The iconic blue hedgehog came in ahead of Gears of War, and behind Star Wars.

You can catch the full top 30 list over at the source, Sega Nerds.

UK retailer HMV are listing a new Sonic hoodie to be released Monday 6th July. One side of the item has Sonic’s face and his eyes on the other just like one of the Sonic Adventure t-shirt’s. The hoodie is priced at £29.99 on HMV’s website and comes in sizes small, medium, large and extra large. Wether or not HMV will be selling this hoodie in their stores we don’t know but we will update you on release day. HMV also stock alot of Sonic t-shirts at £9.99 each which you can check out here.

Fans of Jun Senoue and Johnny Gioeli’s rock band Crush 40 will be delighted to hear that, confirming hints Senoue made on his website, there will two new records hitting Japan this Autumn.

An interview with Famitsu online has revealed the nature of the two CDs – one will be a sequel to their self-titled album with new non-Sonic material, while another will be a 10th Anniversary compilation of modern Sonic themes.

Additionally, Senoue has hinted that the Anniversary CD release may be released on multiple discs – although Deviantart user manaita translated the Japanese interview and suggests that there will be multiple releases over the course of three months, which leaves the possibility of a two-disc collection being sold in ‘parts’.

Jun Senoue has been trying to release his domestic works to the Western market, but so far success has been limited. If you’re after a copy of these CDs when they hit Japan, your best bet as always is to import.

Cheers to Snatcher2047 for the heads up!

Source: Famitsu Jun Senoue Interview

Oh yeah. It’s that time of year again folks – get your tuxedos ready for the Sonic Site Awards 2009! We were going to launch this yesterday, but site problems prevented us from doing so. Things suck like that. PHASE ONE is the Nominations Round, and you’re able to take part by telling us what sites you think qualify for each award! Visit the Sonic Site Awards page and submit your entries today!

For those who don’t know what the SSA’s are, it’s an annual awards ceremony that The Sonic Stadium holds to encourage new and up-and-coming Sonic fansites to be seen out there. I started the event in 2001, back when it was difficult for TSS (yeah, this site was quite small back then) to catch a break among places such as Sonic HQ and Shadow of a Hedgehog. I figured I’d make an event to give fellow small sites like mine an even break.

A lot has changed in eight years, particularly with how large The Sonic Stadium now is – the difficulty is that we are now the ‘large site that gets in the way of new small fansites’. But I’ve always tried to make sure I don’t heavyweight anyone out of getting popular – continuing the Sonic Site Awards is my way of giving smaller sites the attention they deserve while pushing large sites like mine and Sonic Retro out of the picture.

We didn’t actually hold an SSA in 2008 – largely because I was too busy with organising the very first Summer of Sonic convention, and over the last few years the event had become way too bloated and somewhere, I felt that the SSAs had lost its focus. This year I’ve brought it back in a more streamlined fashion and have a clear direction on what kind of site to focus on, so only the unestablished sites get a look in.

I hope this year’s event will show us some truly unique sites and communities – it sometimes feels that there’s a distinct lack of active Sonic fansites these days. If nothing else, I want the SSAs to show a more visible collection of fansites. Do your bit by taking part!

So, our favourite Blue Spikey Spine-Rat turns 18 today, and the community is certainly finding exciting ways to celebrate the occasion!

Head over to SEGA’s Sonic facebook page during today and you can have a go at adding your comments to a number of different “What if” questions…the best replies have an opportunity to win themselves some very nice bits of Sonic merchandise!

There are also similar things going on over at Sonic’s Twitter page, so if you’re on both, you’ve got double chances of nabbing yourself something nice indeed – including signed goodies! If you want to check out what’s still up for grabs, full listings of the prizes are over on the SEGA blognik – AAUK sure has pulled out all the stops for this one!!! You need to hurry though – both contests are only lasting for the duration of today, so get your skates…er power sneakers on!

