Archive for the ‘News’ Category
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.
Happy 16th Birthday NiGHTS
May all your dreams come true ~
Read the rest of the comic here: [ CLiCK ]
The Ideal… The Confusion… The Growth… The Affection… The Possibility… The Consciousness…
Discuss here in our forums! : [ CLiCK ]
Hi folks, TRiPPY here!
I've been hard at work drawing lots of fan comic art for you guys to enjoy. NiGHTS: Descent into Dreams is my personal project I'm doing for fun as a thank you to everyone who's stuck with us over the years. I'll be adding new pages every few days here at the .com, so be sure to check back for regular updates Today I've uploaded 3 new full color pages in English. Work has begun on the Japanese translation and other languages too, so be sure to share this with all the NiGHTS fans from around the world. I promise it will be a fun read.
You will now be able to find my comic under the 'Reading' section menu. I've also added a forum topic for you to ask questions and chat about the comic too.
Enjoy!
Firstly, Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday season and ate terrifying amounts of food.
I just wanted to take the time to write a little post about 2011 since it was a year of a lot of personal triumphs for our fanbase. As usual things were pretty quiet on the official front this year but as always it didn't stop us from making a noise. This year marked the 15th anniversary of NiGHTS into Dreams. For a good few of us that meant a bit more than others because it was around the age of 14/15 we first discovered the game ourselves. That would make the game half our lifetime old. Appreciating anything for that amount of time is pretty special, I know it was for me. It marked a milestone for this fanbase and I was able to look back at where we started from.
I started this website years ago on my Dreamcast browser before I ever owned a PC. The only way I could upload images was to go to a internet cafe in the city to use their scanner. I'd input html code with a control pad. Hotlink peoples seizure inducing images as backgrounds. Plaster rainbow colored text everywhere like it was the greatest discovery ever and oh BOY when I found the code to embed midi's I was an unstoppable force of INTERNETS. I created my site to be able to share my artwork and love for NiGHTS. Words can't express the happiness I felt when the first person NOT trying to sell me Viagra posted a comment in my guestbook. It was a fan, an actual person on the other side of the world who shared the same interests as me. Then over the weeks more and more people came to visit the site. The community grew and grew, the Guestbook was replaced by a forum. Over time the little personal webpage evolved into the hulking global beast of the site you see today… minus the midi's.
2011 started off with the sad news regarding Mr Kevin Eva stepping down from his position as Community Manager at SEGA. He had worked his butt off to help strengthen this community in an official capacity and in the capacity of actually giving a real damn for the franchise and the people who love it. His departure left me feeling a little worried as a fan but over time it just served to make me work harder and be more determined to represent you all in the respectful, polite and creative way from within SEGA that I know you all so well for. You'd be surprised at how many people love and remember NiGHTS. Proud even, because many of them remember or came from this website. As a fanbase we are stronger than ever.
Then came the long anticipated Summer of Sonic 2011. It was an event that really gave me a lot to think about on my journey home. Not only did we get to finaly meet creators Takashi Iizuka and Yuji Naka along with a whole host of Sonic related A-listers…. but I got to meet the next generation of NiGHTS fans. DiGi was supposed to have done a podcast about this but never did, so just let me say, when really young fans approached me because of being huge fans of Journey of Dreams, I was really overwhelmed with proudness. I spotted a lot of NiGHTS cosplayers who I'd never met before. Had kids come up to me and ask me who Jackle was! haha. It's like the whole Modern Vs Classic Sonic thing that happens with Sonic fans, except there was no animosity here at all. Both classic NiGHTS and Modern NiGHTS fans were just happy to be there talking to eachother. I remembered what it was like to be a new fan to NiGHTS into Dreams. I felt really happy to sit there at our NiGHTS booth and realise that this was living proof of keeping the love for NiGHTS alive. I hope that these guys reach their 30's and have fansites and fond memories too.
