Interview Shorts - Naka discusses Hidden Palace · Akadoko

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big_smile
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Interview Shorts - Naka discusses Hidden Palace · Akadoko

Post by big_smile »

Naka Interview: Hidden Palace secrets revealed and more
:FUS: Gamespy interview answers some of the biggest Sonic mysteries

Sonic Team seem to be conducting interviews on a monthly basis, yet interviewers rarely use the opportunity to ask interesting questions. Gamespy, however, clearly have their ear close to the Sonic community, as their recent interview with Yuji Naka finally clears up some of the biggest Sonic mysteries.

Naka-san talks at great length about the Hidden Palace Zone that was cut from Sonic 2. He confirms that Sonic Team have been unable to include the zone in recent Sonic collections, as the source code for the level was lost quite some time ago. The stage was supposed to show the origins of the Chaos Emeralds and would be where Sonic would receive his Super abilities.

He was surprised to learn that a beta version of Sonic 2 exists on the internet and suspects it may have been dumped from a pre-release copy of the game that was stolen from a 1992 toy show in New York.

Whilst on the topic of deleted ideas, Naka also discusses some of the elements that were cut from the original Sonic game, including the rabbit enemy and Sonic Band intro.

The rest of the five page interview focuses on variety of games, both old and new including Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Rush, Sega Sonic Aracde and Sonic the Fighters. Read the full text here.


Akadoko Interview
:FJ: Japanese interview with designers Takumi Yoshinaga and Masahiro Him

Dengeki recently conducted an interview with Takumi Yoshinaga and Masahiro Him the creators of forthcoming Sonic Team title Akadoko (Where do Babies Come From?).

The duo confirm that the characters in the game are not the same as those that appeared in Kimishine, which is one of the reasons why the game hasn’t be called ‘Kimishine 2’.

The interview also discusses the new multiplayer modes, package designs and soundtracks.

Image
^ Takumi Yoshinaga and Masahiro Him

Hi-Res Hedgehog
:FUK: Kikizo post Hi-res Sonic the Hedgehog videos

Although it isn’t really an interview, Kikizo have posted hi-res videos of Yuji Naka demonstrating Sonic the Hedgehog at TGS and the official Sonic the Hedgehog trailer.

firemario1001
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Post by firemario1001 »

Does Naka have mood swings this time of year? That interview sounds fishy.

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Kishi
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Post by Kishi »

His story about the discarded sound test is the best part. Also,
What really surprises me, though, is how well the PSP's UMD movies are currently doing in the West. I don't get it. How can you watch those big, spectacular Hollywood movies on such a tiny little screen? I thought everybody wanted BIGGER screens and BIGGER TVs. I suppose it is nice to have your favorite flicks with you on the go, but ... it's a Western mystery to me. *laugh*
Cool, so it's not just me.

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Post by CM August »

firemario1001 wrote:Does Naka have mood swings this time of year? That interview sounds fishy.
Yes, he almost sounds like an AMERICAN developer here. And it sounds like he... y'know... has a soul. How strange.

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Post by Baba O'Reily »

Uh-oh, Naka! Your personality is showing!

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Post by Frieza2000 »

Yeah...it's scary. Must be cocaine.
GameSpy: There's actually a beta ROM with the Hidden Palace code that's been floating around the Internet for a while.

Naka: What? You're kidding! Tell me more.
Gotta love how in touch with the fans they are.
GameSpy: Most of the recent Sonic titles have featured Sonic with a large cast of supporting characters. Is there any chance that, in the future, you might want to do a game starring Sonic alone again?

