Digital Foundry Retro Discussion [2018 - 2020]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2018-revisiting-sonic-cd-retro

DF Retro: Sonic CD - under-appreciated but still brilliant today
A tale of two Sonic Teams.

In 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog burst onto the scene, forever changing the gaming landscape in the process. With its high-speed action and eye-popping visuals, Sonic helped rocket Sega's 16-bit console to the top of the charts - but something else was on the horizon... a sequel focused on the Mega CD add-on, shifting to shorter, exploration focused levels with a new time travel gimmick. Sonic's Mega CD outing remains an ambitious side-step in the series, and the history behind its development is fascinating. For a start, the reality is that it was created by a second Sonic Team in Japan, while a US-based Sonic Team produced the true series sequel in parallel.

The story of Sonic CD kicks off in the aftermath of Sonic the Hedgehog's enormously successful debut. Sega's first CD-ROM system - the Mega CD - had just launched in Japan and naturally, Sega wanted to capitalise on this by bringing the speedy blue hedgehog to its new cutting-edge CD-based hardware. There was just one problem: Yuji Naka, lead programmer and project manager on Sonic the Hedgehog, had grown unhappy with Sega management and had left the company.

 
BRiT said:
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2018-revisiting-sonic-cd-retro

DF Retro: Sonic CD - under-appreciated but still brilliant today
A tale of two Sonic Teams.

In 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog burst onto the scene, forever changing the gaming landscape in the process. With its high-speed action and eye-popping visuals, Sonic helped rocket Sega's 16-bit console to the top of the charts - but something else was on the horizon... a sequel focused on the Mega CD add-on, shifting to shorter, exploration focused levels with a new time travel gimmick. Sonic's Mega CD outing remains an ambitious side-step in the series, and the history behind its development is fascinating. For a start, the reality is that it was created by a second Sonic Team in Japan, while a US-based Sonic Team produced the true series sequel in parallel.

The story of Sonic CD kicks off in the aftermath of Sonic the Hedgehog's enormously successful debut. Sega's first CD-ROM system - the Mega CD - had just launched in Japan and naturally, Sega wanted to capitalise on this by bringing the speedy blue hedgehog to its new cutting-edge CD-based hardware. There was just one problem: Yuji Naka, lead programmer and project manager on Sonic the Hedgehog, had grown unhappy with Sega management and had left the company.

Click to expand...
alas I missed this video before. I've been 15 days without an internet connection --secretly loved it (some days). But I've watched it now in its entirety and well..., I have fuzzy memories of Sonic CD, from playing it at my best friend's house. Sonic 1 especially and 2 are more prevalent in my memory for some reason. On the Mega CD the game I liked the most was Batman, but that's a different story.

As for the PC version, darn that Win95 video and sound brings back memories. It was also nice to see that little trick to show the secret screen, something I had never heard of before.

That being said, I liked Sega games for the PC a lot. Specially Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 and Sonic ports, for the PC. At least the one I had and played, Sonic 3 for PC. Not only it was nice to be able to play Sonic in a window with some extra options but one of the things I liked about it was the fact that it included the original MIDI files --very suitable to start fiddling with them.

Sega paid a lot attention to the PC back then, at least in my eyes, pretty innovative for a console company. Virtua Fighter also was one of those games. If you had a 3D graphics card like Monster 3D, imho games like Virtua Fighter and Battle Arena Toshinden looked better than their original console counterparts, afaik.

That also translated into racing games, imho, I think PC games looked better on the PC than on consoles, especially Screamer -great tilted graphics haha, superb graphics-, Speed Haste -same-, Fatal Racing :love: -probably my favourite, an incredible racing game overall-, or Destruction Derby.
 
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...-scores-wiped-after-cheating-evidence-emerges

Oh man, what's with this movie now. Is it still funny?

kong_dvdjpg-8151-92b83.jpg
 
new DF Retro video from a conference in an even called Rezzed. I wonder....where those magazines ever released overseas or translated into other european languages?

Also, when they published one of those videogames guides, where did they get all the tricks from?

