User:Mike Arcade

<forumuser name="Mike Arcade" /> Mike Arcade a member of Sonic Retro since September of 2011, though due to an error was not active on the forums until around November or December of that year. Though he is not an old member of the sonic community, he has been an avid lurker and guest of the forums and websites of the community ever since 2003, and discovered Sonic Retro during The Sonic 2 Beta Page days. Mike inspires to be a Game Developer and to be one of the best the Sonic Community has to offer. While he's a bit of a dreamer, whenever he's around he always likes to gives his best and at times helps people out by giving advice. Though he has lurked and hidden in the shadows for far too long, once Mike reaches his full potental, he'll become an unstoppable force that all can look up to! It's only a matter of time before this once lurker hits the spotlight.

The Beginning

Ever since he was a kid, Michael grew up with a Sega Genesis, getting a Sega CDX when he was little. His first games consist of Sonic 1 and 2 (though which he played first is unknown) and a beta of Sonic and Knuckles that was given to him as a gift, sadly it was lost in a fire, what contents it contained forever lost in time (though it was probably dumped somewhere online). With the Sega CD built in he was able to get the full, legit experience of Sonic CD, jamming to Spencer Nilsen's awesome soundtrack and playing games such as Night Trap, Eternal Champions: Challenge from the dark side, Bariarm, and the 5 in 1 Sega Arcade Collection that came with Ecco the Dolphin. He was also a fan of the crazy cartoon The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, what profound effects this resulted is unknown, however he enjoyed it all the same. As he collected games and played, Mike also got other systems such as a Gameboy, Nintendo 64, and Playstation. Due to the Saturn's rediculous price compared to the others, Mike skipped out on Sega's next console, discovering other games and new series on his own without the aid of the familiar blue hedgehog he has come to know. But that would soon change as the Dreamcast came out, and as an early birthday present was given the wonderful machine as well as 3 games, one of them being the classic Sonic Adventure. Mike was forever changed the day he saw the intro of that game, seeing how great gaming can truly be, he swore that he would one day make games as great as this, perhaps even better! He naturally picked up Sonic Adventure 2, loving the game as much as the first one, but was sadden to hear the Dreamcast's discontinuation. Life moved on, but Mike's love of gaming never wanned, getting other consoles, playing other games, it was obvious that Mike would forever be a gamer, through the good times and bad, Mike continued to play on and live his life as much as he can.

Sonic HQ, Web Comics, and The Internet

During his childhood and pre-teen years, Mike discovered computers, starting off with a windows 98 as his first computer, going on the cartoon network website and looking up info about video games, it was then he discovered the website Sonic HQ, and found a fountain of infomation about his favorite video game series. He was rather shocked to hear about the cancelled game Sonic X-treme. It was around these days that he also discovered web comics, starting with the stuff on Sonicverse Team and pacifically Fireball 20xl. As time went on he found more web comics, found newgrounds, as well as other flash sites. It was during his childhood that he discovered Gamefaqs and the many cheat codes of the Sonic games, he was astounded that such things existed, and later became a fan of magazines such as Tips & Tricks and Gamepro. With so many secrets, the young Mikey wondered what else the games he has played for so long, as well as the creators of such games were hiding, he would have no idea what he would later discover...

The Sonic 2 Beta Page, Emulation, Hacks, and The Origin of Mike Arcade

As a teenager, Mike continued on his days playing games, though high school was tough he continued to live past the dark times and survived, as that is what anyone can do during those times. It was also around that time that Michael became Mike Arcade, as his computer class had Halo, Mike chose the name Mike Arcade to represent his love of gaming, and because the word Arcade repesents the challenge and meaning of gaming to him, contrary to popular belief he did not base the name off of Nick Arcade, as so many believe. He had a lab top during these days (that would later break and be lost in a move), and during class one day discovered The Sonic 2 Beta Page. He was amazed at what was lost during the time Sonic 2 was made, shocked at the lost zones of Wood Zone, Dust Hill Zone, and Sonic 2's own version of The Hidden Palace Zone. It was mind blowing to him, all this time such zones were lost to time and he never knew. It was at the same time he discovered knuckleschaotix.info, getting info about the one sonic game he never got due to it being a 32X game, as well as discovering his first hacks, Mighty the Armadillo and Sonic Gaiden, as well as his first taste of emulation. Awe struck at the hacks and emulation, he later downloaded the most used emulator and downloaded his old favorite sonic games, playing them this time on a computer. He also lurked around Sonic 2 Beta's forums, discovering all the hacks of the time like Sonic 2 Long Version and Sonic 2 Delta II, which had playable versions of the lost zones, it was later during that time that Version 3.0 of Sonic 1 Megamix came out, Mike was blown away at what he was playing, it was like Sonic Adventure somehow got into Sonic 1 and gave it new life, all the moves and variety you can do only inspired Mike Arcade even more so. Mike would later go on an emulator and ROM binge during his last year of high school, downloading as many games as he could to his USB at school, what viruses he gave those computers remains unknown. Mike was worried and in a panic that Sonic 2 Beta Page was gone, only for a little bit until finding out the site changed and became Sonic Retro, Mike would go on and live as usual, play the latest games, go to school, and check out how things were on Sonic Retro.

Joining Sonic Retro, it's about time!

A young man with many insperations, Mike Arcade head off to the confusing and free spirited world of College, during the Summer of 2011, Mike FINALLY got a new computer after all these years, and during fall got internet at his home. With an e-mail and several online accounts such as youtube, Mike finally desided to join his favorite website Sonic Retro. He typed in his account name, posted on the validiation forum, and waited to join the best of the sonic fanbase...and waited...and waited. Mike was worried that he wasn't excepted, however after around a month or two he found out by e-mail that there was an error, and the members who joined around the same time Mike did had to wait as long as well. With that sorted out, Mike Arcade finally joined his favorite website, taking in all the good things about the community and headed off to the wonders of the Sonic Retro forums, no longer a mere lurker or guest, but as a member of one of the greatest websites he has ever known.

Mike Arcade Today

Currently, Mike Arcade is a forum regular, enjoying the news he gets from the site and all the awesome people he has met during his time here. While not at school or playing recent games, Mike checks out how his fellows over here are doing, so far pretty well. Mike has a basic grasp on programming and intends to start on his journey to become a game developer, he also intends to make his own Sonic hacks and fan games during his spare time. Only time will tell what kind of things Mike will create, but he intends to do his best and to reach his full potental.