Super Sonic Statue Unboxing Video!

Will post some more photos and impressions soon!

Super Sonic Arrived!

Nuff.

Said.

Unboxing video coming up tonight!

Nominations for the 2011 BAFTA Video Games Awards

This is an exact quote of the official announcement email I received earlier today:

London, 16 February 2011: The Academy today announced the nominations for this year's GAME British Academy Video Games Awards. 44 different games have been recognized and together they represent some of the most popular, innovative and cutting-edge creativity in today’s gaming industry.

Summary:
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood leads with seven BAFTA nominations,
Call of Duty: Black Ops and Heavy Rain each garner six nominations,
Mass Effect 2 follows with five, LIMBO and Super Mario Galaxy 2 with four.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Call of Duty: Black Ops are both nominated for Action, Artistic Achievement, Multiplayer, Technical Innovation, and Use of Audio. In addition, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is nominated for Best Game and Gameplay, and Call of Duty: Black Ops got the nod for Story. Heavy Rain and Mass Effect 2 received nominations for Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Gameplay, Original Music, Story and Heavy Rain got its 6th nod for Technical Innovation.

LIMBO is nominated for Artistic Achievement and Use of Audio. Super Mario Galaxy 2 received nominations for Technical Innovation and Original Music, and both games are also nominated for Best Game and Gameplay. Alan Wake, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, God of War III, and Halo: Reach all have three nominations. Bioshock 2, Fallout: New Vegas, FIFA 11, Kinectimals, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty all received two.

This year’s new Social Network Game category garnered nominations for the following games: Bejeweled Blitz, Farmerama, FIFA Superstars, My Empire, Zoo Mumba, and Zuma Blitz.

Other nominated games include: Civilization V, Cut The Rope, Dance Central, DJ Hero 2, F1 2010, Fable III, FIFA Manager 11, Football Manager 2011, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Gran Turismo 5, International Cricket 2010, James Bond 007: Bloodstone, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports, Napoleon Total War, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Plant vs. Zombies XBLA, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011, Professor Layton and the Lost Future, Sonic Colours, Super Scribblenauts and Toy Story 3.

This year’s Awards will also include the publicly-voted category – the GAME Award of 2010. The shortlist was compiled by a panel of gaming journalists and enthusiasts, and comprises of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dance Central, FIFA 11, Halo: Reach, Heavy Rain, LIMBO, Mass Effect 2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Red Dead Redemption and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Voting is now live at www.baftagameaward.com.

While the Academy recognises those individuals at the top of their field, it also nurtures the developers of tomorrow by recognising up-and-coming talent. This year’s nominations for the BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital are Mush, Sculpty and Twang.

The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards will take place on Wednesday 16 March at the London Hilton on Park Lane. The Awards will be streamed live for the first time at www.bafta.org.

Nominations for the 2011 BAFTA Video Games Awards

This is an exact quote of the official announcement email I received earlier today:

London, 16 February 2011: The Academy today announced the nominations for this year's GAME British Academy Video Games Awards. 44 different games have been recognized and together they represent some of the most popular, innovative and cutting-edge creativity in today’s gaming industry.

Summary:
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood leads with seven BAFTA nominations,
Call of Duty: Black Ops and Heavy Rain each garner six nominations,
Mass Effect 2 follows with five, LIMBO and Super Mario Galaxy 2 with four.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Call of Duty: Black Ops are both nominated for Action, Artistic Achievement, Multiplayer, Technical Innovation, and Use of Audio. In addition, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is nominated for Best Game and Gameplay, and Call of Duty: Black Ops got the nod for Story. Heavy Rain and Mass Effect 2 received nominations for Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Gameplay, Original Music, Story and Heavy Rain got its 6th nod for Technical Innovation.

LIMBO is nominated for Artistic Achievement and Use of Audio. Super Mario Galaxy 2 received nominations for Technical Innovation and Original Music, and both games are also nominated for Best Game and Gameplay. Alan Wake, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, God of War III, and Halo: Reach all have three nominations. Bioshock 2, Fallout: New Vegas, FIFA 11, Kinectimals, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty all received two.

This year’s new Social Network Game category garnered nominations for the following games: Bejeweled Blitz, Farmerama, FIFA Superstars, My Empire, Zoo Mumba, and Zuma Blitz.

Other nominated games include: Civilization V, Cut The Rope, Dance Central, DJ Hero 2, F1 2010, Fable III, FIFA Manager 11, Football Manager 2011, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Gran Turismo 5, International Cricket 2010, James Bond 007: Bloodstone, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports, Napoleon Total War, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Plant vs. Zombies XBLA, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011, Professor Layton and the Lost Future, Sonic Colours, Super Scribblenauts and Toy Story 3.

