Fan made

Dreamcast gets HDD support thanks to modders

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This up coming September will mark the 15 year anniversary of the Dreamcast and fans are still supporting the console with homebrew, independent games and now added modifications like a hard drive!

The hard drive support will allow users to boot GDI rips from the hard drive on actual Dreamcast hardware. The only issue is that booting some games as images won’t work (Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur) and other times it has glitches. Honestly, I’m more interested in getting a working HDD for my Dreamcast so I can store save data, DLC and Jet Set Radio tags.

After the break, check out the images to learn how it was done. It’s still thinking…

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SEGA Channel Retro: CorvidDude’s Windy Valley Mod Interview Plus Abyss Odyssey Blind Playthrough

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The live show is already over, but you can check out the archived stream above as well as more content below and after the jump!

This week’s live show on SEGA Channel Retro is a tour through the Windy Valley Beta Mod that was released recently for Sonic Adventure DX. We’ll also have CorvidDude, the author of the mod bringing his insight on restoring the level from the AutoDemo.

If you want to check out the mod for yourself, you can hop over to CorvidDude’s YouTube channel and check the links in the description of this video.

I’m joined by Overlord, GeneHF and OverlyEquippedin our little venture as we also check out the latest Sonic title, Sonic Jump Fever as well as catch up with Sonic Dash with Andronic. Also say hello to me as I try to roll eggs with Billy Hatcher in SEGA Superstars. Finally I take a blind look at Atlus and ACE Team’s latest offering, Abyss Odyssey.

Sonic Adventure DX: Windy Valley Restoration Mod with CorvidDude [Twitch] [YouTube]

Sonic Jump Fever, Sonic Dash, SEGA Superstars [Twitch]

Abyss Odyssey [Twitch] [YouTube]

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Windy Valley Beta Restoration Released for Sonic Adventure DX PC (2004)

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Back in 1998, our first glimpse of Sonic Adventure showed what would be the first true 3D experience with Sonic and friends. After the game’s release, the level we were told was Windy Valley was nowhere to be found in the final game, instead having been completely reworked before hitting store shelves. Even though shots of the original design were used to advertise the GameCube rerelease Sonic Adventure DX, the original look and feel of Windy Valley became one of the holy grails for Sonic enthusiasts interested in the development process.

After the retrieval of the AutoDemo, work has been performed by several people including many dedicated members of the Sonic Retro community, who have pooled their efforts to get these stages back up and running. Finally, after fifteen years we can witness this one of a kind experience with a mod for the 2004 PC edition of Sonic Adventure DX, with a fully playable beta version of Windy Valley. With recreated graphics and fully functioning camera angles, CorvidDude wants you to jump over to his YouTube video for more information as well as instructions on how to download and install the mod. Special thanks go to CorvidDude, MainMemory, ItsEasyActually, Catley, Melpontro, and many more who were involved with this project.

 

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Sonic Adventure 2 scene recreated on Source Filmmaker

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The Source Filmmaker (SFM) is the movie-making tool created by Valve, it allows users to make movies inside the Source game engine. SFM is available for anyone to use and has powered some really creative short films.

Here is one such film I thought was worth sharing. The film is a recreation of the Sonic Adventure 2 ‘faker’ cut-scene where Sonic faces off against Shadow. It is incredibly well made and a joy to watch for any fan of the Adventure series. Check it out!

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Pier Solar HD gets delayed again due to failing Microsoft’s certification process

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Its hard to believe that games actually go through a certification process before you buy said product. I want to know who approved games like Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, but that isn’t what we are here to talk about. It seems Pier Solar HD has hit another bump in the road when they missed their certification from Microsoft.

“Microsoft already evaluated Pier Solar as well but we failed some internal requirements on the certification and we’re correcting them for the next submission. This also impacts Wii U and PlayStation(s) submissions since we want to send it as clean as possible so that we don’t get another failed certification. Luckily, the process doesn’t take as long as we thought, so the perspectives to getting a release date gets better. As soon as we’re certified on all platforms we’ll announce the date and put it on the street.”

Solar Pier HD is headed to Linux, Mac, Windows,  Ouya, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Wii U, and of course the Dreamcast. It seems only consoles will be affected by the delay.

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Elysian Shadows developers release video update on project

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We already posted about how Elysian Shadows is being published (Dreamcast version) by the wonderful guys over at Watermelon Games. That isn’t all it seems, the team recently got private investors so some of the developers can work full time on the game.

The Kickstarter will still be happening on August 1st. Have a question for the team? We will be having the developers on the Swingin’ Report Show tomorrow, so drop any questions you might have.

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SEGA Channel Retro: Fan-Made Showcase

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SEGA Channel Retro presents a showcase of fan-driven projects regarding classic SEGA favorites as well as a vintage PC shooter making it’s debut on the SEGA Genesis. Today Bartman3010 checks out Ecco the Dolphin PC retooled for modern platforms by a key member from Caverns of Hope, GASEGA68K’s port of Wolfenstein 3D to the Mega Drive as well as finishing up our sporadic playthrough of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with Sonic 3 Complete made by members of Sonic Retro. If you are reading this, the feed should be live very shortly.

