General Sonic 20th Anniversary topic

[Indigo Rush]

Dimps can make good classic-styled Sonic games as they've proved with Sonic Pocket Adventure and Advance.

[the blu blur]

Then why haven't they done so lately?

because the staff that has worked on Sonic 4 is completely different from Sonic Advance. In other words: they can't.

Edit: this topic should be stickied since its for the anniversary and all. and be easier to find.

Edited February 6, 2011 by the blu blur

[Detective Shadzter]

Looks like that Sam Reddyhoff graphic designer may have had SEGA on his case about that Anniversary poster. Everything has gone on his blog, with just a notice left saying he has moved his blog to a new address. Go to the new blog address and there's a message saying that the blog has been removed

Original blog address:

http://outlinegraphicdesign.blogspot.com/

New blog address:

http://realreddyhoffdesign.blogspot.com/

The poster's link still works though:

[Badnik Mechanic]

Looks like that Sam Reddyhoff graphic designer may have had SEGA on his case about that Anniversary poster. Everything has gone on his blog, with just a notice left saying he has moved his blog to a new address. Go to the new blog address and there's a message saying that the blog has been removed

It's hardly suprising is it? It's basic confidentiality that he went and broke.

[Detective Shadzter]

Just found out that SEGA's holding a brief for students to enter at YCN this year. Entrants have to design Sonic 20th Anniversary promotional stuff that SEGA can use throughout the year.

SEGA

The Challenge

Sonic is one of the world’s best known video game characters, with the series having sold more than 80 million copies. Sonic originated from a series of games, first published on 23rd June 1991. The games defined a generation in gaming history, pushing the limits of what gamers knew and expected from high speed action and platforming games.

Today, Sonic continues to be an iconic video gaming character with an MSN poll of the most iconic video game characters, ranking Sonic at Number 1, with Mario and Lara Croft ranked second and third respectively. Since 2004, Sonic has seen huge success on every video game platform that has been launched. Some of his most successful recent video games include Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing.

The Creative Challenge

Sonic will be celebrating his 20th Anniversary during 2011. The opportunity is to create a piece of communication that celebrates / is inspired by this and that could be shared and showcased throughout the year. The work could live online, in print, in a physical space or anywhere else for that matter.

This is a very open creative brief and you are free to respond in any media type including (but not limited to) video, print, paint, audio, online. This should be seen as a piece of brand communication rather than a specific product communication.

Target Audience

There are two key audiences for Sonic that we would like to be taken into account throughout the brief with either one, or both being considered as the focus.

1. This group can be defined as classic Sonic fans. Sonic has a massive fan base that follow through social networking sites, attend Sonic conventions and collect Sonic memorabilia. The classic Sonic fan can be defined as an 18-44 audience, some of whom have been fans since the launch of the series and some who have become fans over the last 20 years and remain fans of the old and new video games and the broader licence. This group would also include those who have a nostalgic emotion towards the brand and for whom Sonic is an inherent part of their youth culture.

2. This group is 6-12 year olds with a bias towards boys who play current games and will be less familiar with Sonic’s heritage. In 2008, UK children voted him the most popular video gaming character with 24% of the vote ahead of Mario. Sonic has remained a key video gaming brand, for this age group, he now transcends video games to a wider universe and is known to them through cartoons and comics.

Mandatories

There are no formal mandatories, but should you wish to include them, Sonic and SEGA imagery and logos are included in the project pack online. If you require higher-res versions of any of the artwork please email kezia@ycnonline.com with the file name of the artwork that you need.

http://awards.ycnonline.com/briefs/view/SEGA/

That poster by that Sam Reddyhoff guy is probably just an entry for this. I've found a couple of other people's entries, too.

Here's Alex Harrison's pieces of work:

http://alex-harrison.blogspot.com/2011/01/been-working-on-some-celebration.html

http://alex-harrison.blogspot.com/2011/01/sega-brief-poster.html

http://alex-harrison.blogspot.com/2011/01/youtube-video-player.html

http://alex-harrison.blogspot.com/2011/01/sonics-20th-anniversary.html

Here's Kaye Huett's:

http://www.kayehuett.co.uk/

(Scroll down to Jan 25th)

SEGA's also provided a project pack you can download from the site containing official SEGA logos and art to use, which can be downloaded here:

http://awards.ycnonline.com/briefs/view/SEGA/

Submission guidelines:

http://awards.ycnonline.com/submission-guidelines/

Entries have to be in by March 25th and can be submitted online here:

http://submit.ycnonline.com/

[azoo]

I don't exactly get Kaye's. What is it supposed to be?

