SEGA in the Media

SEGA in the Media: Detroit Lions Superstar Duo Nicknamed “Sonic & Knuckles”

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During the run of this 2024 season, the Detroit Lions have sparked success in having their best overall regular season start at 8-1 and it is partly thanks to running back’s dual-threat duo: Jahmyr Gibbs (#26) & David Montgomery (#5). But what has added to their fun of winning is their newly dubbed nicknames: Sonic & Knuckles, respectfully. Memes and even fans are starting to get into the names and it isn’t just for show. With Gibbs’ elusive speed combined with Montgomery’s bulldozing tenacity, the RB pair have a combined 15 TDs and over 1200 combined rushing yards as of Week 11.

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SEGA in the Media: The 1993 and 2022 Sonic the Hedgehog McDonald’s commercials were filmed at the same location

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Would you believe that the 1993 McDonald’s Sonic 3 (the game, not the movie) Happy Meal commercial and the 2022 McDonald’s Sonic 2 (the movie, not the game) Happy Meal commercial, filmed 29 years apart, were actually filmed in the exact same location? That’s right! Over on Facebook the page Film Locations – Then and Now shared a post detailing a McDonald’s restaurant in California that is purely used for filming commercials. The MockDonald’s, as locals call it, is at 17030 Green Drive in City of Industry, CA and has existed for decades. The restaurant has appeared in the 1988 film “Mac and me” as well as dozens, if not hundreds, of McDonald’s commercials. The company is so committed to the location that it has seen numerous changes to the exterior to fit with the on-brand look of the company’s restaurants.

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Holiday Sega In The Media: Sega Genesis featured in “Merry Axe-mas” music video by Ice Nine Kills

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Well, it is now December 26th, 2023. We at Segabits hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday, as well as a Happy New Year.

Though it may be a little late, I’d like to share with you all a festive music video that featured a Sega Genesis. This is the 2018 song “Merry Axe-Mas” by the Boston, Massachusetts metal band Ice Nine Kills. These guys are known for lyrics inspired by horror films, with this song in particular being inspired by the 1984 slasher horror film Silent Night, Deadly Night. In the music video, a young child named Spencer receives an ominous Genesis game cartridge from “Santa’s Claws”. The game has him playing as Santa himself and slaughtering everyone in his way with reckless abandon while, in the real world, ol’ St. Nick shows up and brutally murders Spencer’s parents behind him while he’s too fixated on the game.

Check in after the break to see the actual music video, plus a few of the Sega details you might miss.

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SEGA in the Media: Sonic the Hedgehog cameos in Ready Player One

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While we’ve yet to see any signs of Sonic in Wreck-It Ralph 2, the latest Ready Player One TV spot reveals that Sonic will join the pop culture cameo ranks of The Iron Giant, the Back to the Future DeLorean time machine and Child’s Play‘s Chucky. In a recent TV spot, seen after the break, Sonic is seen waiting in line. You can spot him in the screenshot seen above on the far right. I have also heard that Sonic does his signature spin attack move in another trailer though I have not found it yet.

Ready Player One hits theaters March 29, 2018, and if you want more than Sonic cameos remember that a Sonic the Hedgehog movie is set to release November 15, 2019!

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SEGA in the Media: The Circle asks “Mario or Sonic?”

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Welcome to another SEGA in the Media! Its always fun spotting references to SEGA and its games in movies and television, but for me it is doubly fun when they screw it up somehow. Like when Suburban Commando tried to act like After Burner was some outer space alien game or when Jackie Chan gave a kid in a wheelchair a Game Gear with no games. Today we’re featuring the upcoming movie The Circle. I’ll admit, I’m late on this one. The trailer released back in December, and by the time I thought to make an article I had figured the movie was already out. But nope, they’re still advertising this and it is still not out! Do we really need five months of advertising for this stupid movie?

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SEGA in the Media: Seinfeld’s “The Comeback” has a great selection of Genesis games at Champagne Video

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Spotting video games on TV’s greatest sitcom Seinfeld is nothing new. Longtime fans of series know all about the Frogger episode as well as Jerry’s video shelf which features NES and SNES games sat next to cinematic classics like “Child’s Play 2”. When it comes to SEGA on Seinfeld, however, you’re going to have to look a bit harder. In the eighth season episode “The Comeback”, which aired January 30th, 1997, one of the plots involved Elaine becoming infatuated with a mysterious video store employee Vincent. Meanwhile, Kramer was more interested in the Gene picks. Champagne Video, a recurring location in the series, was the go-to spot for Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine when they needed to rent some VHS tapes. Throughout the series, the store evolved to feature what were at the time current videos, and in the episode “The Comeback” the set decorator took things one step further by littering the store with classic SEGA Genesis games.

On this installment of SEGA in the Media, we’re going to see how many SEGA Genesis games we can spot! Start browsing the shelves after the break.

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SEGA in the Media: The Price is Right for a Sega-Vision in 1977!

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Way back in 2011, we featured an article on the Sega-Vision, a big screen projection TV sold to consumers in 1977. While a post I made at SEGA Memories detailed patent drawings from 1976, and our post in 2011 featured the commercial, today we have another bit from the Sega-Vision’s past! Courtesy of a reader named Matthew, I was linked to a YouTube upload of a full episode of The Price is Right taped on June 29, 1977, and guess what item appears? If you guessed the Sega-Vision, you’d be right – or is that the “Seega-Vision”? Unfortunately for our lucky contestant, she wasn’t so right. In fact, she was wrong and lost the item when it came to guessing the retail price. Thankfully, as SEGA fans we finally get to know the retail price of a Sega-Vision in 1977: $1,895.

