Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Hi guys, Lynne here.
Just a quick update to say I'll be moving home this month (June/July) but when everything is settled again the website will be getting a massive shakeup. All the broken files will be getting repaired, new staffers will be in charge of website submissions, the forums will be fixed to be able to accept sign ups again and everything will generally be much better. Right now I'm self employed so all my focus goes into my company and art, but i still have love for this place and don't want to see it waste away and be forgotten – especially after all we've achieved.
I've already seen some good applications to help out on the site already, but i'll be making a big update about that in the near future if you'd be interested in directly helping the community.
Also- regarding people waiting on mail from me, don't worry it's safe. It's all being sent out piece by piece (it's cost me a lot of personal money). Nothing is lost. Sorry for the crazy wait. Life has been err… entertaining?
If you're interested in what I'm up to these days check out my website Spectramis Arts, I'm available for art commissions. You can also see all my old archived NiGHTS art there and read my comics.
See you guys again soon~
TRiPPY
Just a heads up to let those of you who don't own the NiGHTS port know that it's HALF PRICE down to only 400MSP. A total steal for an incredible and timeless game.
For more details please read the SEGA blog here:
http://blogs.sega.com/2013/03/05/xbla-deal-of-the-week-nights-and-fighting-games
Hey PC-owning peoples it's that day you've been waiting for!
NiGHTS into Dreams is now available to buy on Steam ^^ Check out the [ official SEGA blog ] for full details.
I'd like to thank all of you for making this little dream come true.
Merry Christmas everyone ~ *
TRiPPY & DiGi
It's time to show the first 20 contest winners for the 'In MY Dreams' design competition. The prizes are from the lovely folks over at SEGA so congrats to all the winners for getting their creative mitts on this brand new rare and official merch! Appologies for the late update but I've been very sick in bed with the flu this weekend @~@ Sorry about that. Anyways, without further ado- our top 20 winners! All art is judged for meaningful creative and original design concepts.
The remaining 30 Runners up will be listed in a seperate update coming tonight!
20 Pillow case & Badge winners
By Cottonbun
My dream persona would probably take form of a tiny moth-shaped maren ( I'm a frequent visitor to the Nightmare I'm afraid haha… ).
In my dreams I often view the world through the eyes of different characters/people that I dream about. T
he moth seem to be asleep and inactive but the third eye observes everything quietly, only sometimes using its silky threads to make the host to follow its bidding.
~*~
By Dexlacabra
~*~
Hyalus By Amy
This is my Nighmaren, Hyalus. (Hyalus means "glass" in Latin. He is
named for the spyglass he caries) He is an astronomer and a
philosopher. Generally quiet and contemplative, but always willing to
engage in lengthy, deep conversation.
I took a slightly different approach to the "create a dream-world
alter-ego for yourself" idea. Instead of personifying my whole self
and personality, I personified just a piece. I created a Nightmaren, a
physical form, for the "voice of reason" in my head, you could say.
When thinking deeply about various subjects and decisions, I tend to
converse with myself in my head and reason and ration and weigh
thoughts and possibilities. Hyalus here is a personification of those
inner philosophical musings. He's my conversation partner.
When I first read that NiGHTS was inspired by Mystere, I also wanted
to create a Nightmaren based on something from Cirque Du Soleil. I
chose to base Hyalus on a character/creature from O, my personal
favorite Cirque Du Soleil show. .
~*~
By Kanna
In our world, there is a lot of bad things, good things, and dreams allow us to create a world of their own, such as we want.
Speaking about the dreams, I am real dreamer, a child in my heart, and always will be so.
When I was little, I dreamed about toys, books, good grades in school, well, probably, like all^^ But when I grew up, I realized that in the world there are more important things.
A long time ago when I had the Internet, my life has changed, I found my best friends, wonderful people who always understand me, laugh with me, and compassion, if it necessary.
And I found in the Internet love of my life, the best man in the world… I love them very much.
There is only one problem-we all live in different cities. Here's what my dream is more than anything else, I want to see them, I want to be with them.
I dream about it when I draw for them, when we had fun laughing on Skype, when I sleep, and I see that dream again-as I ran to them, we hug and go on a new adventure. I hope you understand me…
That's what my picture about-this is my dream in reality, the characters of my friends in the form of small toys flying around me, because my main dream is to meet them.
