My name is Shadow. I’m 25 years old. I was 7 when Sonic the Hedgehog came out for the Sega Genesis in June of 1991. And while I was from the kind of family that believed I would get more out of my computer than I would a game console, that didn’t stop me from checking out the demos in stores, becoming interested in that fast, blue, cool hedgehog. When the TV series came out, I would try to watch it at my local daycare whenever I got a chance. I had been into other things, mostly Disney and Power Rangers, but Sonic was always there for me, in some way, shape or form.

I suppose the Sonic scene exploded for me in 1997 when I discovered the SatAM reruns on the USA Network. (I could not watch them when they were on ABC, as i was banned from watching TV at the time, that didn’t stop me from trying, until they would bounce the show’s time slots around!). By that time, I had hit a low point in my life. My father had been killed in a car accident, I was being tortured in middle school, and I had no friends. I was not, by any point, a suicidal type person, but I was definitely at a point when I thought I had no future.

When I finally delved head-deep into the world of Sonic the Hedgehog full time by watching the shows, playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on my first game consol that I FINALLY got in 1997, and reading the comics that I had just discovered existed (My first issue I ever read was #59, but I also had gotten a copy of #30 in with the Sonic & Knuckles PC game), I was discovering things about myself I never thought myself capable of doing. I was drawing. I was writing. I was finding myself escaping into a world where I felt like I was happy.

Like so many newbies at my age at that time (13), I was pretending to be a fan character, zooming off to Sonic’s world and being a freedom fighter. That was my escape. But through it all, I developed my writing and art skills, along with learning how to web design of my own accord when we finally got internet access in 1998.

And I felt especially proud to be one of the most active fans on the day that Sonic Adventure launched in America on the Dreamcast on Quad Nine (9-9-99). I took my Dreamcast home and I sat there in front of the TV for 16 hours over two days. Covering things on the internet, watching the fandom explode.

Those were wonderful days. But none shall beat the day that Sonic Adventure 2 came out. That was the introduction of who was to become my absolute favorite character in the world; Shadow the Hedgehog.

And Shadow is well loved. It doesn’t matter how much the hardcore fans moan and groan when SEGA resurected him. I got news for you.

SEGA wasn’t expecting Shadow to be so damned popular. They THOUGHT he was a one-time character. I’m sorry if his resurrection took away the meaning of the end of SA2. It still means something to me. The end of SA2 shows that Shadow was willing to sacrifice himself to save the others in Maria’s honor.

He just happened to be lucky enough not to die after all. How does that take away the meaning of his will?

Nowadays, all I hear anymore are fans bitching, moaning and griping about every little thing that happens in the Sonic games anymore. Nothing is the same.

Nothing is the same? So you want the same ol bland bland gameplay for every game? Recently I pulled out an old review for Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Adventure was applauded FOR being different, breaking out of the element. SEGA naturally rolled with it, and now people just want the old gameplay back. Different is bad, different is evil.

SEGA has attempted to please the fans with Sonic Unleashed. Some claim they got it half-right. Perhaps so, but my reasons are different from theirs. Yes, running high speed tyhrough the level is great and all that, but…I DON’T WANNA HAVE TO DO THAT THE ENTIRE GAME. That would be…y’know…BORING.

SEGA’s trying so hard to please the masses, and no matter what they do, it seems they can never get it right in the eyes of the gamers. Never. Some day they’re just trying to please the fan base. If that’s so, then why is the fan base moaning about SEGA trying to please the fanbase? It doesn’t make sense.

Sonic 2006, was, in my opinion, a horrible game because the controls WERE bad. (And I seen cutscenes of the end of the story, they suck too. Cosmic resets is a cheap cut to fix the story). In comparison, actually perfered Shadow the Hedgehog over Sonic 2006 because I actually…y’know…HAD FUN in Shadow. Sonic 2006 was just a chore to play.

But since we all have different opinions about what game was better than another, I’m confident that the future of Sonic will stay strong, because only the unhappy speak the loudest. The ones enjoying themselves are quietly playing what they love. Places like IGN, who doesn’t know what the heck they’re doing anymore, they just talk loud.

They’re not doing anything about it.

Now that I’ve had more time at home to organize my stuff, I’ll be able to update the site while working on this moving thing. Still no word on any houses yet, but the good news is that my mom’s job may be saved! Apparently an article was put into the front page of the local news paper, the Winter Haven News Chief about her job.

Read all about it here:

http://www.newschief.com/article/20090715/NEWS/907155019/1021?Title=County-may-use-automated-operator

…go and follow us, you twits.

http://twitter.com/sonickingdom

Apparently this year’s gonna be a slow year for Sonic Kingdom due to new problems cropping up in my life. I’ll go ahead and quote from my journal:

…the day has come that I thought would never happen. I’ve lived in this house for 25 years. I know I had briefly lived in Tampa for a year, but other than that, the house on Florida Avenue has ALWAYS been my childhood home. I never thought I’d see the day when my mom says ‘We have to sell the house.’

Apparently the Polk County government is making cutbacks in staff, and the first people to go are gonna be those in the DROP program (it has something to do with retirement). With my mom being in that program, they’re most likely gonna have her retire early. After that, she can no longer afford mortgage payments on the house, which right now sits somewhere over 900 dollars a month, because Countrywide (now Bank of America Home Loans) are complete assholes and won’t work with her to help reduce her payments. That means we’re gonna have to dump a lot of shit from the house, put it up for sale, and move.

This is going to be a rough year. Art and updates are gonna be far and few until this mess gets straightened out.

In the meanwhile, during my lacking presence, Malstygain and Rising Phoenix will be in charge of the site until things settle down. I’ll pop up now and again to check on things, but please don’t run to me with problems, I am in no position to do anything about it.

Hello everyone! I’m glad you all could come to see our grand re-opening of SonicAnime.net as the all-new Sonic Kingdom. This site promises to bring all sorts of stuff. As you can see, we’re already off to a fantastic start with the Gallery in place, and now, the fanfiction section. Pretty soon, we will be having more for you, so have fun and stick around!

As you guys can see, we’re getting ready to bring everything on Sonic Kingdom online. By Tuesday, the 23rd, we’ll be celebrating Sonic’s birthday with the releanch of SonicAnime.net as Sonic Kingdom. Forms, ghallery, and fanfiction, we hope to bring the community closer on this site. 2 days to go…!

The fanfiction section has now come online.

Hello everyone. We’re almost done with the site renovations, and soon, Sonic Kingdom will be fully open again. Bear with us, we’re almost done!