I have to say that I really enjoyed the trip to Seattle. We had nice weather, met cool people, got to eat great food – and, on Sunday morning, we were treated to some awesome (and free) doughnuts!

Here are the last pictures from Day 3 of PAX – and our last day in Seattle!

The morning started off with free ‘hand-forged’ doughnuts, courtesy of SEGA mod S-T-H. Thanks again S-T-H!

The crowds for Bayonetta continued to grow, especially when people saw the finisher moves on the top screens.

SEGA Trivia begins! We had a massive crowd drop by for our trivia contest, and a number of hardcore SEGA fans who battled it out for first place.

The winners! Congrats to all of the fans who scored themselves free rappies, wristbands, stickers, and the NiGHTS PaPetch figurine, which went to first place.

This Shadow fan came by the booth – and made sure to pull down her hat a bit for extra style points in the pic.

Valkyria Chronicles Trivia winners! The winner, on the right, scored himself a Valkyria Figurine, a limited edition artbook, and a special Grenade that was given away only at the original Valkyria pre-launch event!

We saw this guy the first day and found that he’d come all the way from the UK (he was even at Summer of Sonic!) down to check out the show. On Sunday he was back, and this time rocking some Portal cosplay – quite a triumph.

We left during late afternoon to head to the airport and get through security a little early, just in case of a rush. (It being Labor Day weekend and all.) Security wasn’t too bad when we arrived, and once in we swung by Bigfoot’s Restaurant to get some dinner. I got the Monster Dog, and Clumsy grabbed a classic all-American Hamburger.

My new tradition: have cheesecake at least once on every trip! After NY and Toronto, I added Seattle to the list of places I’ve tried delicious cheesecake at. I’m really thinking this is a tradition more people should get into.

We hopped our evening flight and got back into San Francisco near 10 PM. Thankfully, the next day was Labor Day, so we got a bit of time to recover before coming back in to work bright and early this morning.

Our thanks go out once more to all the cosplayers and the fans who came out to see us at the show! Enjoy the swag, guys – you earned it! The full list of pictures can be found here on Flickr.

So then, I guess we’ll go ahead and announce the next big show we’ll have SOA presence at: Later this month, check back here for even more SEGA community blogs from one of biggest gaming shows in Japan – The Tokyo Game Show!

Until next time – I need to start catching up on my Japanese!

I have to admit that I really like Seattle. The scenery is beautiful, the city is nice, and it’s nowhere near as polluted as that one other city I once lived in for a summer – Seattle really is a very cool place.

It was raining this morning, but was mostly light and we hopped in the car to drive over and start getting ready for the Alpha Protocol sessions. I left from there to move over to the SEGA Booth at the convention, where I’d be stationed and taking pictures for the rest of the day. That said – let’s get to it!

Crowds gather quickly around Bayonetta as Matsumoto (left) passes out special postcards.

I talked SEGA with this Destructoid community member for a good 20 minutes – his name tag is also pretty funny, you can see it in more detail here.

More Bleach cosplay! Ikkaku dropped by to hang with Kon and the gang at the SEGA booth!

I’ll be impressed if you recognize this one quickly. Any ideas? (The Shadow plushie is a hint.) This girl is actually cosplaying Maria, first shown in Sonic Adventure 2!

4:30 PM meant one thing only – Phantasy Star Trivia! The guys went head to head, and Jonathan (on the left) emerged the victor! Both went home with free swag, and Jonathan scored a PSU Figurine!

I spotted this Sonic fan passing by the booth, and had to grab a picture – these hats (Sonic, at least) were really hard to find last week in Toronto!

More Bayonetta! The stations stayed completely full for the entire day – a testament to the fact that the people at PAX are definitely true gamers. We had a number of people echo sentiments from last week’s Fan Expo, specifically saying that they thought Bayonetta beat God of War 3 in every way!

A look at part of Bayonetta’s costume. A hardcore fan who actually knows about the character she’s cosplaying just makes me happy. She also did an excellent job disappointing passerby who thought she was just a dumb booth babe they could flirt with, and whose favorite game would be “pong”. We’ll be doing a special interview with her soon to talk about how she made the costume and inspiration behind her passion!

