Speed Demos Archive: Difference between revisions

Speed Demos Archive
	File:SDA frontpage.png
Type of site	Speedrun Recordkeeper / Video Archive
Owner	Nolan "Radix" Pflug
Created by	Nolan "Radix" Pflug
URL	http://speeddemosarchive.com/
Commercial	No

Revision as of 21:39, 17 December 2008

Speed Demos Archive (abbreviated SDA) is a site dedicated to speedruns done on many computer and video games.

History

The site originally began as a demo archive of Quake play throughs. SDA was formed initially by Nolan "Radix" Pflug of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by merging with a site created by Gunnar and Jesse in April of 1998. In 2004 after the success of his own famous 100% Metroid Prime run, Radix expanded SDA to include demos of other games.

Modern SDA

As of 2006, SDA is now home to numerous videos of gamers completing various video games as quickly as they can. Players may do the runs in a single segment (single sitting) or in multiple segments using the game's built-in saving system. Runs saved in multiple segments are usually downloaded part by part, which is helpful when one does not have time to watch or download an entire run. Almost every speedrun on SDA can be downloaded in low, normal, or high quality to suit differing bandwidths. In some cases there is also an "insane" video quality available. Runs must be performed on their native consoles or on certain PC/Mac configurations. Runs done on emulators are not accepted, since it cannot be proven that a user did not use any tools to assist them. Runs of an alternate mode within the game (such as Devil May Cry's Super Dante mode) can be accepted, but for the first runs of a game to be uploaded, it is preferred they be "out-of-the-box" runs (playing the game the first time).

The site includes videos of such popular games as Mega Man, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog. The site has been featured numerous times in publications such as Electronic Gaming Monthly and G4tv's Attack of the Show!. Some of the runs also appear in an episode of Pure Pwnage. Runs are captured from a console using a DVD recorder or a TV input card setup on a PC/Mac. Runs from PC/Mac are captured with recording tools built into the game, or using special video capture programs, such as Fraps. Runs were previously accepted on VCRs, but these were obsoleted in 2008.

In July 2008 a newcomer designed a new site for SDA and parsed the entire website into a database. However, due to social conflicts, the entire project was destroyed and the user banned. This alternate site now exists on a secondary domain: speeddemosarchive.info.

External links

Speed Demos Archive
SDA knowledgebase--an SDA wiki

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 The site includes videos of such popular games as ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'', ''[[Metroid]]'', ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'', ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' and ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (series)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]''.  The site has been featured numerous times in publications such as ''[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]'' and [[G4tv]]'s ''[[Attack of the Show!]]''.  Some of the runs also appear in an episode of ''[[Pure Pwnage]]''. Runs are captured from a console using a [[DVD recorder]] or a TV input card setup on a PC/Mac.  Runs from PC/Mac are captured with recording tools built into the game, or using special video capture programs, such as [[Fraps]]. Runs were previously accepted on [[Videocassette recorder|VCR]]s, but these were obsoleted in 2008.
+In July 2008 a newcomer designed a new site for SDA and parsed the entire website into a database. However, due to social conflicts, the entire project was destroyed and the user banned. This alternate site now exists on a secondary domain: speeddemosarchive.info.
 == See also ==