Just sitting here wasting our precious time since 1997

I think it's a beautiful piece of footage, both technically and aesthetically. The changing daylight is a particularly nice effect that could be utilized for some cool ambience. I think there was a general feeling of relief all-round as soon as we concluded that the game was not hideous (as some recent Sonic titles have been), and furthermore, that there were no obvious gimmicks such as "team action" or weaponry. But at the same time, this is new technology we're talking about. It's supposed to be gorgeous; that doesn't qualify as a special feature. The short of the matter is that what I'm seeing, at least, is a very, very pretty Sonic Adventure 1. Granted, I have defended the original Sonic Adventure for years and will do so even now - I still think it's as close to a totally successful 3D Sonic game as Sega's ever come. However, that was 7 years ago on hardware half as powerful. It may still turn out to be an altogether solid platformer, but it most certainly is not the "reinvention" that Sega was promising.

Moreover, I think Sega's brouhaha could turn out to be the deathblow. Of course this PR pageantry is nothing new, but Naka has really been talking the proverbial talk this time. Reverting to the original, undecorated series title is a particularly ballsy move. They are, in effect, advertising, "Okay, this time we're doing it for real." It's easy (for a fan, at least) to brush aside misfires like Sonic Heroes and Shadow with the ever-potent, tried & true "Well, it's not really a Sonic game." This time, however, Sega have ventured to take away even that pillow of reassurance. The ice is thin, and we are skating on it. A prettier Sonic Adventure is not going to be enough. -- Green Gibbon!

Of possibly more significant ramifications, Sega's also announced a new Sonic for the next crop of consoles. I don't think any of us ever doubted that such a thing would be attempted, so that's no big surprise (indeed, I'll be thrown for a loop the next time I hear that there are no new Sonic titles in development). So far the only screenshots they've released are four stills from the E3 tech demo, and while they're pretty, they don't possess much visual flair - that's a fairly generic landscape Sonic's running around in. Still, there's no indication as to what extent, if any, these shots represent the mystery title. Naka speaks mighty words about "reinventing" the series, but such PR squeal is of little worth, so it's really impossible to determine yet whether we should be thrilled, terrified, or flat-out indifferent. Interestingly, the title of the game seems to be simply "Sonic the Hedgehog." Disregarding all sequels and reverting to the original title is not uncommon for series that have been dormant for years, but it's a bit awkward for the Sonic series which has, of course, never been dormant. Ideally it would reflect their desire to jettison the excess baggage and maybe, finally, really give us a new Sonic game - but pardon me if I've become a bit skeptical by this point. Mr. Naka, please make sure Iizuka remains placated with Shadow and don't let him near this one, then we shall see what we shall see.

Anyway, shifting to more immediate concerns, the Sonic Spinball and Mean Bean Machine pages have been updated. The latter will, of course, be excluded from the encyclopedia, but I'm still not totally decided on the former. With references to Sonic's early 90's TV cartoons, some serious Chaos Emerald continuity discrepancies, and a grossly off-model Eggman, it's not a game that is entirely kosher. But I still think the Veg-O-Fortress is cool, so I dunno. What say you happy children? -- Green Gibbon!

And this photo from the set of the upcoming Katamari Damacy live-action movie:

And this picture of Yu Suzuki flipping off a magazine journalist:

And this picture of Chun-li's boobies:

And this screenshot from Tashiro Masashi no Princess ga Ippai:

Here at the GHZ, we think outside the box.

For those who ventured here seeking new content, you'll find the only instance of such a thing in the Encyclopedia, which now contains entries pertaining to Sonic CD and Sonic & Tails. There's a bit more spit & polish here and about, but as usual, nothing worth recounting on the front page.

One iGREKKESS of French fansite SegaKore recently posted a 15-minute playthrough of Segasonic the Hedgehog, covering the entire game from start to finish. It's a good download if you ever wanted to see what the game is supposed to look like, when not chugging at half power through a clunky emulator. He was also kind enough to share the game credits, which have been added to the Segasonic museum page. Only family names are listed with first initials, but with a wee bit of research I was able to determine the voice actors, at least -- some valuable information considering this was Sonic's (and Eggman's) first speaking appearance. Sonic is played by Takeshi Kusao, who's got quite a few credits to his name, most prominently Trunks from Dragon Ball Z and Ky Kiske from the Guilty Gear games. Hinako Yoshino (who was Hinako Kanamaru at the time of the Segasonic recordings) provides the voice of Ray, while Yusuke Numata produces the words of Mighty. Both seem to be mainly bit part actors. (Yoshino, for what it's worth, was among the huge cast of extras in Shenmue II.) The original speaking voice of Eggman was Masaharu Satou, who also has a large repertoire, though not many starring roles. It doesn't seem like Sega bent the budget.

