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Sonic Boom (event)

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For other uses of the term, see Sonic Boom.
The logo for Sonic Boom 2011

Sonic Boom was an annual community event run by Sega of America from 2011 to 2014. It was succeeded by the Sonic 25th Anniversary Party.

2011

The first Sonic Boom event, also known as Sonic Boom 2011, took place on June 8th, 2011 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California.[1] Celebrating Sonic's 20th anniversary, it was also considered by Sega to be part of their promotional efforts during E3 2011.[2] The event was announced on Sega of America's official blog on May 12th, 2011.[1] 500 "Early Bird passes" were made available immediately through Eventbrite,[3] which were all claimed after four hours.[4] Another 350 passes were made available on May 16th,[5] with additional passes distributed through fansites Sonic Retro,[6] Sonic Stadium,[7] and TSSZ News.[8] Additional passes were also given away through the gaming news site Gamespot.[9] All passes were free of charge.[1]

On the day of the event, the sidewalk outside of Club Nokia was covered in large decals of rings, creating a path leading to the entrance of the building.[10] Outside of the doors, two lines were formed - one for those who had tickets, and one for those who did not.[11] Those without a ticket could get in on a first come, first served basis, also depending on building capacity.[12] Directly outside the entrance was a "blue carpet" area, in which fans could pose in front of a Sonic Generations backdrop and have their picture taken.[10] Further photo opportunities for guests were available inside the club. A digital photo booth allowed anyone to take a snapshot and have it go live through the service Keshot.[13] Short video messages could also be recorded.[11] There were also cut-outs featuring Classic and Modern Sonic, in which guests could stand behind and have their faces appear within either hedgehog.[14]

Sonic Boom officially opened at 6:00 PM PST. Those who attended were given, upon entry, the following free gifts: a 20th anniversary t-shirt, a Sonic the Hedgehog hat in the shape of the character's spines, and a pair of Sonic Generations buttons featuring Classic and Modern Sonic.[15] Inside, nearly twenty kiosks loaded with a demo of Sonic Generations were available to attendees, allowing players to go through both acts of Green Hill.[15] Those attending were encouraged to take part in a time attack competition for the demo, which was hosted by Brad Flick.[16]

At some point after 7:00 PM, Aaron Webber took to the stage, welcoming everyone to Sonic Boom 2011 and thanking them for coming. The following then occurred on the main stage:[16]

  • Takashi Iizuka and Hiroshi Miyamoto greeted the crowd and hoped everyone there would enjoy Sonic Generations.
  • Iizuka also announced that the Generations demo available at the event would eventually go live on both Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, with Sega making an official announcement soon.
  • A thirty minute concert featuring Jun Senoue, Johnny Gioeli, and Alex Makhlouf.
  • Aaron Webber returned to the stage, letting people know that they could tweet about the event using the hashtag #SegaE3. These tweets were visible on a screen above the stage.
  • The winners of the Sonic's 19th Birthday Contest[17] performed an updated rendition of "Needlemouse: The Musical."
  • A cosplay competition, in which audience reaction helped decide the three winners - persons dressed as Sonic the Hedgehog, Blaze the Cat, and Charmy Bee.
  • Webber, Iizuka, Senoue, and Miyamoto were joined by Sonic Team alum Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara, as well as someone dressed in an official Sonic mascot costume, as a large Green Hill Zone-themed birthday cake was wheeled out.
  • The audience sang "Happy Birthday" to Sonic, then yelled "Happy Birthday, Sonic!" in unison. The latter would be featured in the ending credits of Sonic Generations.

Afterwards, each attendee was invited to get a free vanilla or chocolate cupcake, adorned with blue icing. Additional food and drink,[18] including alcoholic beverages,[19] were available during the entire event. Before ending, Svend Joscelyne and Adam Tuff of Sonic Stadium went on stage to speak briefly about the upcoming Summer of Sonic event in the United Kingdom. In the final moments, street artist Gregory presented a gift to Yuji Naka. Between stage events, the LA-based artist had been working on a Generations-inspired piece of art in front of the crowd.[20]

Club Nokia remained opened until 10:00 PM.[1] An estimated 2000 people attended the event.[4]

Song list

During Sonic Boom 2011, a thirty minute music performance took place. The concert initially featured Jun Senoue playing keyboards to a medley of Splash Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I as a prerecorded backing track played. The next track, entirety prerecorded, was of Green Hill Act 1 from Sonic Generations, which eventually segued into a live performance of the modern iteration of the song, with Jun now on guitar. Jun Senoue was joined by Crush 40 vocalist Johnny Gioeli, who performed on the next set of songs.