The first interest that reunited us was from our beloved universe of SEGA-Sonic The Hedgehog, that's why I holding little Sonic plush in my arms.
All my friends there have no character-nightmarens now, but I hope that after the remake of our beloved game, NIGHTS Into Dreams, they will have them)
My Nightmaren character Kanna basing a little on my Sonic character who represents me in the world of Sonic…
Soooo, my favourite color is turquoise, And I'm REALLY long-haired with a long braid in reality ^__^''' So that's Real Me, blue-eyed real dreamer in the world of NIGHTS…
~*~
By WiNGS
My dream persona is an ethereal thing, lithe and flowing. Prone to flights of fancy, sky gazing, ignoring the laws of gravity, and painting the clouds with starlight.
She wears a mask, which at it's simplest explanation is a reflection of my love of theatre. What lies beneath?
Well that varies from dream to dream, but suffice to say the simple exterior conceals potential, different lives, different worlds, different dreams, vibrant in their variety..
~*~
By Lil' Shock
My dream self has always been the rag doll of loneliness, LyLyDyA. She is that doll that was outgrown, torn and filthy from faithfully tagging along in the form of a nightmaren. We both share a strong feeling of being left behind. However, there's always that bit of hope that glows from my ideya that she holds so close.
~*~
By Karita
~*~
DRiFT by Sami
I'm quite the day dreamer, so I figured creating a Nightmaren based on day dreaming would be interesting.
The character, "DRiFT", is lazy, always tired and is never stood up right. The cloud-like hair is based off day dreaming and it's carefree personality.
~*~
Delt by Sarah
In the refuge of my dreams, I am at liberty to become my true self- a creature named Delt.
However, because I anxiously sleep with one eye open, I must dream with one eye closed.
I gradually float back to the surface of reality, racing against time while searching for those fleeting thoughts that are
most important to me before I finally awake to my human reflection.
~*~
By Heather
Since I'm very content with my overall appearance and I normally don't have dreams of myself wearing fancy/silly/other costumes.
So instead of giving myself a makeover I didn't really want, I gave myself a pencil that can create my alter ego; a girl dressed up as a clown.
This personally fits better for my "Dream Self" because I love to create things;
pictures, stories, you name it, so long as I don't have to change myself in the process.
My mind is bursting with the creativity and imagination of a child; which leads me to the nightopia itself.
The Nightopia itself was very fun to draw, I'll admit. The whole thing was inspired by my inner child; my alter ego clown-girl.
Since Nightopia is supposed to be the reflection of ones heart, I wanted to reflect the childish part of my heart
(Which I assume would be powered by my ideya of purity with how silly and childish this place is)
And while everything seems completely fine and dandy, you may take notice that the walk way; along with everything else; is floating in the day time sky.
This represents my ambitions to be a writer, and at the same time, my fear of failing to do such and falling to my doom.
~*~
AKAi by Krystal
My Dream Persona is named AKAi.
She's kind, always willing to help when given the opportunity.
AKAi, even on the hottest of nights, would always be seen in sweaters and jackets.
For they give her comfort and that soft, fluffy feeling.
Never will she want to be alone and follows anyone who she can trust..
~*~
Athlon by Cristian
Well, his name is Athlon and he has the ability to transform himself in any thing, he can also stretch his arms,
legs and neck as far as he wish, something like a spring.
He also has the ability to change your dreams into night or day by using his swords, if your having a dream where you can see the sunlight,
he immediately can change it into night, making it a nightmare.
~*~
The Child of the Moon
In the majestic world known as the 'Night Dimension', where the serene and joy-loving world known as Nightopia exists,
there resides a very unique resident of its existence. Dressed in flowing garments that look as of it was dyed with pale blue moonlight itself,
it roams throughout the serenity that surrounds the world one can only visit within their sleep and their dreams.
With skin as blue as her majestic rags, a fox's face can be seen covering the upper half of her face, only exposing the eyes reflecting the moon's
luminous and guiding light. With dream-like winds in her midst, cherry blossom petals follow and surround her as if they were
children looking to their beloved mother who watches and cares for them. Her child-like body she possesses
signifies the purity of her soul and longing to forever remain young within a dream.
Visitors, Nightmarens, and Nightopians alike all wonder who this mysterious being is, and its origin of its existence.