You can check out the archived stream in it’s entirety on Twitch here as well as view the videos on YouTube if you prefer. If you want to play any of these for yourself, the links will be listed below.

Uncut Stream [Twitch]

Ecco the Dolphin: Fixed and Enhanced Edition [YouTube] [Twitch] [Download Game]

Wolfenstein 3D on Mega Drive/Genesis [YouTube] [Twitch] [Download Game]

Sonic 3 Complete [YouTube] [Twitch] [Download Game]

Sonic 1 OmoChao Edition [YouTube] [Twitch] [Download Game]

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Watermelon Games to publish Elysian Shadows on Dreamcast

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If you guys haven’t heard, Watermelon Games will be publishing the physical copy of the 16-bit inspired RPG Elysian Shadows on Dreamcast.  In my opinion this is was a great move, since Pier Solar  got great reception due to its attention to detail when it comes to packaging.

When we interviewed Watermelon Video Games President Tulio Goncalves he told us that the goal of Pier Solar and the Great Architects was to feel like a SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis RPG. Elysian Shadows is different in the sense that its influenced by SNES titles at the time such as Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and the ever popular Final Fantasy series.

It will be interesting to play both side by side on our Dreamcast when both titles are finally released. I love 16-bit RPGs and don’t discriminate, the more quality Dreamcast titles the better. Check out more information on the game here.

The game will also be releasing digitally on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and Ouya.

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Ecco the Dolphin Fixed and Enhanced Edition for PC now available to play

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Ecco the Dolphin fan site Caverns of Hope have been hard at work on a fixed and enhanced version of Ecco the Dolphin for Windows PC. The original game, which was released for Windows 95, had become harder and harder to play thanks to the inevitable new versions of Windows over the years. You might say “well I can always emulate the SEGA CD or Genesis version of the game”, but then you’d be missing out on the many enhancements found in the PC version. Ecco the Dolphin for Windows PC features redrawn high resolution graphics, the CD Audio soundtrack from the MegaCD/SegaCD versions, the 3D rendered videos from Tides of Time, a save/restore system removing the need to use Passwords, a new difficulty system and translations to several languages.

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Cavespeak releases a English patch for 7th Dragon

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SEGA released 7th Dragon way back in March 5th, 2009 in Japan on the Nintendo DS. The game flew under most people’s radar, but not for me. I kept my eye on this one just because it was produced by legendary SEGA designer Rieko Kodama (Phantasy Star series and Skies of Arcadia).

That wasn’t the only big name SEGA star on the project, famous SEGA composer Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage series, Shinobi series) joined the team.

Want the patch? Head over here.

Not sure if it means much but Famitsu scored the game a 9/8/8/8 (33 out of 40).  

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Cracked: 4 Social Criticisms Hidden in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Games

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Imagine if this whole time you played Sonic the Hedgehog, you weren’t winning, you where falling for Eggman’s plans the whole time? Well, the grown ass men over at Cracked.com have posted a new video detailing four social criticisms that are present in Sonic the Hedgehog.

Now if you’d excuse me, my mind has been blown. Just leave me in this Hedgehog wonderland created by Robotnik.

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Sketch group BEASTS gives their humorous spin on the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog

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Having just recently written about the history of Sonic’s many redesigns, it’s fitting that sketch comedy group BEASTS reached out to us to share a video they made on the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog. BEASTS member James McNicholas shared the following information with us:

Let’s face it: video games are weird. Those from the 80s and 90s are arguably weirdest of all — try explaining the logic behind Pac Man to someone whose never encountered it.

Few games make less sense than Sonic The Hedgehog, with its blue rodents, gold rings and magic emeralds. Fortunately, sketch group BEASTS have stumbled upon this footage of SEGA’s planning meeting for the original Sonic. Hope you like it!

BEASTS are comprised of Ciaran Dowd, James McNicholas and Owen Roberts. They’ve been going for two years, and have two sold-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival under our belts. You can find nice things that other journalists have said about them here (they don’t put the nasty ones up). They’re also over on Twitter @BEASTScomedy.

As regards the sketch itself, you’ll notice two of the characters are named Yuji and Naoto – an allusion to messrs Naka and Oshima. “Mr. Needlemouse”, as you’re probably aware, was the name given to the prototype for the Sonic character on Naoto Oshima’s early concept art.

Thanks to BEASTS for reaching out to us and sharing their work!

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Sonic Amateur Games Expo Returns This Week

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After one year of absence, Sonic Amateur Games Expo has finally returned delivering a showcase of fan-created Sonic works from many talented folks from places such as Sonic Fan Games HQ including games, artwork and more running up to March 1st. You can expect to play demos of games including Sonic Time Twisted, an updated version of Sonic Chrono Adventure, a remake of Sonic the Hedgehog on Master System and Game Gear, the Jazz Jackrabbit mod Sonic with a Gun and many more. You can also expect live streaming, video podcasts and chat with others SAGE-goers as the event continues. 

Head on over to SAGExpo.org now to check out whats in store for this year’s event. You can also check out a trailer for the event after the jump.

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