[SonikkuForever]

The nice folks at http://video-game-ephemera.com have recently made a blog post about something which seems to have gone under the radar until now: the world debut of Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 made its public debut in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, of all places. The self-described “weather capital of the world” hosts an annual ceremony where hundreds gather to see if legendary groundhog prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil will see his own shadow, which is said to predict a delay in the onset of spring weather. But on February 2, 1994, Phil saw an even bigger shadow: that of the Sonic balloon from Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Sega completely invaded Punxsutawney that day, affixing a Sonic 3 button to every lapel and giving the locals a taste of its latest Genesis cartridge on demo kiosks installed at Punxsutawney Junior High.




This video is a VHS rip of the Sonic 3 satellite feed provided by Sega's PR firm at the game's launch. It includes interviews with Punxsutawney residents and the tuxedo-clad “inner circle” of luminaries who care for Phil and preside over the event each year. It also shows some behind-the scenes footage of the Sega event staff unrolling and inflating the Sonic balloon. Watch for a brief shot of the huge “instruction manual” sign explaining the order in which the balloon's compartments were to be inflated; it's fascinating. (Apparently, some sections contained helium, others contained air and some had a precise mixture of the two.)



The Sonic balloon seen here made its first appearance in the 1993 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where it had a disastrous showing. Strong winds blew it into a light pole, which punctured the canvas. This caused Sonic to deflate and collapse to the ground, where he broke the shoulder of an off-duty policeman! Still, Sonic's appearance made him the first-ever video-game character balloon to appear in Macy's parade. And he was obviously repaired in time for his big day in Punxsutawney (where the wind wasn't much calmer, as this footage indicates).

The video also includes an original Sonic 3 TV commercial with a Punxsutawney theme, some game footage and interviews with two industry insiders. One was a buyer for the Wherehouse retail chain, the other was the senior editor of VideoGames magazine.

Here's the footage! I recommend saving it on your hard drive, as Youtube videos tend to be short- lived. I think that's the final game in the footage, but I may be wrong. Keep your eyes peeled for small changes that could indicate a beta. Also, I've never seen those Sonic 3 pins before. Rare!

[Dark Sonic]

There's a man in a top hat playing Sonic 3.

Now THAT is classy. Verryy classy.

Unfortunately Sonic 3 was not the biggest game of all time, but it's wonderful. Oh and stuff people won't find for weeks and months? Try years.

[RGamer2009]

There's so many things in this game that people won't be able to find for weeks or months.

Or YEARS.

Its amazing to see the public trying the game for the 1st time.

This post has been edited by RGamer2009: 30 April 2011 - 11:30 AM

[Lanzer]

To me, nothing looks out of place from the final so its all final footage. but that guy playing sonic 3 with a top hat and that old sonic 3 commecrial made this video great.

[Greg the Cat]

Gentlemen... I am disappointed.

This video was released two months ago, and you're just now picking up on this? Regardless, this is a way past cool discovery.

I never imagined that I would actually see footage of the Sonic balloon or an old man in a suit and top hat playing Sonic 3 for the first time in gaming history. This must be archived for future generations.

Oh and look at that. A Sonic 3 promotional poster. Do we have a scan of that somewhere?

This post has been edited by Greg the Cat: 30 April 2011 - 11:50 AM

[Azukara]

Seeing all these people's hearts warming up at the first time playing S3, and the massive amounts of popularity the game seemed to have, it's a bit awe-inspiring. It's hard to believe at the time, Sonic was just as massive as CoD and Halo is now; especially since I've spent my entire life seeing Sonic practically be the underdog of video games.

[Bareirito]

In the video at 8:25, Sonic actually could skip the avalanche part in Ice Cap Zone, I didn't notice any other differences with the final game, if it actually has they are really subtle. =P

By the way, great footage.

This post has been edited by Bareirito: 30 April 2011 - 12:05 PM

[Trunks]

That commercial definitely played in Texas back when this came out. I remember it fondly.

[BlazeHedgehog]

Gentlemen... I am disappointed.

This video was released two months ago, and you're just now picking up on this? Regardless, this is a way past cool discovery.

For the record I saw the video when it was first posted but the whole thing almost put me to sleep. I fast forwarded through most of it because it was really boring and not terribly interesting.

[OSM]

I've never seen this commercial, but I do remember my first time hearing about and playing Sonic 3. Good times. :,)

[W.A.C.]

Twice as big as Sonic 2? While S3&K deserves that claim, Sonic 3 is way too short to deserve that honor.

[jasonchrist]

You sometimes forget just how massive Sonic really was! The Trocadero in London was once known as Segaworld for fucks sake! And there was a massive Sonic statue above the entrance. That's one prime piece of real estate don't forget, and I really don't see any modern video game hero getting a place up there.

That video reminded me just how hyped I was for Sonic 3 at the time. As time has gone on, I've come to prefer 1, 2 and CD, but at the time Sonic 3 was the best thing in the world to me, as was the wonderful unexpected surprise that was Sonic and Knuckles a few months later. 1994 was a good year for me, and a very expensive one for my folks! The whole S3K experience together cost £100! Although I suspect mine was used because I recall I had a full save game on the data select screen when I first switched it on. I DID delete the fucker straight away though, I had alot of integrity for a 9 year old.

[RyogaMasaki]

Twice as big as Sonic 2? While S3&K deserves that claim, Sonic 3 is way too short to deserve that honor.

Well, Sonic 3 was supposed to be all of S3K originally, so I guess they just kept that claim despite cutting so much.

[ICEknight]

In the video at 8:25, Sonic actually could skip the avalanche part in Ice Cap Zone

Hey, nicely spotted. So that's not the final version.

[Bareirito]

In the video at 8:25, Sonic actually could skip the avalanche part in Ice Cap Zone

Hey, nicely spotted. So that's not the final version.

Hey, thanks! I was looking carefully some strange stuff there, when I saw that suspicious thing. By the way, like I said, maybe there are even more things that I'm missing.