Sega Memories DeviantArt Group

Where have I been then? Not writing Sega memories articles that's for sure, poor Barry has been doing all the work lately! To sort of make up for it, today I set up a group on DeviantArt to collect all the best fan art I can find on the website, much like what I've done here before with the Sega Fan Art Showcase articles. If you're signed up to the website you can send in suggestions to add to the collection too. I still haven't got quite my head around every element of this newly made feature of DeviantArt, so bear with me, but there's already a small lump of art collected up to see.

AoStH Volume 3 DVD Spindashes into Early 2010

TVShowsonDVD.com has recently reported that the long awaited third and final volume of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog will be released sometime in early 2010. Unlike the previous volumes, volume 3 will be exclusive to the Shout Factory online store. The reason for this exclusivity is that previous volumes did not sell well in retail, so to save some pennies the set will only be available in one place.

DVD producer Brian Ward assures fans that this will still be a factory produced DVD and not a DVD-R like the on-demand shows coming from Amazon.com. As for the packaging and extras, nothing has been revealed just yet. There is a chance that in cutting costs, the set might be reduced to being in a simpler DVD case, but the menus and video quality will remain the same. I've e-mailed Milton Knight to see if another drawing lesson or the recently released pilot footage will appear. If he writes back, I'll post it here.

Edit: Milton wrote back! There is a possibility that volume 3 will contain an additional bonus feature! I won't spoil it here as I don't want to overstep anything between Shout Factory and Milton. ;)

Volume 3 will be the final batch of 90's era non-Japanese Sonic cartoons on DVD

European AoStH fans who have the region free complete series are probably wondering why us Yanks won't just import that. Well, the Americans who already own two-thirds of the series probably would prefer to just get those final 21 episodes online within the country rather than rely on international ebay auctions.

The Old Sonic Adventure Website is Still Awesome

In terms of advertising, today's games share much in common with the games of ten years ago. Print, video and web are all heavily utilized methods of getting a game's name to the masses. While television and print adverts of the past stand up well to (and in some cases exceed) today's tv and print ads, one form of advertising has greatly evolved; website advertising.

Web advertising of today features streaming HD trailers, interactive interfaces, mini-games, countless connections to social networks and in-depth development diaries. Compared to gaming websites of the past, today's gaming websites technically blow them out of the water. But don't let flashy interfaces and slick buttons turn you completely off to old school gaming websites. Today I want to share a real gem of a website: the Japanese Sonic Adventure website!

Okay, it doesn't look like much. But that list of links feature a treasure trove of low resolution images, tiny video clips and hilarious Sonic Team snapshots of the golden years. Rather than go on and on about the website, I invite you to check it out yourself. After you check it out (or before, your choice) I will present:

Eleven Awesome Things on the Japanese Sonic Adventure Website!

Happy Thanksgiving!

There's also this video, not for the feint of heart. For the full story of Sonic's Thanksgiving Parade debut (and pop), check out this awesome article from X-Entertainment.

Gobble gobble!

New Classic Sonic 2" figures

Just spotted these on play.com, with a pre-order date of the 20th of this month. Classic styled and just 2 inches tall (still bigger than the Sonic & Knuckles set I have) , they cost £4 each at the moment though I should imagine a box set of all three will show up at some point too. Wouldn't it be nice if they made a whole collection of these with Robotnik, Amy, Metal Sonic etc? For now though we just have the usual Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. Still, they look nice enough, decent Christmas gifts at least.

They also have the RC Racers and Track set that I showed you before up on the site for under a tenner. I wouldn't really recommended the track set unless you really must have the little figures that come with it: I got my set for much cheaper as it was faulty, the track is nothing special. The RC Racers however are quite nice.

Oh, and the 12" statue? Good luck getting that now, it's price is shooting upwards!

New First4Figures Sneak Peek

It hasn't even been six months since series 1 of the Sonic the Hedgehog vinyl toys hit stores, and yet First4Figures (F4F for the sake of brevity) is now revealing what may come next! The F4F Facebook group has revealed sneak peeks at an upcoming figure, and all signs point to Metal Sonic... again!

While F4F has yet to dip their toes in the evil robotic hedgehog waters, Jazwares has already released the awesome 10" Metal Sonic as well as the chibi-kawaii Juvi Metal Sonic. Is too much Metal a bad thing? Of course not! The F4F Metal Sonic could be one of two things: a large $100+ statue, or one of thee figures to appear in series 2 of the vinyl series. My hopes go towards series 2, as that would also mean two more figures. A Sonic CD reunion perhaps, complete with pink tutu Amy and a jolly Eggman. The figure would also have to be unique, in a dynamic pose, possibly sporting purple-pink flames shooting out from his behind.

