Sonic 20th Documentary: The Missing Summer Of Sonic Section!

I’m a tad surprised no one thought to put this up here…

The Sonic documentary was, frankly, a shadow of what it was originally intended to be. I hear suggestions it was 1/6th of its original intended length – getting sliced down at the eleventh hour to the format that went on the disc. One of the missing sections was everything that was filmed at Summer Of Sonic and we were to but it mildly very disappointed about that. So Dreadknux enquired with SEGA and I flat out asked the film makers if we could have the footage, especially considering how much we helped them with the project.

Very nicely they agreed to make us a little video which shows off Summer Of Sonic and includes bits from the interview segments done with myself and Dreadknux as well as Nemain, TRiPPY, SYAMiNGLi and Angelgotchi (dressed as Classic Amy). I’m sure you’ll spot others like Vger around in the video.

Enjoy and thanks to Gracious Films for sorting this out – heck I even managed to make it into the credits at last(!)

[Taken from Sonic Wrecks]

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Four Years of Summer of Sonic: Past, Present & Future

Less than five years ago I, was sat in a tea shop in Nottingham eating cake and sipping tea with AAUK and Dreadknux, celebrating Sonic’s 15th anniversary, joking about the prospect of a Sonic the Hedgehog convention. Five years on and we are celebrating our biggest and most successful event to date, with over one-thousand attendees passing through the event doors on the day. It fantastic that even though Summer of Sonic is a fan event, it has over the years evolved into something increasingly professional, and that has become growingly involved with SEGA on an official level.

We have also been fortunate across the four events to have comic artists such as Nigel Dobbyn and Nigel Kitching from Sonic the comic and our first international guests Iain Flynn Tracey Yardley this year. We’ve seen musical performances from the likes of Richard Jacques, TJ Davis, Bentley Jones, Julien-K and Crush 40, and we’ve even had the two big Sonic Team names, Yuji Naka and Takashi along on the day to give you guys an opportunity to meet them face to face.

Each year, our selection of playable Sonic titles grows larger, with opportunities to games that are months away from release. The input from the community has grown rapidly, with many prominent fans, talented with both the brush and the microphone, contributing substantially to making Summer of Sonic something special. You guys keep turning up in your droves in ever more elaborate and unusual costumes, and our prizes become ever more desirable! There is of course the social aspect of the day too, and many of you have met some of your best friends through SoS; some of you have met future husbands and wives. It is fair to say that many of you look forward to SoS more than you do to Christmas!

From an organisational point of view, Summer of Sonic went extremely smoothly this year, by far the least stressful Summer of Sonic to stage manage to date. But of course as this event becomes bigger, the amount of time, effort and organisation becomes greater. Summer of Sonic simply would not take place if it was not for the passion and dedication of the 20+ strong community team who hold the event together – whether they are at the front on stage as the compare, or at the back of the hall as door-safe; each member is vital to the machine and most notably they all work for nothing, giving up their day so you can have a fantastic time. A lot of them also donate substantial amounts of money for extra guests, prizes and events for the day – just so as much as possible can be packed into the day. Each one deserves a huge thank you from us all. I also want to thank all of our guests, some of whom returned for their second or third round of Summer of Sonic, and who also come to talk and perform to you for nothing; they come back every year because they love SoS just as much as we all do.

Summer of Sonic was once again a totally free event for anyone of any age who wanted to attend. We often get asked why we don’t charge for tickets, and the reason is twofold; first off it creates a lot of red tape and secondly, we don’t want a ticket price to be a reason for people not to attend. This is something we hope to continue. We’d like hope to make more opportunities for you guys who want to donate in the future; some of you did this year, quite generously I might add, and this year and that was a great help…especially considering the quantity of water consumed backstage!

I also want to thank all of you. As always, I was pleased with how well-mannered and courteous you all were to our special guests and to each other, particularly when queuing for games or to meet guests. Even with venue air conditioning running full blast it got very warm very quickly inside the building, but you didn’t let that ruin your fun.

At the moment we don’t know what the future holds for Summer of Sonic; our hope is that as long as you guys keep coming, Summer of Sonic will keep going and SEGA will continue to generously support us. Not just that, but the community prongs now extend all the way around the world, and I was extremely honoured to be able to represent Summer of Sonic this year at the Sonic Boom event in Los Angeles. This event proved just as popular as Summer of Sonic with thanks to the fantastic community team at SEGA of America, and we hope that Sonic Boom will be something that makes a return next year.

