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.

Celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall with your Game Gear

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was on this day in 1989 that the border crossings were opened to allow people to freely travel either side of Berlin, previously split in two since 1961.

There have been celebrations worldwide today, so why not have a look at this obscure Game Gear title to mark the occasion?

Not a very historically-accurate portrayal.

The game in question is called The Berlin Wall, released in 1991 in the arcades and on the Game Gear by Kaneko. It plays similarly to Space Panic and Lode Runner, whereby you must navigate various platforms linked by ladders and trap enemies.


The only links to the Wall itself are that you must chip away bits of concrete, and there are poorly digitised photos of the Berlin Wall scattered throughout the game. Nice.


You'll have a hard time finding a copy of the game as it was only released in Japan, but at least Game Gear games are region-free.

Thanks to Chris Covell and Albrito. Also see Chris's excellent Famicom Tsushin page.

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).

09/09/09 - Sonic's long-awaited return

Hello everyone! This is my first post since June when I suspended the blog. I said in the comments section of my "final" post that I would occasionally come back whenever something interesting happens. Well today (UK time), on the 10th Anniversary of the Dreamcast's North American launch, Sega announced what old-school Sonic fans have been waiting to hear for a very long time.

In an interview on GameSpot, Sega's brand manager Ken Ballough announced a new 2D/HD Sonic game, with the working title Project Needlemouse.

"Old-school Sonic fans have long asked to see Sonic return to a more 2D style of gameplay. Many liked the daytime stages in Unleashed, but wanted to see a game that plays purely similar to the early games of the Genesis. Project Needlemouse is that critical first step that brings Sonic back to his 2D roots."

A trailer has also been released, stating "Speed returns, in an all new 2D adventure built from the ground up". This confirms the game will not be running on the Hedgehog Engine or be a remake of a previous title.

On the subject of visuals, Ballough said "You can definitely expect HD graphics". He did not confirm whether or not they would be 3D graphics on a 2D plane (as in Sonic Rivals), 3D models on a 2D background (as in Sonic Rush), or 2D sprites on a 3D background (like Namco's Klonoa). From the art that has been released, it looks unlikely that the game will be fully 2D.


The artwork released was found on the teaser website, with the filename "concept_art_snapshot.jpg". It looks to be based on Green Hill Zone, and has been rendered in 3D.

The game is set for release in 2010 on (probably) PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. I can hardly wait.


[Source: GameSpot via Kotaku]

P.S. Remember to check back here every few weeks or months - I will still occasionally post updates on major Sega events (such as this), and my time studying Games Design (which starts next week - ARGH!).

EDIT: The teaser site, containing the "concept art", is fake. This means the graphics may not be in 3D, and use one of the combinations posted above. I personally hope for 2D hand-drawn graphics, with layers upon layers of glorious parallax!

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]

Is Moonwalker 2 in development?

Ow! Hee-hee! Who's bad?

There have been rumours across the internet this week that Michael Jackson is set to appear in a new game. It is apparently being developed for the PS3, PS2 and Wii, with a release date of Christmas 2009.

The game is supposedly based on Michael's This Is It concert at the O₂ arena in London, and is being created by his film production company MJJ Productions. There has been no mention of a publisher, although Sega have published almost every game Michael has cameoed in so far.

Gameplay-wise, the game could be in the style of Dance Dance Revolution or SingStar, as the music videos are set to feature heavily. It is aimed at the whole family.

Past games Michael has appeared in include Moonwalker, Space Channel 5 1 and 2, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing and I'm Sorry. He also apparently created the music for Sonic 3.

It would be great if Sega published the game, but I doubt it will happen. I really enjoyed Moonwalker on the Mega Drive, so hopefully this new game will be good too!

[Source: 9Lives via NowGamer]

Happy 18th Birthday Sonic!

Today is Sonic's 18th Birthday - it was 18 years ago today that Sonic the Hedgehog was released on the Mega Drive in North America and Europe. The Japanese release was a month later, with added parallax and raster effects.

Sonic showed everyone what the Mega Drive could do, and what the NES couldn't. He was part of the reason Sega dominated the generation in Europe, and challenged Nintendo's rule in the rest of the world.

Despite some terrible games in the last decade, Sonic has remained a household name. At one point in the Nineties he was more well-known among children that Mickey Mouse! He was also the first video game character to appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a feat only replicated by Pikachu.

To think it was nearly 15 years ago that I first played Sonic 2 on the Mega Drive - I still own both the game and the console. Sonic Adventure 2 was the reason I bought a GameCube back in 2002 (sorry Dreamcast!).

Hopefully Sonic will still be around in another 18 years, with a return to form in his games. More 2D sidescrollers please Sega (and a new console whilst you're at it)!

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]

UK Charts: Week Ending 20/06/09

Today is Monday, the new home of the UK Charts. From now on I will post today rather than on a Tuesday due to most other blogs shifting to Monday, rendering my charts ancient history (by internet standards).

Anyway, to the games. Virtua Tennis 2009 is continuing its rise up the charts, climbing two places to #9. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, which has been falling quite rapidly in recent weeks, has remained at #22.

