Nik Jam
From Sonic Retro
<forumuser name="Nik Jam" /> Nik Jam is the alias of oldbie Gustav Nikolai Davila from the Sonic scene, joining SSRG and Sonic Team Jr's message boards in the late 90s, and eventually settling into SFGHQ and The Moogle Cavern in 1999 at the age of 12, and to a lesser extent sites like Sonic Vegemite and Sonic HQ. Since 2005, he disappeared from SFGHQ (except during SAGE) and spent most of his time at The Moogle Cavern (now Sonic Eats Rings), #srb2, and #lemonade, before recently joining Sonic Retro and permanently rejoining SFGHQ in July 2009.
Fangames
Nik had several gaming projects including Sonic Mode: Exciter and Mario for the Masses which he began in 2001, but both were never completed because he could not keep up with the increasing evolution of Sonic and Mario fangames.
A game that started around the same time, Nik Jam Violator, was completed and released during SAGE 2008. It did not get a lot of attention, and is still missing extra levels and bonuses that were planned.
Sonic Mode: Exciter uses the soundtrack of Depeche Mode's Exciter in the levels, and Nik has envisioned making games for DM's more recent albums, Playing the Angel and Sounds of the Universe. Mario for the Masses and Nik Jam Violator are also named after DM albums, and use DM Midis for all it's levels.
In 2006, he released a side game "Sonic Mode: Recoil" based off an old fangame called Sonic Pong, where a pinball Sonic bounced around small stage collecting objects while avoiding obstacles. A "Sonic Mode Recoil 2" was planned, using Sonic CD levels, but resources were limited and the game was put on permanent hiatus.
Nik Jam the character
Nik Jam is based off a real character Gustav created in the late 90s, named after the game Sonic Jam (which ironically he has still never played). The character was made before Sonic Jam but simply went by "Nik" until "Jam" was established as a last name shortly after the game came out. He has hopes of making video games (for consoles) based on the character after attending Art school. Nik has notebooks full of level, story, and music ideas for the series, which is going to be published at his website soon.
Sonik Jam
Sonik Jam was an alternate character, and is a fusion of Sonic and Nik Jam (an origin was never created). He is a fluro green hedgehog with a human head. His special ability was that he could jump higher and higher depending on how many rings he had. A fan game with Sonik Jam was in the works but never went anywhere. He was created in 1999 when Nik believed that to be a part of a Sonic forum, one must have a Sonic related name. (Nik Jam IS a Sonic related name, but it's not obvious as a username with "Echidna" or "Sonic" in the name) Because of the spelling, Nik didn't even think the name was Sonic-y enough and expected to be banned or exiled. Nik dropped Sonik Jam in late 2000 and permanently went by Nik Jam at all the Sonic sites.
Other
Nik may best be known for his radio show during SAGE, Nik Jam Radio. He typically does a few shows every expo, since it's inception and to this day, and although it doesn't get very high listener rates, is still notorious for playing a lot of music by Depeche Mode and The Cure. He tends to incorporate alternative rock (and especially likes to play recent hits) with video game music, and Japanese music, to make a nice relaxing blend of music, usually at night. Up till 2008, he was known for singing along karaoke-style to several songs, which received mixed opinions from listeners in #sagexpo, and was scrapped during the 2009 SAGE.
In his personal life, Gustav currently attends UC Berkeley and is majoring in Music. He hopes to become a singer and rock musician, in addition to his aspirations to be a video game composer, and a video game designer. Samples of his work will soon be available on his website, set to launch in the Fall of 2009.