Summer of Sonic
Encyclopedia
The Summer of Sonic is an annual convention focusing on all aspects relating to the Sonic the Hedgehog
franchise. The event was created in 2006 by computer game journalist and Sonic fan site owner Svend Joscelyne (aka "Dreadknux"), as the collaborative creation during July and August of a celebratory website in which submission of articles and media was open to anyone. This site was intended to be available indefinitely online, but due to difficulties in February 2009 with the Web hosting provider, it is currently unavailable.
Buoyed by the relative success of the initial event, Joscelyne went on to plan a one-day event to be held at a venue in London, England, during the summer of 2008. This gained the attention of SEGA Europe's Community Manager, Kevin Eva - known as "ArchangelUK" or "AAUK" to fans, who himself had been thinking of the possibilities for such an event and agreed to co-organise SoS. As a result the pair were able to secure a degree of backing from SEGA Europe though the event is closely tied to the online Sonic community and Joscelyne and Eva's hobby projects, fan sites The Sonic Stadium (TSS) and Sonic Wrecks. Since 2008, London
was and still is the locale for the one-day Summer of Sonic event.
Joscelyne and Eva are considered the lead contributors to the convention's success, however the event relies on a great deal of community participation from volunteers. The Summer of Sonic is officially recognised by SEGA Of Europe
and by the current Sonic Team
, and following the success of 2008's convention this led to a more official presence in subsequent conventions. Other divisions of SEGA have expressed their wishes to host their own Summer of Sonic event.
The 4th Annual Summer of Sonic is scheduled to be held in London on June 25, 2011. This event will be the first in SEGA's SOS convention history not to be held in August. This is was explained by Eva at the 2010 event so that it can be as close to Sonic's twentieth anniversary (June 23rd) as possible.
and Richard Jacques
. Bentley Jones also did a remix of the song 'His World' from Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 for the event as a gift to the fans. There were also playable demos of the then upcoming Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, months before its release. Whilst Nigel Kitching
writer/artist of Fleetway
's Sonic the Comic
also attended, signing autographs for fans.
A Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition
entry attempt was also hosted, with fans competing for the quickest completion time of the Emerald Hill Zone, the first zone of the game Sonic The Hedgehog 2 the best time being 20 seconds by Louis Tsiattalou. Whilst other stage events included a fan quiz, and competitions including a Sonic fanart contest which was won by 10 year old Liam Ashcroft, he received DS Lite and a special Sonic medal.
The event whilst receiving little in the way of promotion managed to attract die hard fans from not just all over the United Kingdom and mainland Europe but as far afield as America and even Australia. Eva later commented to fans he'd been told that Sonic Team
themselves had "loved" the idea and a 2009 follow-up was confirmed the following February.
Boiler House on Brick Lane
, London
. It was noted by Eva that SEGA Europe were even more on board than before though in discussions with fans at an event for Sonic Unleashed
noted the difficulty in improving the scale and professionalism of the event whilst maintaining the community spirit of the show. The Summer of Sonic now operates as a SEGA
endorsed and sponsored event, with backing provided by SEGA but organised and run essentially in its entirety by Eva, Joscelyne and senior Sonic fans.
Events were slow in being confirmed for the 2009 show, due in part to the difficulty in securing the venue, however it has since been confirmed that Nigel Kitching would again be attending the event alongside artist and fellow Fleetway stalwart Nigel Dobbyn. Dobbyn was chiefly responsible for the Knuckles and Tails spinoffs and side storylines that accompanied the main Sonic story.
In July Bentley Jones was confirmed to again be attending, whilst on August 7 it was confirmed representatives from SUMO Digital
, the developers behind games such as Sega Superstars Tennis
and Outrun Online Arcade
would be attending. It was later confirmed by Eva that following on from the early showing of Sonic Chronicles in 2008 that both Wii and DS versions of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
(also being developed by SUMO Digital) would be getting their UK public premieres at the event.
Other confirmed events at this time included a Sonic cosplay
competition. The winner was Ciara Thrush who cosplayed as Rouge, Thrush chose to cosplay as Rouge because she was "sexy and sassy".
. Over nine hundred people attended the event.
The headline act for 2010 was rock band Crush 40
(Jun Senoue
and Johnny Gioeli
) who gave a one-hour live performance - their first performance outside of Japan. Earlier in the day, Jun Senoue also performed a short solo set, and both Senoue and Gioeli answered fan questions in a Q&A session.