I will be stepping down from my duties as stage manager at Summer of Sonic; it’s been a fantastic job and I’ve loved being able to facilitate some fantastic stage events. Don’t think for one second though that means this is the last you’ll see of me though! I will definitely be at the next Summer of Sonic come hell or high water, but in a more supporting roll.

On this note, I would also like to thank Kevin Eva who will also be stepping down this year, who has been the linchpin in realising the Summer of Sonic dream. I tip my hat to him for the incredible amount of work he has done over the last three years in getting Summer of Sonic off the ground and building strong bridges between SEGA and the community. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours!

I would also like to give our thanks Thank you to SEGA of Europe too, who have continued to support us in all of our endeavours, and I hope this partnership will continue into the future.

On my final note I’d like to wish Sonic a very happy 20th birthday, and that I hope that our celebrations continue to unite fans, old and new, with their mutual love of a little blue hedgehog.

SUMMER OF SONIC FOREVER!

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Calm After The Storm

Another year, another Summer of Sonic! It’s hard to believe that our little meetup in a Covent Garden community hall that holds 300 back in 2008 could become definitively the celebration of Sonic in the UK, and this year we went bigger than ever.

Even last year we wouldn’t have dreamed that the face of Sonic for 15 years, Yuji Naka, would agree to come to our show, let alone in the company of current face of Sonic, Takashi Iizuka – or that they’d be snapping photos just as much as all of you guys were! In fact – and we hear this from all our Sega-related guests, actually – they were truly overwhelmed by the event and the love we all show for their creation.

So many of our guests see SoS and want to be part of it, or are part of it and want to come back. Returning after last year was our official best friend, Jun Senoue, as well as serial visitor Nigel Dobbyn. He joined up with colleague Nigel Kitching – who was last with us way back in ’08 – and Archie’s own Ian Flynn and Tracy Yardley(!) for our biggest comic group yet.

We also had an eardrum-popping performance from electronica rockers Julien-K, and performances from fans ShadowGirl and Zonic. And some guy called Roareye, whoever he is. All interspersed with a load of stage events including Kevin’s Wrecks Factor, Dave’s Never Mind the Buzz Bombers, and a host of videos from Frobman and our friends at Sonic Paradox, Sonic the Comic Online and OverClocked ReMix. Rounded off nicely by Club Sonic DJ’d by Mark Hawley, and a surprise keyboard and guitar performance by Jun (and his new lead vocalist, Kevin!).

And did I forget to mention that we recorded a birthday greeting for Sonic from you guys, live at the show? A greeting that Sega, dare I say it, are going to put into Sonic Generations? Surely not?!

All told, about 1,250 of you joined the party on Saturday. Unfortunately we didn’t reckon on so many of you joining us – it’s the biggest increase in visitors we’ve had in our four year history – and a lot of you had either a really long wait, or didn’t get in at all. To all of you, I’d like to extend my sincerest apologies. It’s something we’ve never had to face before, and never want to really, and I’m sorry you had to go through it.

For those that did make it, however, I hope you all had an amazing time with everything we had to offer. At the end of the day, we’re just a bunch of Sonic fans that somehow convinced Sega to support us with our hairbrained Sonic conventions. Without them, and indeed without all the companies that support us for no reward – Archie, Microsoft, Nintendo, First4Figures… – Summer of Sonic would never be what it is, so thank you to all of them as well.

That isn’t quite the end of the story though. Over the next week or two, some of the people that helped run SoS this year will be sharing the show through their eyes on this blog. Looking in from the outside, you wouldn’t believe what goes into the show, and I thought last year’s was well worth the read, so you knowwhat to do, don’cha?

Summer of Sonic ’12? Well, who knows, really?

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Did You Miss A Certain Doll?

Yeah. That’d be why…

It flashed up on screen really quickly, not sure if you guys saw it or not.

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Summer Of Sonic Live Feed Now Online

Can’t be there, dont worry, we have a stream for you here. We also have prizes to be won, so tune and and join the chat!

http://justin.tv/summerofsonic

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We Love Japan: The Summer of Sonic Charity Raffle

We’ve told you how we will be celebrating Sonic’s anniversary in style – now let us talk about how we are going to do things with some heart. During the convention, we will be running a raffle competition where some lucky fans will get their hands on some awesome prizes.

