Sonic HQ25 Years & Counting!

Archie's Sonic The Hedgehog #117 is out in comic shops today. The comic is no longer $1.99 as the price has gone up to $2.19.

Source: Diamond Comics

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #121

''Prince and the Revolution'': St. John and Hershey have finally tracked Prince Elias Acorn down... but so have Robotnik's forces. Naturally, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters are on their way to save him and take him back... but will the Prince join them willingly? SCRIPT: Benny Lee ART: Ron Lim (pencils) with Jim Amash and Pam Eklund (inks).

''Afterlife, Pt. 1'': Knuckles speak to his ancestors, the Guardians of the Floating Island, in the Afterlife... but what about? SCRIPT: Ken Penders ART: Art Mawhinney (pencils) and Ken Penders (inks).

''Song Bird'': Mina is forced on stage by Sonic, who believes she can sing her heart out. Is he right or will the song fade out early? SCRIPT: Romy Chacon ART: Steven Butler (pencils) and Jim Amash (inks)

ships March 5th
$2.19

Sources: Silver Bullet Comic Books & Ken's Comic Book Stories & Art

From IGNCube:

Sega and its parent company may be distancing themselves.

Sega plans to sell the majority of its stake in parent company CSK by the end of the fiscal year, signaling the beginning of a possible separation between the two companies, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported Saturday. The 5.9% stake to be sold would amount to around 10 billion yen (around US$83 million) at current prices, and would be purchased entirely by CSK.

Such a move would end cross-shareholding between the two companies. Though CSK officials have said that the company plans to hold on to its 22.8% stake in Sega for time being, it is believed that the motivation behind CSK's maintenance of its Sega holdings is due to the company's slumping stock price. CSK has recently announced plans to narrow the focus of its business, and many analysts have predicted that it will sell its Sega stock when the market price increases.

Relations between the two companies have been distant since the death of Sega Chairman and CSK founder Isao Okawa, who was a strong supporter of Sega's business. Where Sega would go in the future without CSK's support is an interesting point to ponder, but when or even if CSK might let go of its holdings remains an entirely open question.

Source: IGNCube

From Swirlvision:

Sega Enterprises Inc. USA have created a new game that allows you to win tickets. It's called the Sonic and Tails Spinner:

In response to a post on his message board, Ken Penders had this to say about Lara-Su:

Also regarding the character of Lara-Su, while that may have been an alternate version of her[in Sonic #106-109], she is now an established character and will return sometime after issue #125.

Those of you hoping to see the ''real'' Lara-Su will seemingly get your wish.

Source: Ken's Comic Book Stories & Art

Ken Penders is offering the following items on Ebay:

• SatAM Series Bible (ends December 1 at 5:07pm Eastern Time)
• Blast to the Past Part 1 Final Draft Script (ends December 1 at 5:14pm Eastern Time)
• Blast to the Past Part 2 Final Draft Script (ends December 1 at 5:18pm Eastern Time)
• Sonic The Hedgehog #24 Original Script & Cover (ends December 1 at 5:22pm Eastern Time)
• Sonic The Hedgehog #25 Script (ends December 1 at 5:27pm Eastern Time)

From IGNCube, these are sales results starting from the release of the Gamecube last year:

From Gamers.com:

Sega recently held a press conference at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and the results of the first half of the fiscal year are a little less than stellar.

Tetsu Kayama, COO for Sega Japan, commented on several points, including the performance of the Sega Sports brand. Kayama explained that Sega Sports lost 6 billion yen this half as a result of Sega's overconfidence. For example, only about 400,000 copies of NFL2K3 have been sold from the original shipment of 1 million copies. NBA 2K3, however, showed stronger sales of about 500,000 to 600,000 units.

Counting all ten of Sega's development studios, the company made a net loss of 1.5 billion yen this half. Sega is currently considering a business plan for the next fiscal year that will include fewer titles and genres to hopefully break even at 11 million yen. Projected sales say that 3 of those million will come from the homeland, with 6 million coming from North America and an extra 2 million from Europe.

To cut costs, Sega is considering withdrawing from the NCAA franchise and concentrating on only four major sports. Additionally, sports titles for the GameCube may be cut entirely as a result of lower sales and increased production costs. To increase potential sales, Sega is also considering expanding "Entertainment Titles" (such as Sonic or VF4) to all consoles instead of just one.

Of course, these decisions are pending as Sega debates them internally. Kayama says to expect announcements next month.

Source: Gamers.com