Games playable at the event included the E3 demos of two unreleased games: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (Xbox 360) and Sonic Colors
(Wii and DS). There were also several Xbox 360 booths featuring older Sonic games including Sonic Heroes
, Sonic Unleashed
and Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection. A Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing tournament also took place.
The Sonic Wrecks karaoke competition made a return from 2009, as did the cosplay competition, won in 2010 by Euan Kennedy as a Dr. Eggman cosplayer.
The special guests included writers of the Archie Sonic comics and Sonic the Comic
including Tracy Yardley, Nigel Dobbyn, Ian Flynn
and Nigel Kitching, Crush 40
guitarist and SEGA composer Jun Senoue
, techno rock-band Julien-K
, SEGA programmer Takashi Iizuka and the creator of the Sonic series Yuji Naka
. Mike Pollock
, voice actor for Doctor Eggman
also attended although only as a normal visitor.
A showcase section was opened up to give the fans of past events to showcase their talent in both the art and musical areas.
A playable demo of Sonic Generations
was been confirmed to appear at the event along with older Sonic games including Sonic Adventure 2
and Sonic Gems Collection.
During the 2010 Crush 40 performance, Johnny Gioeli announced his intention to return for Summer of Sonic 2011, but was unable to return due to scheduling issues.
The Wrecks Factor Karaoke contest returned for the last time but will still continue to run on Radio REDUX.
The cosplay contest was won by Bekka "Silver" Jackson, a Silver the Hedgehog cosplayer and the prize was a limited edition Sonic 20th Anniversary statue. Another cosplayer as Tails received so many praise too, her fursuit was handmade and she stated that it took "13 fridays and one tuesday to put together", it got a lot of praise even before the event, but dropped out in the sixth round, it was also considered this year's most favourite costume of 2011 at SoS, the Tails cosplayer was Steph O'Keeffe who also provided Tails' voice for the fan made animated movie short "Sonic Heroes In Brief". Fellow staff members Lynne Triplett (Imagni) and Ciara Thrush (Nemain or Akhmin) praised the suit calling it "absolutely fantastic". O'Keeffe believes that after her friends joked about her going as Tails (from the year before) this year, she knew it'd get the Tails cosplay spirit back again, in which four convention goers showed up as the character.
An art competition also took place and a 2nd 20th Anniversary statue was also given away. A charity raffle was also held and £440 was raised for the Tokyo, Japan earthquake and tsunami that took place in March 2011
Also, a proposal was held, Antony Turner proposed to Carly Cridge, with a Chaos Emerald instead of a ring, as the diamond and emerald ring had been left behind.
Sonic the Hedgehog (character)
, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...
franchise. The event was created in 2006 by computer game journalist and Sonic fan site owner Svend Joscelyne (aka "Dreadknux"), as the collaborative creation during July and August of a celebratory website in which submission of articles and media was open to anyone. This site was intended to be available indefinitely online, but due to difficulties in February 2009 with the Web hosting provider, it is currently unavailable.
Buoyed by the relative success of the initial event, Joscelyne went on to plan a one-day event to be held at a venue in London, England, during the summer of 2008. This gained the attention of SEGA Europe's Community Manager, Kevin Eva - known as "ArchangelUK" or "AAUK" to fans, who himself had been thinking of the possibilities for such an event and agreed to co-organise SoS. As a result the pair were able to secure a degree of backing from SEGA Europe though the event is closely tied to the online Sonic community and Joscelyne and Eva's hobby projects, fan sites The Sonic Stadium (TSS) and Sonic Wrecks. Since 2008, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
was and still is the locale for the one-day Summer of Sonic event.
Joscelyne and Eva are considered the lead contributors to the convention's success, however the event relies on a great deal of community participation from volunteers. The Summer of Sonic is officially recognised by SEGA Of Europe
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
and by the current Sonic Team
Sonic Team
is a Japanese computer and video game developer established in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan in 1990, originally known as Sega AM8. The Japan-based division is also known as G.E. Department Global Entertainment. The studio has collaborated with several in-house Japanese studios as well as other American-based...
, and following the success of 2008's convention this led to a more official presence in subsequent conventions. Other divisions of SEGA have expressed their wishes to host their own Summer of Sonic event.
