Put it all in one place

[Frieza2000]

We should gather all our scans, translations, explanations, and anything else Sonic related that's worthy of note into a single webspace. Why haven't we already? GG's done a great job on the game writeups, but there's so much more to know that can only be found buried in off-topic posts from years past. With our combined knowledge we could easily make this place into the one-stop Sonic info site. It wouldn't even take much effort. Just upload everything we've got and slap together a menu page. I'd go so far as to suggest we put the encyclopedia on hold until we have something like this. Making the raw materials available before presenting our summary of them is a much better approach, wouldn’t you agree?

[Esrever]

I nominate Frieza2000 to pay for the bandwidth for this multimedia project.

[Brazillian Cara]

And more and more I have to control myself. Jesus, the GHZ looks like a giant, live spritecomic. Don't blame me, you are even the ones who introduced me to those.

[Frieza2000]

I don't care if it's spread across 100 free Geocities sites that runs out of bandwidth every 5 minutes, I just want it to exist somewhere. Besides which, the scans aren't my biggest concern. I just spent an hour searching through the hundreds of mediocre Sonic fan sites. 90% of them gave the same cookie-cutter profile for Sonic that gives his origin as Christmas Island. Most of them noted that this might not be cannon, but not a single site listed where the information came from. That's the kind of think I'm talking about; the raw data, not a summary, and tidbits like the fact that Fang lives in another dimension according to big_smile's interview with Hari Hari or our speculation about Knuckle's story in S3&K taking place after Sonic's and the evidence to support it. It's scattered across the net right now, and I would've thought that someone would've put it all together by now. At the very least, we can make some kind of translations page.

If I have to be the one to do it, so be it. I'll find someone with an FTP server or make a complicated matrix of free sites, but it won't be worth doing unless you guys contribute all the junk you've collected.

[Baba O'Reily]

And more and more I have to control myself. Jesus, the GHZ looks like a giant, live spritecomic. Don't blame me, you are even the ones who introduced me to those.

If you mention fucking sprite comics around me ever again, I'm going to take your internet connection and shove it up your ass, even if it isn't physically possible.

[chriscaffee]

Got a new project after beating every Sonic game in existence eh Frieza? I'd contribute, though I'm not sure how helpful it would be. I assume everyone here has all the same things that I have, if not more.

[Esrever]

I think, at the very least, it would be neat if at least one Sonic site cited all of the sources. I'm talking footnotes, baby. That would be rad!

[Locit]

And more and more I have to control myself. Jesus, the GHZ looks like a giant, live spritecomic. Don't blame me, you are even the ones who introduced me to those.

If you mention fucking sprite comics around me ever again, I'm going to take your internet connection and shove it up your ass, even if it isn't physically possible.

I will help him.

[muke]

That's the kind of think I'm talking about; the raw data, not a summary, and tidbits like the fact that Fang lives in another dimension according to big_smile's interview with Hari Hari...

Well, according to my avatar, Fang happens to live in a small, almost 3rd world country that's located below Texas. However, I do agree with your idea Frieza, and if we did it then maybe we could become the biggest Sonic fan site on the internet today!

Oh, and you said "think" instead of "thing." I got to the typo first (I hope)!

[Frieza2000]

I think, at the very least, it would be neat if at least one Sonic site cited all of the sources. I'm talking footnotes, baby. That would be rad!

That's what's so wonderful about the GHZ. You can never tell whether someone's being supportive or sarcastic.

Got a new project after beating every Sonic game in existence eh Frieza? I'd contribute, though I'm not sure how helpful it would be. I assume everyone here has all the same things that I have, if not more.

Thanks for the support, but I have no intention of making a project of this. If I do end up having to slap this together myself, it'll be a crappy solid color background menu linking to .txt files and, at best, an ftp server with all the multimedia on it.

