Here is a fan created ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ video game that runs in first person. Whats even more immersive? They have it running on the Oculus Rift. Check out the footage above.
For more information on ‘SonicGDK’, check out the informative Sonic Retro wiki entry.
The Sonic Stadium have uncovered an interesting mobile game entitled The Search for Sonic’s Sidekick. Proposed as a collaboration between SEGA and Google’s Street View, the game was discovered in slides from DDB Tribal ad agency artist Michael Nagy’s website. The game appears to be a word wide competition in which fans create an anthropomorphic avatar and race their character around Google Street Views of twelve cities. Players log their best times to a leaderboard and the fastest player would win the chance to see their character in the next Sonic game. The competition is said to visit a new city each month.
The official description is as follows:
We have created an online game using Google Street view where you compete to become Sonic’s sidekick. Your online avatar will be in the next game that is produced for Sonic. The competition will run for 11 months and move to a different city every month across the globe. The cities include Tokyo, Hong Kong, Berlin, Paris, London, Cape Town, Toronto, New York, San Francisco, Rio De Janeiro and Sydney.
It is unknown if this is a leak of an upcoming competition, perhaps in time for Sonic’s anniversary, or if it is simply a proposal by DDB Tribal that SEGA passed on. Once we learn more, we’ll be sure to share it!
The triple threat of George, Barry, and Bartman sit down for a round table discussion of Sonic the Hedgehog’s lesser appreciated SEGA Genesis titles: the spin-offs. We cover it all! From Dr. “don’t-call-him-Eggman-yet” Robotnik’s breakout role in Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, to Sonic’s transition from platforming icon to pinball with arms and legs in Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball, to Sonic’s take on the classic Flicky formula in Sonic 3D Blast. Even the digital sticker book Wacky Worlds gets some discussion.
So join us in a walk down memory lane (or is that “pain”?) as we relive and dissect Sonic’s SEGA Genesis spin-offs!
[MP3] (iTunes Link coming soon)
Now with 100% more of Sega’s beloved Aaron Webber! In this months Sonic Talk Aaron, Shigs, Nuckles87 and Sonic Revolutions’ own Shayne Edwards discuss the Genesis Era of Sonic. Games include Sonic 1-3 and Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Sonic 3-D Blast, Sonic CD and Knuckles Chaotix. We also go into what makes Eggman tick and more!
CONTEST TIME! Listen in on this episode for a Sonic trivia question. Be the FIFTH person to answer (and answer correctly) to win an AtGames Sega Genesis (which I reviewed here the other day) with Street Fighter II and a Sega 6-Pack cartridge. Yeah, yeah. It’s not a great prize, but it’s better than nothing.
RULES: Be the fifth person to answer to win. Why fifth? I want more people to listen of course! If there is not a fifth person to answer, then the very first person will win the system and carts. Winner must join the Segabits forums and PM me their address. U.S. CITIZENS ONLY (I can’t afford the U.K. postage. Sorry.)
Watch live video from SEGA_Channel_Retro on TwitchTV
Come join me, Bartman3010 as we swim through the SEGA Genesis Classic Collection Gold Edition on PC live!
According to Hollywood insider site The Tracking Board, the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie that is rumored to be coming by Sony Pictures is going to be dark.
It’s recently been confirmed that a movie adaptation of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is in development at Columbia Pictures, with the studio going for a dark, edgy version skewed towards older audiences! NOT ONLY this, but the studio plans to make it a mix of live-action and animation, allowing the much loved character to really meld with reality.
From the way The Tracking Board is talking about this movie, it sounds like it is a ways away from release. Also, it’s just a rumor at the moment, so it’s also possible the info they have could be completely false, but it’s always fun to speculate.
Now if you’d excuse me, my mind has been blown. Just leave me in this Hedgehog wonderland created by Robotnik.
Having just recently written about the history of Sonic’s many redesigns, it’s fitting that sketch comedy group BEASTS reached out to us to share a video they made on the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog. BEASTS member James McNicholas shared the following information with us:
Let’s face it: video games are weird. Those from the 80s and 90s are arguably weirdest of all — try explaining the logic behind Pac Man to someone whose never encountered it.
Few games make less sense than Sonic The Hedgehog, with its blue rodents, gold rings and magic emeralds. Fortunately, sketch group BEASTS have stumbled upon this footage of SEGA’s planning meeting for the original Sonic. Hope you like it!
BEASTS are comprised of Ciaran Dowd, James McNicholas and Owen Roberts. They’ve been going for two years, and have two sold-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival under our belts. You can find nice things that other journalists have said about them here (they don’t put the nasty ones up). They’re also over on Twitter @BEASTScomedy.
