Support NeoGAF

[jshackles]

Michael Jackson's lost Sega game rediscovered at a flea market

The king of pop's Sega contributions go deeper than you might know

www.gamesradar.com

In the '90s, Michael Jackson appeared in Scramble Training, a combination of arcade shooter and theme park ride built for Sega World amusement parks. Now, thanks to a chance encounter at a flea market, all the footage from that game has been preserved for viewing on YouTube.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Reminds me of,

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

To think that Sega had the support of the biggest non-movie star of its time boggles the mind.

 

[ManaByte]

To think that Sega had the support of the biggest non-movie star of its time boggles the mind.

Dude he made music for Sonic 3. Sega in 1992 is not the same Sega who shot themselves in the head at the end of the decade.

 

[pramod]

Thats cool, but how is it a "lost" game if it was an actual theme park ride?

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

 

[FoxMcChief]

Lost and forgotten are not the same thing.

 

[Spukc]

Michael Jackson's lost Sega game rediscovered at a flea market

The king of pop's Sega contributions go deeper than you might know

www.gamesradar.com

i have fucking seen this as a little kid

it was in disneyland france

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Dude he made music for Sonic 3. Sega in 1992 is not the same Sega who shot themselves in the head at the end of the decade.

I know that. It’s just… it feels like they could have done so much more with/through MJ, especially in that timeframe when MJ was the absolute zeitgeist. Even if Nintendo had to erase Mike Tyson out of Punch-Out at one point, their game featuring Mike Tyson has achieved more enduring fame than anything Sega did with MJ. Imagine having one of the top 5, if not top 3, pop culture icons of your time on your side and doing so little out of it.

 

[RoadHazard]

Thats cool, but how is it a "lost" game if it was an actual theme park ride?

Because clickbait.

 

[EverydayBeast]

I get the Michael Jackson love fantastic performer bad person.

 

[shoplifter]

I get the Michael Jackson love fantastic performer bad person.

He seems like the peak example of 'product of one's environment' to me - I'm still split on whether he actually did any kiddy diddling...leaning towards no, but he was a fucking weirdo either way.

 

[jezhumphrey75]

I get the Michael Jackson love fantastic performer bad person.

no

 

[ManaByte]

He seems like the peak example of 'product of one's environment' to me - I'm still split on whether he actually did any kiddy diddling...leaning towards no, but he was a fucking weirdo either way.

Dude stopped his emotional development at like age 12 and when he was 30 he never had anyone say "Dude, you don't have sleepovers with boys when you're 30".

 

[RNG]

So much chromatic aberration on MJ.

 

[DragoonWalker]

I know that. It’s just… it feels like they could have done so much more with/through MJ, especially in that timeframe when MJ was the absolute zeitgeist. Even if Nintendo had to erase Mike Tyson out of Punch-Out at one point, their game featuring Mike Tyson has achieved more enduring fame than anything Sega did with MJ. Imagine having one of the top 5, if not top 3, pop culture icons of your time on your side and doing so little out of it.

Cross media promotion/synergy/exploitation was nowhere near as prominent then as it is now (except for toys). Game companies didn't really know how to exploit celebs to their full potential, didn't know how to aggressively brand build the way they do now. I mean most celeb endorsements were like a magazine ad or at best a TV commercial. MJ was likely far more involved with Sega than probably any other celebrity with any brand of anything at that time, because of his personal love for Sega. I mean they gave him his own game for chrissakes, a celebration of everything MJ at his peak.

 

[PJX]

I get the Michael Jackson love fantastic performer bad person.

What made him bad?

 

[nikos]

What made him bad?

 

[PJX]

Touché

 

[Futaleufu]

I think I've heard that "Bingo!" sample at 3:48 in other media

 

[Vandole]

I know that. It’s just… it feels like they could have done so much more with/through MJ, especially in that timeframe when MJ was the absolute zeitgeist. Even if Nintendo had to erase Mike Tyson out of Punch-Out at one point, their game featuring Mike Tyson has achieved more enduring fame than anything Sega did with MJ. Imagine having one of the top 5, if not top 3, pop culture icons of your time on your side and doing so little out of it.