Even more deliciously (or annoyingly!), Japanese fans have their chance to nab themselves some VERY rare gear on their current prize campaign over on the Sonic Channel Website – I really want that signed Sonic drawing too! Prizes there go back to pre-Sonic Adventure games, so there are some very unique pieces to be won indeed!

So, how are you celebrating Sonic’s 18th Birthday? Running around the office in red shoes? Bouncing off desks in the class room? Defeating evil scientists? Lets us know what you have been up to here or over in the SSMB, and leave your birthday messages too!

Pick up August’s copy of Toyfare magazine and you’ll find a nice feature on Jazware’s currently lined-up selection of Sonic toys, which not only includes a super-articulated Knuckles figure to join the host of others on the market, but that there is also a 10″ Metal Sonic action figure in the works too.

The figure looks to be in it’s prototype stages, but hopefully this high level of detail will be retained in the product – if so it’ll join the list of must-have items for hardcore fans to own. The other good news is it doesn’t look to be a San Diego Comic Con exclusive (unlike the JUVI chibi version), so you hopefully won’t have to pay collector’s exclusive prices for it! However it looks like it will be another Toys R’ Us exclusive, so us Brits will probably be forking out a fortune on shipping and handling from US ebay sellers once again.

You can check out the full article scan here.

Hats off to KururuSouchou on the SSMB for spotting this and scanning in articles!

So what do you think to these new action figures? Join the debate in the SSMB!

The wait is over for many fans waiting for the location of the second ever Sonic the Hedgehog convention – the Summer of Sonic 2009 is to take place in the Boiler House, at the Truman Brewery venue in London’s Brick Lane. The location makes it easy to get to for those traveling to the capital.

SOS 2009’s official website broke the news just now, with some information on the venue – the room holds 500 people, includes an outdoor area for extra space and fresh air, and has a distinctive chimney slap bang in the middle. We don’t think it works though, so toasting marshmallows (or cooking chili dogs) doesn’t look like an option, unfortunately.

The organisers have also dropped some hints to the happenings on the day – entry will be free, name registration will be required once again (although this time for legal obligations, not like 2008 where registrations were taken to prevent overcrowding) and Richard Jacques and TJ Davis could well attend a second time. The duo have been pencilled in for an appearance, but nothing has been set in stone, the website stresses.

More details are said to trickle in on a regular basis, so check out the Summer of Sonic website and The Sonic Stadium for the latest!

WHERE: The Boiler House, Truman Brewery (Summer of Sonic 2009)

On June 17th, Toys “R” Us will be selling  a Metal Sonic vinyl blow up toy for $17. The toy will also be at next month’s Comic-Con.

Frankly, I think this is the single coolest piece of Sonic kit to come out in awhile. The toy is being made byJazwares as part of their JUVI line up. Jazwares has made other Sonic related merchandises that have also been sold at Toys ‘R’ Us exclusively, mostly recently a werehog figure and a Sonic and the Black Knight figure.

Source: Sega Nerds

Jeffery has made it well known that he loves the iPhone.  While the move might seem idiotic on the surface for a president of SEGA to move into another role at a smaller company, the move is likely a simple pursuit of interests.  Whatever might have sparked Jeffery’s departure from SEGA, I know that some people are having a party regardless.

Jeffery will lead ngmoco’s Plus+ (redundant, much?) publishing group, “which integrates social networking and cross-promotional options into games.”

[via Kotaku]

UPDATE (June 16th): SEGA of Europe president, Mike Hayes, will now be overseeing SoA. Read the full story at MCV.

A double dose of simplicity hits the Wii today in North America with the retail and download releases of Prope’s “Let’s Tap” and “Let’s Catch.”  “Let’s Tap” is going at a $29.99 price tag, while “Catch” is worth 1,000 Nintendo Points on WiiWare.  A European release date has yet to be announced for either title, as many outlets list it as “Summer 2009″ or “To Be Announced.”  Check out some video of the two titles below:

Are you interested in picking up either of Naka’s new projects?  Let us know in the comments below.