I noticed those RetroArquivo scans coming through: https://archive.org/details/sega_shopping_clube/page/n4/mode/1up?q=sega Once upon a time I was going to make a "history of blue-armed Sonic" post. But here's something even rarer - a tan-legged Sonic.
This wasn't on Sega Retro or Wikipedia so I'm guessing it's not widely known: The Bitmap Brothers liked to use licensed music in their Amiga games, except unlike previous attempts, they used proper samples to make it sound like the real thing: Xenon 2 -> Megablast by Bomb the Bass Magic Pockets -> Doin' the Doo by Betty Boo what I didn't realise is that this also applies to Gods... probably because it didn't chart. Gods -> Into the Wonderful by Nation 12. But despite the Mega Drive version of Xenon 2 still having (a much worse rendition) its original music, and that aftermarket Magic Pockets port keeping its tunes, the Mega Drive (and Super NES) versions of Gods don't have their original soundtracks (or sound track, singular, since on the computers, it's silent in-game). The 2018 "remastered" version of Gods doesn't have it either. Crazy to think a video game would abandon its distinctive main theme in favour of a lesser sound-alike.
The rights to Puyo Puyo were transferred to Sega with the closing of Compile, which meant Sega had a hand in producing PlayStation and Nintendo 64 games. I saw Kirby's Avalanche turn up on Sega Retro. And well... I had to check: Turns out yes, Sega does indeed part-own a Kirby game. The ROM wasn't updated, but the manual reflects the new owners. That being said, the game was brought to Switch Online in 2022, and Sega are quieter about that one. Japan didn't bother with its equivalent, "Super Puyo Puyo", instead jumping to Super Puyo Puyo Tsuu which Sega does take credit for. And yes that does mean Sega are publishing SNES games kinda sorta maybe. Not that it's much to celebrate - Kirby has dialogue, there's early 90s American accents and the PAL version is called "Ghost Trap", because wonky localisation is what Nintendo do best. Mean Bean Machine is the better game, Tsuu is better than both.
Finland, it was possibly the only country where Sega Writer for the SF-7000 released, and the only PAL country where the NetLink Custom Web Browser for Saturn released (need to add that release to the page). AFAIK no Finnish SC-3000 tape software was released (apparently some John Sands tapes were available), but some type-ins were published in MikroBitti. Unfortunately there were just four, only one of which was a game. Probably the only Finnish exclusive game published on a Sega system; Meteoriitit. Code (Text): 1 GOSUB 21:D=128 2 R=R+12:A=INT(RND(1)*182)+35:J=J+0.02:F=INT(RND(1)*3):IFF=1THEN12 3 SOUND4,0,4:IFD<35ORD>217THEN28 4 FORB=10TO170STEPJ:C$=INKEY$:IFC$="W"THEND=D+2 5 IFC$="Q"THEND=D-2 6 IFC$="H"THEN8 7 SPRITE0,(A,B),0,7:SPRITE1,(D,163),1,12:NEXT:GOTO28 8 SOUND5,2,15:SOUND1,800,15:SOUND0:SOUND5,1,5:SOUND1,230,1 9 FORE=152TOB-8STEP-15:SPRITE2,(D,E),2,13:NEXT:SPRITE0,(A,B),0,0:SPRITE4,(A,B),4,13:IFD+6<ATHEN28 10 IFA+6<DTHEN28 11 SPRITE2,(D,E),2,0:SPRITE1,(A,12),1,0:FORU=OTO3:MAG2:SOUND0:SOUND5,2,15:SOUND4,2,15:SOUND5,1,15:SOUND4,1,15:MAG0:NEXT:SOUND0:SPRITE4,(A,B),4,0:GOTO2 12 SOUND0:SOUND4,3,9 13 FORG=0TO152STEPJ+3:C$=INKEY$:IFC$="W"THEND=D+2 14 IFC$="Q"THEND=D-2 15 IFA>DTHENA=A-J 16 IFA<DTHENA=A+J 17 SPRITE1,(D,163),1,12:SPRITE3,(A,G),3,8:NEXT:SPRITE3,(A,G),3,0:SOUND0 18 IFD+4<ATHEN 2 19 IFA+7<DTHEN 2 20 GOTO28 21 SCREEN 1,1:CLS:PRINT"TERVETULOA PELIIN!" 