Sonic to have his own rollercoaster at Alton Towers

It has been confirmed today that Sonic will have his own rollercoaster at Alton Towers. An existing ride, called the Spinball Whizzer, is to be re-themed in a Sonic style.

Here is what TowersTimes has to say:

"Rumours of a Spinball Whizzer retheme for 2010 first surfaced several months ago, but now TowersTimes are able to confirm that these rumours are true.

The resort information packs in the Hotel bedrooms have been updated already, ahead of the new season, and a small promo shot of a Spinball Whizzer car has a Sonic the Hedgehog logo on the side. This would appear to confirm the plans for the ride which is due to open in February."

The ride has been rumoured to be renamed "Sonic Spinball", a reference to his 1993 game of the same name. A new colour scheme for the ride is already in the process of being applied.

The ride's new dark blue supports.

It is likely that the ride will open to coïncide with the release of Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, which has a release date of February/March.

Still no confirmation for when Sega will re-open SegaWorld - perhaps to coïnicide with the launch of the Dreamcast 2?

[Source: TowersTimes and forums]

Mega Drive sales figures - an update

There has been further research conducted into the Mega Drive's total sales figures within the Sega community, but this time more in-depth. This brings us closer to solving the dispute among retro gamers as to which console really did sell the most during the 16-bit console war.

Here is a list of sales figures compiled so far, including sources:

• Genesis (North America) - 20 million
• Mega Drive (Japan) - 4.3 million
• Mega Drive (Europe) - 6.9 million
  
• Mega Drive (Brazil) - 2 million+
• Genesis 3 (North America) - 2 million
• Nomad (North America) - 1 million
• Mega Drive (Other Regions) - 3.5 million
  

This brings the total sold worldwide to around 39.7 million. The most widely-quoted figure of 29 million total units sold must therefore be inaccurate, as this new figure has been compiled from various sources rather than just one.

What the compiled figures do show is that the Mega Drive was the best-selling unit in the Americas. Nintendo's official sales figures quote that 23.35 million SNESs were sold in total, compared to the Mega Drive's 25 million.

The Mega Drive sold more than the SNES in "other regions" as well, which includes Europe - compare Sega's 10.4 million to Nintendo's 8.58 million.

These figures do miss out on one thing, however - there are no solid sales figures for the many variations of Mega Drives, such as the Wondermega and Multi-Mega. One website mentions that in North America 10,000 JVC X'Eyes may have been sold along with 5,000 CDXs.

If we take all of the figures gathered so far, we can safely assume that the Mega Drive sold almost 40 million units worldwide, a much more accurate figure than the previously assumed 29 million. We can also say that the Mega Drive outsold the SNES in the Western hemisphere.

It seems that Nintendo's huge sales of the SNES in Japan (17.7 million) have led to the general assumption that the Mega Drive was "beaten" everywhere, when in fact Japan was the only major market where this occurred. Japan's figures gave the total SNES sales a huge 49.1 million, compared to Sega's 39.7 million.

Aside from these sales figures, the community found some software and hardware revenue figures from Sega and Nintendo:

Sega - US Hardware and Software Revenue in millions of dollars (including Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and Sega 32X, not including Sega Nomad, Sega CDX, JVC X'Eye, the Genesis 3 or software sold by Majesco in 1997-1999)

1989 - $182
1990 - $280
1991 - $586
1992 - $1,151
1993 - $1,938
1994 - $1,812 (End of 16-bit era Total: $5,949)
1995 - $812
1996 - $294
1997 - $180
Total - $7,235

vs.

Super NES - US Hardware & Software Revenue in millions of dollars

1991 - $560
1992 - $1,733
1993 - $1,890
1994 - $1,471 (End of 16-bit era Total: $5,654)
1995 - $823
1996 - $514
1997 - $243 (End of Sega Total: $7,234)
1998 - $137
1999 - $20
Total - $7,391

This shows that Sega was ahead (revenue-wise) of Nintendo from 1994, with Sega's cheaper hardware and software suggesting more units were sold. If we take into account Sega's hardware and software not included on the list then surely they made more revenue in total?