The Phantasy Star guys chat it up and talk PSU, PSP, updates, and more. Also, we heard you like Rappies.

A group of Alpha Protocol fans who scored themselves some free T-shirts. We asked if we could just grab a picture of them holding the shirts, but they all wanted to put them on instead. No arguments there!

As the hours passed and the show was about to end, we all got together for a group shot. I’d like to give special thanks to all the cosplayers here – once again, awesome job! Oh, and keep your eyes peeled tomorrow for a special video of Kon riding a mechanical bull. It’s just as awesome as it sounds, I promise.

For the full set of today’s pictures, including more pictures from Bayonetta’s fan costume, check out our Flickr set, here!

We’ll be flying back to San Francisco tomorrow – but that still leaves one last day for pictures, meet-ups, and trivia! Speaking of Trivia, Valkyria Chronicles Trivia is tomorrow at 11:00 AM, and General SEGA Trivia starts at noon. Good luck to all those competing for the rare swag we’ve brought along!

More pics, news, blogs, and one super-awesome video coming tomorrow!

Hello Seattle! Yesterday Clumsy and I flew in from San Francisco to start setting up for the start of PAX – and today, when the floodgates finally opened, things got busy – but awesome.

Just inside the main entrance, before the event started.

I should preface this by saying that this was actually my first visit to PAX. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but overall everyone seems really nice and you can totally feel the gamer vibe here, as opposed to some Comic-cons, which are more of a hybrid and mix with the comics and movies. Still, a gamer vibe was awesome news in my book – it meant lots more SEGA fans to chat with, and some sweet cosplayers who came by our booth to help promote some of our games!

This Bayonetta fan knows her stuff. From the costume to the guns to the inscriptions on the barrels – she did it all from scratch!

Nice! A HUmarl (one of the new classes) from November’s Phantasy Star Zero!

Rappies! The guys on the left and the right I originally met last weekend in Toronto – and they came to the SEGA booth today proudly wearing those Rappies I gave them on their shoulders!

Two of our cosplayers for Bleach: The 3rd Phantom! Kon was huge and managed to singlehandedly stop traffic in multiple directions at once. Here, he’s being interviewed about his thoughts on this one guy named Ichigo…

This guy wins the epic shirt of the day award. Sonic 2 is a personal favorite, so I had to get a pic.

Oh snap! The Donnie Darko bunny was walking around, and I got a creepy-but-still-totally-awesome shot with him. (It?)

Two more of our Bleach cosplayers!

One guy we talked to actually brought in his import copy of Phantasy Star Zero. The proof is here in the pic!

Hello, Destructoid! I recognized the robot head and swung over for a picture. There are also a lot of serious Valkyria Chronicles supporters in the D-toid community, which is awesome in its own right.

Two more Phantasy Star fans – the guy in the Dreamcast shirt also gets special props, with the 10 year anniversary just around the corner!

The guy on the left here came all the way over from the UK – and is rocking a SEGA lanyard! (He was actually at Summer of Sonic, for all you readers across the pond.) On the right is another big Phantasy Star fan and a friend of Clumsy and I, though we aren’t revealing who he is just yet!

Ruby + the Mega 64 team! I love the videos these guys  do – especially the Shenmue and Feel the Magic ones. Seriously, check them out if you haven’t already: they’re awesome.

Sonic plushies and hats are also here at the show – rumor has it there was a girl dressed up as Maria (From SA2) walking around somewhere, too. I’ll keep an eye out tomorrow!

A good end to a long day. Cheers!

We’ll have more pics and stories from the show tomorrow here on the blogs – until then, it’s getting late and I’m off to get some sleep. You can also find the full set of pictures here on our Flickr page.

Until tomorrow!

SEGA is headed to the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle this week! Featured at the show is the community team, swag, and a few of our favorite games are going to be on display at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo, starting Sept 4th, 5th, and ending on the 6th. This is your chance to meet our team, get some hands on time with our games, and pick up some special Swag!

