Sega is a video game company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Michael Jackson was a fan of the company and had collaborated with them multiple times between 1990-1999.
History with Jackson[]
Meeting[]
Jackson's team contacted Sega of Japan in December of 1988, revealing the artist would like to visit their headquaters while on tour. Thus, On December 16, 1988 Michael got to meet with Sega's president, Hayao Nakayama and play video games such as Super Thunder Blade, Power Drift and Galaxy Force II. At the end of his visit, he received the Galaxy Force II arcade cabinet as a gift.[1] This sparked the relationship between the company and the King of Pop.
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker[]
Jackson's first Sega video game dates back to 1990, when Michael Jackson's Moonwalker released. Sega developed two versions of the game; first being released for arcades (a beat 'em up type game released on July 20, 1990) and the more known Sega Genesis/Master System version (a platformer released August 24, 1990). The video game was produced and designed by Michael himself and featured the artist going through levels based on his 1988 movie, Moonwalker, while also fighting off gangsters, zombies etc.
Michael Jackson's Scramble Training[]
- Main article: Michael Jackson in Scramble Training
On December 15 and 21, 1992, Michael visited the development warehouse of AM-5 (a division of Sega) where he'd test out their newest creation, Scramble Training, an interactive on-rail shooter/spaceship simulator.[2] After being satisfied with the product, he asked if he could become a part of the project. In June of 1993 Michael Jackson in Scramble Training would debut, featuring clips of Jackson as the flight trainer.
Michael Jackson playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (December 15, 1992)
At the same time, while visiting Sega's main headquaters in Tokyo, Jackson would get to play multiple other games of the company, including Puyo Puyo and Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder. Jackson also got to enjoy playing one of their newest releases and biggest hits, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and even be greeted by Sonic himself.[2]
Sonic the Hedgehog 3[]
- Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog 3
In Spring of 1993, Michael Jackson was granted permission to help working on the new soundtrack to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 after the company rejected compositions made by Jun Senoue (who would go on to work on music for many future installments in the series) in favor of having the King of Pop making the music. Jackson however, didn't put much effort into crafting the music. Generally, he worked on only one track and the rest were handled by Brad Buxer.
Ultimately, the artist went uncredited. Brad Buxer claimed, that after finally hearing the compositions, especially his own with the bitcrushed sound of Sega Genesis' synthesizer, Jackson was so unhappy with it, that he decided to leave the project and wanted himself to be removed from the credited, as he didn't want to be "associated with a product that devalued his music".[3] Meanwhile, the executive coordinator for Sonic 3 stated that Sega dropped Michael from the development due to the child sexual abuse allegations he was facing at the time. The former option is more likely and realistic, as the company would once again collaborate with Michael in the future.
December 1996 visit[]
On December 18 and 19, 1996, Michael would once again make a visit at Sega's headquaters. There, he'd get introduced to Sega's VR technology, play Virtua Fighter 3, Virtual On and test out some then-unreleased games.[4]
Space Channel 5[]
- Main article: Space Channel 5
On December 16, 1999, a new game by Sega AM9, Space Channel 5 would release. The video game featured Michael voicing one of the main characters, "Space Michael".
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- According to Naoto Ohshima, Sonic's shoes were actually inspired by Michael Jackson on the cover of Bad.
| “ | His shoes were inspired by the cover to Michael Jackson's Bad, which contrasted heavily between white and red -- that Santa Claus-type color. I also thought that red went well for a character who can run really fast, when his legs are spinning. | ” |
–Naoto Ohshima for Game Developer, 2009[5] | ||
- While visiting Sega's headquaters in 1992, Jackson wore a blue college jacket with Sega's logo on it.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.chrismcovell.com/secret/MSC_1988Q4.html
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://mdshock.com/2020/12/08/michael-jackson-visits-sega-in-japan-december-1992/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20181006120236/https://info.sonicretro.org/Brad_Buxer_Interview_(Black_%26_White,_November/December_2009)
- ↑ https://mdshock.com/2022/05/03/michael-jackson-visits-sega-in-japan-december-1996/
- ↑ https://www.newsweek.com/how-sonic-hedgehog-was-directly-inspired-bill-clinton-and-michael-jackson-1410342