Chances are this one'll span a few nights writing to get all the dates right, but I'm sure I'll be happy with the result. And I hope you will be too.
So without further ado, here's my story.
Prologue
First released back in 1991, the Sonic franchise has been going strong for 19 years now. Since then there have been numerous titles in the timeline, spanning countless consoles, earning a spot in the Top 20 best selling video game franchises of all time, not to mention one of the first spaces in the Walk of Game. Who knew that a new mascot for SEGA would create such success?
Many people will realize by now that I am indeed a Sonic fan, but on a scale of 1 to 10 of fandom, I'd probably just give myself a 5 at the moment. Today I'm going to go back in time and see how parts of my previous years have seemingly slotted together without knowing.
Chapter 1 - Unconcious Beginnings
It's amazing, actually; thinking back several years I think the first ever time I played the original Sonic the Hedgehog game (albeit on a PC) was back during my early or pre-primary school years (around 1995-1998, age 3-6). It didn't even register at the time that that speedy blue hedgehog would be taking up a permanent part of my memory in a dozen years. The family restaurant in question was along the highway that goes past the shopping center, the exact address is 266 SH1 (According to sources, it was either called "Big Tex" or "Swings and Roundabouts"). I remember a few computers in the room at the time, I believe one had "Earthworm Jim" on it and the other had a rugby (or was it soccer?) game with an unkown title. I can also distinctly remember that I couldn't even get past a spiked section of Act 3 of Green Hill Zone, the games' first stage; but I sometimes have flashbacks about the time that I rushed into the other kid's room to brag about the fact that I just managed to "jump into the big ring at the end", and now I realise that isn't really what you would call an acheivement. Hey, I was a young kid after all! Just getting the basic controls working would've been an accomplishment in itself! The restaurant has long been closed now, and whenever I see the now vandalised building when I go past by train or car, I still wonder if that computer is still in there, waiting to be played again. It wasn't for another 5 years that I saw Sonic again, almost by accident.
Chapter 2 - The Unknown Straggler
Ever since primary school I wanted a GameBoy. Everyone (and I mean that relatively, of course) at school had one and was playing some version of Pokemon on it. Then came the trading card game, followed by Yu-Gi-Oh in the early 2000s, quickly to be accompanied by Beyblade a year later before that died down. Our school was a card-driven school. The japanese revolution had begun, and I was always a trailing spectator. The handheld desire continued throughout the years, only to be solved in 2006 (I'll get to that later).
During the brief Beyblade stint in our school back in 2002-ish, I was watching the usual suspects play all through lunchtime, and from my recollections someone playing asked if anyone had a spare long ripcord at home that they could bring the next day. Silence followed, but in some sort of black-and-white flashback I remembered that I had one of those Happy Meal toys from McDonalds at home in a box, and by chance it had one of those 'cord things' that looked similar to what the other guys were using.
"I might have one..." I stammered. I can probably imagine that they all looked at me a little funny, since I didn't have a beyblade of my own, how would I have my own ripcord? But they accepted and I brought the cord (and the toy it came with) the next day to see if it would fit.
It didn't, but my mate asked what the toy that it came with it was. I brought it out, and unbeknownst to me (and everyone else at the time), the charcter on the top was Miles "Tails" Prower.