We have a few community projects in store for Sega fans, including some ways to pick up some Sega swag and even play Alpha Protocol in a special offsite event.

Play upcoming SEGA Games at the Expo

At the Expo we’ll have some of our upcoming SEGA games fully playable for you to enjoy! Bayonetta, Phantasy Star Zero, Sands of Destruction, and BLEACH: The Third Phantom are all fully playable from the show floor! If you missed these games at Comic-con or have been dying to get your hands on them, this is your chance.

SEGA, Phantasy Star, and Valkyria Trivia!

We’ll be hosting three unique Trivia contests at the expo – one for general SEGA knowledge, one for the Phantasy Star fans, and one in celebration of our awesome dedicated Valkyria Chronicles community! The winners will all go home with rare swag specially selected for their trivia contest! We’re having different trivia per day, so be sure to head on over for the Trivia session you have the most knowledge of:

Friday: Valkyria Chronicles Trivia – 3pm – 4pm
Saturday: Phantasy Star Trivia – 3pm – 4pm
Sunday: SEGA Trivia - 12pm – 1pm

Play Alpha Protocol & Meet Obsidian Entertainment!

In addition to the excellent games on the floor, we are giving Sega fans a unique chance to play a game we are all very excited about, Alpha Protocol! In a secret offsite location, we’ll have several stations set up throughout the 4th and 5th to provide you with an extended play session of the game, give you some time with Obsidian Entertainment, and some Alpha Protocol Swag.

Meet your hander, Ruby Eclipse…

To secure your spot at our Alpha Protocol community event, you’ll need to first find your handler. Stationed at the SEGA Booth with PAX, blending in with the crowd, you will find Ruby Eclipse (pictured above in casual Sega attire) who is waiting for a very specific phrase to confirm your identity as a Sega community member. Your job, should you choose to accept it, will be to find Ruby and tell him the following phrase:

“The Adirondacks are beautiful this time of year.”

If successful, his response will be:

“Yes, but the Alps are lovely all year long.”

Once confirmed you’ll be given the details of the event and put on the list for attendance and given an Alpha Protocol T-Shirt (while supplies last).

We’ll have multiple play sessions available on both Friday and Saturday, so don’t delay – find Ruby, make the handshake, confirm your spot, and play Alpha Protocol before anyone else.

Cosplay SEGA Style!

Just like San Diego and New York, we’ll be posting times for Meet and Greets at the SEGA booth, where you’ll be able to say hi in person, chat about your favorite SEGA games, and talk / ask about anything else SEGA-related you want. (Yes, even Shenmue.) Anyone who shows up to one of our Meet and Greets in costume as a SEGA Character will be going home with something extra special! Bonus swag will also be given out to anyone who cosplays Valkyria Chronicles, Phantasy Star, Bayonetta, Sands of Destruction, or Sonic the Hedgehog!

Bayonetta Score Attack

We’re giving out GAMER T-Shirts (while supplies last) for players who can beat our set score for top halos earned in our demo after beating the first boss. Simply head to the booth at the designated times and check in with Ruby Eclipse, if you can grab best our score, you’ll instantly win a T-Shirt. Here are the rules & times:

Friday: 10am – 12pm & 1pm – 3pm
Saturday: 10am -12pm & 1pm – 3pm
Sunday: 11am to 1pm

1. Check in with Ruby before you start playing the Bayonetta Demo
2. Play the demo until you beat the first boss – he’s the first big guy, you’ll know him when you see him.
3. If you’ve achieved our top score or higher, raise your controller and Ruby will confirm the score and pass you a shirt.
4. If you didn’t hit the score, you can enter again, but you’ll need to head back to step 1 to check in again and give someone else a shot at the demo.

See You at the Show!

We’re really excited to head out to Seattle and see everyone at PAX. We’ve got a lot to do for SEGA fans, so don’t delay in getting out to our booth, heading to one of our Alpha Protocol events, and picking up some sweet swag.

