TSS UPDATE: Sonic Site Awards, Sega Sonic Radio and Sonic Fan Club Goodness!

Gah! No sooner had I announced the opening of The Sonic Site Awards: PHASE II, than I get attacked by literally hundreds of emails! Still, nice to see you all taking an interest at least. To say the SSA is fast becoming a success is a bit of an understatement.

Hee hee, yes I do have the current runnings for each site (otherwise there's no point in me holding this thing ^_^) and NO, I'm not going to tell you who's in the lead, I'll tease you a bit more for the next two months. Better get ready for the next load, it's gonna be a loooong wait til December...

So can I say, before anybody gets impatient, that because my email account is building up, answering your e-mails will be slightly delayed. I hope you can understand, but I'll try to answer mails as soon as I can, as always.

First off, an apology to Shadow of a Hedgehog, for the rude comment given earlier in the Nominees Descriptions. Downloading MP3s are free, and the incident I had in trying to download some files must have been a fault on FilePlanet's part. Let me explain - downloading the MP3s take you to a server choice. I must have clicked on the Personal Servers option (which you do have to pay for) and I must have missed the Public Servers option (the ones you don't have to pay for). o_O

Neon has mailed me about this, so I am sorry for any bad feeling. The comment has been 'destroyed', all I can say was that it was just a small misunderstanding - blame it on the cheese!! ^_^

Hundreds of you are mailing with votes, which  can only be a good thing. BUT, it's plainly obvious which voting mails are the ego-centric ones - with some mails only voting in a few categories (which they happen to be in) and some entries even only mailing me with a vote for one category!!!

The thing is, I don't really want this happening. The whole point of the Sonic Site Awards is not to keep mailing to make sure you get the award, it's about good judgement, to actually have the good heart to decide which site should deserve which award.

I'll allow you to vote for your own site, I'm well OK with that - just vote in all the other categories, and not just the ones you are nominated for. That's why I'm making a strict rule - you either mail with EVERY category filled in, or not at all - from now on I will not accept incomplete voting forms. It's only fair, and filling the rest only takes you a maximum of a minute (or two if you have trouble deciding).

Aaaanyway, you'd think that with all the (roughly) 300 mails I've got so far (no joke!) that I've actually not got time to do anything else. And you wouldn't be far from the truth - not only do I have to keep this baby up and running, I got college work (and coursework, which thankfully I'm ahead of the game on) which ain't pretty, plus I'm downloading SA2 tracks, preparing for the 'Sonic Adventure 2 Fortnight' on Sega Sonic Radio, that I've promised you.

In spite of this, SA2 Fortnight will be coming shortly, I am finishing off my downloads from a special server thingy, and as soon as I upload them the show will run. Speaking of The Site Awards, there's something I've been meaning to share with you...

Right, now I got that out of the way, people should be mailing with all categories voted in. Cool. Now then, other Updates (I found some time! Hoorah!). First of all, that kind chap Andy Wolan (of Emulation Zone fame, now ex-head of the 'Zone) has kindly accepted yours truly into the 'ZRN (The Zone Radio Network). So, Sega Sonic Radio is now officially a part of the 'ZRN, make no mistake. Heh, it was only six months ago that no-one had heard of this radio station... ^_^

To top it off, I've given the site a (slight) lick of paint here and there, which makes it look a bit better than the crappy sire that held it before. Check it out.

Well, I said I'd revamp each page in my own time, and I've taken the next step in doing so. Everyone's favourite Sonic Game Information medium, The Back Catalogue has had most of the Game Info Pages re-decorated, to suit the current background and... it looks pretty cool. Most of the Mega Drive games are done, the Dreamcast games are sorted, some Master System/Game Gear game info pages have changed, and I'm working on the others. I just give give give, don't I?

Yes, the problem with the Music Zone is still present unfortunately, so I've closed the menu until I can get it sorted. If you head to The Back Catalogue or an info page of the same game, you can get to the Music page that way - be warned most midis aren't accessible - Topcities blew my Music account up. Gits.

But trust me, the Music Zone is now top of my 'to do' list. Even more so now - I got an e-mail a while ago from top midi-making legend, Jarel Jones! Yes, THAT Jarel Jones. Apparently, he was quite impressed with the Stadium. Cool eh? Glad you like it, Jarel. See, the Stadium even gets Star approval now. ^_^ I was hinted to a new SA2 midi (gasp! NEW SA2 midi? Can it really be?) from 'Lost Colony'. It's actually very good - almost akin to the actual SA2 track itself. I'll slap it online, as soon as I knock Topcities' block off...

See the Sonic Fan Club? Good. Now look for Sonic VMU Club and the Sonic Shout section. Can't find it? Don't blame you - I took it off. Plainly because the only time anyone's probably actually looked at (or for) the pages was just now. I don't blame you - VMUs are phasing out sadly, and they were such a cool idea too.

And Sonic Shout was just (probably) an excuse to turn the site into a Jerry Springer episode. Plus, no-one bothered, so I couldn't be bothered to keep them. BUT, in their place I have created a NEW Sonic Fan Club section. I present to you all... Sonic Hacking & Oddities Club! This'll be a section primarily for Sonic ROM hacking or Savestate hacking, and also weird strange events that happen to one's Sonic game while in front of the telly. All the info you need is on the new page.

Well, what's been happening in the Sonic Directory recently? Remember our mission - to archive EVERY single Sonic site in existence into one small, teeny tiny page. I've updated the likes of Sonic Industries - but erm, as my e-mail account was buggering up, could you mail me again with your name/nickname and the URL to the site - somehow my e-mail account didn't pick that up. >_< Also, I'm deciding to add all the nominees of the Sonic Site Awards into the Directory too, but that may take a while.

Amongst the many many posts I get for the Site Awards, I am starting to get many a fan mail. Which is always nice. ^_^ In fact, a guy called Segasonic15 managed to pull off a cool Flash banner for the Stadium - you can see it at the top of the page, hopefully. Must've taken him ages to do. Also, Super Sonic Fan #1 is getting on well, with a new Fan Game... more info in SFCNews Desk. Plus, links aplenty, which means we're off to a good start on the Sonic Directory, AND - I found a new poll server thing. It's a lot better than HTMLGear, so from now - expect Polls in the format above. Remember, give Dreadknux a shout if you're lucky visitor number 5000! We already have well over 4000 - we can do it! If we B&Q it... *slap* That's better.

Finally, The Sonic World League is now open, but no-one seems to be sending in their best records. If you can't find it, it's located under 'Fun Stuff', on the left hand navi bar. You can win certificates for staying at first, second or third place when the challenge ends, and I'm even thinking about giving away prizes. Hmmm... I just got a new job, so it's certainly a possibility... get back to me on that one ^_^

In the meantime, SEND IN YOUR WORLD LEAGUE RECORDS; SEND SOME STUFF INTO THE NEW SONIC FAN CLUB SECTION; POST IN ALL CATEGORIES OR YOUR VOTE WILL NOT BE COUNTED, and... erm, EAT SOME CHOCOLATE, IT CALMS STRESS AND CAPITAL LETTERS LIKE this, see? Works wonders. Anyways, catch you later, and do all the above. Please?