Football Manager 2009 has dropped three places to #29, and Sega Superstars Tennis has fallen four places to #32.

Not a particularly eventful week, although I am surprised that Mario and Sonic is finally falling down the charts. It was almost permanently in the Top 10, and now it's at a measly #22. Surely everyone has a copy by now?

More charts next week. See last week's here.

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]

Arcade version of Golden Axe to be released on Virtual Console

Next week, the arcade version of the Sega classic Golden Axe will be released on the Japanese Virtual Console. The game will retail for 800 Wii Points, the same price as the Mega Drive version.

There are some differences between the Mega Drive and the arcade version, which may make you consider buying both. The arcade version features a higher colour palette, better animation and sound, parallax scrolling and generally more detail. The Mega Drive version, due to technical limitations, has less colour and detail but makes up for it with two extra levels and two extra modes ("Beginner" and "Duel").

All of the Mega Drive versions of Golden Axe are available on the Virtual Console, including Golden Axe III which was never released in cartridge form outside of Japan. They are also available on Mega Drive Ultimate Collection.

There has been no mention of a North American or European release yet.

[Source: Nintendo Life]

Alien Soldier gets Genesis'd

"Bratwurst" over on Sega-16 has created a Genesis version of the classic Treasure shooter Alien Soldier, box and all. The game, originally released in 1995, never saw a Genesis release, making it only to Japan and Europe on the Mega Drive.

Other well-known Treasure games on the Mega Drive include Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy, both of which were released in all regions. The only way to play Alien Soldier in North America was through the Sega Channel service, a cable equivalent of today's PSN and XBLA.

Games such as Pulseman, Golden Axe III and Mega Man: The Wily Wars were only released on the Channel, with some since being "Genesis'd" by Bratwurst. These cartridge versions are sometimes available for purchase.

You can of course buy Alien Soldier on the Virtual Console, but why would you want that when you could have the physical version?

[Source: Kotaku]

Master Systems do not make good Tap boxes

Picos aren't much good either.

Sega of America employees have been competing in a Let's Tap Tap-Off, each using a specialist "box" of their choice. Let's Tap requires the Wii remote to be placed on tappable surface in order to pick up the vibrations which control the game.

Choices of weapon included an Xbox 360, a NiGHTS magazine cover, a PS3 box and a Wii box. By far the best (yet least effective) boxes were the Sega Pico box and the Master System.


Whilst the Pico box faired okay, the Master System proved unsuccessful. Here's what the Tapper said:

"Let me just say that this was a mistake. I completely failed the third round because the poor Master System wasn't picking up the vibrations, and I didn't have the heart to hit it hard.

Don't try this one at home, folks."

In future just stick to cardboard. Take it from Sega: don't risk destroying your beautiful old consoles!

[Source: Sega of America Flickr]

More Sonic 18th Birthday tat

Last week I reported how Sega Japan are giving away prizes in celebration of Sonic's 18th Birthday. Well, the competition is still open, but you can also download some free stuff for your phone!


Birthday-themed wallpaper is available for download, which unfortunately has a large watermark on. You'll have to go on the WAP site to download them properly, where I would personally opt for Sonic holding the doughnut cake with Iced Gems around it.


Perhaps not in celebration of Sonic's birthday on Tuesday, but still good anyway, is this newly-released Sonic raincoat. The coat has a nice varsity-style Sonic print on it, front and back. It will cost you ¥4,935 (about £30), which is actually quite good in comparison to the outrageously-priced Enterbrain Sega products.


Other items available, which are made by Cospa, include a "Stay Sonic" t-shirt (¥3,045/£20), those indie cushions (¥2,625/£16.55) and bandanas (¥1,260/£8) I mentioned a few months ago, a reversible Sonic/Werehog top (¥4,200/£26), and various other Sonic t-shirts for ¥3,045 each.

If only I lived in Japan - the amount of Sega-themed tat I would own!

[Source: Sonic Channel]

UK Charts: Week Ending 13/06/09

Virtua Tennis 2009 is again this week's highest Sega charter, taking over the role from Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. It has dropped two places to #11, with Mario and Sonic falling one place to #22.

Football Manager 2009 keeps a steady position at #26, up three from last week. Sega Superstars Tennis has risen as well, up five places to #28.

Mega Drive Ultimate Collection has failed to get back in the Top 40, after falling out last week. Oh well.

In the future I may start posting the UK Charts on a Monday, as other blogs seem to be doing this as well making mine outdated. At least I use a different chart to most other blogs!

More charts next week. See last week's here.

Arcade version of Space Harrier released on Virtual Console

Space Harrier is one of the many arcade titles coming to the Virtual Console this year. Today it was released on the North American store, with the European store receiving it on the 29th May. Japan got it back in March when the games were first announced.

It was originally thought that the arcade titles would cost 500 Wii Points, 300 Points cheaper than their Mega Drive counterparts. It turns out that they too will cost 800 Points.

Nintendo Life gave the arcade version just 5/10, whereas the Master System version got one point more. I would rate the game higher than that just to watch the mesmerising chequerboard floor!

[Source: Nintendo Life]

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]