Previously scheduled to release in July 2022, Bitmap Books have sadly had to cancel the release of their The Unofficial MD/Gen: A Visual Compendium book after SEGA have threatened the publisher with legal action.
Creative director Sam Dyer has issued a statement that says the company cannot risk potential legal action by releasing the book as the company cannot afford the costs as a small business. SEGA are reportedly not negotiating with the company despite them previously giving Bitmap Books their official stamp of approval for their Master System: A Visual Compendium book from 2019.
The move is a strange one from SEGA who have largely ignored unofficial publications based on their intellectual properties in the past. Dedicated SEGA fanzines like SEGA Powered continue to see publication without SEGA’s approval alongside Hardcore Gaming 101’s excellent SEGA Arcade Classics books.
Bitmap Books are looking for a way to release the PDF of the completed book for free so fingers crossed all the work done for The Unofficial MD/Gen: A Visual Compendium book doesn’t go to waste. This entire situation is a massive loss for video game preservation as history books like these become important archival documents for generations to come. SEGADriven send our condolences to Bitmap Books and the plethora of writers involved in this now cancelled publication.
The team at SEGA Powered magazine are putting together a special 2022 annual in celebration of the publication’s first anniversary.
SEGA Powered is an independent SEGA fanzine that features Dean Mortlock of SEGA Power fame as editor. The team have published 7 issues so far and this new annual will compile some of their best features with some additional new content.
The Kickstarter for the annual has 13 days left and is currently at £2066 funded. The goal to make the annual a reality is £5000.
If you’re interested you can head to the project’s Kickstarter page and look at he various tiers to see what suits you best. The annual is being offered as both a digital release and a physical hardback book.
ASRock (in collaboration with SEGA) are developing a Sonic the Hedgehog-branded PC motherboard. The board is based on the Intel Z790 Phantom Gaming Riptide motherboard, but features Sonic the Hedgehog artwork and logos adorning it alongside a change of colour.
The board is called the ASRock Z790 PG Sonic. It is a standard ATX motherboard with 2 PCIe x16 slots and 4 DDR5 memory slots. There is currently no word on when it will be sold and whether it is a limited edition product or not. It’ll be worth keeping an eye on ASRock’s website for further information.
We’ve been busy beavering away with a whole host of new additions in the Merchandise sections on the website. See the list below for the full list of additions as well as direct links to each new entry:
SEGA have revealed the home video release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will feature a brand new animated short film voiced by Ben Schwartz that will follow the events directly after the movie.
Alongside the reveal of the new animated short film, a whole host of additional content has been revealed. The blu-ray and digital release of the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie will feature deleted scenes, bloopers, behind-the-scenes content and some additional featurettes called Rapid Fire Responses, Robotnik Reimagined, Finding Your Team, A Sibling For Sonic: Tails and The Powerful Puncher: Knuckles.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will release on blu-ray and digital on August 9th 2022.
We also have a couple of new Clothing additions. These come in the form of a Sonic the Hedgehog necktie sold in the UK in the early 1990s and a SEGA World baseball cap that was originally sold via the London SEGA World venue’s gift shop. Click here to view the Clothing section.
Today on our YouTube channel we have a very special guest review from friend of the website Alan Williamson. Alan has put together a wonderful, detailed review of the new Sonic the Hedgehog LEGO Ideas set and goes through the build in detail. Check it out via the embed below:
Like what you saw? Subscribe the SEGADriven YouTube channel and never miss a single video as it arrives direct on your YouTube subscription feed as soon as a new video drops.
Video game book publisher Bitmap Books is back with another entry in their ‘Visual Compendium’ series with the release of Mega Drive/Genesis: A Visual Compendium on the 1st of July 2022. This follows on from the publisher’s 2019 book SEGA Master System: A Visual Compendium which was officially licensed by SEGA. Interestingly, Mega Drive/Genesis: A Visual Compendium is not officially licensed by SEGA.
Mega Drive/Genesis: A Visual Compendium will feature articles on 250 games released for the Mega Drive as well as select 32X and Mega-CD games. The book will feature a foreward by former SEGA America CEO Tom Kalinske alongside interviews with Ryuichi Nishizawa of Wonder Boy fame, Lode Coen from Digital Pictures, Tom Kalinske, Randy Breen of Road Rash fame and David Perry of Earthworm Jim fame. The book will also feature contributions from Ed Annunziata, Mike Diver, Kurt Kalata, Hideo Kojima, Yuzo Koshiro, Henk Nieborg, Naoto Ohshima, Ken Sugimori, Yu Suzuki, Tony Takoushi and many more. The book is close to 600 pages long.
Orders will open for Mega Drive/Genesis: A Visual Compendium on the 1st of July 2022. Click here to be taken to the book listing on the Bitmap Books online store. If you’re interested in this latest publication from Bitmap Books, head on over to our review of SEGA Master System: A Visual Compendium from July 2019 for a good idea of what to expect with this book.
A new Sonic Adventure 2-themed statue of both Sonic and Shadow is being produced by the company S-Fire. Long time Sonic series artist Kazuyuki Hoshino is also heavily hinting that he is supervising the project and we can certainly see his influence on the statue. The attention to detail is phenomenal with Sonic even sporting his iconic SA2 Soap shoes. Check out some more images of the statue below:
The SA2 Sonic & Shadow statue by S-Fire has no scheduled release date at this time. Keep an eye on the S-Fire website for further updates.
SEGADriven and its original content are copyrighted to their respective authors. Media related directly to SEGA is copyrighted to its respective authors. Any comments on SEGA-related materials do not represent SEGA themselves. All rights reserved 2008-2022.