Wouldn't this pose make an awesome vinyl toy?

I, and the fans, could also be completely wrong and we are in fact getting the little known Hyper Metal Piggy:

Beat in the Box - JSRF Merch

When it comes to SmileBit's Jet Set Radio franchise, I guess I'd say I'm a fan...

Okay... I own five discs when there are essentially two games. I'm a BIG fan. While I have yet to snag the holy grail of JSR merch, the De La Jet Set Radio Dreamcast Direct box, I was able to find another JSR item that has been on my want list for a while:

It's the GamePro Beat figure! I found this bad boy (or is that Rudie?) on ebay for $20, quite a good price considering how infrequently the figure appears and how high the starting price usually is. For those interested, a "buy it now" auction with a quantity of three figures has appeard on ebay, the cost per figure is just under $40. For those with deep pockets, a limited edition run of 500 "prototype" figures are out there, but when you do find one look to spend between $250 to $400. WAY too much for essentially an unpainted version of the same figure.

Sonic's Mystery Box

This past weekend my parents came to visit, and along with a fun-filled weekend came all of my Sega games, accessories and consoles that I had left at their house. After quietly sneaking six boxes past my girlfriend, I came to the last box. Inside was an odd assortment of items from my Sonic collection. My parents craftily snuck in a bit of things that I didn't ask to be brought. Rather than being a little brat, I thanked them for this random selection of Sonic items and now I'd like to share Sonic's mystery box with all of you!

Mega Drive Complete Japanese game Library

I did one of these for the Dreamcast once, so why not the Mega Drive? I've been on a bit of a high for Mega Drive Japanese games lately, so for those collecting them here is every game released in Japan for the system in chronological order (according to the database over at Guardiana), with their front covers featured which I found from various sources (some games were hard to find the covers of, so the quality of the pictures varies) and some OC Remixes of Ristar and Streets of Rage for good measure.

Funny to think of how many games they got over there that we didn't, yet their game line up is actually missing quite a lot too, such as Vectorman. Many Japanese versions of the games are much rarer, especially most of the games from 1995. Maximum Carnage and Bart's Nightmare can be found here easily and aren't even very good games, yet the Japanese version fetch hundreds upon hundreds of quid. A bit silly, really.

There's something to be said about the boxart from Japan though: there is a lot of nice artwork to be found. Compare the likes of Jewel Master, Alisha Dragon, Strider and others to their Western counterparts, you have to wonder what was going through their heads. Still, there are some odd choices like the cover to the The Ooze, which try to stand out as some sort of newspaper article with no artwork or screenshots, and Bio Hazard Battle goes by the name 'Crying' for some reason. These kind of differences from the west and east don't tend to happen so much now.

A blog you'll want to check out if you're looking to start collecting Japanese Mega Drives would be Mega Drive Memories by Ian Wilson.

More Juvi-nile Delinquents

As promised on the back of the SDCC Metal Sonic Juvi figure, the Juvi figures of Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow and the Werehog have hit stores!

Photo lovingly ripped from ebay

Like Metal Sonic, the first series are Toyr R Us exclusives. Unlike Metal Sonic, they can be found in stores and have yet to hit the online shop. Each figure goes for a reasonable $9.99 each. My take: I think they look alright, but I don't think I'll be buying them. The face sculpts look a bit too extreme and "Sonic X"-ish. I also don't like that they all look like they spotted a penny on the floor. You'll notice Sonic has a "shine" on the top of his head, like a light blue paint roller ran across his forehead. Besides the wonky look to their faces, the paint/print job itself is lovely and they look to be just as quality a product as the Metal Sonic.

The prototypes clearly had more of a neck and were looking upwards.

Internet rumors speculate that Series 2 will contain Amy, Silver, and Metal Sonic. I'd take this with a grain of salt, as Metal Sonic has already been released. Unless a variaton is made, or the exclusiveness of the SDCC figure is to be dissolved, I suspect we'll be seeing Tails and Blaze rounding out the four. I'll admit, when I read "Silver" I got excited for the Sonic 2 boss, only to realize they were talking about the Sonic '06 Silver the Hedgehog. C'est la vie!

In other news: Metal Sonic has returned to the Toys R Us online store! Get him while you can!

