Crashed after an exhausting day. Got a last-second photo with Naka before we left. Honestly might just sleep for sixteen hours.
Funny that - I was tailing Iizuka and Naka (and to a lesser extent their translator) whilst walking to the train station from the event. Looked as if they were ready to take on Londons night life. Such a great event this year. Getting my JP Sonic 3 Boxart signed by Iizuka and Naka, plus Mania were the real highlights for me. Was great seeing everyone (albeit rather briefly in your case, Mr. Duck) today, onward to the Barcade tomorrow!
Absolutely fantastic day, almost 0 of the usual issues though I'm sure that was only by sheer hard work of the SoS team. (I wish however I had noticed the mini-bar in the hallway earlier, but I think it was good to get out of the venue for a bit) Missed Naka but got Elson (he had an original proof of the yearbook cover with a different styled sonic that looked like the usual art, but apparently that wasn't "Sonic" enough. looked fine to me...) Pollock, Hardlight and Iizuka to sign stuff mostly by chance. Also needlemouse shirt eyyy
I didn't manage to see you guys again to make plans after Crush 40 did their set, but I'll be playing Tekken/Initial D Arcade Stage Infinite 8 in the Last Vegas Arcade (in Soho) if any of you are around before I go get my train!
I absolutely loved everything that happened there. I got signed posters from Iizuka and Naka, as well as getting my hands on a lot of official Merch I've been wanting to get from the online store for a while now. Kinda wished I could've gotten something from Mike Pollock too, but oh well. Mania was great despite the lines, I played Studiopolis and it's really good from what I can tell. Apparently the friend I went there with got to talk to Naka for a bit in the lobby while I was waiting in line so that was pretty interesting. Also got to play NiGHTS for a bit haha. But yeah, great event.
Back home in one piece. I'll post my full views on Mania in the other thread and when I'm less shattered, but it was fun. The whole day was pretty cool. Certainly a great day out.
Indeed, absolutely fantastic event. Great to see you all! Kudos to the organisers. A proper write-up will be coming sometime soon on the frontpage. The opening countdown's massive crowd cheer for Big's Big Fishing Adventure 3 was truly something else.
I personally think that this was the best Summer of Sonic ever. The venue was amazing - that pub upstairs though! Mania was, natually, a highlight for me; our Retro group was in the queue for it literally as soon as we got through the doors =P There was a lot of guests at this one as well. I got to meet Mike Pollock for the first time He's a really nice guy. I also met Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka again - and I corrected a mistake I made the first time by getting Naka to sign my copy of Sonic 1, which is the very original copy of the game that I've had since 1992! I unfortunately didn't have time to see any of the other guests (I was really sad that I didn't get to meet Richard Elson in particular, as I adore his work on Sonic the Comic and he was honestly a massive inspiration to me when I was a kid), but that's just one of those things. Hopefuly there will be a "next time", anyway; I'd be more than happy to help fund it again if that were the case. It was a fantastic weekend. It was a pleasure to see you guys again as always - and to meet some new people as well! :D
She's recovered since getting home, I think the London air just doesn't agree with her. We missed the first hour and a half because we decided to go shopping instead. Not because I wasn't interested in anything near the beginning (although I wasn't particularly - I was mostly just interested in Mania, the Q&A and shenanigans with fellow Sonic fans). It was more because of this: Yeah, there was a fairly long queue. Oh, wait: There's the rest of it. The missus isn't versed in Sonic. At all. As a result, she spent the entire time looking at people in costumes going "what the fuck is that?" Still, she enjoyed the music and the pub upstairs. Best cosplayer in the event. Mania was pretty cool, but I've already posted in the relevant thread. Waiting for the train to arrive to go home, Mrs. Duck wanted to do some more shopping in St. Pancras, so I decided to dick about on one of the pianos. Of course, I started playing Sonic songs and got accosted by a (actually pretty cute, to be honest - don't tell the missus) girl coming back from SoS as a result. Was certainly an interesting end to the day.
Yeah this Summer of Sonic was pretty darn special. I feel like it flew by too quickly and now I'm gutted at the thought of it being the last, but these conventions really are the most memorable and even magical of any I've been to, they mean so much to me. Highlights included playing Sonic Mania, meeting my hero Richard Elson and flicking though his original art, watching Crush 40 live and meeting up with so many friends I haven't seen in ages, even if just briefly in many cases. What a day!
