Whitehead Confirms Involvement in Sonic CD Re-Release
Though not mentioned in Sega’s press release today concerning Sonic CD, Christian Whitehead himself, better known in the community as The Taxman, formally broke his silence today and confirmed it is his work powering the pending re-release for this Holiday season.
“This is the Retro-Engine kids,” he wrote this morning on Sonic Retro’s forums, adding that there will be “true widescreen” support for the game where appropriate.
He then sprinkled some other noteworthy items, such as the alleged ability to switch between Sonic 2/3&K and Sonic CD’s physics capabilities and, without giving too much away, said “certain obvious things” will be improved under the engine while others will remain the same.
You may remember back in 2009 when Whitehead showed off a proof of concept of Sonic CD running under the Retro Engine on the iPhone. It quickly went back underground, leaving many to speculate if Sega would scoop up his work.
Despite shooting up to such notoriety, the Australian remains humble toward his success.
“Don’t forget to say thanks to SEGA and Sonic Team too,” he noted. “A developer is only one part of a greater whole. Lots of people working hard in different areas to make it happen.”
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Thanks Christian, Sega, and Sonic Team. I guarantee you my support for such a fabulous product.
FUCK. YES.
This is going to be awesome.
Don’t jinx it, people.
thank you.
GOTYAY.
Haven’t heard of this guy…. but he has my intrest.
Let’s hope he continues to work on future Sonic Team projects. 🙂
What if Sega ends up sticking to this engine in retro-style games?
@The Dead Skin: Who’s to say they aren’t doing that to Sonic 4, and thus explaining why they’re releasing it in 2012? :tinfoil:
Yes when
I saw the iPhone thing it looked super smooth and since I play on my iPhone alot (photographer ftw!) ill def get this for it
Well done Sega! Well done indeed! I support this move wholeheartedly. In fact, this bit of news right here confirms that I will purchase this title when it releases, not just for the game, but to show my support for this sort of fan implementation! You’re pulling a Valve…and that’s got me intrigued and ready to throw my money where my mouth is.
This can be the start of a beautiful alliance for Sonic games to come =D
“…such as the alleged ability to switch between Sonic 2/3&K and Sonic CD’s physics capabilities…”
wtf? WHY HASN’T THIS REACHED SONIC TEAM YET!!!??????
Some no-name austrailian is practically GIVING them a proper physics engine, yet they STILL don’t take advantage of it despite the complaints DIRECTLY FOCUSING on the physics!!!?????
For shame, Dimps. For shame, Sonic Team. For sh-….you know what? No, just fuck you.
Cheers to Whitehead a.k.a The Taxman. 🙂
Something tells that the Retro-Engine would be VERY beneficial for 2D Sonic games to come.
@krazeekidd102: Umm… it has reached them? Did you miss the part where it was explained Sonic Team is using this engine and powering the Sonic CD re-release with it? Or were you just looking for an excuse to bitch?
krazeekidd102 – Just shut up if you have nothing good to say.
Anyways, this is cool beans. I hope we get more options too!
I’m pretty sure Krazee is just looking for an excuse to bitch.
Does this mean my personal hope of having the option of choosing which soundtrack you want to play isn’t that far out there?
@Krazee: It has, bro. Read better next time so you don’t look like a whiny ass.
@Krazee: you named yourself quite rightly.
Who knows, Krazee. Maybe they will use it. But I agree, they MUST use it for 4.
“Christian Whitehead himself, better known in the community as The Taxman”
I’ve never heard either of those names. ._.
“onfirmed it is his work powering the pending re-release for this Holiday season”
Why did people think it was him in the first place without anyone saying anything? o.o
And… I don’t get it. Why is this so exciting?
How can a fanmade enging be called “Retro-Engine” if it’s different from the actual engine in the retro games? o.o And it says 2/3&K and CD physics… so does that mean that this engine is made up of those 3 alternations or is the Retro-Engine like a 4th alternation? And aren’t they all similar anyways? Why not take the best of all of them and put them together?
I know I’m asking a lot of questions but I’m confused. @w@
@Foxboy Go to Sonic Retro and ask that question, they will help you understand techy stuff.
@FoxBoy: It’s common knowledge to some of us, you just weren’t around when Taxman was showing off his stuff earlier. And fan projects that actually have some love put into it usually turn out better. There are several times Sega should’ve used fans’ help for projects like these, hell, even a true Sonic the Hedgehog 4 successsor to the Genesis titles would’ve been better off in the hands of the right fans. So this shows there is yet hope for a Sonic re-release to be decent, and maybe somewhat beyond that.
Physics switches? How about a combination? Either way, I need to get this!!
@Knuckles: If the physics engines were combined, that would make CD even more awkward to play than it already is.
Look, can we just stop comparing the guy to Sonic Team?
@Ashes Darkmare
Whoa. No thank you. I hear it’s dangerous there. 0-0
@DoctorEggman
Um… I still don’t get it. The fanmade engine is good, I get that. But so what? It’s still Sonic CD. Was it originally not good? o.o
I mostly just don’t understand what’s so exciting about it since it’s a rerelease tho. I mean, I don’t really see how it can make much of a difference other than being a bit interesting. But I don’t really see any reason to be excited about it unless I don’t already have a copy. .-. Oh well. ^^;
@TheDeadSkin: When they have to resort to buying a fan’s engine license in order to make proper games, there’s nothing we can do but point out their incompetence. And that’s considering that the Retro Engine isn’t even being used for Sonic 4’s future release(s).