22 PRINT"Avaruudesta laskeutuu vieras ufo. Tehtavasi on tuhota se.Avaruucesta saattaa myos syoksya meteoriitti jota pitaa vaistaa.Meteoriittien ja ufojen nopeus kasvaa koko ajan." 23 PRINT"Mikali ufo paasee alas tai meteoriitti osuu sinuun,peli paattyy ja saat pisteesi.":PRINT "Q=VASEMMALLE,W=OIKEALLE":PRINT"H=TULTA":SCREEN2,1:CLS 24 PATTERNS#0,"183C3CDBFF3C5A81":PATTERNS#1,"18183C245A24FF":PATTERNS#2,"10103838387C7C38":PATTERNS#3,"00183C7E7E3C1800":PATTERNS#4,"696B3EFC3F7CD693":ERASE:B=0:C=0:D=80:E=0:J=1:COLOR4,1,(0,0)-(255,191),1 25 FOR B=0TO50:C=INT(RND(1)*160):D=INT(RND(1)*190)+35:PSET(D,C),15:NEXT 26 LINE(35,162)-(235,162),4,B:CIRCLE(60,40),19,10,1.1,1,1,BF:CIRCLE(150,100),34,7,1.1,1,1,BF:FORC=0TO191STEP9:LINE(0,95)-(35,C),12:NEXT:FORC=0TO191STEP9:LINE(255,95)-(235,C),12:NEXT 27 RESTORE33:DIMK(26):FORL=0TO12:READK(L):SOUND1,K(L),8:SOUND2,K(L)+4,8:SOUND3,K(L)+6,8:FORQ=0TO25:NEXT:NEXT:SOUND0:SOUND3,110:SCREEN 2,2:RETURN 28 SCREEN 1,1:CLS:PRINT" LOPPU" 29 CURSOR15,15:PRINT"PISTEESI";R,"UUDEN PELIN SAAT PAINAMALLA VALILYONTIA" 30 SOUND0:RESTORE34:FORA=12TO25:READK(A):SOUND1,K(A),13:C=K(A)+4:SOUND2,C,13:D=C+3:SOUND3,D,13:D=D+2:V=V+2:F=F+0.999:D=D*99999:NEXT:SOUND0 31 V$=INKEY$:IFV$=" "THEN1 32 GOTO31 33 DATA 294,349,392,262,311,392,220,262,330,294,294,294,294 34 DATA 880,932,880,784,698,784,698,659,584,584,440,440,147,147 35 REM Copyright(c) by Erkki Rantakari
Behold, "Children of Sega"!!! https://retroarquivo.wordpress.com/2024/05/24/catalogo-sega-saturn-perigosamente-real/ https://archive.org/details/sega_saturn_perigosamentereal/mode/2up Translated from the original RetroArquivo post with Deepl translator: "What we've selected to share with you today from Clube Sega is a 32-page catalog dedicated to the Sega Saturn that was only sent to Clube Sega members and we only had access to it thanks to the generosity of Tiago Ti, who lent it to us to scan. But this catalog wasn't just created to promote the advantages of the console and its games, it also served to spread some news about the Sega world in Portugal. We would like to highlight Advertising for RTP's Cybermaster (which had stopped for a vacation at the time) and the national championship taking place at Sega distributors, with the 30 best players nationwide being selected to go on this TV show; The new membership card was sent out with the information that the club already had 100,000 members; The announcement that Sega would officially support the national soccer team for Euro 96 and the team that would be present at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. In connection with this, they created a competition whose prizes were 10 official outfits autographed by Vítor Baía and a ball autographed by the national team players; In other news - Sega World was due to open in London in August of that year and the Sega Saturn was to be reduced in price. Highlights include advertising for Bimbocao's Mexe Mexe Caps, a competitor of Bollycao, and the Nestlé Sega Challenge, a National Games Championship - Nestlé Sega Challenge - supported by Nestlé Chocolates. Then there's the usual promotion of new Sega products with: Articles describing the advantages and technical features of the Saturn, the variety and quality of the games (including those that were yet to be released) and the multimedia innovations (internet access, playing audio or video CDs, etc.); Highlights include the big titles coming out soon for the console - Baku Baku, Virtua Fighter 2, Nights into Dreams, Daytona USA, UEFA Euro 96, X-Men: Children of the Atom, Guardian Heroes, Heart of Darkness, Exhumed, Tunnel B, Alone in the Dark: Jack is Back, Sega Rally, Manx TT Super Bike, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, Story of Thor 2, Slam n' Jam, Victory Goal, Valora Valley Golf, Virtua Cop, Virtua Cop 2, Virtua Fighter Kids, Sonic the Fighters, Olympic Soccer and Olympic Games; List of over 200 titles available (according to Ecofilmes' promises) at the end of 1996; Accessories already available such as the Virtua Stick, Arcade Racer, Back-Up Memory, 6-Player Adapter, Control Pad and Photo CD Operating System; But Sega wasn't all about Saturn and the “old” Mega Drive still had plenty to offer with new games such as Toy Story, Tintin in Tibet, FIFA 96, Donald Maui Mallard, Comix Zone, NBA 96, Sonic 3, NHL 96, Kawasaki Superbike Challenge, VR Troopers, Gauntlet, Dragon's Revenge, Hard Drivin' and Sega Sports 1; Games reduced in price from 4,990 escudos - Pitfall, Primal Rage, Pete Sampras Tennis, Dynamite Headdy, Ecco the Dolphin, Bubba n' Stix, Micro Machines 2, Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety and many more; Finally, the Mega CD + 6 Games pack was promoted at a new price and a selection of Game Gear games from 2,990 escudos."
