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Sonic Amateur Games Expo

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Sonic Amateur Games Expo (SAGE) is a yearly online event for Sonic the Hedgehog fangame developers to chat online and to demonstrate finished and unfinished games they are developing. Started in 2000 by community enigma BlazeHedgehog, the premise of the event was to expand the appeal of fangaming, which is still even today viewed as a sort of taboo given inherent copyright problems. There have been 14 SAGE events to date, which originally took place biannually until the 10th iteration in 2005, where the format changed to the annual SAGE known today.

2000

The original Sonic Amateur Games Expo website.

As the original Sonic Amateur Games Expo, Blaze Hedgehog set out to make a showcase for the Sonic fan gaming scene, setting the template for every SAGE thereafter. He wanted to feature fan games in the same style and presentation as the Electronic Entertainment Expo in the form of "booths," and encouraging even the use of "booth babes" for each booth. The event lasted from September 9 to September 12, and had a small attendance compared to the later incarnations of the expo.

2005

SAGE 2005, sometimes jokingly referred to as SAGE "X", marked the first annual SAGE, breaking the previously set tradition of SAGE being held biannually. Directed by Gamerdude and Smidge204, SAGE 2005 sported a nifty, slick layout and had a host of wonderful projects on display.

SAGE 2005 also marked the event's first guest interview. Ben Hurst, one of the writers for the TV series Sonic the Hedgehog, was interviewed under proctored settings in SAGE's IRC chatroom.

2006

Koray, the organizer of SAGE 2006, had been suffering from issues in life that resulted in him disappearing without a word months leading up to the event. Smidge204, the administrator of SFGHQ, took up the mantle of quickly throwing together an event after it became apparent that Koray wasn't going to show. The event itself rehashed the minimalistic, slick layout from SAGE 2005 and did a decent job of holding up to it's predecessor.

Ben Hurst returned for another interview with the community. Joining him was the current writer for the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series by Archie, Ian Flynn.

Interest in revamping the SAGEcast was introduced during SAGE 2006 when DimensionWarped, Slingerland, and Shadix attempted to broadcast a prerecorded multicast via Skype. Due to technical difficulties Shadix did not appear in the final broadcast; however, the broadcast went to show that SAGEcasts could have more meaningful content.

2007

SAGE 2007, directed by Slingerland, renewed interest in the event. His SAGE went with a simple and quirky thematic layout that would change on each day of the event. Slingerland's dashing charisma and publicity attempts brought about a huge boost in audience.

Ryan Drummond became the first guest appearance in relation to the official games, and his appearance garnered a huge amount of attention from Sonic Communities all around. Ian Flynn also reappeared to discuss more regarding the Sonic the Hedgehog Archie comic book series.

SAGE 2007 introduced a more entertaining side of SAGE, with cool events like Slingerland's epic skit "Saturday Nights' Main Event," as well as live multicasts, a karaoke show, a level design competition, and a video submission contest.

2008

SAGE 2008 set out to expand on the new standard set in 2007, with a trend towards more entertainment. Hosted by Shadix and MarkEchidna, the idea was to draw the casual audience in through entertainment, interviews, and exciting content to promote booths. It was held from August 17 to August 24 (eight days to commemorate it being 2008). The SAGE 2008 site was over-the-top and flashy, featuring detailed informative pages and a coverflow-esque booths page. Unlike in previous years, SAGE 2008 was more organized from day one, with most booths working at the beginning of the event.

SAGE 2008 had a large guest lineup, including Christian Senn, Richard Wheeler, Howard Drossin, Richard Jacques, Jun Senoue, Lee Brotherton, Ryan Drummond, Mike Pollock, and Eric Iwasaki of ND Games. Events at SAGE 2008 included Shadowgoten & Duckboy's Opening Extravaganza, SAGE Idol, the SAGE Trivia Gameshow featuring Mike Pollock, DOM's Live Videogame Music Show, Dramatic Fanfic Readings with ANDROSS, and OCRemix Interview with Special ORMGAS\BEATDROP FM Combo block.

