April 2002

Friday, April 26 2002 Super-models Posted by Bakari at 3:43 AM CT Nearly as thin as your average catwalk model, but twice as sexy - it’s a new series of PSO figures from the Sonic Team! Unfortunately for us, there’s no sek-say FOnewms or FOmarls strutting their stuff, as last season's dowdy hunter duds are still in fashion. Shame.

Yes - Those are plastic

Addendum by Green Gibbon! -- These are being produced in limited quantities of 500 each (similar to the Sonic 10th anniversary swag) and run ¥12,000 a pop (same price as the statue in the aforementioned Sonic series). Interested parties should act fast, because these will probably circulate a bit faster than the Sonic goods... Tuesday, April 23 2002 Sega Saturn Backpacks Posted by Segaholic2 at 7:43 PM CT Those lucky Japs... Starting June 20th, residents of the Land of the Rising Sun will be able to purchase these oddities online at D-Direct, for 6,800 yen each.

I want one!

Source: SwirlVision

-- Append by Pepperidge: I was going to report this, but I didn't think it was important enough to mention. And NT, it isn't a big deal, and I don't mean to sound like a tight-wad here, but I think we could go without the "Jap" remark... Friday, April 19 2002 Pray for your souls... Posted by Pepperidge at 7:45 PM CT The time we've feared for well over a year has finally come upon us. We were ignorant to think it would never happen, that it was Japan's problem. The west shall now be punished for its ignorance, in the form of a new company known as "Sega Mobile". That's right folks, Sonic Café has slowly come its way through the Pacific, and has finally reached our shores. There's nowhere to run now.

The first titles to be released for mobile phone in North America will be Monkey Ball, followed by Flicky, Puyo Puyo, Monaco GP. And yes, Pengo will arise from the ashes once more, and I bet he'll be pretty pissed...

Source: GameSpot Tuesday, April 16 2002 Sonicooking Posted by Bakari at 4:52 AM CT It’s Sonic Café time again, and you all should know the recipe by now: Take one obscure pastime, add Sonic, simmer gently for 2 minutes, and voilà! - Instant cash in, ready to serve!

Append by Pepperidge - Rob! You're ALIVE! E-mail me. Now. Thursday, April 11 2002 We are not impressed... Posted by Pepperidge at 12:27 AM CT Well, it seems Sonic Team has finally found time to update their website. As a, uhh, gift, they offer us Chao Wallpapers and more Q&A questions added to the Chao Laboratory in a language about four people here can read. That's if you count Rob and I, and that's getting desperate.

I swear, if the reason for this lack of recent updates isn't because Sonic Team is up to their knees in Gulpo's Puke or another new title, I'm going downtown with 15 lbs of Semtex strapped to my body and scrawl 'LONG LIVE OHSHIMA' on my forehead, taking the lives of many innocent people in his name because that way, I'LL GO TO HEAVEN AND YOU WON'T!

Or maybe we'll just see how things turn out... Tuesday, April 2 2002 Release Date for PSO I & II Bumped Up - World Subsequently Ends Posted by Pepperidge at 1:01 AM CT Earlier today, Yuji Naka announced that the released date for Phantasy Star Online: Episodes I & II for the Nintendo GameCube has been pushed up from October to May, along with the GameCube modem attachments to boot, and will be released in Japan, the US and Europe within the same month. It was no more than 2 minutes and 43 seconds later that the world officially ended.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse promply entered the building, which was left in smoldering ashes miliseconds later. The audience then degraded into puddles of primortial ooze as their souls were collected by a giant Rei Ayanami, and all civilization as we know it collapsed beneath their feet.

"Despite all these shortcomings," said Naka shortly after, "we are determined to stick with our target release date for PSO." He then gave Miyamoto a nice big kick in the nuts upon exiting.

Because Japan is nearly an entire day ahead of our time, don't expect the Apocalypse to hit our side of the world until sometime tomorrow. Then we can all bitch at Japan for getting all the good stuff first during Judgement.

Yes, this is a joke, and with a whole hour to spare on this fine day. Monday, April 1 2002 More PSO toys Posted by Popcorn at 10:41 AM CT Straight from the babbling mouth of GHZ nextdoor-neighbour Lead comes the latest undercover PSO-themed miscellany:

Yes, that's right-- it's your very own Mag! And that's not all...

That's right! It actually follows you around! Well, a bit. In fact it just sort of sits on your shoulder like some kind of diseased parrot. But... you still look really really cool! Yeah!

MAMA'S BACK! - Ohshima returns to Sonic! Posted by Pepperidge at 2:38 AM CT Finally, some news that brings a smile to my face.

It's come to my attention that in the latest issue of CoroCoro Comics, notorious for publishing the new serialized Sonic manga in Japan, an odd message was printed after the most recent installment. It said that starting next issue, Harukaze Santa will no longer be writing or drawing the Sonic manga. However, the manga WILL be continuing, and take a new direction at that.

Brimming with curiousity upon hearing this, I decided to do a little research on the topic. In the end, my fellow Sonicphiles, I have uncovered some very pleasant news in a Japanese article I found:

Naoto Ohshima (Sonic's mother), HIMSELF will be writing and drawing a brand new Sonic manga in CoroCoro comics. There's only one thing I have to say:

^__________________^

This is beyond fabulous. For those of you not in the know, Ohshima was the original designer for Sonic, Eggman and the classic furries. He was also the genius that brought us the visual masterpiece that was "Sonic CD", which many consider to be, visually, the best Sonic game EVER. He created Amy Rose, the Chaotix and, most importantly, METAL SONIC. He had recently left Sega and Sonic Team to begin his own development company, Artoon, who have so far churned out the mediocre GBA game Pinobee.

"When I first found out Sega was publishing a new manga," said Ohshima in the article, "I thought it was a great idea. It's been years since there's been an offical manga for Sonic, much less a good one. I was okay with the idea of Mr. Harukaze doing it at first, but when I thought about it I finally decided to myself how because I no longer work on the Sonic games I should, as his original designer, be the one to bring Sonic to life in this way".

Ohshima said the manga, which will begin publishing in three months time, will follow the existing Sonic stories rather than original adventures. He'll start with one 30 page intro comic (which he promises will be a visual delight whether or not you're a fan of Sonic games), and then jump straight into the "Little Planet saga" (I'm placing my bets on this being a Sonic CD adaptation). According to Ohshima, this new manga will have the same kind of flare that he put into Sonic 1 and Sonic CD designs.

Apart from being able to keep it alive along to even get as far as Sonic Adventure 2 (which he claims to have a slightly different view on), one of Ohshima's sincerest hopes is that this new manga will make it to the West.

"Sonic is a strange character," he also said, "he's been successful in the United States for the exact reasons that he's popular in Japan. That's a real rarity for characters created on the other side of the world. And yet at the same time, neither side has been given the opportunity to appreciate the true integrity with which Sonic was created, and that he carries on to this very day in both the storyline, the world and the character. I hope this manga can finally open that window to everyone, even outside Japan. That is if I can ever get it rolling".

This, my friends, truly is a time for people from ALL parts of Sonicdom to celebrate.

The article translated pretty easy through a basic AltaVista translator from the source, and some clarification from friends. The only thing I couldn't figure out, however, was the title of the article, which was "Yongatsu no Baka".