The possibility of a Visitor remains distinct, for behind the mask, a human is visiting this world for the night,
only to disappear on the dawn of a new day. Or perhaps a Nightmaren, created by the Wicked One's dark power,
whose purpose only lies within the snatching away of beautiful dreams Visitors have at night,
taking them as sakura petals to add to her midst.
Being a Nightopian is another possibility to ponder, as she could be another peace-loving resident without a care in the world.
Who do you think she is?.
~*~
By Zander
This guy's not actually a Nightmaren in any sort, but a regular dreamer. The last half of his life he had trouble with Nightmares. The problem wasn't of dealing with them, but not having them. He had only recently witnessed a nightmare for the first time in years; woke up in a cold sweat and his heart racing fast. The adrenaline rush was actually rather different and refreshing. He enjoyed the experience of fear and danger but ending up in your room unharmed and safe.
This is his disguise to infiltrate the realm of Nightmare. The goal is to be able to explore it and experience the terrors it has to offer, and without the Nightmaren ganging up and directly attacking him.
The disguise doesn't grant any special abilities. He can't fly or do anything terribly out of the ordinary. Perhaps the claws might work as a weapon but that would be the extent of it.
~*~
Mindy by Summer
When I started designing Mindy I thought back to all the dreams I had and was going to build her personality based on how I behaved in dreams.
I tend to run away from things in my dreams a lot which made think of a chicken. She had a design that made her appear
more chicken like but after redrawing her a couple times, I came up with her current design which is based more off of Cockatoo.
She has an expressive crest that blends in with her hair, the poofy collar around her neck to represent her plummage,
and her coat tails are her tail feathers. Another thing that happens in my dreams
(or nightmares because I'm usually running away from something when it happens) is I'll sometimes blend in.
So I gave her glasses that act like the personas from Journey of Dreams to let her change shape.
However, one of the lens got cracked which makes her change at random times so blending in doesn't always work and Mindy
will have to keep running away anyway. Mindy likes to believe she is an intelligent being but due to her running away from everything the
citizens of Nightopia might consider her more of a bird brain. (I couldn't help but pun I'm sorry.).
~*~
By WEiRDO
~*~
By Sterling Quinn
~*~
S'more by Jennifer
She was created from the distress and ideya of an average young adult who had constantly faced misfortune after misfortune.
Slowly breaking and feeling more like a puppet themselves. A rag doll. S'more constantly makes a mess of their dreams.
From the weirdest to the dreariest of dreams. More and more the dreamer tried to drown themselves in the "sweeter" side, while slowly becoming one with the nightmare,
unknowingly as planned. Eventually the dreamer had been lured in by an empty promise from S'more and fell into the all seeing hands of the wicked one.
Although the fate of the dreamer is unknown, S'more lives a well off life. Stalking her crush and hoping to have him all to herself someday even though it is clearly forbidden..
Favorite Quote: "Dost thou hunger for a sweet or two?"
~*~
Verigo & Bruna by K*Chan
Hum.. I wasn't quite sure if I should draw my dreamer self or a nightmaren so.. Why not both?
~*~
iD by Layla
I drew myself and my Nightmaren "iD". (pronounced id not eye-dee)
(In my dreams, 5 different colored scarves represent the 5 ideya).
~*~
Announced today ~ NiGHTS into dreams… will be hitting PlayStation Network on the 2nd of October for $9.99 and Xbox LIVE Arcade on October the 5th for 800 Microsoft Points. An incredibly worthwhile purchase considering that the rare and amazing Christmas NiGHTS also comes included as a free bonus! That's right, it's not DLC, it's free. How great is that? NiGHTS as a stand-alone game had tons of replay value but Christmas NiGHTS was always the icing on the cake. I know a lot of fans who have never had the chance to play Christmas NiGHTS on the Saturn due to the difficulty in finding a copy as it was never for sale as a buyable game. Christmas NiGHTS was an extra disk that Sonic Team decided to give out for free as a Christmas gift. Consider it a DLC expansion pack before DLC ever existed on consoles, lol. Gamers could only get a copy by buying certain Saturn bundle packs or free from a couple of gaming magazines (or Ebay of course). So this is a great chance for new fans to experience a little festive spirit.
