So recently .meme domains became available. So I decided to look and see what my options were.
The catch with this new domain type was that I had to pre-register the domain which cost as much as the actual domain cost. GoDaddy didn't explain that well at all. So when the all-clear happens with the pre-registration you have to pay again to get the actual domain. Daylight robbery if you ask me. Also just plain sonic.meme was eye-wateringly expensive, at two weeks' pay. Now I am a huge Sonic fan but I couldn't justify spending that kind of money, especially not since I had my bonus cut at work (more on that later). Anyway I managed to register sonicthehedgehog.meme and it points to a new subsection of this site which you can access directly from the menu at the top of the page, called MEMES. It took a bit of doing to get the domain, because GoDaddy would not register the domain until our good friends at SEGA-SAMMY approved it. In the end they did give their blessing. Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu Sonic Team to SEGA Kabushiki-gaisha!
0 Comments
About three months ago, I completed my first animation for my YouTube channel. While there's always room for improvement, it's an impressive first try. I always felt that Tails' technical abilities was an opportunity missed by SEGA, so a couple of years ago already I decided to try and change that. I don't know of any other video game character or animated character that has the true engineering spirit like Tails does.
Of course this kind of media only really finds appeal with makers and engineers, it is what it is. Recently, I had a very close look at TailsTube. If you are not familiar with it, here's one of the short episodes on YouTube: Now, upon close inspection, it seems to me that this was a LOW BUDGET production. Lots of mistakes exist, the most obvious ones are the fact that all the characters have a touch of strabismus (for those who don't know that's lazy eye syndrome). Further analysis shows that it was done in vector format, and most likely with Adobe Animate. This got me thinking- surely I can do the same, and maybe a little better? Well sure enough, its viable. It is a LOT of work but in the end it will be a very fitting format to my YouTube channel videos. So I have done an animation test, and sure enough, it's incredibly do-able. The initial learning curve is there, I've been through frame-by-frame animation but this is done differently. I am currently pumping out assets. I finished all the assets on 26 March. I am doing import operations of several hundred files into the animation software which will inevitably take a bit more than a week as I figure out the optimal way of doing things. Here is my test animation: In line with the yearbook I have taken the decision to create a separate category for the technical stuff I write about.
This category is appropriately called "Tails' Workshop". Accordingly all the hardware/software tinkering goes in there, and it allows those who have no interest in it, to skip over it. I pre-ordered the game and got to install it on the day. Unfortunately I had to upgrade my system to Windows 10 before the game would run so I used the opportunity to reinstall everything properly. All that, only to discover my GPU sucks. Nonetheless I got it running okay-ish and me and Tails2k20 got our first play: Today is probably as significant as September 9th 1999.
Bet Iizuka-san hasn't had any sleep, but I think he needn't be worried. Ganbatte, ne, Iizuka-san! So yesterday SEGA put out a Sonic Frontiers prequel... In June, I said the game would be great. Yes people, in June 2022, when every Sonic fan out there was flipping their nut about the Frontiers reveal and saying the game was going to be crap!
Now its November 2022 and people are repeating what I said in June 2022: "This game gives me Sonic Adventure vibes" Oh the irony... In a bit more than a week from today, I get to experience this game. I have already pre-ordered it on Steam.
As I have stated publicly, this game gives me Sonic Adventure vibes. I think it will be good, and if it is well received by the public, I will be sticking it to salty, Gen-Z Sonic fans. Yes here's looking at you, Discord server known as The Sonic Hangout! So the few of you who know about this site, and by that I mean, the four or five people out there, would have noticed the site went 404 for a while. The reason for that is due to the fact that I decided to give the site a complete makeover.
Why a makeover was necessary Previously this site was hosted on shared Linux hosting. Shared hosting is the old-school way of web hosting. This makes sense if you know how to game the Google system and have the talent (and coding ability) to tackle Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on your own. Unfortunately I do not have the time or patience to play little games with Google. I instead choose to invest my time wisely in creating quality content and art. I knew about the SEO barrier from my past experience with having had a moderately popular website. Sadly I fell on hard times and I had to choose between having a meal and keeping that site going. My previous site was also popular for the wrong kind of reasons- notoriety for being brave to stand up for the underdog against unethical persons- the kind of thing Sonic would do. But that was years ago and I don't even remember the URL. I do, however, remember that my stuff, was consistently at the top of the Google search results. I had to think long and hard about how I did that because I had completely forgotten. Also, there was another problem. This site was coming under attack on the old hosting, and vulnerabilities were actively being sought all the time by hackers (It was using WordPress) and I really just got tired of all the email alerts and having to clean out all the spam from the comments section. Of course its no fault of the hosting company, its a combination of WordPress and me not having the necessary level of control on the the server I would like. Then suddenly I remembered where and how I managed to succeed with the SEO problem... and here we are, a new site. Have no fear, the yearbook is not going away, but it has a dedicated page, you can find the link at the top of the page. |
About
A site about Sonic The Hedgehog™ by a lifelong fan (24 years and counting!) Archives
January 2024
CategoriesAll characters, games,
images and other media are © and trademarks of SEGA-SAMMY Corporation Tokyo, Japan. Used without permission and under fair use doctrines |