Chapter 3 - An Unobtainable Start
Fast forward to the Nintendo GameCube launch in New Zealand in 2002 (Thank goodness for Wikipedia for all these dates!). One thing I can remember before the time of launch was a promotion happening as part of a brand of yoghurt, Calci-Yum, and that a lady's voice (possibly that lady from the original series of Mucking In, Ginnette McDonald (Thanks Wikipedia!); whatever happened to her?) was announcing a competition to "win a Nintendo GameCube before they hit the shops!". I can remember playing Mario Kart 64 around the same time, at some relative/family friend's house somewhere (gosh this post is so vague!). Around the same time as the launch of the new system SEGA rolled out a new port of their latest game - Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (Thanks to Wikipedia again). This now overlaps with a previous post I made about learning that the PlayStation wasn't alone... ring any bells? So long story short, I was probably in with some birthday money or something and looking to spend it on a PlayStation game or similar (I got the original PS1 sometime around 1998-2000), and I find myself casually looking around the other shelves at everything else on display and so I find this particular game. I couldn't help but notice something familiar about the character on the lower left. I don't know whether it was due to remembering what happened 5 years earlier, or whether I thought this "blue guy" was cool. I could also go off on a tangent and say it was 'destiny', but to be honest that sounds a little too...enh. So after giving the emtire title a good look on both sides for a few minutes, I leave The Warehouse and go home empty handed.
Chapter 4 - The Experience Begins
Another year goes by and SEGA releases Sonic Heroes, in part a spiritual sucsessor to Sonic Adventure 2, and to expand the fan base, they decide that this new game will span all platforms, including the PS2 (which I got for christmas 2003-2004). Meanwhile I'm on a South Island excursion with my family around the North half for two weeks during school in 2004. We've stopped in Westport for the night in our rented campervan and instead of continuing our 'Rummikub Championship' that lasted the whole holiday, Dad had 'secretly borrowed' some kids magazines for me and my sisters. In the back section they listed a few codes and unlcokables for a handful of games across all platforms, it's presumably a regular feature. One of those games was, you guessed it, Sonic Heroes (quite interesting actually, they listed the platform as "PS2", but the buttons being descibed involved A, B, X and Y; the GameCube's buttons). I didn't take much notice at the time, but read the whole magazine from cover to cover several times, and brought it home. I still have the magazine today. During the following year my Mum and I are walking through North City in Porirua, and one of the 'just browsing' stops is the EB Games store (it's not there anymore, it's moved to Coastlands up here). As usual they're having a sale, and Mum goes through the PS2 bins. As any child/teen gamer knows getting parents to purchase games for you isn't always the best idea, but since my Mum knows where the line gets drawn it's all okay. I was brought up on G's and the occasional PG at the time anyway, which is probably why I steer clear of the shooting genre of games today.
She comes out with two options: Kingdom Hearts, or... again, you guessed it, Sonic Heroes. Now comes a life-changing desicion. Let's consider the other possible outcome quickly.
If I had chosen the Square Enix/Disney route I would probably be more into Action/RPGs now. I don't mind them today, but it's usually the complex gameplay rules and modifiers that steer me away. Mind you, there was a Sonic RPG that was put on the market for the NDS, but we'll cover that in a later chapter.
I had only seen Kingdom Hearts in action before. I didn't think anyone else would've had Sonic Heroes at the time, so it was a choice. Guaranteed familiarity, or sub-conciously familiar? The answer is rather obvious, and on my birthday in 2005, I stuck it into my PS2 for the first time. And the time it takes to fully complete is so substantial, I'm still playing it to this day (94/120 emblems and 2/7 emeralds, guys!). The disc is so treasured now, it's even had to go through a scratch repair last year because I still wanted to play it.
