I just stopped over a Facebook video (source) and i saw a golden Sonic Heroes disk. I wonder if it's something custom or not, i asked to the owner some informations about it and he told me that it's a Sega Gold Disk for Sales Contribution. Now i feel totally confused, i've never heard of it and I've never seen any copy! But well... I had a conversation with the owner and he shared with me a lot of information about it, he's been very helpful! David Dixon got this golden awarded disk from the mysterious best UK retailer of Sonic Heroes games (whose identity is still unknown to me because he didn't share any info about this retailer). "It was awarded to a distribution company in the uk for their contribution to the success of Sonic Heroes" he said. Since he never took out the disk, we dont know if it's actually the full game or only a disk for exposure. It's just another nice discovery about the blue hedgehog. I wonder if anyone know something else about this golden disk and if there are other Sega games like that one.Where i can add those information on the wikia? Sonic Heroes page?
To answer this question, yes I've seen ones similar to this, a number were made for Sonic Adventure for the 1999 European Speed Challenge to participants who achieved 3rd place awards. But a few years ago, another golden disk were made for people who helped with the competitions and launch of the game. I don't have the pictures to hand right now. But skip to 8:30 in this video (or watch more if you're interested =p) and you can see one such example of the golden disk, the presentation of it looks very similar to this one so I don't doubt the authenticity of it. As for what's on the disk, that remains a mystery, but I would imagine it's the full retail game.
I wish I knew. Like I said in the video. It was an eBay listing and it sold for a small fortune. No idea who has it now but to my knowledge nobody has come out to say they own it.
It's very possible there's nothing there, as it isn't a disc - actually just being a golden plate with the graphics printed over with a CNC machine, most likely. Gold discs don't look like that. The inner matrix area is an important part which holds information of where, when and who manufactured or duplicated the CDs. In detail - some matrix rings identify the molds from which the physical components of CDs were duplicated, others identify the duplication equipment itself. They're a form of matrix data which supplements the information printed in the disc's mirror band. Its mere existence indicates the CD was manufactured in or after 1994, and can be used to identify specific pressings. It's a similar system as with vinyls, which have stamper IDs from each manufacturing run. Gold CDs look like this - these discs have gold replace either aluminium or silver from CDs or CD-Rs to prevent corrosion, as quality remains mainly the same. Notice the plastic hub, which can either be transparent OR black, but never gold. An alternative to this would be a gold-plate SACD (Super Audio CD), but I really do think those plates are just... plates to celebrate the respective awardee their accomplishments. Additionally, that kind of award is also given to people from the music industry - which receive Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum vinyl/CD plates as an award. However, most times they aren't actually made to be played, and when they are, they usually run through some quality issues.
There are some disc replication companies that offer to make plaques like this when you order from them, they'll either charge around $50 or make them for free if you place a big enough order. Its a gimmick to make a little extra money or to sweeten a larger order deal, usually its like small bands/musicians who want a trophy for their accomplishment.