Naka: We have given it some thought, yes. But you see, "volume" seems to be a big thing in games these days. The media's always going on and on asking about every single little thing about a game. "Who's in it? How many stages are there? What are the play modes?" It's practically all I ever hear! And the Sonic world has a bunch of established characters, so if we did a game with just Sonic ... I can already hear people saying, "But where's Tails? Where's Knuckles? Where's Shadow? How does he do this by himself?" And then I'd have to explain, "No no, see, it's just SONIC this time." But yes, it is a challenge I'd like to do. After all, the games in the series since the first have been constantly introducing and adding new characters, so maybe Sonic deserves some "alone time" again.
Small sliver of hope for those of you rooting for a Sonic-only game. And judging from the context, it looks like it's not going to be Sonic Next-Gen.
GameSpy: You drive Ferraris, so does Nago-san and a few others here. Why do you think so many people at Sega have Ferraris?

Naka: Ferraris are the best cars out there, period! They're so special that not even everyone who wants one can get one. The design is amazing, the styling is amazing... it's all amazing.
No comment necessary.

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Post by Professor Machenstein »

The problem with all these supporting characters is not their presence in the Sonic games, but how SONICTEAM intends to make every single one of them playable, taking away Sonic's role as the main playable-only character. What makes these characters "supporting" characters is what they do in the story. Think of all the "better 3D action games" out there and name one that forces you to play as any other character besides the main one.

This is why I am looking forward to Shadow the Hedgehog. You only have one playable character in the game. The focus is on Shadow and his past aboard the ARK and beyond. The game will not force you to look for shards of the Master Emerald as Knuckles, or play through linear mech-shooting levels as Tails, or do any of that team-action faggotory from Heroes. Just Shadow, and seeing how it happens to be that the title is "Shadow the Hedgehog", I wouldn't expect any other character to be playable.

My point? In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), the presence of any other character besides Sonic or Eggman will not hurt the game so much as to making every single character in the Sonic universe equally of importance as to Sonic, for instance, making them all playable and whatnot. If Tails and Knuckles take part in the story, good for them. But if they are given equally big roles as Sonic's, then yes, there will be a problem.

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Re: Interview Shorts - Naka discusses Hidden Palace · Akado

Post by Psxphile »

big_smile wrote:He confirms that Sonic Team have been unable to include the zone in recent Sonic collections, as the source code for the level was lost quite some time ago.

I'm sure it didn't stop with just <b>one</b> level.

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Re: Interview Shorts - Naka discusses Hidden Palace · Akado

Post by Nova »

Psxphile wrote:
big_smile wrote:He confirms that Sonic Team have been unable to include the zone in recent Sonic collections, as the source code for the level was lost quite some time ago.

I'm sure it didn't stop with just <b>one</b> level.


Yeah, it must had been at least 2 levels, the last one with a Boss, but I guess they only made a level before dropping the idea.

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Post by Kishi »

It could have very well been a one-Act Zone, since it was to be one of the special ones, like Sky Chase, Wing Fortress, and Death Egg.

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Post by Plorpus III »

Except for the fact that there's an act 2 in the beta.

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Re: Interview Shorts - Naka discusses Hidden Palace · Akado

Post by big_smile »

Psxphile wrote:
big_smile wrote:He confirms that Sonic Team have been unable to include the zone in recent Sonic collections, as the source code for the level was lost quite some time ago.
I'm sure it didn't stop with just <b>one</b> level.
I’m still not entirely convinced that Sega have lost the source code for the original games. The forthcoming Sonic the Hedgehog (for mobile phones), doesn’t appear to use emulation, which means that they would have needed the source code to produce it.

^_^

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Post by CM August »

Perhaps they're only missing the source code for those beta levels.

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Post by LocalH »

Plorpus III wrote:Except for the fact that there's an act 2 in the beta.
Yeah, an act 2 that uses the same exact level layout, with no objects, and Sonic's origin set to 0000 0000 - the very upper-left of the level. I figure they would have turned it into a one-act zone if it hadn't been cut, seeing as they were running short on time anyway.

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Post by Opa-Opa »

I wish they asked about Naoto Ohshima's part on the early Sonic games. I was surprised Naka even mentioned him on the sound test part...

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