The 4th Annual Summer of Sonic is scheduled to be held in London on June 25, 2011. This event will be the first in SEGA's SOS convention history not to be held in August. This is was explained by Eva at the 2010 event so that it can be as close to Sonic's twentieth anniversary (June 23rd) as possible.
SOS 2008 (August 9th)
The Summer of Sonic 2008 was held at Dragon Hall, Covent Garden, London, UK, on the August 9th 2008. Features from the event included live performances from Bentley Jones, TJ DavisTJ Davis
TJ Davis is a British singer. She started as a backing vocalist for Gary Numan, D:Ream, and Blur, and quickly developed a career of her own. She is known among video game music aficionados for working with award-winning composer Richard Jacques on the soundtracks of Sonic R and Metropolis Street...
and Richard Jacques
Richard Jacques
Richard Jacques is a British music composer. He is best known for his video game music, most notably for numerous video games created by Sega.-Early life:...
. Bentley Jones also did a remix of the song 'His World' from Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 for the event as a gift to the fans. There were also playable demos of the then upcoming Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, months before its release. Whilst Nigel Kitching
Nigel Kitching
Nigel Kitching is an illustrator and writer in comics and in books.He is best known for his work in British comics, especially Sonic the Comic.-References:*-External links:***-Interviews:*...
writer/artist of Fleetway
Fleetway
Fleetway, also known as Fleetway Publications and Fleetway Editions, was a UK publishing company which mainly produced comic magazines. For a time owned by IPC Media, they are now a division of Egmont Publishing....
's Sonic the Comic
Sonic the Comic
Sonic the Comic, known to its many readers as STC, was a UK children's comic published fortnightly by Fleetway Editions between 1993 and 2002...
also attended, signing autographs for fans.
A Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition is a Guinness World Records book dedicated to video games. The first edition was released in February 2008 in association with the video games world records' tracking organization Twin Galaxies. The second edition was released in 2009...
entry attempt was also hosted, with fans competing for the quickest completion time of the Emerald Hill Zone, the first zone of the game Sonic The Hedgehog 2 the best time being 20 seconds by Louis Tsiattalou. Whilst other stage events included a fan quiz, and competitions including a Sonic fanart contest which was won by 10 year old Liam Ashcroft, he received DS Lite and a special Sonic medal.
The event whilst receiving little in the way of promotion managed to attract die hard fans from not just all over the United Kingdom and mainland Europe but as far afield as America and even Australia. Eva later commented to fans he'd been told that Sonic Team
Sonic Team
is a Japanese computer and video game developer established in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan in 1990, originally known as Sega AM8. The Japan-based division is also known as G.E. Department Global Entertainment. The studio has collaborated with several in-house Japanese studios as well as other American-based...
themselves had "loved" the idea and a 2009 follow-up was confirmed the following February.
SOS 2009 (August 29th)
Due to the increase in exposure and numbers, the location of the 2009 event was moved to the Old Truman BreweryOld Truman Brewery
The Old Truman Brewery is the former Black Eagle brewery complex located around Brick Lane in the Spitalfields area, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was established by the brewers Truman's which subsequently became Truman, Hanbury and Buxton...
Boiler House on Brick Lane
Brick Lane
Brick Lane is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It runs from Swanfield Street in the northern part of Bethnal Green, crosses Bethnal Green Road, passes through Spitalfields and is linked to Whitechapel High Street to the south by the short stretch of...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It was noted by Eva that SEGA Europe were even more on board than before though in discussions with fans at an event for Sonic Unleashed
Sonic Unleashed
Sonic Unleashed , is a video game and the 11th installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog series developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for multiple platforms...
noted the difficulty in improving the scale and professionalism of the event whilst maintaining the community spirit of the show. The Summer of Sonic now operates as a SEGA
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
endorsed and sponsored event, with backing provided by SEGA but organised and run essentially in its entirety by Eva, Joscelyne and senior Sonic fans.
Events were slow in being confirmed for the 2009 show, due in part to the difficulty in securing the venue, however it has since been confirmed that Nigel Kitching would again be attending the event alongside artist and fellow Fleetway stalwart Nigel Dobbyn. Dobbyn was chiefly responsible for the Knuckles and Tails spinoffs and side storylines that accompanied the main Sonic story.