How would you like to get your hands on a range of Sonic X plush toys? How about a -massive- Sonic plush doll instead? Or perhaps you really rather fancy the original Archie x Fleetway art piece, amazingly drawn by Tracy Yardley and Nigel Dobbyn? Well, take part in our exciting raffle and you’ll have a chance of winning!

The best part? Proceeds from this raffle will go to charity. The world was rocked to its core just mere months ago on 11 March 2011, when a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. The Summer of Sonic organisers are passionate about supporting the efforts made by the nation and its fellow countries to provide relief for those still suffering months after the crisis began.

Strips of tickets will sell for £5, of which half will be donated to the Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal. The raffle winners will be announced during The Sonic Hour Live, presented by Svend and Rory Joscelyne. Tickets can be purchased in the Merchandise area of the main hall – look for Mark and his vast array of Sonic X and Classic Sonic plush toys!

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Guest Announcement: Happy Birthday Sonic the Hedgehog!

Happy birthday Sonic the Hedgehog! It just feels like yesterday that we were all awed by the blue blur’s first 16-bit outing on the Sega Mega Drive, bouncing on springs and bopping badniks all day long. The fact that Sonic is still as cool today as he was back in 1991 is a true sign of his importance as a character and franchise.

Naturally, the blue blur would never miss an opportunity to meet his fans. So we’re pleased to announce that Sonic the Hedgehog himself will be appearing at the Summer of Sonic 2011 to have photos taken and enjoy the day with all of you!

There’s not long left until Saturday rolls around! See you then! Tell us about your favourite Sonic the Hedgehog memories in the comments box below!

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SoS 2011 Final Performance: Club Sonic + …

We’re doing something a little bit different to close off the 20th Anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog. Oh yes indeed. From 7pm, you’ll get a special taste of Sonic music throughout the ages, with an exclusive live mixtape from DJ Mark Hawley. We’ve given Mark a selection of tracks that cover the whole spectrum of Sonic game history – from 16-bit to modern day – and letting him give you an electrifying mix that you’ll never have heard before.

Welcome to Club Sonic.

This is a really unique way to kick off and celebrate two whole decades of blue blur mayhem, and it’s really worth getting involved and enjoying the sounds with your fellow Sonic fans. If you know your theme songs, sing them loud! Hear an instrumental that you recognise? Chant it with the rest of the crowd!

Who knows, maybe the unified singing and chanting of a hall filled with the hardest of hardcore Sonic fans will allow us to give you one final, ultra-special present at the very end of the evening. Yep – we STILL aren’t finished with the surprises! You will want to stick around to the very end.

But what could it be? It might be something to do with a strange request we got one day from one of our guests for the allowance of extra baggage on their flight… Guess you’ll have to find out at the grand finale of The Summer of Sonic 2011! See you there!

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Good News & Bad News & Good News

Right, sorry I’ve been a bit slow on the updates – but at least you are getting updates eh?  That’s all I can say to that!  Anyway I was over at SEGA this morning (as well as being on the phone yesterday, this morning, this afternoon and this evening and probably tomorrow) to shoot the breeze, chew the fat and other such sayings in earnest over Friday and Saturday’s goings on.  I have good news and bad news for you, the first bit of good news is that the good news seriously outweighs the bad news imo.

The bad news is that unfortunately the giant hedgehog in the sky has told us that Mario & Sonic London 2012 now won’t be able to appear at Summer Of Sonic 2011 sadly. I blame Koopa personally, he probably sat on all the copies or something.  We do say things are subject to change, hopefully this will be the only item that does.

Now the good news:

  • The number of Nintendo related jokes in the show will now probably increase.
  • We have two spare Wii pods now… so I’m going to throw my copy of Gems on one of them and you can play either Sonic CD, Sonic R or Sonic The Fighters.
  • The comics have arrived at SEGA Europe! So those will be waiting for you when you come in. Please give Archie some love.
  • As you will no doubt have seen the Summer Of Sonic stream, managed by The Sonic Show specifically (not Sonic Stadium as some outlets are reporting) will be returning. Ideal for those of you who cannot attend. We had several thousand people view the feed last year alone.
     

