Four undocumented Sonic games
#2
Posted 09 February 2017 - 06:00 PM

https://books.google...icrider&f=false
Motorola i3000 plus?
Also has a better description of two games.
Gamespot blurb
http://www.gamespot....a/1100-2585038/
Slightly better CNET article with details.
https://www.cnet.com...otorola-phones/
Right before the Dreamcast was discontinued, they made deals to distribute games through cell phones using iDEN and the first game is supposed to be a game called Borkov on the Motorola i90c.
http://www.mobilemag...-powerful-i90c/
The only mention of Borkov on Sega Retro was a press release.
https://segaretro.or...andheld_Devices
Motorola i3000 plus?
Also has a better description of two games.
Gamespot blurb
http://www.gamespot....a/1100-2585038/
Slightly better CNET article with details.
https://www.cnet.com...otorola-phones/
Right before the Dreamcast was discontinued, they made deals to distribute games through cell phones using iDEN and the first game is supposed to be a game called Borkov on the Motorola i90c.
http://www.mobilemag...-powerful-i90c/
The only mention of Borkov on Sega Retro was a press release.
https://segaretro.or...andheld_Devices
This post has been edited by Dehry: 09 February 2017 - 06:29 PM
#3
Posted 09 February 2017 - 06:29 PM

This reminds me. I own two Panasonic VS7 cell phones with the full Sonic game on it and I do believe it's different than the already dumped J2ME version. No idea how to get it from the phone though as access to the protected data of the phone hasn't been cracked yet (and I doubt it ever will).
#4
Posted 10 February 2017 - 06:46 AM

There's another picture of a Sonic game not too dissimilar to Sonic J but for colour phones. I have it in issue 21 of ODM UK. It's featured in a huge magazine review of Sonic Adventure 2. Strangely enough, this same article has a brief snippet about Sonic Advance and another brief section talking about Sonic Crackers and Xtreme. Also featured is a section with Yuji Naka and a competiton too. There's also an article about a Sonic Swatch.
As a post note. One of the writers for the magazine was Ed Lomas who once claimed to own a Sonic 1 prototype from when he worked on a Sega-affiliated magazine in '91. Last I heard he moved to Australia and went silent.
As a post note. One of the writers for the magazine was Ed Lomas who once claimed to own a Sonic 1 prototype from when he worked on a Sega-affiliated magazine in '91. Last I heard he moved to Australia and went silent.
#5
Posted 10 February 2017 - 09:50 AM

Oh shit, I had that issue! It was how I found out about Sonic Advance and the Drift games. I guess Sonic J drifted into obscurity along with a lot of Japanese mobile games. It's a shame too.
This post has been edited by Krigo: 10 February 2017 - 09:51 AM
#6
Posted 10 February 2017 - 10:17 AM

I still have that issue. But the magazine was first purchased when I was 8 which means it's not in the best quality. (There's a crease in the cover and the crossword was defaced many years ago). Regardless, I also noticed that the cover is not on the Sega Retro wiki. If someone would be willing to scan the cover and maybe the articles and other noteworthy items, I'd be happy to find the mag up again and lend them the magazine, as long I get the magazine back again.
#7
Posted 10 February 2017 - 04:22 PM

Sonic J, huh? Think it has any relation to "Ulala's Channel J"?
Was Sega making some kind of "J" series for mobile devices at the time?
Was Sega making some kind of "J" series for mobile devices at the time?
#9
Posted 10 February 2017 - 04:44 PM

There's also an extra one called "Sonic Demo", which I assume wasn't a proper game.
#10
Posted 11 February 2017 - 04:17 AM

I didn't understand what was meant by undocumented and almost created articles for these games. Since they are actually released I'll let someone else make the articles. Here's the gamefaqs pages.
http://www.gamefaqs....323-sonic-logic Sonic Logic
http://www.gamefaqs....nics-bomb-squad Sonic's Bomb Squad
http://www.gamefaqs....-sonics-head-on Sonic's Head On
http://www.gamefaqs....18-sonic-j/data Sonic J
I made a snapshot of the Popular Science article linked earlier. Feel free to use this on the wiki.

Here's a couple pics I cropped from the first article:


Those pics I cropped I identified what games they were for. There was another Sonic game I couldn't figure out which one it was.
http://www.gamefaqs....323-sonic-logic Sonic Logic
http://www.gamefaqs....nics-bomb-squad Sonic's Bomb Squad
http://www.gamefaqs....-sonics-head-on Sonic's Head On
http://www.gamefaqs....18-sonic-j/data Sonic J
I made a snapshot of the Popular Science article linked earlier. Feel free to use this on the wiki.