I will update the figures when more sources have been found. All this effort put in from the community shows that for many of us, the 16-bit war will rage for all eternity!

EDIT 28/12/09: I have updated the figures with new information, mainly for Europe and Japan.
02/01/10: Here is another source for the Mega Drive sales figures. [Unreliable chart removed.]
08/07/10: Here is a chart from the May 1995 issue of Man!ac Magazine showing console sales of 29 million at the fiscal end of 1994.

Sega named as one of the world's coolest brands

This week the annual CoolBrands list was published, with Sega making it into the final selection.

Every year The Centre for Brand Analysis in the UK assemble an "Expert Council", made up of fashion designers, artists, presenters and more, to decide which are the world's coolest brands. Members of the general public are also invited to share their opinion, and can nominate brands for consideration.

Brands, which can be products or companies, are rated on their style, innovation, originality, authenticity, desirability and uniqueness. Then, based on this criteria, the nominations are whittled down to a list of just 500, creating the CoolBrands Top 500.

Sega was one of the few games brands to make the list, with Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox and Sony all finishing in the Top 20. Other games brands in the Top 500 included Atari, EA, Guitar Hero and Konami.

If this was the Nineties then Sega would surely have made the Top 20 ahead of Nintendo, who finished fifth. Oh well.

[Source: CoolBrands]

P.S. Today is SEGAtastic's first birthday! The blog managed to document an exciting year for Sega, which included the release of one of their best games for years (Valkyria Chronicles), marked them as the top publisher for hardcore Wii games (MadWorld, House of the Dead: Overkill) and (maybe) forecast a future of quality Sonic games (Project Needlemouse, All-Stars Racing).

Sega Toys release listening flowers

Last year Sega Toys released Pekoppa, a plant that "listened" to whatever the speaker said and reacted by moving up and down. Now they have released an updated version called Hanappa ("hana" meaning "flower" or "petal"), which features more designs and actions.

The battery-powered plant is available in African Daisy, Sunflower and Marguerite varieties. New movements include flapping leaves and "acting surprised". How can a plant look surprised?

If you want one of these highly useless toys, you can import them for around £20 after July 4th. I think I'll pass.

[Source: CrunchGear]

Play these ancient Sega games

There has been a Photoshop contest over on Gizmodo, the theme being "what if games consoles had been around for hundreds of years?". Aside from the Call of Duty and Guitar Hero remakes, there were some Sega-related ones.


My favourite was "Crazy Horsey", a play on Crazy Taxi. Presumably you must ride your horse around the village, taking peasants to their chosen destinations (such as the gallows).


The next one wasn't exactly Sega-based, but was apparently made for the Genesis. With a name like "Grand Theft Wheel 4", that's the only console it could be made for, although the box says it's available on Mega Drive too.

Click here to see the rest of the entries. "Grand Theft Horse" is definitely the best.

[Source: Gizmodo via Kotaku]

More Tamagotchi Park info

Slightly edited growth chart for the Segagotchi eggs.

I found some more information regarding the Saturn Tamagotchi game Sega Saturn de Hakken!! Tamagotchi Park, which featured cameos from many Sega characters.

One interesting point is that only certain eggs can become Sega characters, rather than one egg becoming any character (like the keychain pets). These "Segagotchi" eggs all have characters based on Sega hardware and franchises.

The baby and child characters are Master System cards, the teenage characters are a Saturn disc and a Mega Drive cartridge, and the adult characters are based on Opa Opa, Pengo, Flicky, Alex Kidd, and Sonic.

The games you can play include a food-eating contest (does Sonic eat chilli dogs?) and a Chao-style race, where you can cheer your pet on to make it faster.

The game as a whole sounds fun. If only Bandai would release Segagotchi in keychain form - that would be excellent!

[Source: WarOmnimon from Tama-Zone]

Sonic appeared in Saturn Tamagotchi game

A while ago I posted information on a Sega Toys-produced virtual pet toy. Recently I discovered that Sonic himself appeared in a Tamagotchi game, published by Bandai in 1998.