Australia's version of Prestel was Viatel, and their version of Micronet 800 was Microtex 666. Here's an article about the pilot service from the 1985-04 issue of APC; Only downloadable software for C64, Apple II, BBC, and PC then. Issue 4 of the Viatel magazine from 1986 mentions those platforms, with Microbee and Sega programs to be added in the near future. May 1986 issue of The Sydney Sega Users' Group has a request for software; But did that ever happen? Well, I can't find any screenshots until this ad from Your Computer 1989-03; And yes! You could download software to your SC-3000 in Australia years before Sega released Sega Game Toshokan for the Mega Drive in Japan. Also Ozisoft involvement and the new "Cartridge Corner", so there was probably SMS content on there too.
Awesome! More pub trivia to update (ie SC-3000 being the first Sega system to feature downloadable software). I did a bit of digging through those old Australian PC mags, and it reminded me that John Sands Electronics was advertising "SegaDOS 2" which was a CP/M compatible operating system. If it got released, then all CP/M software would be compatible with the SC-3000, things like the Zork trilogy.
Yeah, there were CP/M OSs released, but by small publishers/enthusiasts after John Sands got sold. The 2.2 version supported Amstrad CPC CP/M disks which was useful as they both used 3" disks. Prior to that they recommended getting the shop to transfer the CP/M programs such as WordStar from the CP/M standard 5.25" disks to 3" disks.
Can somebody confirm if there's a mention of the Eighth Special Stage's credits in the Windows 1996 version of Sonic CD? I know for a fact that there's high score credits in the Sega CD version but while mowing down some transliteration grime over at Segaretro I accidentally discovered the ones mentioned in the wiki don't seem to actually exist in the staff roll.
I went and got screenshots for the ending of the DirectX version, and the end credits are identical to the U.S. version of Sonic CD (except it's an ugly 1996-quality video instead of nice crisp sprites like the Sega CD version). Which makes sense, since the credits specifically for the PC version are in the About box. DirectX PC version ending: https://segaretro.org/File:Sonic_CD_PC_DirectX_good_ending_credits.pdf DirectX PC version about box: https://segaretro.org/File:Sonic_CD_PC_DirectX_about_credits.pdf I assume that the Dino version uses the same ending video, but it's possible they're different and maybe that's the source of the discrepancy. I'll probably check it later, but I don't really want to play Metallic Madness again right now. I also checked the credits for both the Japanese and U.S. Sega CD versions (which I had already uploaded previously) and found that the music credits for "Sonic You Can Do Anything" (Masafumi Ogata) and "Cosmic Eternity" (Naofumi Hataya) were switched around, so I corrected that too. While I was at it, this reminded me that there's an extraneous credit for Sonic & Knuckles that I noticed before (an Animator credit for Takashi Thomas Yuda), so I removed that. It's missing from both the S&K and S3&K credits, and I think this one bothered me enough that I actually checked it on real hardware to verify it as well. Sonic & Knuckles credits: https://segaretro.org/File:Sonic_&_Knuckles_MD_credits.pdf Sonic 3 & Knuckles credits: https://retrocdn.net/File:Sonic_3_&_Knuckles_MD_credits.pdf (Edit: I remembered that Visual Mode exists and I don't actually have to beat the game to watch the ending, so I watched the end credits for the Dino version of Sonic CD. It's identical to the DirectX version; i.e., a video of the U.S. Sega CD credits, with no "Secret Special Zone" credits.)