Some interesting anecdotes in the video, how they played a lot when games like Super Mario Kart was released and stuff like that.

The design style of the magazines shown in the video is familiar and I read tons of magazines then, some of them were mine, some of them were the ones which a friend of mine who was into consoles got in a monthly basis.

From the ones I used to purchase, my favourite by far was Micromania, because it was simply so good -maybe capturing the screen on computers was easier? Because many of them looked like direct footage. Then there was PC Actual and PC Magazine, and so on and so forth.

Console side, my best friend literally had TONS of magazines. He got Super Juegos (Super Games, translated), Sega and Nintendo (Club Nintendo) official magazines, Hobby Consolas, Mega Sega, etc.

 
Last edited:
Cyan said:
Isn't this the same holographic fat Super Mario? haha
Click to expand...
Those are Spanish magazines. I know them. I even remember some of those covers (some of those magazines are still somewhere in my grandparent's house, since one of my uncles still has them).
 
eloyc said:
Those are Spanish magazines. I know them. I even remember some of those covers (some of those magazines are still somewhere in my grandparent's house, since one of my uncles still has them).
Click to expand...
lucky you. I lost all of my Micromania magazines. The design was pretty good, they were the best, imho. That being said, the Hobby Consolas with the Super Mario World logo is probably the best issue of that magazine ever. SNES, its logo, design, etc, was impressive.

I know those magazines, since I'm Spaniard. (son de Galicia, concretamente Pontevedra) :D
 
eloyc said:
^I can't remember why, but I thought you were French! XD
Click to expand...
there are a few fine french guys here, although they support other colours hardware wise, but yeah, I am none of them. I think Globalisateur and chris1515 are french, right?
AlNets said:
Cyan's true colours revealed! :runaway:
Click to expand...
hahah, yes revealing the real nature... I still wonder where you are from AINets!! Maybe british? Australian? Brit is american, Geo is, Shifty is british that I am sure of! Never thought I'd ever do that btw, as I am a bit of a nationalist.
 
in regards to magazines, I think they arent viable anymore -in most cases- for good reasons. But I also think people could learn from them, a lot! I mean, in the design of the videogames articles. And most specially, in the main page of gaming websites.

Can you imagine Eurogamer with a daily cover on their main page featuring the 4 or 5 daily news? Say the Wrestlemania cover, where the Hudson Hawk guy is hanging from the wrestler, then the Megatwins and the Space Quest IV image to the right. It's all about the design. :):)

Also the Super Mario World cover -one of the best games ever- with its image covering the entire cover! And the Alisia Dragoon at the top right, could very intuitive for a website. Click on Yoshi or Mario, you go to the Super Mario review. Click on Alisia and you go to the review of the game. :)

Modern websites have all well framed, of course, but it's mostly squares and a bunch of headers highlighting the news, but the design is a bit...lacklustre.
 
Obviously bought a Half Price Books, a place where they purchase books and other media from patrons.

Article or whoever thinks it was at the HPB for 20 years.....lol.........it was likely sold by a patron or distributor to the HPB, and the workers priced it accordingly to used copies available online. It's even being sold as a "used" copy (hence the U at the end of the SKU number on the price sticker). Why are people so enamored at this?
 
Last edited:
Mobius1aic said:
Obviously bought a Half Price Books, a place where they purchase books and other media from patrons.

Article or whoever thinks it was at the HPB for 20 years.....lol.........it was likely sold by a patron or distributor to the HPB, and the workers priced it accordingly to used copies available online. It's even being sold as a "used" copy (hence the U at the end of the SKU number on the price sticker). Why are people so enamored at this?
Click to expand...
it depends on what they define as "used". Because it doesnt look physically used at all. It has its seal intact, it looks brand new. Stores sell you a lot of new games with their seal already broken by another user or the store's staff themselves
 
Cyan said:
it depends on what they define as "used". Because it doesnt look physically used at all. It has its seal intact, it looks brand new. Stores sell you a lot of new games with their seal already broken by another user or the store's staff themselves
Click to expand...