The main problem with being stupid, from my experience, is that it makes it difficult to tell when somebody else is being stupid. Of course this opens up a whole can of philosophical worms - if everyone is stupid, but nobody realizes anyone else is stupid, what is it that makes them stupid? If there's a great cosmic standard of intellect that nobody on one isolated planet is aware of, can such a measure be applied to the microcosm in which said planet exists? And by what macrocosmic dictate is the "outer" standard of intellect greater or more viable than the one in use on the planet in question if both, indeed, have the same overall result in their respective domains? Theses have been written, I'm sure, but for our purposes, it means that I, through my ignorance, have been shamefully lead around by what can only be construed as a mistranslation in Sonic Adventure 2. In the English language dialogue and subtitles of the game, Tails identifies ARK as the "first Bernoulli spherical space colony". Bernoulli, it can be assumed, refers to Johann Bernoulli, his brother Jakob, and his offspring, who collectively formed a very prominent family of mathematicians in the late 1600's and early 1700's. To one who is stupid, such as myself, this seems a reasonable enough connection. However, my error (and presumably the error of Sega of America's translators) was recently brought to light by Pyschobob, who wrote the article "On Location with Sonic Adventure" a while back. I double checked the game in reference to Psychobob's tip, and indeed, what Tails actually says in both the original Japanese dialogue and subtitles is "Bernal" space colony. The Bernal sphere is a proposed space habitat first suggested in 1929 by Dr. John Desmond Bernal. Needless to say, this makes much more sense than Bernoulli. But alas, ignorance is not my sole evil, and I am also victim to the sin of sloth. As such, I haven't yet bothered to fix my error on the SA2 page, and probably won't until I get around to it in the cycle of the current museum overhaul (which is currently only up to Sonic & Tails). Still, being that nobody pointed out my error until now, I assume I am among others who are also stupid, so perhaps that "greater" cosmic reality is irrelevant to our microcosm of self-imposed ignorance.

The difference, I think, between scientists and philosophers is that scientists discover something cool and think: "Wow, what do you think this means? Let's find out!" Philosophers, meanwhile, read about what scientists have discovered and think: "Wow, what do you think this means? I bet it means this!" As far as I'm concerned, it all boils down to Shenmue in the end. Everything does. -- Green Gibbon!

HarihariSonic, chief propagator of Japanese Sonic obscurity, recently posted some scans of the Sonic Gameworld manual at Act Select. Our own resident smiley abuser and stupid hat-wearer, big_smile, has compiled the valuable historical documents into this convenient zip file. The manual mainly contains information on the minigames, most notably the casino-themed games that were removed from the US version. (It seems there was a whole floor that got sacrificed.) For those of us who have never ventured to buy Pico's even in the name of research, it is most enlightening. As usual, the information will find its way into the museum as soon as I conquer my indolence.

If you happen to be in the Melbourne area, you might want to swing by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image later this month. From June 22 to October 2, the ACMI games lab will be featuring an exhibition on Sonic and the fan culture surrounding (that's us). I was contacted a few weeks ago about the possibility of including a short video segment on The GHZ as an example of the devotion of fans. I don't know whether or not they decided to go through with that, but GHZ or no, it should be an interesting exhibit.

Another event that may be of pertinence to victims of the blue death is the Video Games Live concert, which will apparently feature music from Sonic, though I'm curious to know exactly which tunes will be played. The first show is Wednesday, July 6 at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring performance by the L.A. Philharmonic. I'll have to sit this one out, but if anyone has plans to attend, I'll be interested in hearing firsthand accounts of the affair. Do bring a camera. -- Green Gibbon!

Written content and original graphics copyright © 1997-2005 Jared Matte. Sonic the Hedgehog characters, logos, and images are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. The GHZ is an independent fansite and is not affiliated with SEGA Corporation. Webhosting provided by Emulation Zone and Emulation World.