Meeting Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka was more than a huge honor for me. It felt like we were there to say 'Hey we're the NiGHTS fanbase, so many people still care about NiGHTS, here we are, look at the things we've achieved because of NiGHTS.' So it was pretty special. Handing them over a copy of Lucid Dreaming and seeing their faces light up was priceless. I wish every one of you could have been there. It was very surreal. What really shone through was how passionate they both still were for NiGHTS despite how many years had passed.
On the subject of NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming, I still listen to the album on repeat on my way to work in the mornings. I still can't believe fans created something so perfect. OCR are genius and I feel downright blessed to have been involved with the project. It traveled all across the internet from Kotaku to even MTV! When the teaser trailer aired on the big screen on the stage at Summer of Sonic you could genuinely feel the buzz from the crowd. Hearing people clap and cheer for NiGHTS was the greatest feeling ever! Well done guys!
2011 was also a year of campaigns. Our NiD15 campaign garnered the attention of SEGA and several large online news sites. On the day of NiGHTS' birthday SEGA turned to Facebook to ask if fans would be interested in seeing a port of the original – to a scarily overpowering YES. That one post of theirs got more responses than many of the other announcements put together. In fact the post is STILL getting responses MONTHS later. I think it's fair to say SEGA know NiGHTS is wanted now. Thank you to all 6956 of you who have stood with us through our campaign site so far. Thanks also to the fans who may not be in any active NiGHTS community but who can still say positive things about the old game through various message boards, magazines and news portals. You've all helped us a lot, but we wont give up on a NiGHTS port until it becomes a reality! So lets keep supporting the cause: http://www.nid15.com
The other big event of the year was after SoS I was gifted a huge stack of NiGHTS into Dreams concept art from the original 90's game. Some of the images hadn't been seen before outside of Japan or in a high quality. So I was blissed out to be able to share those with everyone. It's one of those strange things were a franchise over a decade old still keeps giving. I was given a lot of positive feedback on my own artwork from the creators of the game which in turn inspired me to kickstart a new personal NiGHTS fan-comic project of my own:
This will be updated regularly this year in 2012 as a way of grabbing more fans back into the fandom. I'm really excited and motivated to work on this project of mine and I really hope you enjoy reading it in the future Things have been incredibly busy at work for me this year but I've always been thinking of NiGHTS or how to involve the fanbase in some way or another. I miss doing lots of fanart, it's how I got started afterall, so my new years resolution this year is to work really hard on giving you all something new to enjoy reading! Through this our website will have much more regular updates from now onwards. I'm also interested in featuring your own fan comics as updates. More on that later.
The end of the year was marked by an absolutely beautiful complete christmas duet by Cameron Strother, the original singer of DREAMS DREAMS back in 1996. Two dreamers reunited again. I can't think of a better more symbolic way to end the year.
It's 2012 now. I want to echo a sentiment from my fellow webmaster Dreadknux across at Sonic Stadium. As long as there are fans I will never give up on NiGHTS or this community. Even if there were NO fans I still wouldn't give up on NiGHTS. I'd sift through pages of spambots to just find that one single real fan from across the other side of the planet who loves NiGHTS too. Real life gets crazy, busy and very demanding… but I wouldn't be were I am today if it wasn't for NiGHTS, so for that I'm incredibly grateful and will always be here.
I hope you will too.
Happy New Year guys. I appreciate you sticking with us.
xx
TRiPPY
Taken from the original SEGA Facebook message:
"To our wonderful NiGHTS fans – we haven't forgotten that today is the 15th anniversary of NiGHTS, so happy 15th anniversary to NiGHTS and huge thank you! to everyone for supporting the character and game for all these years! How would you feel about seeing the original "NiGHTS into dreams…" being re-released? Also, if you think this is a good idea… which platform do you think NiGHTS should be released in? We'd love to hear your thoughts!"
Like I said. Nothing is impossible. SEGA themselves are now asking. And look at those numbers *lol* we hit over 6000 port votes today and Facebook is currently going crazy over NiGHTS.
Today is a good day to be a fan…
Get to it people : FACEBOOK. GO THERE. NOW
Happy birthday NiGHTS.