SOS '10 Videos Part 4: Crush 40 Live

So here we are at the last of the four SOS 2010 videos I will be uploading. Here we have some of the best bits from Crush 40's live performance at the end of this years Summer of Sonic. I didn't film the whole thing because I knew many others would be and with better camera and steadier hands, and I was right: just search for crush 40 on Youtube and you can watch the entire thing from more angles than you could possibly ever need.

SOS '10 Videos Part 3: The Cosplay Contest

There was just so many cosplayers this year that it was hard to include all the footage of them walking onto the stage to be judged into one video! Thanks Youtube for increasing your time limit to 15 minutes! I did have to cut out all the bits where people had to cheer for their favorites, as well as the part with the top 5 being voted down to 3. Still, you get to see every single cosplayer (bar the winning Rouge from last year who was there but didn't enter the contest) that attended the event here.

If this event was evidence of anything it's that there are a LOT of fans of Shadow, as more people dressed up as him than anyone else. We need more Sonics next year guys! Tomorrow will be our last video: the Crush 40 live performance!

SOS '10 Videos Part 2: Never Mind the Buzzbombers Quiz

Four our second video here is some highlights of the 'Never Mind the Buzzbombers' Quiz, a Sonic themed take on the BBC music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks, in case you wasn't aware. Like that show there was an intros round where one of the team had to imitate a Sonic tune and the others had to guess, and there were also some quick fire question rounds. It's not in the video but the winning prize was a rather spiffing Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics snowboard!

The highlight for me had to be when when one of the questions was about a comic I drew for Sumo Digital at last years SOS. You will hear my girlfriend shouting out about it! We have two more videos coming up this week of the cosplay contest and of course Crush 40's live performance!

SOS '10 Videos Part 1: Summary and Intro show

As promised I have a few videos of this years Summer of Sonic to treat you with. Of course there is already possibly hundreds of videos of the event online, many of which are most likely a whole lot less wobbly and covered in the backs of peoples noggins, but you may get some kind of enjoyment out of it with any luck.

We journey from the queue outside into the Pavillion where we check out the goodie bag, have a look around at what there is to check out at the booths and the like, then about 20 minutes after arriving inside the introduction show begins, featuring some guy doing the caramelldansen dance thing, which is a bit odd.

I also put together that artwork at the start of the video, which you can see in full below (click it)!

The second video will be online tomorrow!

SOS '10: The Merchindise in the Glass Box!

Just like last year there was a 'No Merch Zone' present, which consists of a large glass cabinet of Sonic related treasures. There was some of the same stuff from last year but mostly completely new stuff, so here's a bunch of photos. Apologies the photos are not quite so good this time but you'll get the idea. Check them out after the jump..

SOS '10: The Cosplayers

There was close to one thousand people attending Summer of Sonic this year. With a fanbase as huge as Sonic's you're going to get your bad eggs and sadly the whole lot often gets painted with the same brush, but when being amongst the awesome people that gathered together for this event the stereotype of Sonic fans being furrie sexual weridos just faded away. You couldn't meet a more friendly, talented and fun to hang out with lot. You can call them nerdy and eccentric all you like but they're having fun and doing no one any harm so there.

Case in point: the few fans that are so dedicated they came cosplaying as their favorite characters. There was a LOT more people dressed in their custom made outfits this year than previously, and there was a lot variety to the characters represented. Let's start with the first one that stood out and i had to grab a shot of pretty much minutes within entering the Pavilion..

Big the cat! She has a fishing rod, a froggy puppet and did an excellent impression of the pointless but lovable character! More after the jump!

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: 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.