As of this morning, I have been ‘officially’ welcomed to Canada. This ritual requires a little something called a Double Double and a Maple doughnut (with filling) from Tim Horton’s – and they were both quite awesome. So first up, special thanks to the segashiro guys once again for bringing in those for me – that was seriously my entire lunch, and a very tasty one! So, check this out. Apparently the line to get in today was absolute chaos – due in no small part to a low amount of volunteers guiding people around. I managed to get a few pictures of the madness, and keep in mind this is at about 11 AM – a whole hour after the show had already started! That line winds alllllll the way around the room, and was just the line to get to the building the con was in! Once you got to that building, there was another line that was about a 30 minute wait just to get inside! Thankfully, once in the first time you could get a stamp that would let you in much faster – but still, talk about one heck of a line, right? I think this picture speaks for itself. (Yes, that is a real tattoo.) For reference: SEGA Tattoo = instant swag if you find me at a show.  Next, I had a cool chat with some guys about the future of Phantasy Star and SEGA, and hooked them up with some Rappies once one of them mentioned that he used to skip school just to go play the old Phantasy Star games on Genesis. Does anyone else give you free swag for skipping school? I think not!

Rappies!

Right behind our booth is an awesome import store with all sorts of classic games and systems. With the anniversary of the Dreamcast coming up, I thought this shot was quite appropriate – note the SEGA Saturn on the right too!

So many classics! I own at least nine of these DC games, and they’re pretty much all awesome.

At 4:00 PM, we started our SEGA Trivia! The turnout was much bigger than I expected, and ended up filling a huge part of our booth – when all was said and done, we gave everyone who entered a free SEGA sticker and other free stuff for joining! Here’s the group shot, with the winners below it: Me: On three…. one, two, three! Them: “SEEEEEGAAAAAAAA!” Our SEGA Trivia winners! (First to third, starting on the left) After the SEGA Trivia was over, we spread the love to a fantastic SEGA game known as Valkyria Chronicles! All three of our winners scored themselves a limited edition Valkyria Artbook, and everyone else who entered also got some free stuff to take back with them: The VC Trivia winners – First place in the middle, second on the left, and third on the right. On the way up to do some podcast recording, I ran across two guys with some Knuckles and Shadow hats – as it turns out, they had plushies to match:

Eyyyyy!

I sat down with the guys below to record a podcast and talk about SEGA, our games at the show, and the growing importance of community for both SEGA and the games industry as a whole. They had a Coke waiting for me when I arrived, so what better way to say thank you than… Moar rappies! As the evening began, I noticed one guy who had shown up at the booth at least three different times over the last day. He told me he was trying to beat his own personal record on the Megaton score for Bayonetta’s Climax attacks – and then he proceeded to rock a 750! (For those who haven’t played, you button mash X as fast as you can to get a high megaton score. Most people have trouble just getting 500!) I took a picture of him getting a 650 just afterwards – good luck on your goal of 800 tomorrow amigo!

The show closed just after 7 PM tonight, and we shut things down to head out for some dinner. There was a really cool view of the city skyline from outside, so I grabbed a shot of it:

After dinner, what better way to end the day than Cheesecake, right? It may not have been as good as Jr.’s Cheesecake that Kellie and I had at NYCC, but it was still pretty awesome eating cheesecake outside in the nice Toronto weather.

With the day at an end, I went back to the hotel to post the pics, write up this blog, and settle in. Tomorrow is the last day of the convention, and after that I’ll be heading home, so the third and final blog in this series will probably arrive late Sunday night or sometime Monday. Thanks again to everyone who visited the booth and said hello today! I even took extra swag, and you guys managed to make me run out a day before the show ended.

Until tomorrow…

SEGA!

What a crazy last 48 hours life has been.

It all started with a midnight train ride to the airport, which led to boarding my plane at 5 AM, then to hopping planes in Denver, arriving in Toronto at 4 PM, spending an hour on the metro to get to my hotel, and finally heading over to the convention center. I have been awake now for a consecutive total of almost forty hours. That said – it’s been well worth it.