It's like it's calling me https://archive.org/details/io-198105/page/n142/mode/1up An advert for '81 TV Game Idea Taishou. Masahiro Sakurai entered one of these "Sega wants video game ideas" contests before, but that was much later - this 1981 edition was won by... Satoshi Tajiri, future creator of Game Freak. It means without Sega, there might have been no Pokémon. Yeah, let's go with that. https://archive.org/details/game-machine-magazine-19820201p/mode/1up There's a photo on the left - apparently the other person pitched Super Locomotive.
One day I'll make the kinda pointless article about Satoshi Tajiri. Least then it's just his Sega credits and links to all the Mega Drive Fan articles he wrote with the other Game Freak earlymen. Also, it's my first time seeing the source of File:Shikanosuke Ochi.png. Never noticed that the original upload's tags still included Satoshi Tajiri and Yoichi Maekawa links. https://forums.sonicretro.org/index...uestions-and-information-thread.26211/page-92
Yup, here's the old GCCX Mario 2/Lost Levels Episode with the Tajiri Interview, and here's a semi-recent Did You Know Gaming video about Ken Sugimori. In the GCCX video you can see some close ups of the 1981 contest advertisement. Both Tajiri and Sugimori were big Namco fans (which ofc is demonstrated early on by the Game Freak issue of Xevious that put them on the map), but the DYKG video talks a bit about Sugimori's love for Sega towards the end of the video (i.e. his favorite console was the Mega Drive, and he did the cover art for the 3D Classics Collections on 3DS out of passion)
He appears in an interview with Nintendo Satellaview journalist Riko Kushida for the February 1996 edition of Arcade Game Magazine as part of its feature on AM4 too, where he talks about taikan game things e.g. Hang On, Space Harrier, R360 etc. I did later hear some speculation that Tajiri's basic concept for the idea contest "Spring Stranger" ultimately became Hopper Robo. Someone with enough clout and connections to get an interview now should probably ask him about all this one of these days.
Unusual question GO: For older NEC computers, there wasn't a standardised way of loading a game from cassette, which means every game has different instructions, and those ought to be on the wiki. I don't think(?) the SC-3000 and pals have this problem on Sega Retro, but you tell me. But... how is this best represented? For modern Windows/Unix/whatever operating systems, we've coalesced around something that looks something like: Code (Text): > Command1 argument1 argument2 text output > Command2 > Command3 argument1 i.e. ">" denotes an input, because that's kinda what it looks like on a console. But NEC computers aren't quite as clean: You get a flashing block and nothing in the log to denote what's an input and what's an output. to load this game the steps are: mon (return) L (return, wait) GB475 (return) do I do Code (Text): mon L GB475 or Code (Text): > mon > L > GB475 or something else?
I'd stick with the > , it's a standard input. Modern Linux console line prompts usually finish with a $ or a # on them but I'd still grok anything starting with a > to not include that character as part of the instruction.
There might be some exceptions that I'm not aware of but for SC-3000 it's just "LOAD" and then "RUN". For SF-7000 it's "FILES" and then "RUN" next to the required file.
I'm unsure of its origin, but here's some type of newspaper announcement from when Sega listed themselves on the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exhange. It has a date at the bottom of April 12, 1988. I also forgot to send this when I saw the tweet, but here's a press statement Sega sent out in 1983 apologizing for running short on PCBs for Champion Baseball.