In July Bentley Jones was confirmed to again be attending, whilst on August 7 it was confirmed representatives from SUMO Digital
Sumo Digital
Sumo Digital Ltd. is an independent game development studio based in Sheffield, United Kingdom. Set up in 2003 following the closure of Infogrames Studios Sheffield/Gremlin Interactive...
, the developers behind games such as Sega Superstars Tennis
Sega Superstars Tennis
Sega Superstars Tennis is a tennis video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. The game was released on March 17, 2008 in Europe, on March 18, 2008 in North America, and on March 27, 2008 in Australia. The game includes 16 playable characters and 10 courts from Sega franchises...
and Outrun Online Arcade
Outrun Online Arcade
OutRun Online Arcade is a racing video game and the most recent release in the OutRun series. It was developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. The game was released on April 14, 2009 in the Arcade. It was also released exclusively in Europe for the on April 15, 2009 on Xbox Live Arcade and...
would be attending. It was later confirmed by Eva that following on from the early showing of Sonic Chronicles in 2008 that both Wii and DS versions of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
is a 2009 sports video game developed by Sega. It was published by Nintendo for Japan and by Sega for North America and Europe. The game is officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee through exclusive license International Sports Multimedia...
and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is a racing game in the Sega Superstars series produced for Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS and Microsoft Windows, featuring characters from many Sega franchises. It is being published by Sega and developed by Sumo Digital...
(also being developed by SUMO Digital) would be getting their UK public premieres at the event.
Other confirmed events at this time included a Sonic cosplay
Cosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
competition. The winner was Ciara Thrush who cosplayed as Rouge, Thrush chose to cosplay as Rouge because she was "sexy and sassy".
SOS 2010 (August 7th)
The third Summer of Sonic convention was held on the 7th of August at The Pavilion, located in Shepherd's BushShepherd's Bush
-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
. Over nine hundred people attended the event.
The headline act for 2010 was rock band Crush 40
Crush 40
Crush 40, formerly known as Sons of Angels, is a Japanese-American hard rock band formed in 1997 that is best known for their contributions to the soundtracks of several video games, predominantly the Sonic the Hedgehog series...
(Jun Senoue
Jun Senoue
is a video game composer and musician from Wave Master, well known for some of his contributions in many Sonic the Hedgehog games. He is also the guitarist for the band Crush 40, which also contributes to many Sonic the Hedgehog games.-Biography:...
and Johnny Gioeli
Johnny Gioeli
Johnny Gioeli is an American hard rock singer. Originally lead singer of the band Hardline, he is also currently the vocalist of Crush 40 and German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell's band...
) who gave a one-hour live performance - their first performance outside of Japan. Earlier in the day, Jun Senoue also performed a short solo set, and both Senoue and Gioeli answered fan questions in a Q&A session.
Games playable at the event included the E3 demos of two unreleased games: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (Xbox 360) and Sonic Colors
Sonic Colors
is a 2010 platforming game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was first announced on May 26, 2010, in a press release by Sega for Italy, and it included a teaser trailer...
(Wii and DS). There were also several Xbox 360 booths featuring older Sonic games including Sonic Heroes
Sonic Heroes
is a 2004 platforming single-player/multiplayer video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series developed by Sonic Team USA. It is the first multiplatform title in the Sonic series, developed for Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox and released in Japan in December 2003, in North America in...
, Sonic Unleashed
Sonic Unleashed
Sonic Unleashed , is a video game and the 11th installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog series developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for multiple platforms...
and Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection. A Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing tournament also took place.
The Sonic Wrecks karaoke competition made a return from 2009, as did the cosplay competition, won in 2010 by Euan Kennedy as a Dr. Eggman cosplayer.