Also I'm just wondering how they'd come around to doing this stuff. I would do something, maybe.

[Detective Shadzter]

I don't exactly get Kaye's. What is it supposed to be?

Also I'm just wondering how they'd come around to doing this stuff. I would do something, maybe.

I don't get Kaye's entry either.

From her website:

For YCN this year, I’m attempting the ‘Sonic: 20th Anniversary’ brief. This is just an idea I had that I wanted to play out as it doesn’t appeal to the right audience, but I thought it was fun for designers at least.

Maybe it's a template or background? Also, what does Pantone mean? Looks like it's some registered trademark, due to the R symbol thing.

I'd probably enter too if I were a student.

EDIT:

Looked up Pantone, and they specialise in fashion and graphic colours etc.

http://www.pantone.co.uk/pages/pantone/index.aspx

[Badnik Mechanic]

For those who went to the meet up yesterday, I think we should submit the artwork that, Svend, T-bird, Nemain, Urth and myself did (was there someone else who did one too?)

It was pretty epic and more or less covered the last 20 years... kinda.

[azoo]

Then why haven't they done so lately?

It may have something to do with the fact that Yuji Naka and the Sonic Team crew sort of watched over, supervised, and produced those two games while Dimps made it. Because of that (and considering Naka made the gameplay for S1-3K), it kind of makes proper sense for those games to have physics and level designs like the classic games.

Speaking of which, Pocket Adventure is everything Sonic 4 did but instead it was done right, and Sonic Advance is everything Sonic 4 SHOULD have done and they did it right. :I

Maybe it's a template or background? Also, what does Pantone mean? Looks like it's some registered trademark, due to the R symbol thing.

I'd probably enter too if I were a student.

EDIT:

Looked up Pantone, and they specialise in fashion and graphic colours etc.

http://www.pantone.c...tone/index.aspx

Kind of odd. I guess it could be used for cards or website templates, or something. I don't know. It looks like someone just put a specific blue there, put white at the bottom, typed in "Pantone Sonic the Hedgehog 20th Anniversary", slapped on a Sega logo and called it 'art'.

*Inferno's post below*

Okay, I loled; +1 rep for you. :V

Edited February 7, 2011 by Azukara

[Ferno]

Sega: "Uekawa- get started on those 20th anniversary Sonic artworks, we're gonna need about a year's worth, and don't forget that we still need that artwork for Sonic Rage's boxart- you're killin' the marketing department over here- were behind schedule! :U"

Yuji Uekawa: Ah man, Sega's been running me ragged the past decade... =_=;...*light bulb over head* I've got it- who says I need to do all this work by myself? :V *goes on his computer starts typing under the guise of Sega* "....nic will be celebrating his 20th Anniversary during 2011. The opportunity is to create a piece of communication that celebrates / is inspired by this and that could be shared and showcased throughout the year. The work coul..."

*Months later*

Sega: "Hey Uekawa- nice work on finishing up all that artwork, it's a little different from you're usual style but we're diggin' it- you deserve a raise!"

Uekawa: *looks towards the camera* :V

Edited February 7, 2011 by Inferno

[Cola]

http://reddyhoffdesign.blogspot.com/2011/02/sonic-20th-anniversary-campaign.html

I think Kaye's might be a page which you fold and get Sonic's head... or something.

[FeathersMcGraw]

I don't get Kaye's entry either.

From her website:

Maybe it's a template or background? Also, what does Pantone mean? Looks like it's some registered trademark, due to the R symbol thing.

I'd probably enter too if I were a student.

EDIT:

Looked up Pantone, and they specialise in fashion and graphic colours etc.

http://www.pantone.co.uk/pages/pantone/index.aspx

Pantone is basically a colour referencing/matching system, most corporations will have a specific pantone pallete that they can give out to graphic designers (for instance, HP have a specific blue that is used throughout all their promotional material), so the image posted is basically a colour reference as apposed to an entry itself.

The Sega brief has been up on YCN for a while now, it's essentially a national award scheme for graphic design students in the UK to enter with a snazzy award ceremony once the winners are decided. Even if you don't win, your work still gets looked at by the client, commendations are also given to the "runners-up". eitherway it's an excellent opertunity for undergraduates to get their foot in the door of an extremely cut throat business.