Chapter 5 - A Secret Following
It was only a matter of time before I became resonably familiar with the Sonic universe, and a little while later (or was it earlier?), our family is in the local Salvation Army family store on the main road, and as usual my Mum and sisters are sorting through the assorted odds and ends, and by absolute pure (and maybe slightly quirky) chance I find a book (albeit written for 10-12 year olds, but I wasn't too far off that) containing the back story (and plot overlap of the first game) of Sonic. I mean, how could you describe that luck? It was fully intact and everything, so with my fandom possibly at stake, I took it with me (for less than a dollar). But this began my secretive phase. I thought that noone would care about me liking this franchise, so for the next few years I kept it to myself. A year or so later I lost the book due to packing so many things away for the renovation in July 2006, but at the time I was too busy in Rotorua having a vacation while the houses' walls were being knocked in. We came back to find the house in an unlivable condition, so to remedy this we stayed in my Grandma's house in Mana for a few months, and commuted to school by car (and I took the train on late start Wednesdays). It was nice taking the train - I got to meet all the friends I had at school that came from Whitby, and it was almost like being part of a new community. The desire for a handheld console was still ongoing, and ever since Sony released their PSP in September 2005, it made the decision even harder. Since it would be unfair to choose based on cost (I couldn't afford either at the time anyway), I decided that I would be happy with whatever console I won first. Coincidentally, a kids TV show called Studio 2 was offering a PSP bundle to 4 kids that could crack a fictional mystery, with clues spanning the entire fortnight. My first attempt was way off, mainly due to me coming in halfway through the fortnight, but after half an hour to an hour of sitting at a computer screen, all the clues finally fitted into place, and I had the entire story in the background mapped out. When I was submitting my answer, I made sure to include everything (It's a personal writing habit of mine) I knew about the suspects. Then came the prize draw in late July/early August. We were watching the TV in my bedroom while I helped Grandma and my sister me the bed. The first three winners' answers were rather minimalistic, and I was wondering whether my answer was too long to be printed on screen. But then came the fourth winner, and I felt hope was lost as the images cycled. But then the last person was me! At the time it felt like the entire mood of the whole house had been lifted substantially, and constant "That's me/you! That's me/you!"s were heard in the bedrooom. At then came the reveal of my answer, and it took up so much room they had to show it in two parts! Boy, I was happy. I rushed downstairs to tell Dad in the Lounge below, but he wasn't as happy as me!
I received the pack about a week or so before my birthday, plus it gave the perfect present opportunity to my family, and they got me a carry case for my PSP stuff.
You're probably wondering, "What's all this about a PSP got to do with the fandom story?". This story, not so much, but I like telling the story of how I got my PSP.
This ended the handheld debate, but unkown to me at the time, I had got the wrong one. I had gone Sony my whole life, but the direction SEGA was taking was that games would be released mainly on Nintendo's consoles. I had lost out again. Or had I?
Chapter 6 - Knowing Someone Else
The stream of Sonic games on the PS2 continued slowly, the next one I purchased myself was Sonic Riders sometime around 2006-2007. It was a partially untouched genre, almost like a skateboarding (actually hoverboarding)/racing crossover. I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed this new style of gameplay and ultimately enjoyed the game, no matter what the other fans out there think. Needless to say I was excited about the sequel coming out in 2008, and bought that as well, but all that time I was looking for some more people at college that even knew Sonic let alone would admit it, and apart from my primary school friend Luke who was at a different college, I didn't know anyone else that went to my college. Until the Year 8 Open Day that year. It was the end of Term 2, and all the prospective Year 8s had come in droves through our gates, seen all the stuff you wont get to play with if you come to the college, and left. Our form room was a biology room, so for the duration of the Open Days it had been transofrmed into a Science magic museum, full of optical illusions and Science toys. Since it was the last day our form teacher let us use the Van de Graaf generator, and as usual everyone else wanted everyone else to have a go. Luckily I was exempt since I had short hair, so after a few girls comprimised their good hair days, it was another girls turn, Roseanna. Rosa for short. Along with her friend Shannan us three had made a presentation back in 2006 showcasing how everyone in the form class would look if they were a Japanese cartoon. I got to know her better that year, since she took the train to school, and so did I for a month or so.
So she was on the machine and Mrs. Mathie (now Ms. King) was waving some sort of magical orb on a stick, and after a few minutes Rosa looked at herself in a mirror that was set up, and she exclaimed, "I look like Sonic the Hedgehog!". I could have fainted then.
Chapter 7 - Connection
Later that year I picked up Sonic Rivals 2 for the PSP from another friend of mine for my birthday, he couldn't really keep it a surprise to me (or anyone else standing in the hallway at the time, remember I was still in my secretive phase), but I accepted it and put it in my school bag.
