Twenty years ago today, the gaming world saw the launch of a truly landmark title:
Sonic the Hedgehog. Developed as a vehicle for a new Sega mascot, the fluid, vibrant, cheery-tuned wonderland swiftly became the company's flagship product, inspiring over the ensuing decades
an increasingly convoluted universe of TV shows,
comic books, and dozens of games on a variety of systems (all documented in
this frighteningly comprehensive TVTropes portal). And while in recent years the series has turned out
more and more mediocre 3D and RPG efforts, the original games remain crown jewels of the 16-bit era. So why not kick off this anniversary by replaying the titles that started it all for free in your browser:
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991),
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992),
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994),
Sonic & Knuckles (1994). Or click inside for music, remakes, and other fun stuff!
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jun 23, 2011 -
71 comments
The title track on Michael Jackson’s hit album “Thriller” began life as a very different song - called “
Starlight.” WNYC's
Soundcheck gives us a listen.
posted by Fofer
on Jun 22, 2011 -
26 comments
Though the sets and music are pure golden-age horror, the villagers are coded as ’50s sitcom types, bland exemplars of suburban uptightitude. Their ranks include a young Mos Def, though he’s seldom called upon to do anything other than act scared of supernatural goings-on in a manner that would cause even Stepin Fetchit’s ghost to say “For God’s sake, man, show some dignity.”
Just in time for Halloween, the AV Club series
My Year of Flops unearths the Stephen King-written, Stan Winston-directed
Michael Jackson's Ghosts (
2,
3,
4).
posted by Horace Rumpole
on Oct 27, 2010 -
15 comments
The Thriller Diaries: Michael Jackson’s 1983 “Thriller” remains the most popular music video of all time: a 14-minute horror spoof that changed the business. Behind the scenes it gave its star a temporary home with director John Landis, sparked a near romance with actress Ola Ray, and revealed how damaged the young pop idol already was.
posted by reenum
on Jun 24, 2010 -
33 comments
Showing Off is a series of videos, audio clips and articles in which noted music journalist and Frankie Goes to Hollywood mastermind Paul Morley explores various facets of music. Each month has a theme,
[warning: most links have autoplaying video] Michael Jackson,
Kraftwerk,
classical music,
disco,
The Beatles,
folk music,
The X Factor,
the Noughties,
the next big thing,
UK hip hop,
jazz, and
dance. Here is some of what's on offer:
MeFi faves Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip on hip hop,
These New Puritans' Jack Barnett, Johnny Marr on folk (parts
1,
2), but isn't all just interviews, there are also a lot of performances, e.g.
Michael Nyman and David McAlmont,
Badly Drawn Boy,
Susanna Wallumrød covers Thin Lizzy's Jailbreak, and
Cornershop cover Norwegian Wood.
posted by Kattullus
on Apr 26, 2010 -
8 comments
Perhaps it was bound to happen eventually, but it seems
Michael Jackson's ghost is already haunting the halls of Neverland Ranch. Whether or not the spirt was moonwalking is currently inconclusive.
[more inside]
posted by zardoz
on Jul 6, 2009 -
61 comments
Michael Jackson penned and recorded
lots of songs, many of which
remain unreleased. Perhaps the most infamous, and rarest recording, is his version of
Behind the Mask. Legend has it that upon hearing
Yellow Magic Orchestra's original track, somewhen around 1979, Quincy Jones fell in love with the track, and he and Michael worked together on their own version. Jackson wrote
new lyrics for it - adding to those of
Ryuichi Sakamoto and
Chris Mosdell - and eventually recorded it during his
Off The Wall sessions. For unknown reasons the track never made the final cut of, arguably, Jones' and Jackson's greatest work. Not long afterwards
Greg Phillinganes, Jackson's keyboard player, released his
own version of the song, which was later taken up and
re-recorded by Eric Clapton for his 1986, Phil Collins produced album,
August. The track has since been recorded/remixed by
Human League,
Senor Coconut,
Orbital and
others. Does an original Jones/Jackson recording of the song
even exist? Perhaps, as the world
continues to mourn the star's
sad death, someone
will finally allow us a listen.
posted by 0bvious
on Jul 1, 2009 -
31 comments
Photos from the Neverland Ranch auction A while ago, Michael Jackson was short of cash, and decided to auction off the contents of Neverland Ranch, his combined palace/fun park, down to the last vanity painting and statue. A guy named Paul Scheer went along with a camera, took photos of some of the more peculiar items and put them online. It's certainly a unique collection.
posted by acb
on Apr 27, 2009 -
56 comments