SOS 2011 (June 25th)
At the end of the 2010 event, Summer of Sonic 2011 was announced. It was held on June 25th for the first time to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, and not to be held in August when the previous three SEGA events (2008-2010) were held. The venue for this year's event was revealed as the Camden Centre in London. The venue opened from 9am-8pm making it the longest Summer of Sonic event ever. Reservations for the event opened up on the 1st May at 10AM British time and within 8 hours the event was sold out. The organizers announced that they are aiming to have more spaces open for people who couldn't make a reservation on the official website.The special guests included writers of the Archie Sonic comics and Sonic the Comic
Sonic the Comic
Sonic the Comic, known to its many readers as STC, was a UK children's comic published fortnightly by Fleetway Editions between 1993 and 2002...
including Tracy Yardley, Nigel Dobbyn, Ian Flynn
Ian Flynn
Ian Flynn , also known by his Internet pen name Ian Potto, is an American comic writer. He has been the chief writer for Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic since issue #160....
and Nigel Kitching, Crush 40
Crush 40
Crush 40, formerly known as Sons of Angels, is a Japanese-American hard rock band formed in 1997 that is best known for their contributions to the soundtracks of several video games, predominantly the Sonic the Hedgehog series...
guitarist and SEGA composer Jun Senoue
Jun Senoue
is a video game composer and musician from Wave Master, well known for some of his contributions in many Sonic the Hedgehog games. He is also the guitarist for the band Crush 40, which also contributes to many Sonic the Hedgehog games.-Biography:...
, techno rock-band Julien-K
Julien-K
Julien-K is a music group that began as a side project for electronic music created by Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck from Orgy, with the later addition of Elias Andra, and Anthony 'Fu' Valcic....
, SEGA programmer Takashi Iizuka and the creator of the Sonic series Yuji Naka
Yuji Naka
, is a video game designer and programmer, best known as the former head of Sonic Team, a group of Sega programmers/designers, where he was the lead programmer of the original Sonic the Hedgehog....
. Mike Pollock
Mike Pollock
Michael B. "Mike" Pollock , sometimes credited as Herb Lawrence, is an American voice actor, famous for playing characters in anime dubs by 4Kids Entertainment. He has appeared as the narrator for 4Kids shows like Pokémon and some promos on the original Fox Box and 4Kids TV. He is also well-known...
, voice actor for Doctor Eggman
Doctor Eggman
, also known by his alias , is a fictional video game character, the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series created by Sega. Dr. Eggman is a rotund, mad scientist with an IQ of 300 who plans to conquer the world in order to build his Eggman Empire and is the archenemy of Sonic the Hedgehog...
also attended although only as a normal visitor.
A showcase section was opened up to give the fans of past events to showcase their talent in both the art and musical areas.
A playable demo of Sonic Generations
Sonic Generations
is a 2011 platform video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, produced by Sonic Team for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo 3DS...
was been confirmed to appear at the event along with older Sonic games including Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Adventure 2 is a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Dreamcast video game console. It was released in North America on June 19, 2001 and in Japan on June 23, 2001 to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game. It is the sequel...
and Sonic Gems Collection.
During the 2010 Crush 40 performance, Johnny Gioeli announced his intention to return for Summer of Sonic 2011, but was unable to return due to scheduling issues.
The Wrecks Factor Karaoke contest returned for the last time but will still continue to run on Radio REDUX.
The cosplay contest was won by Bekka "Silver" Jackson, a Silver the Hedgehog cosplayer and the prize was a limited edition Sonic 20th Anniversary statue. Another cosplayer as Tails received so many praise too, her fursuit was handmade and she stated that it took "13 fridays and one tuesday to put together", it got a lot of praise even before the event, but dropped out in the sixth round, it was also considered this year's most favourite costume of 2011 at SoS, the Tails cosplayer was Steph O'Keeffe who also provided Tails' voice for the fan made animated movie short "Sonic Heroes In Brief". Fellow staff members Lynne Triplett (Imagni) and Ciara Thrush (Nemain or Akhmin) praised the suit calling it "absolutely fantastic". O'Keeffe believes that after her friends joked about her going as Tails (from the year before) this year, she knew it'd get the Tails cosplay spirit back again, in which four convention goers showed up as the character.
An art competition also took place and a 2nd 20th Anniversary statue was also given away. A charity raffle was also held and £440 was raised for the Tokyo, Japan earthquake and tsunami that took place in March 2011
Also, a proposal was held, Antony Turner proposed to Carly Cridge, with a Chaos Emerald instead of a ring, as the diamond and emerald ring had been left behind.
External links
- Summer of Sonic - Fan run official site
- SEGA Europe (English)
- http://sonicstadium.org/news/summer-of-sonic-2009-venue-revealed
- Sonic Wrecks
- http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/sega-confirms-summer-of-sonic-event