The game, entitled Sega Saturn de Hakken!! Tamagotchi Park ("de Hakken" meaning "discovered in"), had some hidden Sega characters that your pet could turn into, among them Sonic and Alex Kidd. "Sonikkutchi" could be fed, played with and given medicine, and would sleep in a ball at night. Awww.


Sonicology says that Sonikkutchi was the best character, a spot usually filled by Mametchi and Mimitchi (yes, I'm a Tamagotchi freak). I'm not sure how good of a character Arekutchi (Alex Kidd) was, however.


Sonic has certainly appeared in some weird places. It's a shame how often he cameos with Mario nowadays, though. It would have been unthinkable back in the Nineties!

[Source: Random Japanese Sonic Site and Act Select]

Sonic characters' name etymologies are interesting

Probably not where Robotnik's name came from...

An interesting blog called "Back of the Cereal Box" has posted a history of game characters' name etymologies. It includes explanations of names in the Zelda, Mario and Street Fighter series, as well as the Sonic series.

Most of the etymologies are fairly well-known in the Sonic community, but make an interesting read nonetheless:

"Robotnik happens to mean worker in Polish and peasant in Czech. Robotnik was even the name of the newspaper of the Polish Socialist Party. Is Sonic, then, crusading against socialism? Probably not. Robotnik comes from the same origins as the word robot, and the Sonic villain should be known for robot creation if nothing else. Today, Robotnik goes by the far less cool name Doctor Eggman, in apparent reference to his rotund physique. By the way, on the subject of the character’s appearance, his looks — including his trademark moustache — were inspired by Teddy Roosevelt.

Similarly, Sonic’s sidekick Tails has two names as well — the one everyone knows and his “real” name, Miles Prower. It might seem like a useless footnote, but it brings the added benefit of being a pun on the phrase miles per hour. (Ha.) It should probably be noted that joke would make a lot more sense if Tails was known for his ability to run quickly instead of uselessly flying about with an anatomically anomalous helicopter tail.

The majority of Sonic characters aren’t of much use for this article as their names are straightforward. (Knuckles the Echidna, for example, is an echidna who has pointy knuckles. Brilliant.) There are, however, two characters that time has essentially forgotten, Ray the Flying Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo, that I think deserve a mention. Both debuted in an arcade game, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, that allowed players to control Sonic, Ray and Mighty with a trackball and a single jump button. The three moved identically.

Despite what their names might imply, Ray could not fly and Mighty was not especially powerful. Lame, I know. And I think Sega did too, as Ray never appeared again and Mighty appeared only once more. However, latter-day Sonic games such as Sonic Heroes frequently feature characters grouped into threes — one that can move fast, one that can fly, and one especially that is strong. If you think about it, these three attributes are reflected in the names of the leads in SegaSonic the Hedgehog. In the sense of sunlight, a ray is an airborne thing, while the associations with the word mighty are obvious. In this sense, SegaSonic the Hedgehog’s take on the three-man team could be seen as a precursor to what appeared in these later games.

Two other quick ones: A few Sonic games feature a ninja chameleon named Espio and I only recently realized that the reference to the word espionage makes the name the most appropriate one ever for a ninja chameleon.

Sega jumped on the fighting game craze in 1996 with Sonic the Fighters, which had the various Sonic characters kicking the crap out of each other for no apparent reason. The cast included a character whose name bucks the pattern of “name + the + animal species” — a bomb-tossing duck saddled with the baffler Bean the Dynamite. The odd name references the lesser known Sega title Dynamite Düx, which starred ducks named Bin and Pin who also specialized in explosive devices."

I never realised that Espio was short for "espionage", and that Sonic Heroes may have been based on SegaSonic the Hedgehog. Weird. Anyway, aside from Sonic, there is an entry on Golden Axe:

"Ax Battler is one of the three playable characters in Sega’s sword-slinging beat-’em-up Golden Axe, the other two being Red Sonja rip-off Tyris Flare and feisty dwarf Gillius Thunderhead, the latter of which himself has a pretty terrific name. Upon hearing the name Ax Battler, you might think the name is actually a description of the character. It’s not. You might also think he’d be the one of the three characters who fights with an axe — if not the very axe referenced in the game’s title. Nope again. Mr. Battler carries a sword; it’s Mr. Thunderhead who carries the axe. Finally, there’s the strangeness in the fact that the game officially spells the character’s name Ax — that is, without the “E” at the end. Now ax is an acceptable spelling of the word more commonly represented as axe, but the fact that both would feature in the game so prominently is just stupid. Even worse: a later spin-off that focused specifically on Ax at the exclusion of Tyris and Gillius awkwardly included both spellings in the same title: Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe. Fortunately, this title is now remembered as little more than a rip-off of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, even down to the structure of the title. Sequels Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder and Golden Axe III replace Ax with clones with equally awkward names: Stern Blade and Kain Grinder, respectively."

Ax Battler is almost as cool as Captain Ace Gunn and Major Rock Hardy from Xybots. Why aren't characters named so ridiculously now?

[Source: Back of the Cereal Box via Kotaku]

Sega-esque logo spotted in music video

Yes, this is positively ancient news (in internet terms) to some people, but watching the amazing video of Justice's "DVNO", I noticed a logo that looked remarkably familiar.

The 2008 video is based on the Scanimate logos utilised by TV channels and production studios in the 1970s and 1980s. Some are faithful reproductions, whilst others reference to other companies.


The Sega-esque logo pops up with the lyric "make the girls sweat", with "sweat" being in the classic Sega logo font. Beads of liquid drip down the metallic letters with glowy purple shapes in the background.

I based my Christmas SEGAtastic logo on the Scanimate and airbrush style:


The video as a whole is absolutely brilliant - I love anything shiny, so seeing logos based on analogue video technology was very pleasing. Digital technology simply cannot recreate light with as much realism and flare as the old Scanimate machines, but this video comes close.

You can view the video below:



[Source: The FontFeed]

Some horrific Sonic merchandise for you

Browsing Sega Europe's Flickr I came across some highly disturbing pieces of merchandise. One a novelty controller, the other a novelty comic.


The first item is a PS2 controller released alongside the abomination that was Shadow the Hedgehog. Created exclusively for 13-year-old emos, you too can HOLD Shadow whilst CONTROLLING him on the screen! Oh joy. At least it comes in a nice plastic orb.

Argh! Tails has TOES!

The next item is a comic with the inevitable "kids" theme. Yes, even Sonic has undergone this treatment, along with Scooby Doo and the Muppets. You can read about his non-canon adventures (where he and Tails apparently went to pre-school together) in "Sonic Kids", an Archie Super Sonic Special. No thanks.

Remember to keep checking Sega's Flickrs, as you never know what horrific merchandise from yesteryear will pop up!

Sonic joke book is Green Hill-arious

There is an interesting discussion over on Sonic Retro about Sonic books from back in the day. The UK got its fair share of weird titles, including a Sonic-themed joke book (which is available to download in the thread).

Here is a selection of some of the jokes, for your delight and delectation:

"Why doesn't Tails wear a watch? Because time flies on its own!"

"Can Robotnik eat soup with a big moustache? Yes, but it's easier with a spoon!"

"When my Mobian Measles get better? I don't know - I don't make rash promises!"

Each joke is accompanied by a humorous (and highly exploitable) image, some more questionable than others:

Remember kids: just say no!

I'll let you decide what the horse is trying to do here.

Unfortunately books with this high calibre are not produced anymore. You'll have to settle with these Archie compilations instead, the newest of which is released on August 5th.

[Source: Sonic Retro]

Sega Japan giving away prizes for Sonic's 18th Birthday!

On June 23rd, Sonic will be celebrating his 18th Birthday. To mark this occasion, Sega Japan are giving away prizes to 300 lucky people.


To be in with a chance of winning, you must sign up to the "PuyoPuyo!Sega" mobile site and complete a quiz. 200 people with all the correct answers will win a Sonic mobile charm, and another 100 will win a Sonic hand towel. The designs are in the style of Sonic's concept drawings.


Of course, these rules have been translated and so may be incorrect. It is also impossible to access the site at the moment (it may be mobile only), so you cannot enter yet! Not that you could anyway, as the competition is limited to Japan residents only.

Both prizes look absolutely delicious - the mobile charm doubles as a screen cleaner, and I suppose you could use the towel for the same purpose. If you're weird.