This year’s Awards will also include the publicly-voted category – the GAME Award of 2010. The shortlist was compiled by a panel of gaming journalists and enthusiasts, and comprises of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dance Central, FIFA 11, Halo: Reach, Heavy Rain, LIMBO, Mass Effect 2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Red Dead Redemption and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Voting is now live at www.baftagameaward.com.

While the Academy recognises those individuals at the top of their field, it also nurtures the developers of tomorrow by recognising up-and-coming talent. This year’s nominations for the BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital are Mush, Sculpty and Twang.

The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards will take place on Wednesday 16 March at the London Hilton on Park Lane. The Awards will be streamed live for the first time at www.bafta.org.

UPDATED: More Sonic 20th action figure photos from a Nuremberg toy expo!

click to enlarge

Hey, more photos of the previously revealed Jazwares Sonic 20th Anniversary action figure line! This time, Jazwares had mock ups of the packaging on display at Spielwarenmesse 2011, a German toy expo that took place last week. Revealed are a number of new hero/badnik packs including: a 90's Sonic and Amy comic book 2-pack, 1992 Tails with Sonic 2's Grabber, 2000 Shadow with a G.U.N. robot, 1994 Knuckles with a badnik (temporary photo shows 2003 Knuckles with an Egg Pawn), the previously seen 2010 Tails with Sandworm from Sonic Colors, 1991 Sonic with Sonic 1's Moto Bug, 2008 Sonic with Sonic Unleashed's Spinner robot and Silver with a fire monster dog thing from Sonic 2006. You can also see the previously revealed Eggman and Robotnik packs, the 10 inch Sonic figure repack plus an obscured Sonic combo pack (probably combining all the "Sonic Through The Years" figures).

After the break, check out the consoles photos, courtesy of spindash.de! And make sure to check out their original post for more photos of already released figures and a lot of German text.

So it looks like we can expect a full set of the '90's era main cast (awesome) as well as repacks of the 2000 era main cast (pretty cool, but the robots and badniks that make them even cooler).

Ha! I already bought a new wall shelf today in anticipation for these.

UPDATE: New York Toy Fair photos can be found here: http://toyfair2011.figures.com/showgallery.php?cat=545&page=1
Nothing new really, however the photos are of much higher quality. Thanks to the pics, I've been able to detail the 3.5" line. What follows are the featured game followed by the figures representing the game. Looks like Jazwares is covering every main series game:

• Sonic 1 - classic Sonic & Moto Bug 
• Sonic CD - classic Amy (2 pack with Sonic)
• Sonic 2 - classic Tails & Grabber
• Sonic 3 - classic Knuckles & ???
• Sonic & Knuckles - classic Robotnik & EggRobo
• Sonic Adventure - modern Sonic and Spinner
• Sonic Adventure 2 - Shadow and GUN Beetle
• Sonic Heroes - modern Knuckles and Egg Pawn
• Sonic '06 - Silver and Iblis Biter (fire dog)
• Sonic Unleashed - modern Eggman and Egg Fighter
• Sonic Colors - modern Tails and Sandworm

Thanks to The Sonic Stadium for giving us a shout out!

Early 90's Japanese Sonic Puzzle

This rather nice ebay purchase from Japan showed up this weekend. It was one of those "heck, why not" moments as I've wanted to get some stuff to hang up on my wall, and the puzzle was already built and framed, though the frame doesn't have glass in it but it is sealed up like so much stuff bought from Japan tends to be so that was a bonus. A couple more photos after the jump.

It had no box so I don't know when exactly this was released but judging by the artwork I would say it was an early 1991 or 92 piece. The animals and Robotnik are just like those on the PAL box art for the first game except in colour, and the art of Sonic is not one I have seen that often. I'm not exactly sure what he is doing other than a rather awkward looking pose and they forgot to colour in his shoe buckle but it's about as retro as Sonic merchandise can get, really.

It wasn't particularly cheap but it didn't break the (Paypal) bank and it's defiantly a nice piece to have in my collection. The seller also had some other Japanese Sonic bits including a Yoyo and a Mug but those were far too expensive for my taste and not as neat as this. I have not seen pictures of this puzzle before anywhere like Sonic Gear so there you go. Exciting stuff!

This Action Figure is BIG!