SAGE 14 (2009)

Sonic Amateur Games Expo 14's website.

SAGE 14 was held in 2009 from July 25 through July 31 and hosted by InstantSonic and Katzu Niku. It has been widely regarded as one of the best iterations of SAGE to date, bringing most, if not all Sonic fan communities together. It was geared more towards the fans and the fan games themselves rather than how many ratings each fan game received.

The website was designed and created by Katzu Niku, who also created and managed the event schedule and booths, and was responsible for obtaining the special guests of the event. InstantSonic directed the events, fan game booths and the SAGEcast. ROM hacks were also included as booths for the first time. A requirement for obtaining a spot in the SAGE booths section was that an individual must have a fan game to present. Even with this requirement, SAGE 14 featured 42 fan games/booths during the week-long exposition, the largest number at any SAGE event so far. SAGE 14 was extended for an additional unscheduled week. The IRC chat was moved to a channel called #sagexpoafterparty, allowing those who enjoyed SAGE to wind down and talk about what had occurred the week before.

Events

Monday

  • 12 AM - Sonic Amateur Games Expo 14 Begins!
  • 2 PM Eastern - CONTEST: Klik'n'Play RAGE competition begins!
  • 7 PM Eastern - SAGEcast: Welcome to SAGE 14! Introductions and Fan Game Discussion with InstantSonic and the SAGE Gang

Tuesday

  • 3 PM Eastern - Radio: Sonic Universe Radio
  • 8 PM Eastern - SAGEcast: Hunter and Brad Are Cool and You Aren't!
  • 10 PM Eastern - Radio: Free-For-All Radio

Wednesday

  • 3 PM Eastern - Radio: Sonic Universe Radio
  • 7 PM Eastern - SAGEcast: The Update Desk LOL - With Special Guest Tristan Oliver Bresnen
  • 10 PM Eastern - #sagexpo Chat: Mike Pollock, voice of Dr. Eggman
  • 11 PM Eastern - SAGEcast: The Marcus Hour with Marcus

Thursday

  • 12 AM Eastern - Radio: Free-For-All Radio
  • 2 PM Eastern - #sagexpo Chat: Spencer Nilsen, composer of Sonic CD US
  • 3 PM Eastern - Radio: Sonic Universe Radio
  • 9 PM Eastern - #sagexpo Chat: Tom Payne, Sonic 2 Zone Artist
  • 10 PM Eastern - SAGEcast: Skype Chat with the SAGE Gang

Friday

  • 2 AM Eastern - Radio: Free-For-All Radio
  • 2 PM Eastern - CONTEST: Klik'n'Play RAGE competition ends!
  • 12 AM Eastern - SAGEcast: DOM Cast: ANDROSS's Fanfiction Power Hour 9000

Saturday

  • 1 AM Eastern - Radio: Free-For-All Radio
  • 3 PM Eastern - #sagexpo Chat: SAGE Trivia with Endri!
  • 8 PM Eastern - SAGEcast: Sonic and the Death Cheese 2, Part 1 with InstantSonic
  • 8:30 PM Eastern - Radio: Free-For-All Radio

Sunday

  • 2 PM Eastern - SAGEcast: Sonic and the Death Cheese 2, Part 2 with InstantSonic
  • 2:30 PM Eastern - SAGEcast: Encore of Sonic and the Death Cheese 2 with InstantSonic
  • 8 PM Eastern - SAGEcast: Closing Comments with InstantSonic, Katzu Niku, and the SAGE Gang
  • 9 PM Eastern - Radio: Free-For-All Radio

Booths

The following booths, fan games, and hacks appeared at SAGE 14:

Really Amateur Games Expo

Really Amateur Games Expo 3's website.

Really Amateur Games Expo took place during SAGE 14 and was the third RAGE since it began in 2007. 2009's RAGE held a 5 day competition during SAGE which involved making the worse Sonic fan game possible with Klik and Play, although it was not required to enter a booth into the RAGE.

External Links

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