NOTE: Mass credit goes to the TSS Australia Team for visiting on behalf of the website.
The Australian Center for the Moving Image (ACMI), situated in Melbourne, has been the homeplace for analysing entertainment forms such as movies and TV. Most recently the addition of the “Games Lab” has opened up the opportunity to detail how far video games have come over the years. For their second exhibit within the “Games Lab”, the ACMI decided to choose Sonic the Hedgehog as a gaming icon of our times.
The Games Lab exhibit was only two rooms, but a lot was crammed in there.
You might wonder exactly why the choice of Sonic the Hedgehog would be ideal, considering there are other inspiring game series, especially the blue blur’s once-rival, Super Mario. The simple fact of the matter though, is that even Mario fans can understand that the portly plumber was never as much of a sensation as Sonic was during the early 1990’s. More recognisable with the 90’s youth than even Mickey Mouse, the excellent debut Mega Drive title not only started a legendary 50-game strong legacy, it kick-started a franchising revolution only to be matched by Pokemon. While it can be argued which out of Mario or Sonic is a bigger video game star, it is safe to admit that the fanbase and pure following for SEGA’s star is on a much larger scale than the Bowser Battler.
ACMI were kind enough to let us know what a ‘newbie’ was. What, no definition of ‘1337’?
So you can understand why – when ACMI got the go-ahead from SEGA Europe and THQ to host a celebration of Sonic the Hedgehog – there were not only lovable kids of this generation weaned on the ‘Sonic Adventure’ style attending the event, but many older “big kids” who fondly remembered the original Mega Drive smash. And of course, when TSS was invited to the opening evening, we all jumped at the chance.
The idea of the exhibit was two-fold; to celebrate Sonic’s 14th Birthday in style by showcasing his brief history, and to focus on the impact the game series has had on games players and fans alike. It doesn’t take a genius to acknowledge that the arrival of Sonic inspired so many gamers, and even developers – as SEGA USA Simon Jeffrey puts it in a recent Nintendo Power interview, there were many woodland game characters created just to shadow the success of Sonic (Bubsy the Bobcat, Aero the Acrobat, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon…). It was the hearts of gamers that ACMI touched upon most at its exhibit, detailing the large fan culture and following the blue blur has.
“Any chance we could… uhm… ‘inspect’ that signed GBA more closely?”
The first thing on show is a collection of various displays – these housed many past SEGA consoles and Sonic game boxes associated with them. There were many Sonic Adventure and Sonic X figurines being kept in these display cases too and an extra surprise; sitting next to the Dreamcast console was a Game Boy Advance SP with a certain someone’s signature. Check the images above to see who, although it’s pretty darn obvious. The figures weren’t within their boxes as you can see, and were provided by THQ staff, while assumedly the consoles and games were donated by SEGA Europe.
People couldn’t pull themselves from the games. That’s what it’s all about.
The Games section of the event attracted a lot of people, if only because it was the place where visitors could play some classic Sonic games. Many people tried their hand at Sonic titles old and new, and everyone was having a good time. To the hardcore, the list of playable titles would seem rather tame, but considering this event isn’t really intended to offer every single Sonic game (that would be damn silly), the offering is perfect enough for a wide selection to define Sonic’s timeline of titles. Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2 and Sonic Spinball were playable on Mega Drive systems, while Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic 3D, Sonic R, Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Heroes were available to play on PCs. Some games were linked to a projector on the back wall, which allowed visitors to show their fearful skills to others. Sonic Heroes, despite lacking in the playability department somewhat, is still lovely to look at. No word on the new Sonic triple threat heading our way this Winter (Sonic Rush, Sonic Gems Collection and Shadow the Hedgehog), but SEGA people and journalists attended the opening evening who tell us that both Rush and Shadow are shaping up to be “excellent”.
Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Rush are reportedly “well good”. Comforting.
Alongside the wall there was a few panels of information regarding Sonic. It featured the concept of Sonic, the character elements that made a good creation and how the blue blur was invented with these in mind, and a brief timeline of Sonic’s biggest releases since 1991. As the wall was way too big to take a clear photo of it, we managed to video capture the wall for you if you fancy seeing it close up. Visitors were also handed a booklet that analyses Sonic’s success and details the games on show. Not only has the event attracted attention with local newspapers (check our scan on the event from the ‘Herald Sun’), but apparently gaming magazine K-Zone has or will mention TSS here or there too, assumedly during ACMI coverage.
Hm, I recognise that website…
Speaking of your very own TSS, this website was one of the websites profiled at the ACMI event, as part of a huge highlight on the fan culture of Sonic the Hedgehog. Both The Sonic Stadium and The Green Hill Zone were spotlighted on PCs, where visitors could see video capture of either website along with a voiceover explaining the nature of each. A good choice, since while TSS and GHZ are both excellent resources, the style of the two (and perhaps even the readership in some cases) can be quite different. You can view a video of TSS’ profiling via the links below. Although near the end (inbetween the Topsite listing and SEGASonic Radio) other sites and artwork are featured that don’t belong to TSS, such as the excellent (and rightly deserved showcasing of) fan flash movie ‘Sonic Stereo’. Fan artwork was also prominent at the event as the images detail, and each section was detailed superbly and without bias. The explanatory texts about fansites and fan creation don’t favour officiality and acknowledges that fan creation is an important part of Sonic’s success, which makes for pretty much the best part of the exhibit. Although if TSS got paid for covering Sonic and SEGA, it’d make our lives (and coverages) much more easier.
All the figures were arranged close together, but decided to leave Big on his Jonah.
Unfortunately when our team arrived at the ACMI exhibit, the Sonic X Screen Pit and Eyetoy stands were not open at the launch evening. If you have any reactions or information on these parts of the event, you’re free to post your thoughts at the SSMB Forums. Check the list below for scans and other media that we have obtained, including movie capture and brochure images. The show is open for another couple of months yet – it appears the ACMI love Sonic just as much as we do – so check out the “Attend the ACMI Event” section below to find the location of the exhibit, and links to the show. While it appeared that there was more emphasis on show and tell rather than information on the game series, the ACMI exhibit succeeded in its aim – to make games more widely accepted in culture. And the fan culture information at the exhibit in itself was very well done. Sonic doesn’t show any signs of stopping, and this event surely was an interesting and entertaining celebration of the character’s birthday.
Sonic the Hedgehog: Icon of our Times Brochure – Scanned by Chibi_Sonic
- Front Cover | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 | P6 | Back Cover
ACMI What’s On Event Guide – Scanned by Chibi_Sonic
Herald Sun Article – Scanned by Pyre Blade
ACMI Video Capture – Recorded by Julian Luvara
- NB: Apologies for the crappy watermarks – we’re re-encoding them decently…
- Sonic Teaser Trailer
- Capture of Sonic Timeline Wall
- TSS Profile Video
Additional ACMI Exhibit Coverage – Written by Tim Chmielewski
CREDITS:
Article written by Svend Joscelyne. Thanks to our TSS AU team for attending the event, speaking to the ACMI/SEGA people and obtaining media and information for the coverage – Julian Luvara, Matt Newman and Eleanor (Chibi_Sonic). Additional media and information thanks to Tim Chmielewski and “Pyre Blade”.