The first thing I saw when I arrived at the SEGA Booth were two people wearing Knuckles and Tails hats. Generally, the rule of thumb is that anytime you see someone with a hat like that, things are either about to get totally awesome or totally awkward. Thankfully, it was the former, as I was just about to finally meet DJ Fob Fresh from segashiro.com! Besides talking for a good hour with them about everything SEGA, they were even kind enough to hook me up with an epic SEGASHIRO T-shirt – like the ones they’re wearing here!

The guys from segashiro.com pose for a picture – and to show off their awesome apparel.

I also got a few pictures of the SEGA Booth, which has four playable Bayonetta stations, two DS systems rocking Bleach: The 3rd Phantom, and one DS system each for Phantasy Star Zero and Sands of Destruction!

As the convention was wrapping up for the day, we ran into two very special SEGA cosplayers on the way out!

Up, down, left, right, chu, chu, chu!

Awesome job you two! Our thanks go out to all the SEGA fans we saw today, and here’s to meeting even more of you guys tomorrow! Speaking of, here are the Meet and Greet times you can find me at the SEGA booth on both Saturday and Sunday:

Saturday:
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Sunday:
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Remember that I may also be at the booth at times besides those listed, but I will for sure be there at the times above. Also, we’ll be starting up some Trivia contests tomorrow afternoon – be at the SEGA booth at 4 PM for the SEGA Trivia contest, with the Valkyria and Phantasy Star contests to begin shortly after!

Thanks to all the SEGA fans who said hello for making today a fantastic start to the show. Check back in tomorrow night for Day 2 of our Toronto coverage. See you then!

Ah, Canada.

When I think of Canada, the first things that come to mind are generally pretty simple: Maple leaves, the French language, and Moose. Why Moose? Because of a book I read years and years ago back in school – it looked a little something like this.

The Canadian Moose: Godless Killer of the animal kingdom, and second only to bears.

Besides wanting to call them Meeses, I remember a very specific part of this story in which the main character, after surviving a plane crash and lost in the wilderness of Canada, is attacked by a Moose – and so, as with all stories we read or hear when we’re younger, Canada was immediately painted in my mind as a land of vast forests, cold weather, and giant, killer Mooses. Er, Moose.

You can imagine part of my surprise, then, when a little over a month ago I was asked if I’d like to go to Toronto and represent SEGA at our booth at the 2009 Fan Expo. Specifically, I’d be covering Bayonetta, Phantasy Star Zero, and Sands of Destruction – with full freedom to do as many Community meet-ups, swag giveaways, and podcast recording I wanted. It took me a whole second to realize the offer was serious (I’m sure my eyes got a little bigger at this point), and respond excitedly that I’d love to.

As all the paperwork was going through, I made sure to find my passport, check to see if it was still valid (I knew it was, but checked anyway – am I the only one who does this?), and then start deciding just how much swag I could fit into a single duffle bag / backpack on the trip up north. In the end, I decided to just take as much swag as I could and try to give it all away by the end of the event.

Already, the response from the last blog entry just announcing the trip has been fantastic. This will be the first time SEGA has officially sent a community member to the land of Maple leaves and Moose, and it sounds like there will be a lot of awesome SEGA fans to meet with, game with, and hook up with some free swag – I’ll even trade anyone for cool Canadian souvenirs, if you have some.

As the week goes on and my Friday flight draws nearer, expect to see even more entries in the Ruby goes to Canada series, including a daily journal with all the goings-on, pictures from the event, and more once everything kicks off this weekend!

Hooray Moose(s) – and Canada!

Now to get back to work on the “Ruby and Clumsy go to Tokyo” plans… wish us luck!

Hello, Canada!

Next Friday, August 28th, through Sunday, August 30th, is the 2009 Fan Expo, one of Toronto’s biggest gaming, comic, and movie conventions – and this year, SEGA is going to be there too!

All of you who live up north and may not get to visit us at shows like San Diego or New York Comic con – you’re in luck! For the first time ever, SEGA community is coming to you – and, as always, we’re coming with all sorts of awesome goodies!

Play upcoming SEGA Games at the Expo!

