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Nick Arcade was a technical marvel
If you're reading this website and grew up in the early 90s, there's a good chance you remember Nickelodeon's video-game-infused game show, Nick Arcade. What you might not know is that the final segment of the show, in which contestants went "inside" of an actual video game, was incredibly advanced for its time.Splitsider put together a lengthy history of the program earlier this year and, while we missed it at the time, it's still fascinating reading. For instance, when it was produced, Nick Arcade utilized the "largest blue screen set-up in existence," which occupied roughly half of the show's 10,000 square foot sound stage. Throw in some software with magical "edge-detection" technology that could essentially turn a human being into a game sprite, and Nick Arcade was born.For a (very exhaustive) look at the campy – and, it turns out, very innovative – show, head over to Splitsider.
Sonic 2 prototype now playable
Known only as "drx," some mysterious mage has resurrected a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 prototype cart and promptly dumped it (for emulation). It's an early build of Sega's sequel that's more akin to the first game than to the final version of Sonic 2. Can you spot the differences? It's been suggested that this prototype is the same alpha build that was featured in several episodes of Nick Arcade. Another early build, often referred to as Sonic 2 Beta, was stolen from a toy show in New York back in '92. The cart was pirated and sold as a final version in parts of Asia and Brazil, despite only featuring four semi-playable levels.
