SonicJPNews archive blog: 03/31/19

2019/03/31

SEGA of Japan and April Fool's Day

News from 2019.03.31-04.03
Archived on 2019.04.18

April Fool's Day for SEGA is always fun, because they've got this one standard joke:


Later, SEGA Official had an interview about this incident above asking if it was intentinoal: the answer was no.
"We didn't intend it to make it a joke; we just needed to load them separately for transportation, that's all. It was a new look to us, too."
- SEGA Official
"For your info, corporate logos are usually used under a guideline. There are many companies releasing usage rules and manuals for logo information on clear space, minimum size, colors etc."
- SEGA Official

Even unintentional moves become a source of our small joy in everyday life. Very SEGA-like!
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Summary of SEGA FES 2019!

News from 2019.03.30-31
Archived on 2019.04.17

Summary of SEGA FES 2019!

On the 30th to 31st of March 2019, SEGA of Japan held their annual event SEGA FES in Akihabara, Tokyo.
SEGA fans gathered in Akihabara that weekend or watched the livestream of the stage events to enjoy the atmosphere of SEGA-ness.

And of course, there were news to each of their franchise. Let's have a look!

DAY 1

Before the event start...

"Today and tomorrow is SEGA FES at Akihabara! Such crowd even before the event start! The passion of SEGA fans. Famitsu will report on the event through articles!"
- Famitsu





Everybody is getting ready for the start!
Oh hey, the person behind SEGA Official will be there too!
"This is my 7th year running the official Twitter account, but I still get very nervous when working on SEGA FES...my stomack hurts..."

Thanks for the good work, please have a good rest after this...!

And at last...
SEGA FES 2019 STARTS!

Sonic also there to welcome visitors.
Have fun, everyone!

Official Livestream DAY1 Stage #1



Official Livestream DAY1 Stage #2



Official Livestream DAY1 1F Booth #1



Official Livestream DAY1 1F Booth #2

NEWS1: Tokyo Olympic Game titles from SEGA are announced!









NEWS2: MEGA DRIVE MINI announced with first 10 titles out of 40!







"Software development is by us, M2. Please look forward to it."

Mazin-san is so happy about Mega Drive Mini!
"Amazing reproduction of the shell!! Perfect recreation of movable parts! The detail of letting the attachment slot open without actual function! I'm definitely going to get it as a miniature display too!"
"I'll have to buy normal and W versions of Mega Drive Mini for their packages, lol. Well, I'm going to need one for storing and display anyway, and I want at least 3 USB fighting pad 6B so it's fine that way. Because it's SEGA hardware, my wife would allow this to me easier than other stuff I buy. I could actually buy 2 normal editions, in total 3 Mega Drive Minis."


Additionally, MEGA DRIVE MINI's US version GENESIS MINI was announced officially from the SEGA of America side!


NEWS3: New sequel to Sakura Wars series!






NEWS4: YAKUZA series fan meeting!



"Ryu ga Gotoku (YAKUZA) series fan meeting 2019 in SEGA FES. SSR Kazuma Kiryu was announced for Ryu ga Gotoku Online; moreover, the fans enjoyed the Ryu ga Gotoku cult quiz by the guests. "

NEWS5: 6 more titles for SEGA AGES announced!


"Thank you for coming to SEGA AGES stage despite the cold weather. The surprise news surprised us too."

Event: Demo-play Team Sonic Racing!


Event: Play with huge SEGA Saturn Control Pad!



Merchandise is also very popular!


"SEGA FES merchandise booth waiting time is currently 45 minutes. I'll give up today and will buy them when they come to our company's shop, even if I'll have them a little later."

The bakery Shiro-Cooppe's Sonic Chili Dog and SEGA's Taiyaki Shop!


Cool stuff here and there...

"The 'Japan's best singing office worker' Takenobu Mitsuyoshi-san was at SEG AFES 2019, so I aimed my camera at him - and he showed various expressions!"

"Obtained the Sonic Umai-bou!"
It's the special Sonic edition only available here at SEGA FES!

And as always, there is Mega UFO Catcher too! Become the catcher yourself and grab as many items as you can!



Event: Hiroshi Fujioka-san's talk on his experience as Segata Sanshiro

"Our eyes are wet while listening to Hiroshi Fujioka-san's passionate and sincere talk and behind-the-scenes of Segata Sanshiro"
"Highlights of Segata Sanshiro CM series and now-told rare episodes"

He carried heavy SEGA Saturn on his back and walked on gravels with bare foot, went out in cold, and punched the buttons so hard that his hand was bleeding... so much energy he put into the making of Segata Sanshiro CMs. Respect!
"We started off laughing as we watched Segata Sanshiro CMs but we were having tears in our eyes at the end - and as finale, we sang the 'SEGA Saturn, Shiro' song together with everybody."
"A group picture with Segata Sanshiro."

This talk event was summarized later in a passionate 4 page long report by CNET Japan, which Okunari-san was happy to read.

And the Day 1 comes to its end!


"Mega Drive Mini's select screen music is done by Koshiro-san, but the music itself sounds more like Sonic sounds or the music of Land Stalker played with OCM data.
Alright, I might get on my way home now. It was a fun event! Tomorrow is Sege-ichi."



DAY 2


The start of Day 2!

Sonic at SEGA FES!

A surprise guest...


Official Livestream DAY2 Stage #1



Official Livestream DAY2 Stage #2


Official Livestream DAY2 1F Booth #1


Official Livestream DAY2 1F Booth #2






Play UFO Catcher for free at SEGA FES!


SEGA logo Taiyaki sold out!



At the end of SEGA FES...





And even later...

It was a great event! Thank you SEGA!!!

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