10 Inch Metal Sonic... ACTIVATE!

10 Inch Metal Sonic has arrived! And as quickly as he arrived, he is now sold out from the Toys R Us online store. It's no wonder that this figure went so fast, just look at him! A near perfect figure of a Sonic fan favorite who has been sorely underrepresented in the merchandising world. Figures may still be available in stores, though they are going fast. One's best bet to obtain one would be to call local Toys R Us stores or search eBay, though avid Sonic fans should avoid auctions going for more than $40.

"shh... When Sonis turns around he is going to freak the hell out." 

Magical Flying Turbo hat Adventure: The More you Know!

Image from Segagagadomain

I'm sure you've all heard of the original Japanese version of the Mega Drive game Decap Attack, known over there under the crazy name of 'Magical Flying Turbo Hat Adventure', but it seems there was more to this than just a game.

Sega Fan Art Showcase: Streets of Rage

I must admit, I'm pleasantly surprised by just how much great fan art of Streets of rage (AKA Bare Knuckle) I've found on DeviantArt (along with some rather dodgy stuff as always). Many still have a soft spot for this trilogy of Mega Drive beat 'em ups, it seems! Haven't done one of these in a while, so why not?

by J-Estacado

The oldest Sega Commercials Youtube can offer

You probably already knew this, but the infamous 'SEGA!' voice wasn't first used at the start of Sonic 1, but in fact many years earlier in commercials on Japanese TV as far back as 1983! Hunting around Youtube you can find plenty of just-about watchable recording of some of these relics of Sega advertising, starting with this collection of ads selling Sega's first ever console the SG-1000. Oh, and you may want to watch this with your fingers in your ears at the start, as they may hurt otherwise.

10 Inches of Pure Metal

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Toys R Us...
Metal Sonic RETURNS!

Checking up on the Toys R Us website for Metal Sonic has become a weekly routine for me. As usual, I entered the site this morning expecting nothing. But I was struck by THIS:


He's not for pre-order either, he's for sale right now! No Sonic fan should pass this figure up for the low, low price of $16.99. Heck, it gets even better! The Exclusive San Diego Comic-Con 2009 Metal Sonic the Hedgehog has been discounted to the odd price of $10.48, about $5 off the original price.

The 10 inch Metal Sonic is available both in stores and online. As I live minutes away from a Toys R Us, I'm holding off until the store opens to call them and (hopefully) reserve a figure. If all goes well, I could have a review this very evening. If not, then I'll have this shiny little faker in my clutches as early as next week.

I found this package shot on ebay. The figure looks much nicer in a 3/4 view.


Update: Metal appears to be very popular, as he is sold out at five of the closest stores. Thankfully he is on his way from ToysRUs.com. Holy crap! He weighs 2 pounds??

Mega Drive Musical Madness

Put this together over the last couple of days. The mega Drive in the right hands pumped out some brilliant music, and this video is a sample of some of my personal favorites. I might make another one of these at some point if I get time, or maybe videos of the music from certain games like Decap Attack and Battle Mania 2.

The Sega-Vision... in 1977!?

Educated Sega fans know what the image to left is of. It's the Sega Vision, the portable media player from Sega which began as a rumored return to consumer gaming hardware but ended up being a so-so MP3 player with photo and video capabilities. What educated Sega fans may not know is that the Sega Vision isn't the first Sega product to bear that name.

From Sega's early days in the 1940's (as Standard Games) up to the 1970's, Sega mainly produced coin-operated amusements including photo booths, UFO Catchers, slot and pinball machines. In 1977 Sega introduced a big screen TV called the Sega-Vision. What made the Sega-Vision different from other Sega products at the time was that it was intended for home use. This possibly makes the Sega-Vision the first Sega home video system! While it couldn't play games, it did bear the Sega name and provided visual entertainment.

Patent drawings of what the Sega-Vision may have looked like

The Sega-Vision's technology was invented by a man known as Madman Muntz. I'm not kidding! Earl "Madman" Muntz was an American businessman and engineer known for his television commercials in which he played an oddball "Madman" who generated publicity with his wacky costumes, stunts, and outrageous claims. Muntz has many claims to fame including coining the phrase "TV" and inventing the earliest functional widescreen projection television. Muntz was not a Sega employee, but rather licensed his invention to Sega for use in manufacturing. The projection television patent listing mentions not only the Sega-Vision, but also a Sony Projection Television, both are listed as being sold in the spring of 1977. Could this have been the first Sega/Sony war?

Madman Muntz could join the ranks of Yukawa and Segata!