POST SOS, er POST. (Apologies for the essay in advance) BUT FIRST- I was really gutted I didn't get to hang with you guys thanks to my crap co-ordination and planning. Trying to do SoS on the cheap and making it a long-day trip rather than an overnight trip bit me in the ass hard, and I didn't have near enough time to sit and chat before having to rush to my coach after the gig! So for a second SoS in a row my appearance was more of a guest cameo rather than a legit appearance. But it was still great seeing you all and I hope the good times were had! Now, onto the day itself. After coming from the pub down the road with some warm-up pints in me, I was fully ready to embrace the Funky Action of SoS. First thing I see upon walking into the main room are of course, Jun Senoue and Yuji Naka casually strolling around. Naka checking his phone like he's playing Pokemon Go or some shit before running off. I quickly grab a cheeky selfie with Jun Senoue before checking out the rest of the room. The Sonic Mania queue was looking crazy big, so I decided to get my obligatory Yuji Naka and Iizuka sigs instead and get there early. After doing that and harassing the man in the Sonic suit for a posed photo, I decided to check out Tyson Hesse's table. I could see Sonic Mega Drives on sale and I was pretty eager to get one. ONE HOUR LATER OF QUEING - Seriously, I was not expecting the comic queue to be that slow and... disorganized? As far as I could tell, there was one line for the general table of artists, and not any singular line for individual people, so the movement was almost non-existent. Of course, just before my chance to see Tyson, he zips away to take a half-hour break.. NOT A PROBLEM THOUGH! I mean, internally crying, but I'd just try again later. I figured, now was the time to play Sonic Mania. ... Except they weren't letting anyone else into the Mania queue for a while. Guess I'll come back later! Next step was doing the obligatory 'my first SoS' act and getting near the front stage for Jun Senoue to hear him play the same old stuff for the 20th time. (Still love it!) It was worth the brief camping out the front, because he played a decent set. Although after two songs I thought to myself "He's just playing the SA Music Experience CD, isn't he?"... and of course, he was. Not that I had a problem with hearing Metal Harbour again. Although once again, Escape from the City becomes the Mos Eisley Cantina track of SoS. I had to make a choice at this point: Back to see Tyson, or queue up for Crush 40 autographs. Fuck it, I'd seen Johnny and Jun before. This time I was lucky, I walked right up to the (now empty) comic table to see Tyson Hesse come back from his break. Holy shit. What a friendly guy he was! Sadly the Mega Drive comics were all sold out, but I managed to get a whole bunch of other things signed from him. "Just give me the full course, man. Just fuck me the fuck up" - I said in slightly more delicate terms. Getting a Knuckles scribble off him was fantastic. - I remember there was a bit of downtime before the next big thing. I ended up chatting outside with the fellas who set up the Retro consoles, and we talked about CRTs for a good while. I managed to nab a business card. It was cool to talk hardware and other bollocks, plus a general bitch about PAL Sonic 1 for the fun of it, which is always a timekiller. By the time I left for a quick bite to eat and came back, Sonic Mania was packing up. They cut the line off and I'd missed my chance completely. WELL SHIT. I just hope the rest of you had enough fun on it to make up for my screw-up there! (PSN Demo, you can't come soon enough ) My disappointment was quickly sent away when I saw Iizuka standing around, so I quickly got my Selfie game on. - Shortly after this, Mike Pollock was offering Selfies in the hallway, WELLWHYTHEFUCKNOT. - (Now THERE's a Tinder profile pic if I ever saw one!) - Finally, the Crush 40 gig was... well, Crush 40. Johnny Gioeli still knows how to entertain. And that was it! Like I said before, at this point I was keen to shoot the shit with the rest of you and see how everyone else's day went but before I knew it, it was time to start the trek back home. Living on the Isle of Wight always means you're at the mercy of the evening boats, so I had to throw up my hands and say "Fair enough." Overall, 9/10 Summer of Sonic. Mostly the same good thrills, but somehow better this year! Loved the venue. Not playing Mania wasn't the end of the world for me. Seeing ol' toothizuka again is always an uplifter, for some reason or another. BONUS: Pic with the Hedgehog himself. Along with my friend who I dragged against his will to come along. Look how damn hyped he is.