"Speak With Your Heart" was preceded by Johnny Gioeli introducing Alex Makhlouf, member of the EDM group Cash Cash, who then performed on the next three tracks as Gioeli stepped away. Gioeli returned to sing on a cover of "Sonic Boom," the only song in which all three musical guests were on stage at the same time.[16] The set list featured the world premiere of two tracks: "Super Sonic Racing - Cash Cash vs. Jun Senoue RMX," which would feature in Sonic Generations, and "Sonic Boom (Crush 40 vs. Cash Cash)," in which a studio version would be released on Sonic the Hedgehog CD Original Soundtrack 20th Anniversary Edition.

Song Game Composer(s) Arranger(s)
Splash Hill Zone medley Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I
Title Screen Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I
Green Hill: Act 1 Sonic Generations
Green Hill: Act 2 Sonic Generations
Open Your Heart Sonic Adventure
His World (Crush 40 Version) Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Sonic Heroes Sonic Heroes
What I'm Made of... Sonic Heroes
Free Sonic Free Riders
Speak With Your Heart Sonic Colours
Speed Highway: Act 1 "Run Through the Speed Highway - Cash Cash RMX" Sonic Generations
Super Sonic Racing - Cash Cash vs. Jun Senoue RMX Sonic Generations
Sonic Boom (Crush 40 vs. Cash Cash)
Live and Learn Sonic Adventure 2

Games featured

  • Sonic Generations

2012

2013

2014

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 http://blogs.sega.com/2011/05/12/play-sonic-generations-at-sonic-boom-our-first-sonic-community-event (Wayback Machine: 2011-08-17 23:30)
  2. ↑ http://blogs.sega.com/2011/06/03/segas-blockbuster-lineup-for-e3-2011/ (Wayback Machine: 2012-10-15 04:19)
  3. ↑ http://sonicboom.eventbrite.com:80/ (Wayback Machine: 2011-08-24 02:51)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.tssznews.com/2011/05/12/sega-announces-sonic-boom-1st-generations-public-demo (Wayback Machine: 2011-05-15 06:03)
  5. ↑ http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2011/05/16/350-more-sonic-boom-passes-up-for-grabs (Wayback Machine: 2011-05-19 20:21)
  6. ↑ http://www.sonicretro.org/2011/05/be-a-part-of-sonic-boom-the-first-u-s-community-event/ (Wayback Machine: 2011-06-17 13:07)
  7. ↑ http://www.sonicstadium.org/2011/05/be-a-part-of-sonic-boom-the-first-u-s-community-event/ (Wayback Machine: 2011-05-16 19:50)
  8. ↑ http://www.tssznews.com/2011/05/18/win-a-ticket-to-the-los-angeles-sonic-boom-event/ (Wayback Machine: 2011-05-21 02:32)
  9. ↑ http://blogs.sega.com/2011/05/12/sonic-boom-update-1-qa-100-gamespot-passes/ (Wayback Machine: 2012-08-08 07:50)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 http://www.tssznews.com/2011/06/08/first-pictures-from-outside-sonic-boom/ (Wayback Machine: 2011-07-03 16:39)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 http://blogs.sega.com/2011/06/02/sonic-boom-2011-follow-the-signs/ (Wayback Machine: 2012-08-08 07:53)
  12. ↑ http://www.tssznews.com/2011/06/02/sega-releases-more-details-on-sonic-boom/ (Wayback Machine: 2011-06-06 16:29)
  13. ↑ http://blogs.sega.com/2011/06/14/the-best-of-the-sonic-boom-photo-booth/ (Wayback Machine: 2011-12-31 13:26)
  14. ↑ http://www.tssznews.com/2011/06/10/sonic-boom-a-final-photo-gallery/comment-page-1/ (Wayback Machine: 2015-07-26 20:42)
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 https://www.sonicstadium.org/2011/06/sonic-boom-behind-the-scenes/ (Wayback Machine: 2011-06-18 13:49)
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGDZjPKRRkI (Wayback Machine: 2023-05-15 17:57)
  17. ↑ http://www.sonicthehedgehog4.com/contest/ (Wayback Machine: 2010-10-24 20:41)
  18. ↑ http://blogs.sega.com/2011/06/03/segae3-sonic-boom-food/ (Wayback Machine: 2011-08-29 19:21)
  19. ↑ http://blogs.sega.com/2011/06/08/segae3-sonic-boom-is-tonight/ (Wayback Machine: 2011-08-16 16:57)
  20. ↑ http://blogs.sega.com/2011/06/09/segae3-sonic-boom-was-a-blast (Wayback Machine: 2012-01-27 14:53)
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