Announcing the Sonic Lost World “First Play” Marathon for Charity, Featuring Sonic Writer Ian Flynn

With SEGA’s latest upcoming release in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise on the Wii U, we are happy to officially announce plans to hold a special Sonic Lost World “First Play” livestreamed marathon to raise money for charity.

For this event, David Oxford (writer for Nintendo Force magazine, the Mega Man Robot Master Field Guide, and “Super Mario Bros. in Neo Bowser City”) and Ian Flynn (writer for Archie Comics’ Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe, and Mega Man titles) will team up to play through SEGA’s Sonic Lost World for the first time ever (barring Ian’s short time with the demo at San Diego Comic-Con, anyway) through to the end shortly after the game is released.

As we play through the game, we’ll not only discuss our thoughts on it, but other topics such as the past, present, and future of Sonic as well. We’ll even take questions (those that we can, anyway) from the TwitchTV livestream chat, allowing you to pick the brain of the man who handles the Blue Blur on a monthly basis.

Over the course of the marathon, we’ll also be raffling off prizes to those who donate for tickets. Sponsors thus far include Nintendo Force magazine and UDON Entertainment, publisher of The History of Sonic the Hedgehog (which will soon see a second hardcover printing, as well as a new softcover edition in November). We hope to have more join in the fun, so stay tuned for more on that.

As of this writing, some details are admittedly tentative: The charity we’re looking at right now is the Sick Kids Foundation, which we’re currently waiting to hear back from (stay tuned for updates on that). The amount we’re looking at raising is around $1,000 – $1,500 (and if we can surpass that amount, so much the better). And the date we hope to do this is currently slated for Saturday, October 26th– four days after the game’s Tuesday release.

Over the course of 24 hours, our plan is to play the game from start to finish, checking out its different features and modes as well. And if we wind up wrapping it up early for one reason or another, we’ll find a way to round out the time– Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed? New Super Luigi U? Or maybe we’ll take requests? We’ll just have to see!

So, if we don’t quite have everything worked out, then why are we announcing it so early? I’m glad you asked: It’s because we need your help to make this happen.

The fact of the matter is that this is the first time either of us have done anything like this, and the above is what we want to do. The downside is that we’re lacking some of the equipment necessary to do a livestream, and we aren’t exactly flush with cash at the moment.

As a result, we are accepting pre-marathon donations to help us get the equipment we need. Conversely, if you have an old piece of equipment that suits our needs laying around and you’d like to donate that instead, that’s okay, too– more than okay, even. Just fire off an e-mail to david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net, and we’ll take it from there.

Barring that, here is what we’re looking at:

Capture Device:

Low End: AVerTV HD DVR – $99.90
High End: Elgato Game Capture HD – $179.95

Microphones:

Low End: Audio-Technica ATR-3350 Omnidirectional Condenser Lavalier (x2) – $29.95 each, $59.90 total
High End: Giant Squid Audio Lab Omnidirectional Mono Microphone (x2) – $40 each, $80 total

Camera:

Low End: Microsoft LifeCam HD-6000 for Notebooks – $56.95
High End: Logitech C920 – $119.99

Additionally, we may need some extra lighting, though details are pending on that at the moment as we evaluate our set-up.

Beyond that, we’ll be trying to shop around for the best deals on what we need (MonoPrice has come highly recommended), and anything extra that is donated will go towards the charity’s donations. We would also like to note that with the equipment in place, we would definitely like to do more such marathons for charity in the future, but the fact remains: Right now, we need your help to make any of this possible at all.

If you would like to donate through PayPal to help us fund this venture, then please send it to donate@nyteworks.net (Note: The Nyteworks e-mail for questions above is not tied to a PayPal account, so please don’t try to send money there).

Franchise overview

Sonic the Hedgehog™ first appeared as a video game character in June 1991 and instantly became an icon for a generation of gamers. Defined by his super-fast speed and cool attitude, in the years since he first raced on to video game consoles Sonic has become a true global phenomenon with over 75 million video games and smartphone apps sold worldwide. SEGA’s iconic blue blur has also gone on to enjoy incredible success in many licensed areas, such as toys, apparel, comics and animation.

Recent titles

• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (2012)
• Sonic Generations (2011)
• Sonic Colors (2010)

SEGA is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. SEGA, the SEGA logo, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG and SONIC LOST WORLD are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Corporation.  All rights reserved. Nintendo trademarks and copyrights are properties of Nintendo.

Sponsors:

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

For a full list of places to find him online, click here.