Christmas NiGHTS looks amazing in HD updated graphics. If you don't believe me wait until you're whizzing around the screen with a ton of crystal clear HD multicolored sparkles in your eyes chasing high scores to beautiful beautiful music (trying your hardest to not kill all your Mepians haha). There's a reason a lot of us still hook up our Saturns every Christmas to play this game. I'm so glad that a new generation will get to experience this lovely gift. It meant a lot to Sonic Team back then and it still does now.
It made me pretty tearful when i got to play it in the office for the first time… lots of fond memories of many Christmas holidays gone by.
Do me a big favour and buy this port when it comes out. In fact buy it as a Xmas gift for a gaming friend! They'll appreciate it, trust me. Christmas NiGHTS is a classic and memorable beautiful experience.
Not long to wait now guys. It'll soon be time to fly again
To read the full SEGA blog on the release dates and info please [ CLiCK HERE ]
The NiGHTS demo of Spring Valley was playable at PAX recently and it's been being received very well by fans! SEGA were there to give a preview of the game and hand out NiGHTS badges. Great to see the game in the public eye again! Here's the wonderfully enthusiastic Mr Anthony Carboni from rev3games letting you all know how badass NiGHTS is *lol* We like this guy a lot. Be sure to subscribe to their Youtube channel. Watch this video for the full lowdown on how the port sizes up.
NiGHTS into dreams… HD is featured as part of the SEGA Heritage line up!
A demo of the game was recently available for play at this years PAX event, where a trailer for the collection was also shown. You can watch the trailer over here at SonicWrecks – http://youtu.be/9C11odKVbHs
The trailer also provides us with information that the title is to be released during October 2012, though a specific date has not yet been announced.
So, not long to wait…
Are you ready to fly again?
The collective power of ultimate win.
So, I was at a Sonic convention this weekend here in the UK. Summer Of Sonic 2012. You might have heard of it? Of course you have.
Our good friends SUMO Digital were there. A funny thing happened. Usually, with the SUMO's you're always going to have some funny thing happen but this particular thing turned out to be a BIG fantastic NiGHTS reveal for Sonic & AllStars Racing Transformed! And, for the sake of keeping things in line, while this reveal was at a SEGA related event it has not been officially announced by SEGA themselves online so this news post is more along the lines of our take on the reveal rather than posting images and videos from it. Once the announcement has been made through official SEGA channels you can bet we'll be posting ALL THE THINGS here.
So. What actually happened?
Well, Steve Lycett and Tim Spencer from SUMO Digital were on stage doing their Question & Answer session. It was roughly a 30 minute stage session where SUMO Digital answered some questions about their new upcoming and quite frankly Miller Ball Breakingly awesome racing game 'Sonic & AllStars Racing Transformed'.
Towards the end, Tim turns to Steve and proclaims "Steve, isn't there someone we've forgotten?" Mr. Lycett says he doesn't think so, though Tim is insistent that he has.
People from the crowd begin calling certain characters though NiGHTS is a name you hear prominently.
The lights dim, the TV's start rolling – and familiar but modern NiGHTS into Dreams… music begins to play.
A lush green valley appears with a ceiling of fields and trees suspended upside down. An Egg Clock floats by. Screen transitions to another area of the location, a Kircle hovers past with it's pincers snapping away before we transition to a floating windmill, a giant Shleep, rock formations moving and changing, and then finally a Dream Gate with an open swirling vortex inviting you to jump in to the unknown. Music switches up tempo to a tune we recognize as Spring Valley's theme.
NiGHTS appears in an airplane shape, soaring through the skies of Spring Valley, accompanied by a Nightopian clinging on to his back. A few quick barrel rolls and tricks through the link rings located around the level before we transition to another character….
Reala flies by, also in an airplane mode, being driven by a Nightmaren Goodle pilot who appeared in 'Journey of Dreams'. Throughout NiGHTS' first appearance the crowd cheered, only to be followed by a second cheer when Reala showed up.
I turn to look at the stage and yell at Steve Lycett that he is a 'beautiful BEAUTIFUL man' before i turn back to the screen and we all see NiGHTS fly through one of the Dream Gates.
Location change, welcome to Nightmare.