So how about this everyone. Here's what I have:

Scans:

Sonic1(US,JP)
Sonic2(US,JP)
Sonic3(US,JP)
S&K(US,JP)
Sonic Spinball(US,JP)
SonicCD(JP)
Sonic3D(SAT)(JP)
SonicJam(JP)
Sonic1GG(JP)
Sonic2GG(JP)
Sonic&Tails(JP)
Sonic&Tails2(JP)
Chaotix(JP)
Drift2(JP)
Labyrinth(JP)
Tails'sAdventure(JP)
SonicPocket(JP)
SonicR(SAT)(JP)
SonicShuffle(JP)
TailsMusicMaker(US)
SonicGameworld(JP)
Sonic watch game(US)
Sonic underground handheld(US)
Sonic keychain game(US)
All the Sonic Screensaver pics
A manga by Koushi Rikudou

Translations:

Sonic1
Sonic2
Sonic3
S&K
SonicCD
Sonic Spinball
Sonic&Tails2
Labyrinth
Tails's Adventure
SkyPatrol
Chaotix
SA1 Strategy Guide
SA2 Strategy Guide

Useful info that isn't on this site:

Sonic the Hedgehog Technical Files (the document that was released before sonic1? It's that Mary Garnet thing)
big_smiles answers about Fang.

If you have anything that I don't and can be bothered to either upload it to a place I'll provide or email it to me, post what you've got. Manga scans, revealing discussions on this or other boards, behind-the-scenes stories that aren't on GG!'s writeups, any kind of rare info. If it seems like enough, I'll bother with it if no one else will.

Hell, I think I'd be satisfied with just assembling a recap of what we know but haven't put on the site into one topic.

[Esrever]

Man, I am totally serious about the footnotes. Information is only as reliable as the source. Cite everything!

(Keep in mind that I'm a History major. Once, I wrote a thesis with a three page bibliography and over 200 footnotes. It was HOT.)

[Green Gibbon!]

Part of the reason I always hated writing formal papers was because of the footnotes. Does it matter where I got the information from? I mean Jesus, it's information. Nobody owns it. It wouldn't take an expert in the field to figure out if I really did research or if I just made shit up. A bibliography or works cited page makes sense, I guess, but to actually tag every single piece of info with its origin source is absurd.

[Popcorn]

I have a drawing of Knuckles I did that I can contribute.

[Crazy Penguin]

I have a drawing of Knuckles I did that I can contribute.

I bet Neil has a better one.

[Frieza2000]

Part of the reason I always hated writing formal papers was because of the footnotes. Does it matter where I got the information from?

For something like Sonic where half of the information is non-canon and the other half is being constantly revised (ages for example), the source is vital in determining how much weight it should be given.

[Esrever]

It's just always a good idea to indicate where you are getting your information. For a casual reader, it will give them some indication of where they could go to get more information.

And for a reader who is an expert in your field and is familiar with all the sources, it will give them an idea of how thoroughly you researched your subject. Maybe your notes will quickly reveal that you are introducing a new source they have not heard of. Or, maybe they reveal that you've left something important out. Footnotes are just as important for indicating which sources you didn't consult as which sources you did.

[Green Gibbon!]

How should I remember where I picked up every single piece of information?! Especially for something like a research paper, in which it is assumed that you have done copious amounts of, y'know, research. I just amass vast amounts of information and store them in my head and in disorganized notes which I then later compile into a paper without any reference to the original sources whatsoever. I would likely use information from two or three different sources in a single sentence.

I've always hated writing formal papers because of the rigid (occasionally absurd) guidelines you have to conform to. Who decides that shit, anyway?

[G.Silver]

I've always hated writing formal papers because of the rigid (occasionally absurd) guidelines you have to conform to. Who decides that shit, anyway?

Stuffy old history majors, I think.

[chriscaffee]

How should I remember where I picked up every single piece of information?!

As soon as you find a fact you write it down by itself on one notecard and source it. You do this for every piece of information you intend to use.

