Still, Behind the Scenes Mysteries Going On
Christian Whitehead, the Melbourne based programmer known as The Taxman, came to prominence earlier this year when he unveiled a homebrewn, fan made port of Sonic CD to the iPhone. Back then, he disclosed it was a proof of concept, intended to show off to Sega. A few days after that, he–and his work–vanished.
The Taxman has been seen rarely in the community since. That’s helped to die down a bit speculation of what he’s been up to. But with the recent announcement of Sonic Classic Collection, some of the murmurs have come back, with a couple suggesting the Taxman’s RSDK could be a part of it. Inconsistencies in recently released screenshots promoting the DS compilation, compared to the original product, could be fueling that.
It may be the renewed interest that had Taxman speaking out recently and briefly on the community site Sonic Eats Rings. We don’t know about what he is up to, but whatever it is, he says it has nothing to do with the ports of classic Sonic games included in Sonic Classic Collection:
As mysterious as my dealings may be, I will say I’m not involved with this. I know, I know… I wish I could say what I’m really up to, but that’s a story for another time.
If nothing else, it means the Taxman’s engine wouldn’t be behind these re-releases, opening the door to perhaps subpar emulation, as evidenced in the Game Boy Advance port of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Of more interest, though, is at least the acknowledgment that something more may be going on out of public view. What it is remains anyone’s guess. In a community where speculation and rumor for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is at a fever pitch, the Taxman’s caution may be part of one of the most closely guarded secrets around that no one’s paying attention to.
Loading ...
His caution on what?
maybe he’s involved in project needlemouse…just a guess.
Why do people keep bringing up Sonic GBA as if it’s proof that SEGA sucks at emulation? Do people forget the many GREAT emulation jobs SEGA does in various compilations on the Gamecube, PSP, PS2, PS3, 360, etc? SEGA’s done plenty of good ports. Unless this is being done by Backbone (the people responsible for the XBLA games) I see no reason to be concerned about quality.
Who cares about this guy? I don’t even care that he ported CD.
Apparently the port was such a good one that people paid attention–including SEGA of all groups–enough for him to be spirited away on some maybe existant special SEGA project.
@BlackHawkOmega – Wow good for you.
@Blackhawkomega: Wow, that was uncalled for.
I’m actually starting to believe he does have something to do with Needlemouse, knowing how he suddenly dissapeared with the Retro Sonic engine and then just months later we have a new 2D console Sonic announced. It sounds a little fishy if you ask me.
@BlackHawkOmega
Aren’t you a tosser.
Wow, I get lambasted for having an opinion. Way to go, guys.
@BlackHawkOmega: I don’t think it’s your opinions, i think it’s the way they came
across.
@BlackHawkOmega: He’s done a better job than anything SEGA has created these past few years, the only exception is the Hedgehog Graphics Engine.