In other news, Uniqlo have just released some more Sonic t-shirts. The latest designs feature Sonic circa 1999, with only his gloves and socks visible. Many other Sega-related t-shirts can be bought as well off the website.

[Source: Sonic Channel]

Latest Sega buys are pants

Today I bought some Sega-related brilliance; one a game, the other... not a game.

The first thing I bought was Puyo Pop Fever for the GameCube, priced at £2.99 from GameStation. They must be trying to get rid of their remaining stock, although they'll never shift a mouldy Super Smash Bros. for £11.99!


The next thing I bought was truly epic. Never did I think you could buy underpants with Sega on them, but now you can at New Look for just £5! Yes, these y-fronts have a Mega Drive controller and Saturn 3D controller on them, as well as a SNES pad, a Game Boy, a PlayStation, an Atari Lynx and a plug-and-play Atari joystick.


You know you want to buy some now. If not to wear, to frame.

Sega News Summary: 29/05/09

Unfortunately, my internet connection has been terrible today so I have not been able to access the blog until now. I will therefore summarise today's news, and hopefully everything will be back to normal soon.

• A new Alpha Protocol trailer has been released
• A new Bayonetta trailer has been released
• Further details for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing have been released

I cannot guarantee there will be any posts in the next few days, so check the other blogs for now! I just hope my internet connection will work again tomorrow.

[Sources: Sega Nerds and TSSZ News]

Tiny Sega arcade cabinets on display in Japan

Is that Alien in the background?

Back in February, miniature versions of Sega's Super-Scaler games were announced with an expected release this Spring. Now, they are on display at the Shizuoka Hobby Show in Japan.

This is the first time the "secret" After Burner model has been seen. The original advertisement for the models had this particular cabinet blanked out.


Just four inches tall, the entire line-up consists of Out Run, Hang-On, Space Harrier, Thunder Blade and After Burner.

Also available from an entirely different manufacturer is a tiny Zaxxon cabinet, which forms a set with Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Centipede, Phoenix and Defender.

[Source: Kotaku]

Get SNASM2 on your Saturn too!

Why, it's even taller than a Mega Drive/Mega CD/32X tower!

Yesterday I mentioned the SNASM2 development kit for the 32X, which I read about on ASSEMbler Games. After further research I found there was a whole range of SNASM kits for many different consoles!

You can get the original SNASM kit for the SNES and Mega Drive, and the SNASM2 for the Jaguar, 32X and Saturn. The Saturn version was advertised for $3,000 (£1,885), but you can pick one up here for just $399 (£250)!

Here is a news report about the SNASM2 from September 1995, with lots of words I don't understand:

"Integrated with Mirage is a new version of the Sega Saturn debugger software called SNASM2.1 - also supplied by Cross Products. SNASM2.1 is the latest version of Cross Products' real-time PC-based debugger.

New features include comprehensive search facilities in source, memory, and disassembly windows; symbol completion; support for GNU C++ qualified function names; a SNASM2-to-GNU COFF converter; and a standalone COFF loader utility. Working with Mirage, SNASM2.1 lets programmers debug code on the PC while code is being tested on a production Sega Saturn with real-time CD emulation. The full development environment, including the Mirage CD-ROM Emulator, the CartDev interface, SNASM2.1 software, a PC SCSI card and modified production Sega Saturn, is available now for under $8,000."

The producer of the SNASM2, Cross Products, was based in Leeds. It was then bought out by Sega in August 1994, and then sold to Imagination Technologies in September 2001.

Unfortunately I've never had any success programming on old systems. I did manage to program a Matrix computer simulator for the ZX Spectrum in BASIC, however. It had random letters and everything!

Make 32X games for just £3,000!

In a thread over on Assembler Games about 32X development, someone has uncovered an old advert offering a 32X development kit for just £3,000!

