Sonic Stuff Research Group

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The Sonic Stuff Research Group (SSRG) was a Sonic the Hedgehog community and conglomerate of sites that existed from 1998 to 2003, as part of Emulation Zone. SSRG was at the centre of an extremely large fan-based internet community that grew out of interest by many fans towards glitches left in the ROM files of the original Sonic games for Sega Genesis. Notably, the original intention of the Sega Technical Institute to include the Hidden Palace Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 proved an enigma for some fans, as early press shots had shown the zone (which eventually ended up in Sonic & Knuckles) in a complete state. In early 1998, when the community had already begun to grow with the increasing popularity of the internet, the discovery of a beta copy of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 by community member Simon Wai caused the community to thrive.

Differing from fandom sites like Sonic HQ (which Emulation Zone eventually began to host), SSRG revolved around a large number of Sonic fans, now in their late teens and early adult life, hacking into the binary codes of the original ROMs to try and discover anything that still remained. Many new engima began to arise within the games, such as why the Lock-On Technology included in Sonic & Knuckles did not work with Sonic The Hedgehog 1. The site also fused with the fan-made games community to form one of the biggest specific video game fanfare communities on the interest. The SSRG eventually grew to include sites like:

Sonic Fan Games HQ
Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic 2 Hacking Guide
Simon Wai's Sonic 2 Beta Page
Area 51
Sonic Team Junior

The community began to fracture in 2001 when founder Andy 'No Carrier' Wolan and co-maintainer Damian 'Saxman' Grove split regarding the future of the community. Saxman had previously been granted his own site, Sonic Hacking Community, to host his own works, in addition to the hacking guides, notably that for Sonic 2, he had created on SSRG. However, Saxman withdrew his content from SSRG, arguing to Wolan that he wanted all his content on one site. The two fell out over the issue, and combined with the rise of another, equally old but only now becoming popular Sonic hacking site, Sonic Cult, Wolan decided to pull the plug on the community, and SSRG was shut down in 2003.

The community still remains lively, although many of the original sites from the time were never revived, with the exception of Sonoc Fan Games HQ, which is hosted outside the old SSRG domain. Many veteran members still hang around the forums, although the old conflicts do still polarize them.