So yeah, I've already entered and I'd recommend any other aspiring designers to do the same!

Edited February 7, 2011 by FeathersMcGraw

[SchemingMinor]

Alright people, you know what to do since they haven't gotten it all these years before:

Since poor Eggman never got any recognition from SEGA every anniversary, zerg rush the contest with 20th anniversary pictures of Robotnik only.

Post Sonic and you lose.

Let's move forward troops! To the GATES OF HELL!

This is now a 4chan raid thread.

[Woun]

Figures jazwares for 20th, by spindash:

http://spindash.de/Special-Spielwarenmesse-2011.html

[Core]

That's an impressive amount of toys.

But just a few things...

"1994 Knuckles" with a modern render from Sonic Heroes? Something's wrong here. And that "badnik" with Shadow looks like a GUN bot...

The "disc battle" thing looks like a nice idea, but those character figures are awful (they remind me of that Pakistan McDonalds ad >_>)

[The Tenth Doctor]

Wait a tick, I'm sure I remember Sonic spinning disc toys with figures on the top. Yeah, McDonalds did them if I remember....

[Detective Shadzter]

Wait a tick, I'm sure I remember Sonic spinning disc toys with figures on the top. Yeah, McDonalds did them if I remember....

McDonalds did do spinning disc toys based off Sonic X, but they didn't have figures with them.

[PC the Hedgehog]

Man, I really wish all of these toys came out when I was big into collecting everything Sonic.

Then again, my family would've been in the poorhouse trying to pay for all that stuff.

Edited February 12, 2011 by PC the Hedgehog

[Kjeldo]

Update on the 20th anniversary teaser website:

Under the "topics" pop-up, there was formerly just the info about Crush 40 touring in Tokyo.

SEGA seem to have updated that page with some sort of "attraction" if I get that correctly on Tokyo-Joypolis:

http://tokyo-joypolis.com/attraction/22.html

Japanese skills needed here.

[RootingForTheEmpire]

Alright people, you know what to do since they haven't gotten it all these years before:

Since poor Eggman never got any recognition from SEGA every anniversary, zerg rush the contest with 20th anniversary pictures of Robotnik only.

Post Sonic and you lose.

Let's move forward troops! To the GATES OF HELL!

This is now a 4chan raid thread.

As you wish, m'lord! Rallying all troops!

[Gamenerd]

Speaking of which, Pocket Adventure is everything Sonic 4 did but instead it was done right, and Sonic Advance is everything Sonic 4 SHOULD have done and they did it right. :I

I know this isn't really relevant to the thread topic, but oh my God I agree with this so much.

In an alternate universe that is superior to ours, "Sonic 4" would have come out on the Game Boy Advance in 2001 instead of Sonic Advance, and it would've been a Sonic game that was as long as S3K, including all the best levels/features of SPA and SAdv, topped off with all the features that SEGA for some reason haven't brought back from S3K very often, i.e. Super Forms, multiple bonuses, act transitions and act 1 mini-bosses.

Dimps have shown they have potential, they just need adequate supervision, and somewhere between Sonic Advance and the rest of the games they've made, they lost it (though they briefly returned to being semi-awesome with the arrival of the Rush/Colour series).

[azoo]

Glad to see someone agree with me. =>

I would've loved to see Sonic Advance have double the levels, be given a classic artstyle, be thrown into HD and called Sonic the Hedgehog 4. It would be the best Sonic game ever.

[Scar]

Glad to see someone agree with me. =>

I would've loved to see Sonic Advance have double the levels, be given a classic artstyle, be thrown into HD and called Sonic the Hedgehog 4. It would be the best Sonic game ever.

If Dimps had any kind of common sense, that is exactly what they should do. Just spruce up the graphics so they match Unleashed in terms of 2.5D (but toned down enough to be 60fps), throw in some new levels, and remove a couple. BOOM! Honestly, it would work given the apparent budget constraints.

[jennytablina]

Ooh Might go for that student brief contest, it sounds like a hoot : )

[Detective Shadzter]

SEGA France's Sonic 20th Anniversary Happy Chinese New Year card

http://www.jeuxvideo.org/index.php/2011/02/23/bonne-annee-du-lapin-facon-sega/