As regards the sketch itself, you’ll notice two of the characters are named Yuji and Naoto – an allusion to messrs Naka and Oshima. “Mr. Needlemouse”, as you’re probably aware, was the name given to the prototype for the Sonic character on Naoto Oshima’s early concept art.
Thanks to BEASTS for reaching out to us and sharing their work!
Following the reveal of Sonic Boom, SEGA and Sonic fan communities exploded with discussion regarding the redesigns of the characters. Things like muscles, sports tape, scarves, tool belts, and blue arms became the subject of heated debates. Before the assurance from SEGA staff that the new game and TV show were a branch of the franchise and not a reboot, fans were both delighted and angered at the idea of Sonic undergoing another redesign after getting to know Modern Sonic for the past 7 years. Of course, fans of the franchise are not new to redesigns of SEGA’s mascot, so they can’t be blamed for assuming that Sonic was undergoing another permanent major change. While Sonic Boom Sonic and Modern Sonic “will continue to move forward in parallel” to each other, as stated by Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka, the new Westernized design of Sonic is here to stay – at least for the near future.
As we move forward into the Sonic Boom era, we thought it would be fitting to look back at five major moments in Sonic’s history of redesigns, from buttface to green eyes and beyond. “Buttface” is enough incentive to read on, right?
The toy company Jazwares featured an interesting sign at last week’s Nuremberg toy fair. As reported by The Sonic Stadium, the sign charts the future of the Sonic brand including the reveal that 2015 will see the release of a new Sonic game for the Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Wii U. Little else is revealed, but the lack of Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 may be a sign that Sonic’s days on those platforms have come to an end. Also interesting, no sign of the supposed third exclusive Wii U Sonic title. Either it is still on the way, and has yet to be revealed, or the upcoming 2015 is that third title and the deal with Nintendo has since changed. More on Sonic 2015 adventure as we hear it!
Also detailed is the upcoming CG cartoon series Sonic Boom, however none of the information is new.
Yesterday evening we learned, via the Sonic Retro forums, that the Sonic the Hedgehog American and European box art illustrator Greg Martin had passed away in May of last year. While the news is delayed, the sadness many SEGA fans are surely feeling has not diminished. Greg Martin may not be a name fans recognize, but as soon as you see his work you’d instantly know his style. His SEGA career spanned the 90’s, with his art appearing on the covers of the SEGA Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog titles, Shining in the Darkness, Landstalker, Pac-Attack, and many more. Outside of SEGA, Greg did work for franchises including The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Batman, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Winnie the Pooh, The Jetsons, and Looney Tunes. You can see more of his work at his official website. Learn more about Greg Martin in this NintendoAge forums post written by a friend of his.
Our thoughts are with Greg Martin’s family, he truly was a legend.
2013 was a big year for SEGA related Kickstarter projects. We saw the successfully funded SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works, as well as unsuccessful attempts at relaunching the Boogerman and Ecco franchises. Not Enough Rings joins the ranks of the former projects, as it was not only a success, but it is among the projects seeing completion in 2014.
Collecting all 93 strips from the online parody comic of the same name, Not Enough Rings follows Sonic as he speeds through his SEGA Genesis adventures. The strips are packed with funny nods to gameplay quirks, plot points, and character traits. The whole collection is really a love letter to the classic Sonic games with just enough naughtiness to retain that SEGA edge. Thanks to going over their goal, several improvements were made to the originally planned book, including a hardcover and higher quality paper. The book even includes a nifty little red and white placeholder ribbon, which resembles the one seen in the Sonic logo. Overall, despite what the cover image may say, we give the Not Enough Rings book a well deserved thumbs up!
Hey, not all Black Friday deals make you stand in line with a super violent mob of soccer moms, at least not when you are dealing with Amazon. The online store giant really wants you to buy Android applications through them instead of Google Play Store and to show how much they want your business they are giving a slew of Android games for free. Usually the lists are full of stuff like Fruit Ninjas and some revision of Angry Birds (they’re still there) but this time they also added Sonic the Hedgehog for free.
Now you have something to be thankful for, free Hedgehog action.
SEGA returned to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2013 with their signature Sonic float. Back in 1993 Sonic was the parade’s first video game character to make the transition to parade balloon, even beating his rival Mario who by our knowledge has yet to even appear as a balloon in the parade. Unfortunately 1993 was a windy day and several balloons, including Sonic, popped as they ran into street lamps and buildings. Thankfully, 2013’s parade had no such occurrences despite returning windy conditions.
From all of us at SEGAbits, have a very happy Thanksgiving!
For those Android users that waited forever, you can now download Sonic Dash from the Playstore! So what’s the skinny? Well, you will need to have at least Android 2.3.3 and over to play the game! The download size for this game is only 42mb.
It seems that the main complaint in the game are the ads, which are annoying. I guess that’s the small price you pay for having a free game. What are your thoughts?