[Esrever]

How should I remember where I picked up every single piece of information?! Especially for something like a research paper, in which it is assumed that you have done copious amounts of, y'know, research. I just amass vast amounts of information and store them in my head and in disorganized notes which I then later compile into a paper without any reference to the original sources whatsoever. I would likely use information from two or three different sources in a single sentence.

I've always hated writing formal papers because of the rigid (occasionally absurd) guidelines you have to conform to. Who decides that shit, anyway?

You're right. I shouldn't need to know where you got your information. I should just trust you. Come on! If I can't count on you to even remember where you got your information from, how can I count on you to have remembered it correctly at all?

GG, I'm sorry that you don't like to write that kind of paper, but the kind of paper you would write sounds pretty much useless to anyone but yourself. Sure, that level of meticulous cataloging isn't going to be necessary in a more casual form of writing, like a magazine article or whatever. But if you're writing a serious academic research paper, you're doing it to make an evidence-supported argument that other academics are going to be able to actively engage with and critique.

The information that you researched "copiously" is useless if you can't account for where it came from. Otherwise, how am I supposed to know if the source was reliable, or if you interpreted the source correctly, or if there was any source at all? That's why you need the footnotes. I should be able to go back to each one of your sources and make sure that it says what you think it says, and that it means what you think it means. (And that it doesn't say anything else relevant that you neglected to mention.)

(And if you cite more than one source in a single sentence, you list mutiple sources in one footnote.)

[G.Silver]

If all you're gonna do is go back and check all his sources, then why did he bother writing in the first place? What purpose could his research possibly have? "Hey guys, here are some books I read. Maybe you should read them too!"

[Frieza2000]

If all you're gonna do is go back and check all his sources, then why did he bother writing in the first place? What purpose could his research possibly have? "Hey guys, here are some books I read. Maybe you should read them too!"

The purpose is "Hey guys, I read all this and this is what I think it means."

As soon as you find a fact you write it down by itself on one notecard and source it. You do this for every piece of information you intend to use.

That's the old fashion way. It's still accepted I think, but now the MLA standard is a works cited sheets with in-text citations instead of footnotes scattered across every page. Much neater and less cumbersome than a stack of index carts and a million footnotes.

[Green Gibbon!]

Yeah, if that's the only important thing, why should I write a paper at all? Why not just a bullet list of statements pulled from a bunch of random books? I mean if they're just trying to make sure I did my work...

Fortunately, being in art, I only ever had to write four actual academic research papers, only two of which I think actually counted as such. I bet fucking English majors don't have to do paintings at all.

[Esrever]

If all you're gonna do is go back and check all his sources, then why did he bother writing in the first place? What purpose could his research possibly have? "Hey guys, here are some books I read. Maybe you should read them too!"

Man, do I really need to explain this? The reason GG or anyone else would "bother" writing a paper is because they have a theory they want to present. This central argument is called a "thesis," and the purpose of the paper is to explain the argument and then present all the evidence and information you found that supports it.

If you don't have a thesis, you don't have a reason to write. You're just spouting off regurgitated facts. You're not telling the reader what you think those facts mean. But if you do have a thesis, your paper is your chance to show people why you came to the conclusion that you did. Maybe your theory is wildly different from previous interpretations, or maybe it's only a subtle adjustment. But either way, how is anyone supposed to decide whether your interpretation has merit if they don't know what sources you did and didn't use?

Yes, a bibliography lists all of the sources at the end, but it doesn't connect the specific facts to their locations within the specific sources. You're trying to make it easy for the reader to check your information because you want them to be able to see right away why you are a genius and previous interpretations were SO WRONG.

[Green Gibbon!]

Boy, that's another reason I always thought research papers were a crock. If all it was was a regurgitation of facts, that would make sense, because that's the extent of the knowledge you can hope to acquire playing armchair expert with your text books. But no, you've got to formulate an "argument"... what if you have no arguments? How can you think you know more about the subject based on a few hours in the library than the guys who wrote the books? Shit, they've devoted their lives to it! Making an "argument" was always the most BS part of the papers to me.