Silver, Rouge, Cream, Marine, Blaze and Shadow? Forget them! All I wanted was a Big the Cat action figure, and Jazwares delivered. Big the Cat was the star of Sonic Adventure, and the puppet master pulling the strings in Sonic Adventure 2 (as evidenced by his many background cameos). It wasn't until Sonic Heroes that SEGA came to their senses and created Team Big (the game incorrectly refers to it as "Team Rose"). Now, after all those successes, Big has been given the deluxe treatment by way of a Big and Froggy double figure pack.

I knew you'd keep reading, after all, this is BIG! Okay, joking aside, this is actually a great figure. Big looks almost identical to his in-game model, and is the best Big yet. Compared to past figures, this one makes those look like bootlegs. Check out this comparison pic from Sonic Gear:

The left is nightmare fuel, and the right looks like Big's dad.

Big has a lot of articulation, despite his girth. His arms move all about, his head pivots and his legs and ankles can be moved into a variety of positions. His waist doesn't pivot, but his tail can turn about. All this articulation can lead to some pretty wild poses:

Balancing on one foot!

Attempting the Sonic Adventure cover art pose

Lifting a Dreamcast game with ease.

The Froggy figure is more of an accessory, as he does nothing but sit about. You'll notice that Froggy seems to be sticking to Big. That's thanks to a tiny big of blue tack that I stuck to Froggy's belly, which allows him to sit comfortably on Big's head. Unfortunately for me, while I did pick the best looking Big at the store, I failed to notice that my Froggy had a wonky eye:

DERP DERP

Like the Eggman and Metal Sonic two pack, the Big pack features a cool scene. This time of Big's home from Sonic Adventure. Definitely not throwing this away:

Overall, the Big and Froggy figures are one of Jazwares best. Up to par with the Vector and Espio pack. Solid likeness, great articulation and well built. If you're a fan of Big, pick this up. If you're not a fan of Big, I pity you (but understand your hatred).

My cat approves of Big.

Former SEGA Employee Selling Awesome Swag On Ebay

Posted by nuckles87 of SEGAbits

A former SEGA employee is selling a load of awesome things he acquired during the Saturn/Dreamcast era. It’s mostly T-Shirts, but it’s all stuff only a SEGA employee could get, so don’t blow it off! Among things currently on sale is a promotional Jet Grind Radio shirt, a “Bernie’s Rangers” Burning Rangers shirt referring to SEGA of America president Bernie Stolar, and a Rent a Hero shirt with logos for every single piece of SEGA hardware ever made, and a Jet Grind Radio Music Sampler promo disc.

You can check it out here.

Barry says: This former employee has a load of awesome items, though I doubt I'll be winning any. Most shirt sizes are XL, and some rather rabid fans are buying up the good stuff for high prices. Still, I've craftily saved every item photo to a folder, so at least SEGA Memories will have these rare items on file.

Sonic 20th Anniversary Action Figure Collection Revealed! (drools)

Just when I thought Jazwares has taken all the money they could take from me, they reveal this epic collection! Jazwares is celebrating Sonic's 20th in style by producing figures that span his 20 year career. These photos found online were snapped at JazWares' booth at the 2011 UK Toy Fair. One collection revealed is "Sonic Through Time", which will depict the various designs of Sonic over the years. Photos reveal a 1991 Sonic and a 2008 Sonic, but I'm sure we'll also see a 1999 and perhaps 2011 model as well. Very cool. After the jump, Eggman takes center stage.

Even more exciting than Sonic is the reveal that classic Eggman will get a figure, along with two EggRobos from Sonic and Knuckles! Also revealed is a modern Eggman with two robots from the Sonic Unleashed intro movie. Off to the left is, I'm assuming, a Sonic Colors Tails figure (the design and box background look like they come from Colors) however packaged with Tails is a retro badnik. Badnik figures! No clue if that badnik appeared in Colors. No official announcement has been made on details and release date, but as soon as I come across them I'll be sure to post them here at SEGA Memories.

EDIT: As pointed out by Gagaman, the badnik packaged with Tails did appear in Sonic Colors, he's Sandworm from the Asteroid Coaster stage. He was originally seen in Sonic & Knuckles Sandopolis Zone. The image on the figure card is his Colors redesign.

UPDATE: More figure pics have been found (I just searched "Toy Fair 2011" on FLickr). Also revealed is an awesome 12" classic Sonic!

While this photo below seems to feature a lot of already released figures from 2010, off to the right is a Archie comic 2-pack with Shadow and another figure as well as a mystery box with a classic Sonic logo and from what I can tell an image of Sonic. What the heck is that image? Thanks for the obscured photo, random dude on Flickr! :P

Any superfans know what that mystery box to the right is?

[source: The Sonic Stadium Forums]