Blinx the Time Sweeper now public domain

[Dr. BUGMAN]

https://youtu.be/ZrmCf9r5J0A#t=4m

So, yeah, many of you may already be aware of this on account this happened in early 2015, but as I don't follow gaming news much anymore it's, erm, news to me.

Dunno what to make of this really. I don't have any plans or desires to do anything with the character, but I consider my self an Ohshima fan. It's not like joe anonymous can't already make fan creations of Sonic (within reason) with Sega's blessing. And many of us already have our own ideas we'd like to see manifest besides. And I doubt Ohshima is champing at the bit either.

But it IS neat, I guess.

[Jingles]

It's weird that whenever Microsoft would try to push the Xbox brand in Japan, they'd always get cold feet and half-ass it - I mean, they stopped the franchise because of a bunch of online lists? Really? Granted, the market is pretty impenetrable, but you'd think they could at least try a bit harder than funding one Japanese-developed game per generation.

[Sniffnoy]

Well, the trademark has run out. Copyright's another matter. I'm not sure you can get very far with just the trademark without infringing copyright.

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

I never played either Blinx game. Or anything from Artoon, for that matter.

Blinx looked like a neat concept at the time when it was announced, but I didn't realize the reason he was dropped is because he was basically being called the Bubsy Bobcat of the 2000's. A rather unfitting comparison to me, but that's history for you.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

I haven't played all of them, but what I have played ranged from medicore to awful. For what they are, though, is interesting insight into how Yoji Ishii and Ohshima preformed untethered from Sega, kinda like how Ub Iwerks toiled and innovated outside of Disney to no lasting impact.

Their first game, Pinobee, is both the most interesting of those I played, but also the most self-derivative. Their Flip the Frog, if you will. Pinobee is just a modified Sonic, and the Blue Fairy is just Nights plus boobs. But it gets interesting when taken as a whole; Pinobee is the closest thing Sonic CD ever really got to a sequel. Sure Metal Sonic and Amy became mainstays, but that hardly counts. The meandering level design, the time stream-affecting objectives (including but not limited to enemy generators), and time travel itself are all here. Albeit the time travel is implemented very differently, being less similar to Back to the Future and more analogous to The Butterfly Effect (although predating it by three years) where it's achieved via diary entries. This leads to a branching structure instead of a layering level effect seen is SCD. It's a risky conceit off the bat considering that stuff can get lost in translation (and often youngsters can't read anyway). And of course Pinobee himself isn't close to being as fun to control as Sonic.

Then there's Yoshi's Island DS. Christ, where do I even start? The Baby-swapping mechanic is a goddamn chore, especially contrasted with the sublime vehicle-transformation mechanic of the original. The original also had a speed gradient similar to the MD Sonics, but here it's binary... despite being developed by ex-Sonic staff(!?). The levels drag on forever, and they're hard as all hell. Ugh.

Away: Shuffle Dungeon is a passable but forgettable, save for its characters, action RPG. Ayup.

I never had much experience with Blinx beyond demo kiosks.

Also, fans gripe when Sonic revisits time travel as a plot point, but nearly(?) all of the post-Sega games Ohshima made, including all the above, have time travel to some extent. It gives the impression that it was intended to be part of Sonic's DNA from the inception.

[G.Silver]

Here's an article on Blinx that covers a bit more of the "mascot" history, if anyone is interested. (I was!)

http://www.gamesradar.com/be-kind-rewin ... re-mascot/

[Dr. BUGMAN]

Come to think of it, it's kinda fucked up Microsoft sees more value in Battletoads than Blinx.