A heartwarming story of Jacob and Naka-san! The power of fan letters

News from 2019.03.22
Archived on 2019.03.27

A heartwarming story of Jacob and Naka-san!
SEGA Europe received a fan letter from a good boy Jacob addressed at Naka-san, and forwarded the letter to him on Twitter. Naka-san saw the message and responded!

Our friend Jacob says hi @nakayuji! pic.twitter.com/oimsseoIZ3

— SEGA Europe (@SEGA_Europe) March 21, 2019

セガを離れてから13年もたつのに、こうやって子供達にオリジナルを作った者としてきちんと認識して頂けてるのは本当に嬉しいです。今はスクウェアエニックスにいますが、スクエニにもこう言うお手紙が届いたりするのでとても励みになります。ありがとうございます。 https://t.co/zkagH4oOs1

— Yuji Naka / 中　裕司 (@nakayuji) March 22, 2019

🔵Naka-san to the letter from Jacob:
"It's already been 13 years since I left SEGA, and yet I am still recognized as the original creator by children this way. That makes me very happy. Even now that I moved to Square Enix, I am still receiving letters like this here, and -

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) March 22, 2019

- they are great encouragement to me. Thank you very much."

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) March 22, 2019

That is so cute. Nice job, Jacob!

How many of you knew the original creator of your favorite games of your childhood?
I started playing Sonic when I was around 14, but I didn't know about Naka-san until few years later. I don't know if this is normal or it was me being too ignorant about the world of creators (my way of seeing the creators has changed a lot in the past years, yes, and I appreciate them very much now), but I'm moved by the fact that even a little child like Jacob recognizes Naka-san as the legend and sent him the respect he deserves. I must learn from him.

Fan letters always cheer creators up, especially a handwritten letter. If you are thankful to someone who make great contents, now is the chance to tell them thank you. It's never too late, and it's never too much!

Alright, let's see where I put my letter sets...

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SonicJPNews in #MetallicMadness by TSSZ!

News from 2019.03.21
Archived on 2019.03.26

It was SonicJPNews' 2nd anniversary yesterday, and something cool happened to this account!

SonicJPNews was chosen as one of the competitors in Metallic Madness tornament by TSSZ!

Here it is: The 2019 #MetallicMadness Sonic Scene of 64! Voting starts Thursday at approx. 2PM ET! There is no prize; only pride for the winner and aghast at the fact we've now done this for four straight years. pic.twitter.com/TJjW9QmfD7

— TSSZ (@tssznews) March 19, 2019

That was a total surprise for me. So I guess I can say that my account is now widely recognized as a part of the Sonic news site communities! Cool thing :)

Oh? Looks like I'm one of the competitors in Metallic Madness by TSSZ this year! What a surprise. I feel honored!

Voting starts in 5 hours. Check out @tssznews for event info! https://t.co/AEeo0YWO0r

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) March 21, 2019

And thank you for those who voted for me! I was out in the first round, but it was my first time so I wasn't surprised. Maybe next year!

Our last community division match of the day is also underway!

— TSSZ (@tssznews) March 21, 2019

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Sonic Forces - the best selling game on PS4?

News from 2019.03.21
Archived on 2019.03.24

Hmmmm.🤔 
We really hope this was true. :D

I love this

(image credit: SirMous3 on reddit) pic.twitter.com/c2JOaYoO6a

— Aaron Webber (@RubyEclipse) March 21, 2019

The sign is from Red Dead, yes. Someone at Gamestop left the RDR2 sign up and put the Sonic Forces graphic below it.

(I hope they never fix it)

— Aaron Webber (@RubyEclipse) March 21, 2019

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Behind-the-scene interview of Senoue-san and TORIENA on TSR music!

News from 2019.03.21-26
Archived on 2019.03.27, updated on 04.17

SEGA of America posted a new interview of Senoue-san and TORIENA-san, who cooperated in remixing "Bingo Party" track for Team Sonic Racing!
Take a look at this behind-the-scene of how they mixed the rocking guitar and rhythmic chiptunes together.

--> @crush40

--> @toriena

--> New Interview pic.twitter.com/JSRG1JqIpM

— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) March 21, 2019

Also available on official YouTube channels:

#TORIENA さんと瀬上純のスペシャルインタビューを公開！ 二人がチームを組んで制作した楽曲、🎰Bingo Party🎰のメイキング映像もぜひご覧ください🏁

TORIENA & Jun Senoueスペシャルインタビューhttps://t.co/sG71powLpH

Bingo Partyメイキング映像https://t.co/Rju7787hvE#TeamSonicRacing pic.twitter.com/kE95F1iJlA

— ソニック委員会「R」 (@sonic20th) March 26, 2019

I didn't know about TORIENA before, but she sounds like a very sincere person towards music, thinking very thoroughly about what Sonic fans want to hear. And their sounds compliment each other very well. No wonder their music sound so good!

I'm looking forward to other tracks she took part to, too.
Let's not forget to buy the soundtrack album "MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE" coming on May 29th!

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Naka-san once wanted to use Mario but got rejected by Nintendo

News from 2019.03.21
Archived on 2019.03.24

Naka-san on Nintendo being generous for letting an indie game studio use its own IP:

インディースタジオにゼルダのIPを使わせてくれてる任天堂って変わった感じがしますね。昔マリオを使いたいと言う話を任天堂に話に行って撃沈して帰ってきたのを思い出しました。 https://t.co/cNZDLXmlIu

— Yuji Naka / 中　裕司 (@nakayuji) March 21, 2019

"Letting an indie studio use Zelda's IP - I guess Nintendo has changed,. I remembered that time when I went to them and said we wanted to use Mario, and was rejected straight away."


