Well, here's the inevitable post many of you are probably expecting. I'm actually surprised it took this long...

I started Sonic World when I was thirteen years old. The concept was childish, the graphical design was subpar, and the coding was abysmal. Let it be known that I wasn't the most social person in the seventh grade. I was the awkward kid with the rollie backpack who tripped everyone as they walked between classes, so at the time, spending hours on the computer every day attempting to manage a website sounded like an awesome idea. It didn't bother me that Sonic "wasn't cool" or whatever because I was still enjoying the games. This site was created in April of 2002, right after Sonic Adventure 2: Battle came out on Gamecube in February. Since then, I can count the Sonic games I liked on one hand. And even then, I only use one finger (Sonic Rush, I'm looking at you). To be as blunt as the mainstream media, Sonic games have gone down the shitter. They've abandoned the "fun" factor in favor of appealing to angsty pre-teens, and I could go on, but I won't.

It's no secret that I'm no longer a huge Sonic fan. Look at the site: the games section is in shambles, half of the media content is disconnected, and some of the information sections promised so long ago are still absent. I simply have no motivation to continue working on Sonic World.

This isn't to say that the past five years of Sonic World have been a waste of time. That couldn't be farther from the truth. In November of 2003, Sonic World celebrated its 100,000th hit since its opening. By January of 2004, less than 60 days later, the site exploded into getting around 1.8 million hits per month. Sonic Heroes was released during that same time period, but it sucked, and without that burst of traffic, I would have stopped Sonic World right then. The influx of visitors spawned the high point SWMB's history, and my ability to see people have fun through something I made is all that kept me going. It's something that had such an impact on me that it influenced my career choice, and I'm now majoring in Computational Media (i.e. "the study of using computers as a medium of entertainment, art, and communication").

I'm now a freshman in college and it's difficult to find time to work on anything related to the D-Pad Network. I'm a very different person from the seventh grader mentioned above. Socializing, networking, partying, and - oh yeah, school - are more important to me than my Sonic the Hedgehog site, and I feel like it's time for me to move on. I have not yet made a decision as to whether or not I will allow someone to "take over" the site. I think I'll wait and see if the series gets any sort of a rejuvenation from the upcoming game releases, or if anyone around here still even cares.

Sonic World will always have a special purpose to me, and so you can rest assured that the site and forums will stay online as long as there are people coming to them. I won't be a stranger, and I'm still planning to be very much involved in the D-Pad Network's future as a whole, so I'm sure I'll see everyone around.

Peace out,
"Gamerguy"

Just released on the Xbox Live Arcade is Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the original Genesis Sonic 2 game. The full game can be downloaded for 400 Microsoft Points ($5 US).

Although we technically reported on the sequel to Sonic Riders back in 2005 (before the original was even released), it's worth noting that Sega has just "formally" revealed Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. Sonic News @ TSS posted about an article in PLAY that revealed the game earlier this month, but up until today, Sega has refused to acknowledge its existence. The game was unveiled with this trailer, shown at the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23879.html

The game will be arriving on PS2 and Wii early next year, likely in the same time window Sonic Riders was released in 2006 (February or March).

According to a press release from BioWare and Sega, the makers of the critically acclaimed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games and the highly anticipated Mass Effect have settled on a new subject for their next project. I'm as surprised as anyone. This isn't the first time BioWare and Sega have worked together, and BioWare had announced that they were already working on their next big title ahead of Mass Effect's release date, but I seriously doubt anyone saw this coming.

A "Sonic the Hedgehog RPG" will be coming out for the Nintendo DS sometime next year. Many Sonic fans have been begging for such game for quite some time now. The franchise certainly has enough characters and background to create a suitable RPG universe, but will an RPG put the series in the right direction? It will be very interesting to see how they can combine traditional Sonic gameplay with an RPG engine (such as Square did with Super Mario RPG), or if they'll even bother keeping speed in the equation. Hopefully it won't just be an overuse of the "run away" command.

http://blogs.sega-europe.com/blogs/sonic/entry/20070620
Sonic Rivals 2 is confirmed with these features:
* Battle Mode: Players will select from six ways to thrash their rival buddies: Knockout, Ring Battle, Race, King of the Hill, Capture the Chao, and Tag.
* Single Disc Game Sharing: Two players can easily access the Multiplayer challenge with just a single disc using the Wi-Fi function.
* Intriguing New Storyline: The Chao seem to be disappearing and all eight rivals must work fast to find out who is behind it.
* New Playable Characters: Players can join Miles "Tails" Prower and two new characters for even more fast-paced action with your rivals.
* Free Mode: Free from rivalry, experience the game in old-school Sonic-style. In this Single-player mode, the player can enjoy the challenging map at their own pace!
* Expanded Card Collection: Players can now collect 150 new cards for loads of new options to customize their playable characters.
The game is set to be released in Autumn 2007.
Here's a couple images.

Sorry for the lack of updates in the past couple months. I just redid the site's main page to update from DPNC as opposed to the old SWMB boards. The main page's layout as a whole has been restructured as a result. As if anyone cares, though.

In news people should care about, we have a new affiliate. If you're one of the few who hasn't already visited, Sonic Retro is most certainly worth your time. It's essentially Wikipedia for Sonic fans.

Instead of providing media for Sonic Rush Adventure and Mario & Sonic, I'm going to keep working on developing our Secret Rings page. It's already the most in-depth out there, which I find pretty sad because it's less than a quarter complete. I guess that could be some sort of statement on the Sonic community as it stands today. Anyways, look for it in the upcoming years months weeks.