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SEGA in the Media: After Burner, Hulk Hogan, Aliens, and the Nostalgia Critic

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It may be hard to believe nowadays, but there was a time when After Burner was once a pretty big deal. It helped the Master System find success in Europe and Australia, it was advertised on television and it even received a cameo in one of the highest grossing films of the nineties, Terminator 2! We’re not going to talk about that though, because you’ve probably already seen it. Instead, we’re going to focus on another science fiction movie released the same year as T2 that practically nobody saw: Suburban Commando.  We’ll also mention a certain popular reviewer of nostalgia who took a look at it back in 2009, and later took a look at one of After Burner’s commercials in a separate video a few years later. The video above features both clips. Take a look, then join me for more after the break!

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SEGA in the Media: Saints Row IV’s homage to Streets of Rage

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This just might be a first for SEGA in the Media, a SEGA inspired video game within another video game! Released last year, Saints Row IV was a tongue-in-cheek action-adventure game from Illinois based developer Volition. Given the self-referential nature of the series, it only makes sense that they’d eventually reference crazy action games of the past, and what game is more fitting to pay tribute to than SEGA’s Streets of Rage? Dubbed “Saints of Rage”, this 2D beat ’em up appears at around 75-80% of the way into Saints Row IV. In-game, “Saints of Rage” is an enemy created nightmare simulation. Kicking off with a “Winners Don’t Use Drugs” message, the player is taken to a title screen which is a direct reference to the original Streets of Rage title screen.

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SEGA in the Media: Opa-Opa & Zillion

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Before Sonic, before ToeJam & Earl , before Joe Musashi and even a few months before Alex Kidd, SEGA’s mascot was a sentient little spaceship called Opa-Opa, hero of the Fantasy Zone. Though there’s some debate regarding who was the “true” mascot before Sonic came around, I personally put myself in Opa-Opa’s camp. Why? Well, aside from cameoing in a bunch of SEGA games from the ‘80s, a few of which you can read about here, Opa-Opa was also a supporting character in an anime SEGA partially funded, Zillion.

Zillion is a 1987 sci-fi anime from Tatsunoku Productions. It centers around White Knight J.J. and his fellow White Knights Apple and Champ as they defend the earth colony Maris from the evil Nozas, an alien race intent on wiping humans off the face of the planet. The White Knights battle the forces of evil with their signature weapon, the Zillion Weapon System, a Master System light gun (literally, complete with the cord) capable of destroying the Nozas, who are otherwise invulnerable to human weaponry.

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SEGA in the Media: Parks and Rec peeks inside Andy and April’s toolbox

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SEGA in the Media is back! Did you know that a certain SEGA Genesis classic made an appearance in the 2011 Halloween episode of NBC’s Parks and Recreation? You probably did, given this clip is almost two years old. In the episode, characters Andy and April throw a Halloween party, and Ron Swanson occupies himself by fixing up their house. Upon requesting their toolbox, Ron is handed a plastic bag filled with various items including… well, why don’t you watch it?

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Mordecai and Rigby bring their Master System to Comic Con

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Today was Preview Night for the San Diego Comic Con, and I made sure to make the most of it! While I was walking from the Archie booth to the SEGA Arcade across the street to check out SEGA’s Comic Con offerings, I came upon something surprising: a photo shoot starring the Mordecai and Rigby of Regular Show! Then I spotted a television, and then a couch between the throngs of people taking pictures, and I knew what else had to be there: a Master System!

The Master System has long been a part of Regular Show, gaining the show quite a following among some of the people here at SEGAbits. It’s good to see it wasn’t forgotten in the Comic Con photoshoot! I am pretty sure it’s a prop though, and not an actual system. I’m sure some SEGA fans with more energy then me will be able to tell. Still really cool reference to an often overlooked SEGA system!

I later took several pictures of the SEGA Arcade booth across the street at 200 Harbor Drive, Suit 120. You can see them after the jump. Unfortunately, my camera died before I could take the last few pics, so expect more tomorrow. I’ll also be keeping an eye out for cosplayers. Hint hint!

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SEGA Memories: Sonic Adventure 2 Commercials

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Of all the things I remember about the Dreamcast days, the Sonic Adventure 2 commercial is about the only ad that actually sticks in my mind. Why? Well, for one, it was the only Dreamcast ad I ever actually saw on television. Thanks to Youtube I know that the Dreamcast had the sort of ads that console makers never even bother with these days. I don’t know what Master Chief and Marcus Fenix are doing in my Xbox, but I know exactly what Sonic and other Dreamcast stars are doing in my little white box: having a never ending dance party!

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SEGA in the Media: Tosh.0 reveals how Sonic died

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I’m starting to think comedian Daniel Tosh is a Sonic fan. Back in 2010 his Comedy Central show Tosh.0 did a segment on real life speed runs, based off of a Sonic 2 speed run video. On the March 13th episode of this year, Sonic got another mention in a segment on a failed parkour video. After showing a woman smashing her face into a concrete wall, Tosh quipped “of course the greatest parkourer of all time was Sonic the Hedgehog – who died turboing through a triple corkscrew. He got greedy.” You can see the full segment at the Tosh.0 show page, tell them SEGAbits sent you.

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SEGA in the Media: Space Ghost Emerald Coast to Coast

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My favorite tv show of the 90’s featuring my favorite game of the 90’s, it’s a match made… in space! On the November 11th, 1994 episode of Cartoon Network’s Space Ghost Coast to Coast, upon returning from commercials Space Ghost is caught up in a game of Sonic and Knuckles. It must have been a long commercial break, as Space Ghost has reached Hidden Palace Zone. Before cutting to Space Ghost, Zorak dances to the Sonic and Knuckles title screen theme. Just as Space Ghost is about to defeat Knuckles, he is interrupted by the guest and continues with the show.

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