That must've been way before they were planning Mario & Sonic at Olympic games. I wonder what Naka-san wanted to make with Mario back then...

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GDC Awards 2019 Ceremony: Rieko Kodama-san receives Pioneer Awards as the first Japanese woman

News from 2019.03.21-22
Archived on 2019.04.13

The Game Developers Choice (GDC) Award Ceremony was held on this day and Ms. Rieko Kodama from SEGA Games received the Pioneer Awards as the first Japanese woman for this awards.
Congratulations!

She was unfortunately not able to attend the ceremony on the place, but she sent a video message for the ceremony, which can be seen in the archive of livestream on Twitch.

GDC Choice Awards 授賞式。セガゲームスの小玉理恵子が日本人女性として初めて受賞（Pioneer Awards）しました。
小玉本人は残念ながら出席できませんでしたが、受賞の模様は1:46~1:54の約8分間、1:50~1:54に小玉のビデオメッセージが流れます。https://t.co/PPBYs7YOWZ https://t.co/PPBYs7YOWZ

— 松原　健二 (@kjmatsu) March 21, 2019

The news also made it to several game news sites. Congratulations, Kodama-san!

「Game Developers Choice Awards 2019」パイオニア賞をセガゲームスの小玉理恵子氏が受賞 https://t.co/LkpoWeNqA9 pic.twitter.com/MS97gPprw8

— Gamer＠ゲーム情報 (@GamerNeJp) March 22, 2019

セガの小玉理恵子氏が「Game Developers Choice Awards 2019」パイオニア賞を受賞　日本人ゲーム開発者では史上3人目、女性としては史上初！ https://t.co/YWXhQv0DLK #セガ pic.twitter.com/qqfDvvsSM4

— GAME Watch (@game_watch) March 22, 2019

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Naka-san visits old SEGA HQ again: all traces of SEGA are gone

News from 2019.03.21
Archived on 2019.03.24

Naka-san re-visited the old building of SEGA HQ again to discover that the SEGA logos are now completely gone.

He posted following tweets with pictures:

"I visited the Haginaka Park near SEGA Enterprises for my children's bike riding practice, and I took this opportunity to see the building again. All of the signboards and logos on the ground were removed. According to a guardman, due to confidentiality he can't tell me what the next company is going to be, but the construction starts next week. I wonder if it's going to be taken down. "

子供達の自転車の練習の為にセガエンタープライゼス近くにある萩中公園に来たついでに、見に寄ったら、地面のロゴも看板も全部外されてました。警備員さんによると守秘義務があるので次の会社は言えないんだけど、来週から工事が始まるようです。壊されるんですかね。 pic.twitter.com/0vo2QZE4lA

— Yuji Naka / 中　裕司 (@nakayuji) March 21, 2019

子供達の自転車の練習の為にセガエンタープライゼス近くにある萩中公園に来たついでに、見に寄ったら、地面のロゴも看板も全部外されてました。警備員さんによると守秘義務があるので次の会社は言えないんだけど、来週から工事が始まるようです。壊されるんですかね。 pic.twitter.com/3wLtvuPit8

— Yuji Naka / 中　裕司 (@nakayuji) March 21, 2019

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New SEGA game character key chains from Amiami!

News from 2019.03.20
Archived on 2019.03.23

New merchandise from Amiami-Figure: SEGA game character key chains (5 pack set)!
Pre-order begins in April. Get your acryl key holders of Rent a Hero, Virtualon, Puyo Puyo, Space Channel 5 and NiGHTS!

SEGAキャラクターキーホルダー 5種セット[インドア]⇒ https://t.co/CJflfwq4OC
ご予約開始です♪ pic.twitter.com/U34Tf2NExG

— あみあみ (@amiami_figure) March 20, 2019

That design for NiGHTS is beautiful, don't you think?

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Naganuma-san knows we want a new Sonic Rush game...

News from 2019.03.20
Archived on 2019.03.23

Sonic Rush composer Naganuma-san has a question to you!

Which is my best Sonic Rush track?

— HIDEKI NAGANUMA｜長沼 英樹 (@Hideki_Naganuma) March 19, 2019

 What's your answer?

I know. RT @FlamefammS: We want a new Sonic Rush game

— HIDEKI NAGANUMA｜長沼 英樹 (@Hideki_Naganuma) March 20, 2019

And yep, he knows. And it looks like he also does want another Sonic Rush game.
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2nd Anniversary of SonicJPNews! Thank you everyone!

News from 2019.03.20
Archived on 2019.03.23

It was the 2nd anniversary of my SonicJPNews account! Time flies.
Here are my messages I posted on Twitter. Thank you everyone for your support! I wish my free time hobby is also helpful to other people.

Oh! Looks like it's the 2nd anniversary of SonicJPNews!🎉

2 years ago I started out this project by collecting and translating tweets related to Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania, in the hope to reduce misunderstandings on information given by the Japanese side.
My follower count - pic.twitter.com/SGTvRd1B1h

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) March 20, 2019

- reached 100 on day 1 and continued to grow, now surpassing 2k. Some of my followees followed me back too. Incredible!

After 2 years, now we are expecting Team Sonic Racing and more information on new major Sonic games.
Let's see what future awaits us!#MyTwitterAnniversary

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) March 20, 2019

So everyone, thank you all for your support! I started this to help the worldwide Sonic community, and I wish to continue to do so.

If you need to remember what happened back in those days, take a look at my new archive blog!https://t.co/EKzH1VOtAm

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) March 20, 2019

And if you like what I do, please consider supporting me through ko-fi.

Thank you very much!
https://t.co/qiUnY8wH5K

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) March 20, 2019

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