Michael Jackson, born Michael Joseph Jackson, and sometimes referred to as "MJ" or "The King of Pop" was a global superstar singer and song writer. He collaborated with Sega on multiple projects, considering himself a Sega fan and a gamer.
History[]
Michael Jackson was the eighth child born to the Jackson family, he made his public debut at age six as a member of the family band, The Jackson 5 in 1964.
Michael reported his early life was not a happy one, and his father would physically and verbally abuse him during this time, whipping him for any mistakes he made during practice and telling him he had a fat nose, which would leave deep emotional scars on the young man. This lead to him feeling lonely and isolated.
Michael would go on to become a successful solo act in 1979. Using the money from his success, Michael would go on to create Neverland Ranch, his own private amusement park filled with, amongst other things such as a ferris wheel and carousel, arcade machines, including a rare R-360 cabinet. He reportedly spent much of his downtime in his arcade, becoming more and more interested in video games and their developments.
In December 1988, Michael Jackson had his people call Sega of Japan to arrange a visit, and was given a Galaxy Force II arcade cabinet as a present. [1] From here, Michael would make a habit of visiting Sega of Japan whenever he was on tour in Japan.[2]
In 1990, a game based on Michael Jackson's Moonwalker film, and specifically the 'Smooth Criminal' section was being made, with a Michael Jackson game having been talked about for a few years at this point.[3] Michael reportedly wasn't satisfied with just licensing his image and wished to help contribute some ideas and game mechanics.
In December 1992, Michael Jackson was filmed to star in a AS-1 motion ride, a flagship ride for Sega World and Joypolis, Scramble Training, in which he played the role of "Commander Jackson" guiding ride goers through a space journey to obtain their pilot licenses. The game was released in March 1993, with Michael Jackson's name added to the title. After the 1993 sexual allegations came out, the ride was rebranded with Michael Jackson's name, endorsements and appearances removed.
In 1993, Michael Jackson and his sound team came in late into Sonic the Hedgehog 3's development, and replaced the previous sound track. He had become friends with Hisashi Suzuki, Sega's company executive at the time, who suggested he create the soundtrack for the game. Michael accepted, being an avid fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, but Suzuki warned that it would unlikely be as profitable as Michael's other ventures, such as his 1983 $5 million promotional deal with Pepsi Co. To Suzuki's surprise however, Jackson wavered the cost, refusing Suzuki's reimbursement offers and instead requested that a percentage of the game's profits be donated to charity instead. Jackson signed no official contract, and was not credited in the game although the reasons seem to differ depending on who is asked: Naoto Ohshima and Sega Technical Institute director Roger Hector claimed it was due to the sexual allegations that came out about Michael around that time that caused his name to be scrubbed from the credits[4], but Brad Buxer who worked as part of Michael's sound team stated the reason Jackson pulled his name from the game — but not his music — because he was disappointed by how different the music sounded on Sega's console when compressed from that "high profile" sound to bleeps and bloops.[5]
In 1999, Jackson requested a meet up with a representative of Sega of Japan due to a former promise for a follow up on Scramble Training featuring the artist, having become frustrated with the lack of progress (or the plan possibly being disregarded after the allegations). He met with Shuji Utsumi at the New York's Plaza Hotel, which Jackson had rented out the floor of entirely for this meeting. Utsumi mentioned another title Sega was currently working on and nearly wrapping up, Space Channel 5, and offered Jackson a cameo in the title as if it'd been planned from before the meeting. As Utsumi described the game in detail talking about it's presentation and style, Jackson became enamoured with it, and agreed as a consolation prize for a lack of a true follow up game.
Due to how late in development this took place, 'Space Michael' only received a very minor part in Space Channel 5, and the team worried about how this would be viewed by the artist. However, to their surprise Michael Jackson approved giving his endorsement (and his voice) to the project, having a far more involved role in it's sequel Space Channel 5: Part 2, which released in 2002.
Credits[]
- Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (1990) - Inspiration and game mechanics
- Scramble Training (1993) - Actor. Michael Jackson appears as the interactive ride host "Commander Jackson" giving visitors instructions to obtain their 'pilot licenses'.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1993) - Music composition
- Space Channel 5 (1999) - Voice actor and likeness used for the character Space Michael.
- Space Channel 5: Part 2 (2002) - Voice actor and likeness used for the character Space Michael.
Trivia[]
- Captain EO, a 1986 short 3D film featuring Michael Jackson was shown at the newly opened Disneyland in Tokyo, when Mark Cerny visited. He found it inspirational, and proceeded to lobby management to create 3D glasses for the Master System, aka the Sega 3-D Glasses. [6][7]
- Yakuza 0/Yakuza 0: Director's Cut have Kiryu meet with a homage character to Michael Jackson, Miracle Johnson who utilises the same dance moves.
- Michael Jackson also makes an (unendorsed) appearance in the parody arcade Sega game I'm Sorry.
- In 2009, Michael Jackson worked with Julien's Auctions to auction off many of Neverland Ranch's arcade games[8]. Sega titles include:
- 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker
- Crazy Taxi
- Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller (X2)
- F1 Exhaust Note
- Galaxy Force II flight simulation pod
- Harley-Davidson & L.A. Riders
- Jambo! Safari
- Manx Super Bike
- Print Club 2
- Sega Dreamcast demo machine and display case
- Sega Genesis demo machine and display case
- Sega R-360
- Sega Saturn demo machine and display case
- Sports Jam
- Star Wars Racer
- Strike Fighter
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park
- Top Skater
- Virtua Racing
- Virtua Tennis 2
- WWF Royal Rumble
Gallery[]
See also[]
- ↑ Chris Covell - Michael Jackson visits SEGA of Japan
- ↑ Mega Drive Shock - Michael Jackson Visits Sega in Japan, December 1992
- ↑ OneMillionPower - Astro City Mini and Game Design (Part 1)
- ↑ Game Set Watch - Michael Jackson's Secret Sonic 3 Shame
- ↑ The Huffington Post - The Michael Jackson Video Game Conspiracy
- ↑ Time Extension: PlayStation 5 Lead Architect Mark Cerny Talks Sega, Michael Jackson And Yuji Naka
- ↑ Bitmap Books Presents: SEGA® Master System: A visual compendium, pg 131.
- ↑ Internet Archive: Michael Jackson: The Collection of the King of Pop - Amusements, Arcade Games & Entertainment