You are now in Gillwing's lair, flying through the undergrowth at the base of the Maren's level. Pastel coloured plants litter the ground while green particles of pollen float in the air. Gillwing flies overhead in an awesome show of dominance over his land before we find ourselves flying through a Dream Gate at the end of the trench. We are back in Spring Valley, this time at the top of the snow capped mountains. NiGHTS is now in boat formation, racing through a river at high-speeds, an Ideya Capture hovers, moving from side to side above the rushing water. Transition to Reala who, also in boat formation, does a quick flip after driving over the edge of a small waterfall, the Goodle pilot on his back straightening his hat just before Reala does so.
Cut back to NiGHTS flying through another Dream Gate and suddenly the ambience shifts and the mood lighting is darker, more ominous.
The lord of Nightmares comes in to view in the distance. Wizeman.
The crowd behind me erupts in a cheer of supportive praise. NiGHTS races towards his creator and Wizeman begins flying back making the jester chase him. Rocks hurtle towards NiGHTS, who's barrel rolling to dodge the incoming attacks. We fly through one last Dream Gate at the end of the battle arena before the title logo transitions into view. 'Sonic & AllStars Racing Transformed'.
Remember that title. Remember that logo. And remember this. In the years we have campaigned to keep NiGHTS active I don't think anybody has acknowledged us on the scale that perhaps SUMO Digital have. Year one on the campaigns, they came to our forums even after the trouble we caused them and they spoke to us. They knew that even with our campaign backing it there just wasn't any time at all to put NiGHTS as a playable character in the first AllStars game. They did what they could though so they gave NiGHTS the one thing he's been known to do in Sonic games for many years now and gave him a cameo as the Flagwaver. We were thankful for that. I know that late in development, to start adding new things to a game is very risky and what SUMO had technically done was include a brand new bit of code into every single level. I can only imagine the problems that arose from doing just that. But you know what? While bits of the internet complained, NiGHTS fans were thankful to be represented. It was not what we asked for but we were seriously happy. NiGHTS was not forgotten, even if only for a little while longer.
After that though i thought that was it. SUMO Digital, however? Nope, it seems they weren't quite done with NiGHTS. They were making this sequel and they were going to have NiGHTS playable. And Reala too. And they were going to give the characters a race track made out of one of their game's levels. And that track was going to have areas accessible to other areas where cameo's of other characters from NiGHTS would appear. When you look at what our campaign asked for three years ago and hold it up to what we've been given today, the amount of sheer and utter love for NiGHTS from SUMO is unreal. More than we asked for? Understatement!
For whatever stupid reasons NiGHTS was not in the roster for the first AllStars Racing have been annihilated by this point, and by SUMO's complete dedication to making sure we are represented as much as we possibly can this time around.
They knew we were here and they didn't forget NiGHTS.
Please make sure you say thank you to them. It's the least we can do.
See you in Spring Valley~
DiGi
Can I be honest? This is a post I'd been wanting and waiting to have to type up for many many years. Now that it's actually here I'm probably too happy and tearful to be able to word it properly.
Today marks 16 years since the release of the original NiGHTS into dreams… on the SEGA Saturn.
Today marks the day that SEGA answered our dreams and the NiD15 campaign.
SEGA listened to us.
Guys… NiGHTS into dreams… is being ported to modern consoles.
We've finally got what we'd been begging for. A new generation of NiGHTS fans will now be able to experience what we love so much. Old fans will be able to play the game now for new reasons. And everyone else? Well welcome to something beautiful and life changing that will stick with you for a very very long time.
SEGA have been directly working with the fans on this one.
How do I know?
We've been working on the game. This is the real deal.
This was the one title that caused me to chase my dreams for years to work at SEGA. It's with a great sense of pride I can say I achieved that dream years later. The day I sat down infront of this project at my desk I just couldn't stop smiling. I knew this entire community was perched up on my shoulder. This has been a real dream come true. For all of us.
Thank you so much to EVERYONE who worked so hard to make this happen. The years of campaigning and promoting, causing mischief and creating the best kinds of memories. You should all feel very proud of yourselves and thankful to everyone behind the scenes. If you believe in something enough, face your fears and never give up – it can happen.
Happy birthday NiGHTS. We didn't forget you.
Thank you SEGA for listening to us. Please keep supporting NiGHTS, he means a lot to all of us.
Dreamers, it's time to wake up again.