While little information of the Sega-Vision exists outside of the United States Patent listing, it's an interesting moment in Sega history and a unique entry into the Sega home entertainment family. I wonder if one could hook a Master System up to the Sega-Vision?

If Gagaman gets his hands on a Sega-Vision TV, I'll eat a shoe.

Sonic and Tails Racers on mysterious UFOs on wheels

Remember this early concept art found on Impact Innovations website ages ago? Well it turns out two more projects from that lot have been released as I found them in Debenhams, who had a 25% off sale on them. They also had some of those classic Sonic carrying bags that you may of seen on GAME. I picked them up figuring they were even cheaper at the moment and if they're anything like that track set they'll all be gone by Christmas. The remote controlled 'racers' look far better than in those old prototypes, thankfully.

Making SEGA Memories - The Dreamroom

If you encounter anybody with bloodshot sleep-deprived eyes today, chances are they're a Dreamcast fan coming off of last nights festivities. Yesterday was a wonderful mix of Dreamcast tribute videos, top games lists, historical articles and memories. As we here at SEGA memories are all about remembering the good old days, I thought I'd share a few memories found at SEGA Nerds as well as share a report on my own 10th anniversary festivities.

I downloaded all of the commercials for the console I could find (on dial-up, no less), and watched them all at least a million times. When I would find kiosks of the console I would go to the store on a weekend and literally play it all day, believe it or not the stores would allow this!
-SEGA Uranus

Prior to the system’s release I was heavily involved on Sega.com and their message boards. I actually won a contest in which I won a Dreamcast shirt and other cool memorabilia.
-Segamon

That legendary QTE in Shenmue II at a barber shop. I was mesmerized when I figured it out. Also, I ditched a girl to play the game. I may have mentioned this here before. haha
-ORTA

My 9-9-09 began with a post at my own SEGA blog announcing The Dreamroom, a ten hour Dreamcast marathon which included streaming video and a gathering of friends. I read and watched every Dreamcast tribute that I could find, including Gagaman's excellent top 100 and IHaveADreamcast's video feed, and then headed home to set up for my own event.

The party room consisted of two Dreamcasts running on an HDTV and good old tube TV. I had my library of 80+ games and controllers at the ready and kicked off the feed with some Sonic Adventure.

The main stage. The PS2 was rightfully stuck in the back room to make space for the Dreamcast games.

Project Needlemouse

This trailer just recently appeared on the internet and seems to be touting a new 2D / HD Sonic game. Now, considering how brief and uninformative the trailer is, it'd be ridiculous to make any predictions about how this release could turn out. However, that sillohuette at the end does look an awful lot like...

Only time will tell what Sega has in store, eh?

Summer of Sonic '09: Video of Introduction

Well a lot of the video footage I took was pretty pants but here's a bit of it showing what I filmed just as I entered the building, having a quick look about, and then it cuts to the introduction up on the stage, which continues into the second video. I just missed the very start of that animation in which a windows blue screen popped up (getting huge laughs as everyone presumed the computers set up to the telly's crashed) but then that tails Doll from Sonic R popped up all evil like. Otherwise very little is cut out.

Sega Nerds already has a great video of the Sumo Digital Q&A session as well as a interview they did with them, so I probably won't be uploading my filming of that, but I do also have the Q&A session with the S.T.C artists which i will be uploading soon.

Summer of Sonic '09: Neo Merch Zone photos galore!

Seeing as Sega memories is primarily a Sonic merchandise related blog (at least it's ended up that way), it only makes sense of provide a whole bunch of photos of the merchandise area of Summer of Sonic, so here we are!

Summer of Sonic '09: Meeting the S.T.C Artists

Dobbyn to the left, Kitching to the right. What a pair of Nigels!

One of the highlights of the event for me had to be meeting two of the artists/writers of Sonic the Comic, Nigel Kitching and Nigel Dobbyn. I grew up on these comics and they had a big influence on how I draw, in particular Kitching's artwork for the Decap Attack comic, who was also the writer for a majority of the entire comics lifespan, everything from the crazy Super Sonic all the way till the comic's last story ark where Johnny Lighfoot died and Robotnik lost his mind They did a Q&A session which I caught on (very wobbly) video, which I might upload later.

Summer of Sonic '09: Summary

Summer of Sonic '09 was a shock to me. Why? Because it was far beyond my expectations. It was almost a little overwhelming that such an event for Sonic the Hedgehog could exist. Arriving at Liverpool Street at about 10:30am a bunch of Sonic fans were waiting up near the exit calling over anyone they could find who had Sonic related things on them (I was wearing that white Secret Rings shirt I showed you a while back).