I'm just failing to see why any of this is a big deal. I can almost guarantee that it was bought directly from someone who walked in and offered to sell it to whichever HPB store priced it. That person may have worked at a Toys 'R Us, or it might've been part of a personal collection that the person wanted to get rid of, or any number of other scenarios.

If HPB had received a bulk amount from a distributor, the sticker would be different, and then it would be a bigger, and more ironic, deal. A one off, still sealed copy doesn't mean anything without the story behind it.

I worked for HPB for almost 7 years, and I'm still fairly familiar with how alot of the supply chained worked for "new" items either purchased from customers/patrons, or unsold mass inventory from book publishers. When bought directly from a customer, a still sealed copy of an old game would be treated and priced like a used item, since ultimately the used market (Amazon, Ebay) is going to have a bigger bearing on price. We then of course had leeway based on uniqueness and sellability of the item if it seemed particularly special or the local market would possibly pay more for it. It was fun figuring out what to price some things when we still hand stickered used product.

Of course multiple pieces of unopened recently released software would be treated as suspicious :LOL:
 
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...tro-masterpiece-and-its-brilliant-on-xbox-one

SSX 3 is a retro masterpiece - and it's even better on Xbox One
Another unmissable enhanced back-compat release.

With each new generation of consoles, we often wonder - what sort of new gameplay opportunities are made possible with more powerful hardware? It's a difficult question, but the original SSX is one of those few launch games to deliver a satisfying response. With a series of complex, sprawling track layouts, this game simply wouldn't have been possible on previous generation consoles. It's a title defined by its towering tracks, and the increase in available memory and processing power allowed the developers to push the snowboarding genre in new directions. Three years on, EA Canada pushed the formula to its zenith with SSX3, and it's an experience that's now even more special thanks to a new, enhanced iteration for Xbox One and Xbox One X owners.

Before we dive into the new enhancements, let's first step back and appreciate what SSX 3 accomplished way back in 2003. The game launched on PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox, offering significant changes compared to the original game. With this third installment, the developers created a pseudo-open world environment that allowed for unprecedented freedom. While you can choose to run individual races, it's also possible to drop your board at the top of a mountain and carve your way all the way to the bottom. A full run from the highest peak to the lowest point requires nearly 30 minutes of continuous play without a single loading screen. It's a revelation.


This ebb and flow between high-energy action and calm exploration just works perfectly - and that really does effectively sum up the SSX 3 experience. It's a delicate blend of elements that all work together to create a cohesive whole. That we can now experience with the game on modern hardware with its few blemishes entirely erased only helps further cement its place in history. If you have an Xbox One and enjoy racing games to any degree, SSX 3 is well worth revisting.
 
Loved SSX 3, and Tricky too. Cool that they do a remake on current generation.
Thanks DF for this video, couldnt be better, loved 6th gen and SSX at that!
Your post is very hard to read on my screen :p
 
BRiT said:
Hope its fixed now. I didn't see the color codes in it on the dark theme before.
Click to expand...

Yeah perfectly readable now :)

Any idea why the xbox og version shipped with very low quality bit-rate videoclips? Didnt both consoles have dual layer dvd drives?
Also why does the xbox og version miss this bloom effect thats on the ps2? Allways thought they did the PS2 game then ported to other platforms, or is the xbox version more in common to the GC version?
DF highlighed both things but he didnt have a clue as to why.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Shifty Geezer
Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2024]
53 54 55
Replies
1K
Views
85K
GuardHei
G
BRiT
  • Locked
Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2023]
252 253 254
Replies
5K
Views
466K
chris1515
C
BRiT
Digital Foundry Retro Discussion [2022]
4 5 6
Replies
117
Views
21K
BRiT
BRiT
BRiT
  • Locked
Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2022]
160 161 162
Replies
3K
Views
364K
BRiT
BRiT
BRiT
  • Locked
Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2021]
207 208 209
Replies
4K
Views
512K
BRiT
BRiT
Back
Top