    More details will be announce on the Friday, check in to SummerOfSonic.com for this. Also I’m turning Sonic Wrecks into a sort of community/discussion portal for the day so you’ll be able to watch the stream from there as well as use the chat AND keep up to date on the latest tweets from those at the event.

  • T-Bird kindly posted up the update for the last Fan artist and the penultimate showcase guest.  Actually the last guest isn’t really part of the Showcase but it kind of fits in there. Svend will be revealing them tomorrow when he’s got half an hour.
  • We can now reveal the t-shirts you’ll be getting on the day (whilst stocks last) courtesy of SEGA. Holy Shades of Sonic Channel, Batman! They’ll be available in S, M, L and XL.
  • Speaking of t-shirts, you know the EPICALLY AWESOME 20th anniversary t-shirts courtesy of Insert Coin? These will be on sale at the event on a merchandise table run from SEGA. Feel free to snap a Sonic or Dr. Eggman shirt up. We love these guys muchly!
  • Sonic Paradox, having delivered their Sonic Shorts to me have sent me an updated video with MORE shorts. We’ll have a whole wardrobe at this rate. Big props to The Wax and his team.
  • You will also be recieving on the day a show guide, featuring a little introduction from two very handsome young bucks (alternatively one drunken viking journo and an unemployed ex-Community Manager) which will tell you what is happening and when, as well as containing an A3 Sonic poster. Ideal for getting signatures…. should you wish!
  • A special notice to Cosplay people, you’ll want to take note of this… as this is your prize should you win:Get ready to freak out….

    OH YES. WE GOTS ONE! I beat up someone at SEGA who was carrying it and made off with it. SEGA Europe have very kindly donated us one for a prize for a VERY SPECIAL event at SOS. Considering the amount of work you guys are putting into this, we decided to nominate this for the Cosplay competition. I’m sure you’ve been reading up on how rare these not-for-sale items are.

  • Because she clearly wanted to cause me issues as I was about to put this live, Nemain has put live another little preview of stuff that will be sold on the SW/T-Bird Merch Shack of Wonders…
  • I’m off to grab a bite to eat and a couple of hours break before I work through the night on things. GRIND BEGINS!

    -AAUK-

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AAUK’s Weather Forecast & Transport Update – 20/06/11

Some updates for you that you might find useful at this time.

Current weather forecast – Saturday 25th June

Prior to Saturday lots of showers and generally overcast. On Saturday, alternating sunshine and cloud. Possible showers at this time.

Transport update – Saturday 25th June

Underground Planned Closures

  • Victoria – No service between HIGHBURY & ISLINGTON and BRIXTON. Replacement buses operate between VICTORIA and BRIXTON.
  • Circle – No service between KING’S CROSS ST PANCRAS and MOORGATE via FARRINGDON, and no Circle or Hammersmith & City service between HAMMERSMITH and EDGWARE ROAD. Services will operate in both directions between MOORGATE and KING’S CROSS ST PANCRAS via VICTORIA.
  • Hammersmith & City – No service on the entire line. Replacement buses operate between HAMMERSMITH and PADDINGTON.
  • Jubilee – No service between WEST HAMPSTED and STANMORE. Replacement buses operate.
  • Central – No service between WOODFORD and EPPING. Replacement buses operate.
  • Waterloo & City – Closed
  • DLR - No service between WESTFERRY and BECKTON and between WESTFERRY and WOOLWICH ARSENAL. Replacement buses will operate.

If in doubt, make your way on to the Northern Line (black) which is unaffected this week the Bank line goes through King’s Cross St. Pancras whilst both branch lines go through Euston.

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Past Summer of Sonic Events: 2006 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013
The Summer of Sonic is a convention based in Central London, UK. Event created by Svend Joscelyne, presented by The Sonic Stadium and Sonic Wrecks. Supported by SEGA Europe, SEGAbits and Emerald Coast. Attendees of all ages are welcome, but visitors under 15 years of age should be accompanied by a suitable parent or guardian - the organisers accept no responsibility for those attending the event. Anything brought in by attendees to showcase are the sole responsibility of their owners. Be careful when meeting strangers you know online elsewhere; The Summer of Sonic is a safe neutral location for fans of Sonic the Hedgehog to meet up. All content copyright © The Summer of Sonic 2011, fan content published is the copyright © of respective artists and fans. Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters are copyright © SEGA. All Rights Reserved. Website powered by WordPress and chili dogs.