.

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Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis to launch on PS4 August 31st 2022

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If you’ve been holding out on Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis to play on PlayStation 4, the wait will soon be over. In a surprise announcement at Anime Expo 22, PSO2 NGS will finally launch on PS4 in the western world on August 31st 2022. Both NGS and PSO2 will be fully playable on all PS4 and PS5 consoles, including all updates that have been made to both games up to that point. The game will also extend its cross platform compatibility so that PlayStation players can play with Xbox and PC players. You can also purchase ARKS Cash, the game’s premium currency, directly from the PlayStation Store.

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Hyenas revealed as a new PvEvP shooter from Creative Assembly, PC Closed Alpha starting soon

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In a brief showcase hosted by IGN as part of Summer Games Fest, which they promised would “Steal The Show”, Sega of Europe revealed Hyenas, a new sci-fi squad based multiplayer FPS by The Creative Assembly (Total War Series, Alien Isolation, etc.).

Hyenas takes place in a dystopian future where “rich pricks” (Words from CA’s mouths) are hoarding pop culture merch in private space stations within Mars’s orbit. Players take the role of robbers grouped into teams of three, setting out to steal as much of that pop culture merch as possible while fighting off AI-controlled guards and other player teams that are also trying to take the merch for themselves. Presumably, the team that can escape with the most merch wins a match.

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Big6 Genesis controller revealed from Retro-Bit, pre-orders for North America now open

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Retro-Bit have just pulled back the curtain on the newest development of their partnership with Sega, this time being a completely new style of Sega Genesis controller merging features of the 3-button original and 6-button Arcade Pad.

The Big6 features the same extra wide body shape of the original 3-Button Genesis/Mega-Drive controller, but with the X, Y, Z, and Mode buttons introduced with the Sega 6-button Arcade Pad. It’s perfect for anyone who is nostalgic for that old controller shape, but not for pressing Start to switch between punches and kicks instead of pausing in Street Fighter II or pressing C to slowly cycle through all 3 extra items and then again to use one in Comix Zone, for example.

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