Here's a couple pics I cropped from the first article:


Those pics I cropped I identified what games they were for. There was another Sonic game I couldn't figure out which one it was.
#11
Posted 11 February 2017 - 06:32 AM

JaxTH, on 10 February 2017 - 04:22 PM, said:
Sonic J, huh? Think it has any relation to "Ulala's Channel J"?
Was Sega making some kind of "J" series for mobile devices at the time?
Was Sega making some kind of "J" series for mobile devices at the time?
J for "Java"
minichapman, on 10 February 2017 - 06:46 AM, said:
There's another picture of a Sonic game not too dissimilar to Sonic J but for colour phones. I have it in issue 21 of ODM UK. It's featured in a huge magazine review of Sonic Adventure 2. Strangely enough, this same article has a brief snippet about Sonic Advance and another brief section talking about Sonic Crackers and Xtreme. Also featured is a section with Yuji Naka and a competiton too. There's also an article about a Sonic Swatch.
As a post note. One of the writers for the magazine was Ed Lomas who once claimed to own a Sonic 1 prototype from when he worked on a Sega-affiliated magazine in '91. Last I heard he moved to Australia and went silent.
As a post note. One of the writers for the magazine was Ed Lomas who once claimed to own a Sonic 1 prototype from when he worked on a Sega-affiliated magazine in '91. Last I heard he moved to Australia and went silent.
We've got that one
#12
Posted 11 February 2017 - 07:46 AM

"A primitive Pac-Man clone called Sonic Head-on."
Head On, the Pac-Man clone that was released before Pac-Man!
Head On, the Pac-Man clone that was released before Pac-Man!

#13
Posted 11 February 2017 - 08:22 PM

Black Squirrel, on 11 February 2017 - 06:32 AM, said:
Yes! That's the one! Although the screenshot in the magazine isn't on the wiki. I'll have to scan the web to see if I can find a pic.
I have the magazine at my Dad's place. From what I can recall, there was strange triangles on the ground which I could only guess were bumpers. They were pretty much miniaturised bumpers from Casino Night in Sonic 2
This post has been edited by minichapman: 11 February 2017 - 08:26 PM
#14
Posted 18 February 2017 - 02:56 PM

Five:

although "Sonic Demo" doesn't appear to have been a playable thing.
In June of 2000, Sun Microsystems held the third JavaOne conference. It was easy event to get into, but the function rooms were more bloated than those of yesteryear and there was a lot of interpreting going on.

Motorola turned up and announced a deal with Sega, wherein Sega would support their upcoming J2ME-powered handsets. This emerged as the Motorola i85s with "Borkov" pre-installed. The full selection at the time:
- Blackjack
- Borkov
- Columns
- Golf
- Sonic Head On
- Sonic J
- Sonic Logic
- Sonic's Bomb Squad
Others were meant to come - I'm not sure if they did. Japan received the i85s in Q1 2001, while the West had to wait until 2002 (during which time Motorola announced the J2ME-powered i50sx, and then later the i90c and i80s which were also compatible with this stuff).
These eight games were the "first post-Dreamcast multi-platform Sega video games to be announced for a Western release". They weren't the first to actually be released because Sega put things out for the GBA in 2001, but it's almost a thing.
Sega became more interested in this stuff when launching "Sega Mobile" in 2002, and by the end of the year they were supporting Sprint phones, Pocket PC and Palm OS. And so begins the period up until the launch of the iPhone in 2007 where we threw ever more complicated handheld devices at walls and nothing would stick.
p.s. in Japan it was all different.

although "Sonic Demo" doesn't appear to have been a playable thing.
In June of 2000, Sun Microsystems held the third JavaOne conference. It was easy event to get into, but the function rooms were more bloated than those of yesteryear and there was a lot of interpreting going on.

Motorola turned up and announced a deal with Sega, wherein Sega would support their upcoming J2ME-powered handsets. This emerged as the Motorola i85s with "Borkov" pre-installed. The full selection at the time:
- Blackjack
- Borkov
- Columns
- Golf
- Sonic Head On
- Sonic J
- Sonic Logic
- Sonic's Bomb Squad
Others were meant to come - I'm not sure if they did. Japan received the i85s in Q1 2001, while the West had to wait until 2002 (during which time Motorola announced the J2ME-powered i50sx, and then later the i90c and i80s which were also compatible with this stuff).
These eight games were the "first post-Dreamcast multi-platform Sega video games to be announced for a Western release". They weren't the first to actually be released because Sega put things out for the GBA in 2001, but it's almost a thing.
Sega became more interested in this stuff when launching "Sega Mobile" in 2002, and by the end of the year they were supporting Sprint phones, Pocket PC and Palm OS. And so begins the period up until the launch of the iPhone in 2007 where we threw ever more complicated handheld devices at walls and nothing would stick.
p.s. in Japan it was all different.
#15
Posted 18 February 2017 - 04:28 PM

Black Squirrel, on 18 February 2017 - 02:56 PM, said:

Upscaled sprite from Sonic 1, check. Sharp edgy smile characteristic from Sonic Adventure, check. Spine design from Sonic Adventure, check. Shoe buckle design from Sonic Adventure, check. It all checks out!