At the show, we’ll have three unreleased games for you guys to check out – all of which speak directly to some of our core, oldschool SEGA fans. In attendance we’ll have an English version of Phantasy Star Zero, another full English version of Sands of Destruction, and the blazing-hot Bayonetta – all playable! If you hail the white and red maple flag, be sure swing on by the SEGA Booth, play the games, and then post back here and on our boards with your thoughts!

Even Canada needs free Swag

It wouldn’t be a SEGA community presence if there wasn’t free swag going out! I’ll be packing my duffle bags with as much special loot as I can pull from the office, including inflatable rappies from Phantasy Star Zero, Valkyria Chronicles figurines, and even rare 5″ SEGA figurines specially ordered from Japan!

Cosplay SEGA Style!

A special shout-out to Roxy from SDCC, who created this awesome Naja costume from Sands of Destruction!

Just like San Diego and New York, we’ll be posting times for Meet and Greets at the SEGA booth, where you’ll be able to say hi in person, chat about your favorite SEGA games, and talk / ask about anything else SEGA-related you want. (Yes, even Shenmue.) Anyone who shows up to one of our Meet and Greets in costume as a SEGA Character will be going home with something extra special! Bonus swag will also be given out to anyone who cosplays Valkyria Chronicles, Phantasy Star, Bayonetta, Sands of Destruction, or Sonic the Hedgehog!

Full times on the Meet and Greets will be posted here next week, so keep an eye out!

SEGA, Phantasy Star, and Valkyria Trivia!

We’ll be hosting three unique Trivia contests at the expo – one for general SEGA knowledge, one for the Phantasy Star fans, and one in celebration of our awesome dedicated Valkyria Chronicles community! The winners will all go home with rare swag specially selected for their trivia contest!

Convention Details and location

If you aren’t familiar with the Expo, you can find out all the details here, and likewise, the location here.

We’ll be posting even more news about the Expo, our Meet and Greets, and some of the prizes you can expect to see as we get closer to next week!

Until then, how many readers out there do we have up near Toronto?

“So, we need to get some screenshots for Phantasy Star Zero.”

This was the way it all began. Suddenly, I had a shiny blue box in front of me, a DS system, and a build of Phantasy Star Zero. I’d be playing and taking pictures at the same time (not as easy as it sounds), and some would be going out exclusively in the September issue of Nintendo Power, with the rest going wide across the net.

I was told we needed something like 10 good shots.

So I took 40.

Everyone knows that Newmans rock the party.

All of those screenshots are now live across the net, including right here on our Flickr page. Enjoy Phantasy Star phans – the game is coming out near the end of this year, and very soon you’ll be hearing  more news about some special PSZ specific goodies we have in the works. If these screenshots don’t get you more excited for the US release, you’ll be seeing some things soon that definitely will.

Until then!

There are some games in SEGA’s history that resonate with the feel of what SEGA was in the early 90′s – and, as we’ve seen recently, still holds onto in some ways today. What started with great RPG’s like the original Phantasy Star and Shining Force only continued through the years (and hardware changes) – leading into games like the much-loved Skies of Arcadia and the recent, critically acclaimed Valkyria Chronicles.

Today, we’d like to get your thoughts. SEGA is potentially going to be grouping together fans of our JRPG’s (like the games listed above), and we’d like to give said group a bit of identity. What’s in a name? Well – just about everything!

If you had to pick something fairly short and sweet to speak to what SEGA’s best RPG’s are all about, what would it be? Right now, we’d like to get feedback on this name:

• SEGA Heroes

Does the term “Heroes” fit the bill and speak to all of our best Japanese RPG’s? We’re looking for a name that is short and sweet,  general enough that it can apply to all our RPG’s, and still sounds about as awesome as a plate of hotcakes in the morning.

So, what do you guys think? Drop us your comments here – let us know first what you think of SEGA Heroes, and afterwards feel free to swing by your own thoughts on potential names. Please make sure to get all your comments in by this Wednesday, so post away!

Update 8/7/09: Feedback has been collected and sent on! Thanks very much for all the responses everyone!