The advert comes from Issue 17 of Edge, released in February 1995. The product is entitled "SNASM2", and is "the world's most exciting development tool for the Sega 32X". Here is a shortened list of the "benefits" of the SNASM2:

• Hundreds already in use by developers worldwide
• RAPID PORTING of existing code and code samples
• Comes complete with GNU C for the SH2
• Includes the highly-regarded SNASM2 debugger
• Uses enhanced production Genesis & 32X
• Uses Non-Maskable Interrupts (NMI) to all 3 processors
• Simulated boot
• More than a programming tool, not just an EPROM Emulator
  
• High-speed SCSI-2 interface
• Advanced design incorporating dual port RAM and NMI
  
• Supplied with 32Mbit (4MB) of RAM

If you understood all of that then you should hand over your £3,000 straight away! That's about $4,770 to all you Americans, using today's monetary values. A cheaper option would be to buy the "CartDev" 32X kit for just £75 from Andy's Arcade.

Delicious.

I would buy one just so I could say the name - "SNASM2". Or to all you Americans - "S-N-A-S-M-2".

Check out dis '90s attitude!

[Source: ASSEMbler Games, scan Unclejun]

Sega Europe's retro bargains

Martin the Fat Ninja of the Sega Europe blog has posted his latest haul of retro Sega goodness. He seems to have a lot more luck at car boot sales than I do!

His first find was a Sega "Lock-On" laser tag game, bought for just £2 boxed. I had one of these, though not Sega-branded, unfortunately.


The best find was this box full of Mega Drive games, 58 to be exact. Scarily, it looks almost exactly like my Mega Drive collection. I didn't accidentally sell them to a man in a ninja suit, did I? If I did, I certainly wouldn't have accepted the steal price of £33 for the lot!

The last item is not Sega-branded, but still good. It's a Pac-Man belt bought for £1, originally £15 from GameStation. Lovely.

It's car boot sale season in the UK now, so hopefully I'll get some good bargains this summer. Sega 32X mint in box with games? £1 you say? Deal!

[Source: Sega Europe]

Sonic 1 remade in 3D by fans

Yes, you read the headline correctly, but unfortunately it is not what it seems. Someone on YouTube has uploaded a video that appears to be a preview for a fanmade 3D remake of Sonic 1, but it is in fact just a CG movie.

The video is entitled "Sonic HD", and looks as though it was based on that "real life" Sonic fanart from last year. Both the video and the picture have the same mistakes, such as enemies from Emerald Hill rather than Green Hill. Exclusive to the video, however, is the "lost rings" noise whenever you collect rings.

"Real life" Green Hill Zone.

The graphics are rather impressive, until Sonic appears on the screen. It is quite possibly the worst Sonic model I have ever seen, and is even uglier than the Sonic Heroes render. He should join that list of "Gormless Sonics" I posted a while back.

ARGH!

Here is a translation of the video's description, courtesy of Sonic Retro:

"Video TEASER of a make-believe HD Sonic game created by fans of the blue hedgehog. What do you think?"

Judging by the comments, people don't think it is very good:

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha"

"That Sonic is giving me nightmares."

"You... really need a better model for Sonic."

It looks like the only way you'll ever be able to play Green Hill in 3D is by unlocking it in Sonic Adventure 2. Oh well...



[Source: Sonic Retro]

Sonic cameos in Jazz Jackrabbit

This is probably ancient news in the Sonic community, dating back to 1994, but I'll post it to inform those who did not know about this. I discovered it for myself today when I bought the game!

Back in the days when furry platformers were the number one genre, it was hard to escape comparisons with Sonic the Hedgehog. Jazz Jackrabbit for the PC was one of these games, despite managing to set itself apart from the rest and amass a cult following.

It seems Epic, the developers of the game, were fully aware of this - the hedgehog himself makes a cameo in the game's instruction book! Referring to the fact that he carries a gun, unlike most other furry mascots, Jazz complains that in video games enemies only need to be jumped on to be disposed of.

As you can see, a disgruntled Sonic is standing behind him requesting his lawyers. On the back of the box, PC Format says "on a console a game like this would undoubtedly have a name like Sonic the Hedgehog". Call Sonic's lawyers indeed!

I doubt anyone could get away with this now, which is a shame. It's also a shame that furry platformers, one of my favourite genres, seemed to die with the 1990s. They certainly deserve a revival in my opinion.