Monday, April 27, 2009

Entertainment Update- Interesting!

This update didn't look big, but it was.
There were something like 120 mails, got it down to 80 something. And that...is really saying something. Maybe it's back on track for keeping everyone happy (one can certainly hope) The variety of stuff was just ok, with the werehog re-release standing out the most.

Wait, re-release?
Yeah I didn't believe it either, but they've gone and released him AGAIN in a different box. This box is more boring and less 'unleashed' for whatever reason, but the real stand-out is that they did it so FAST after his initial release. Something wierd is going on there, but we may never know what. Kind of oh-well though because all that matters is that more people who want a Werehog can have one.

Their promised 'werehog scale' regular Sonic also is out or will be soon. He got kind of lost in the shuffle with the super-super posers and the SBK figure and all but that should be fought against. What he is, is, a SBK figure only with no glove and no sword. Meaning that we finally have a really actioney well sculped non-stupid Sonic Action figure. JUST a PLAIN Sonic. Not in space armor, not all gimmicky, and way articulated. I think a lot of people have been waiting for this. Certainly anyone on stop-motion animation will be.

SonicGear Commercial 2 will look a whole lot better because of this guy, I can say that for sure. Jazwares lands another hit, even if it's not in the spot-light.

Most interesting:
The GameTap retrospective videos. GameTap is that online place that rents or sells you older games or something. It's an easy way to play/try what you never had the chance to. Of course, the retrospective (in 4 parts) is a publicity stunt type thing for them. They want to create media to reel people into their site to rent their games. This is great. It gives everyone what they want, which is cool media and access to games easily. If more companies did this sort of thing they'd probably have more visitors.

Retrospective itself:
They put it on youtube, which is another smooth move. Also, it's REALLY well done, like something you'd see on TV. Anyone could be impressed by the quality. They have real interviews with people like Yuji Naka and other JP developers co-creators. There are reinactments, and also old footage of events. They unload a mess of interesting facts and show you some rare old artwork. Anyone into collecting Sonic art will of seen most of it, but it's still pretty obscure. The facts are odd like Michael Jackson shoe-buckle inspiration and right onto Bill Clinton!

Missing fact- IS it true that Super Sonic is yellow because Goku SSJ is also yellow? It's a commonly repeated thing but it'd be nice to hear it confirmed or denied. Certainly with how much they apparently drew on everything/one else for it it makes it even more plausable now.

A lot of these types of things can get either 'pander-ey' or 'bash-ey' but this one didn't seem to really do either. They DID say about the flops and the oddities but the tone remained hopeful despite Sega's troubles (Dremcast as the last console, etc etc) As long as they actually researched up their facts and didn't MAKE them up (there's a few big sites on gaming that seem to do this every so often, either that or just get stuff wrong) then it's way decent.

I would certainly say that it's a must-see for any Sonic Fan. It should be archived into personal collections as well, with video-downloaders where possible.

AOSTH Unaired Piece-
The other entertainment video. This one deserves equal credit for interesting-ness. Someone got their hands on the pilot bit for the show. Never before seen footage is pretty rare these days with DVDs needing extras & etc. Also the show is old enough that it could of been at the point where they throw that stuff out. This also should be archived somewhere on everyone's HD. It's taken all these years to come out, let's keep it that way.

The video itself looks like someone shooting a camera at a tv, but it has the counter on it too. It's missing bits as it's entry says, but still perfectly watch-able. If this was what the TV executives had to go by, it's a bit of a wonder how it got on tv. It's VERY "Bugs Bunny" only with 'unknown characters'. I think that it would have been presented to non-Sonic-fans who wouldn't even know what was going on. It tries to explain it but if you were some n00b you'd be kind of "...." probably. Plus remember that's Steve Urkle on there from Family Matters.

In all, if you want some new old footage, go for this video. I'm glad they've found it and glad SonicGear can embed it.