This is when it started, before half the people sat down to draw together.

So many Sonic fans in one place is pretty surreal. 

Summer of Sonic 09 this Saturday

We will be bringing you loads of photos, info, maybe even some video clips of this Saturdays' Summer of Sonic event taking place in London. I'm personally looking most forward to meeting Sonic the Comic writer Nigel Kitching, a guy who's Decap Attack artwork was a big inspiration to me throughout my childhood. Another STC artist, Nigel Dobbyn, will also be there as well as two guys from Sumo Digital currently making that Sega All-Star Racing game. The SOS website has also revealed that a rather fancy art book will be given away, in their words 'designed in the style of a classic Mega Drive manual'.

If you're attending, you might just bump into me there wearing a "HELLO. I AM THE GAGAMAN." badge.

10 inches of Metallic Hedgehog Awesome

Jazwares, the guys who have made quite a few Sonic action figures as of late such as the Werehog and pose-able figures, are later this year (apparently September, but you never know with these things) releasing this rather ace looking pose-able Metal Sonic.
It's the old Sonic CD Metal Sonic too, not that rubbish thing in Sonic Heroes they called Metal Sonic. The guy seems to be making quite the come back as of late, also showing up in the new Mario & Sonic Olympics games, and of course there was that smaller mighty mugg style figure of him from Comic Con too not long ago.

The First4Figures Statue is out!

Well it only took over a year but the 12" Sonic statue starting shipping out last week from all online shops that sell it (Forbidden Planet, Play.com, Play-Asia I presume, and a few others). Only 1500 have been made, so wherever or not pre orders gobbled all of those up or not is unknown but I've got mine and it's numbered 693, either that means they've been sent out at random or they're almost (or already) gone! Who knows!

Sonic's Shoes Blues

No, this is not a review of the Little Golden Book Sonic's Shoes Blues. Though as a kid I could relate with Sonic's predicament as I too wanted a pair of Sonic shoes.

Since first playing Sonic the Hedgehog I've wanted a pair of bright red and white striped shoes. Of course, SEGA never made an official pair of Sonic shoes, so I'd have to settle for shoes like the ones seen below.


Over the years my interest in finding Sonic-like shoes waned and I passed up "close enough" opportunities like the SOAP Scorchers and red and white Adidas.

Sure, Sonic wore SOAP shoes, but they didn't look anything like these.

Then, today while shopping with my girlfriend I encountered some pretty cool Sonic-like shoes! The Cole Haan Men's Air Granada II come in a nice reddish-brown and feature a beige stripe. While they aren't bright red and white, they have a muted color scheme that suits my age and they were half off. So I picked up a pair and took embarrassing photos of my feet! Enjoy.




Close enough. :)

Another lazy commercial videos post!

The 'Genesis' is 20 years old from it's American release this week so why not?



This is a promo video presumably from 1989/90, before Sonic had even shown up. It's pretty long as it's a collection of commercials stringed together, but at least skip to 3:27 for the hilariously bad Stallone impression the narrator makes when talking about Rambo III.

This one is from Australia sometime around 1994/5 I'd imagine, when dodgy looking 3D animation like this was all the range. Vaguely interesting notes: the Ren & Stimpy footage shown is from an early beta build of the game, which you can find floating around the 'net' (which according to this Sega created). The beta is extremely basic with almost non existent level design and backgrounds. Also, when it talks about turning into Super Sonic in Sonic 3, doesn't that sound an awful lot like who currently voices Sonic in the modern games? Just a coincidence of course.



And yes, if you didn't already know in Australia they really do pronounce Sega as 'See-ga'. I wonder if the Aussie version of the Sonic games changed the logo voice to that. Probably not. This ad above for the master System is mainly notable for the rather ace rendition of the After Burner music. I also like how you could rent a Master System console in a sweet Sega branded suitcase of sorts.



Oh hey, here's some more Pirate TV ads I haven't linked to before! Above is a musical number about the Cyber Razor cut, and below is a rather bizarre shower scene Game Gear ad. Still my favorite Sega ad campaign of the lot.

Mega Drive/Master System Stand: I'm nuts.

Chalk this up as one of the craziest Sega related purchases I have ever made. The game shop I bought it from said they paid £600 for this back when the Mega Drive was the best selling format at the shop (15 years or so ago I'd imagine), and I got it for the starting bid of £50 one morning a week ago on a whim on eBay.