As per most other mornings I met up with the crowd I was with, and as typical Nick Jebson fashion, he proudly announced that I was legal when I told him that I was 16 that day.
Luckily the subject was changed quickly to what kind of presents I got. After rattling the list off (excluding the things I didn't want to mention), possibly twice, I had to open my bag (for a currently unknown reason, I think I was revising for a test or answering a text message on my phone, which I keep on silent in the front pocket), and Rosa noticed the game and asked what it was.
Partially shy, I took it out and handed it around and mentioned it was a present from Dylan. Most of the others didn't recognise it, except for Rosa who joyfully piped, "Hey, it's Sonic!". It was a happy day, like any other birthday. I'm not a social expert, but there may have been a connection made that day.
Chapter 8 - Today's Admittance
It took me several months to pluck up the courage to ask (albeit in partial Japanese code) if she could draw a picture with me, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles in it; it was kind of like a goal/motivational picture for my journey into working at SEGA. Rosa left for Japan in December due to winning a scholarship to study at a High School over there for the whole year. I haven't received the picture yet, but like I stated on the message, it didn't have to be done. It was just a casual enquiry. I'm sure she hasn't forgotten.
Rosa arrived back around Christmas time, so now I'm trying to email her ask how she is, I haven't seen her at all for a year. But in the meantime I've continued playing.
In January 2009 I went to the Rotary Science Forum in Auckland. Rather unfortunately, homesickness set in during the social, and that was where I met Jenny. We talked a little and after a while we got on to the subject of obsessions, and a little red flag went up. There's a chance to make a new friend, and still in the secretive phase, I think I made the situation worse by getting her to guess what it was. I wasn't thinking straight then. The forum ended, we kept in touch, and after a dozen clues she got it. The words of advice given were to embrace the hobby, and to be proud of it. Thus began the acceptance phase, which is why I'm writing this story, and why you can read it.
Epilogue - So Now You Know...
I must say that over the last 10 years there has been a radical change over the way I've looked at this subject. Previously I would change the subject, look at something else, or just generally avoid it, mainly due to the fear of not being 'worthy enough'. They say not to meet your heroes. I tried to follow this in the past; I didn't know what over exposure would do.
Now I'm not terribly embarrassed to say that I like the Sonic series of games, although I don't go telling everyone. I guess in a way I've celebrated being a fan by making that pack of cards I made a while ago, or having the courage to ask if that picture could be drawn. Next step is to find some of those red shoes...
Although I'll admit I'm not too willing to share my secret... over Winter last year we stayed in a lodge up in National Park. On the way checking out I found a Sonic X toy in a chest under the living room couch. I thought about taking it, but realised that wouldn't be right; so I just sighed and put it back. Although I'm hoping to watch all 70+ episodes sometime... hopefully by now I should've started.
It's changed my attitude, too. I guess some traits of mine have been inspired/constructed by some of the characters from the series: loyalty, endurance, swiftness, compassion, playfulness, timidity... it could probably explain half of what makes up my behaviour.
It's a Sonic following - now can you see why my username is sontaiknu (try interpreting it as son tai knu)? Or why the blog logo contains blue, yellow and red? It's not like creating fan fiction or artwork, because I can't do that. But it's like being a fan from a different angle... right?
Oh, and that book that got lost amongst the boxes? I found it again a few years ago. The box of books were originally going to be sold, but it's found its way back to my bookshelf, and I'll hang onto it for as long as I can.
Gaming franchises wont last forever, but I'm sure that every adult nowadays has something they admired when they were a kid, so I'll hold onto this story too. Hence why I'm publishing it on the net, so others can read it and (hopefully) relate in some way. That or I'll look like a complete loser.
But for now, this is me, saying, "Hey world! I like Sonic the Hedgehog!"
Bonus Content
Here is a link to the font seen earlier, plus a comic strip that I found a while back that I quite like.
2 comments:
its good to have something that you absolutely enjoy, even if others dont understand it completely.
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