You're forgetting that Michael Jackson in the early '90s was starting to lose a lot of his coolness and was starting to move into creepiness. That's when the plastic surgery was getting excessive. 1993 he had the allegations of being a child molester. If you were the hip edgy console of the time, he might not be the celebrity you'd want to hit your ride to. Sega probably did the right thing by not going further with their relationship.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

I know that. It’s just… it feels like they could have done so much more with/through MJ, especially in that timeframe when MJ was the absolute zeitgeist. Even if Nintendo had to erase Mike Tyson out of Punch-Out at one point, their game featuring Mike Tyson has achieved more enduring fame than anything Sega did with MJ. Imagine having one of the top 5, if not top 3, pop culture icons of your time on your side and doing so little out of it.

For some reason you are thinking that Sega wasn't handing out money from their than early 90's and 80's war chest to have an MJ collaboration. yeah MJ gave a deal because he liked games but Sega couldn't possibly afford to keep using him, especially when outside of Sonic 3 which was down from the first two games, the other games he was involved in didn't light the charts on fire.

Moonwalker wasn't even a million seller, and that's the game you would have though have been selling millions.

Cross media promotion/synergy/exploitation was nowhere near as prominent then as it is now (except for toys). Game companies didn't really know how to exploit celebs to their full potential,

Computer gaming were doing it for years, had nothing to do with it. Just poor handling.

Dude stopped his emotional development at like age 12 and when he was 30 he never had anyone say "Dude, you don't have sleepovers with boys when you're 30".

He was well aware, the issue was that MJ was harboring scars from being raised that he tried using a large amount of drugs to resolve over the years with varying side-effects.

Notice how none of the other Jacksons, while also going through their own trauma, some hiding it outside of leaks, were other than Janet nowhere close to being in the same condition. MJ was pushed tot he forefront since he was a kid and abused the worse.

Still not an excuse, as him having that sleep over put him in a completely avoidable scandal of "did he or did he not" do a thing. But it also doesn't surprise me that he walked into that, the trauma was never fixed and he kept deteriorating in the background until the end.

He seems like the peak example of 'product of one's environment' to me - I'm still split on whether he actually did any kiddy diddling...leaning towards no, but he was a fucking weirdo either way.

Almost all the big 80's hit artists were weirdos imo.

Because clickbait.

Heck, from what I've read this was already on Youtube. This might be better quality though.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I think I might have rode and played this in the early 90s.

There was a motion simulator ride that starred Michael Jackson and it was a combination video game. They had it at the Luxor here in Las Vegas.

The arcade there was all sponsored by Sega so I'm pretty sure it was also a Sega game.

 

[existensmaximum]

I really miss the 80's larger than life Michael Jackson. Truly, one of a kind artist/performer/musician.

 

[GeekyDad]

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

You're forgetting that Michael Jackson in the early '90s was starting to lose a lot of his coolness and was starting to move into creepiness. That's when the plastic surgery was getting excessive. 1993 he had the allegations of being a child molester. If you were the hip edgy console of the time, he might not be the celebrity you'd want to hit your ride to. Sega probably did the right thing by not going further with their relationship.

Moonwalker is a 1990 game, and 1990 was the peak of MJ’s fame. He looked perfect, he was on top of the world. It’s just weird to think that between 1990 and 1993 Sega didn’t try to push their collaboration further.

For some reason you are thinking that Sega wasn't handing out money from their than early 90's and 80's war chest to have an MJ collaboration. yeah MJ gave a deal because he liked games but Sega couldn't possibly afford to keep using him, especially when outside of Sonic 3 which was down from the first two games, the other games he was involved in didn't light the charts on fire.

Moonwalker wasn't even a million seller, and that's the game you would have though have been selling millions.

Precisely, except 1990 was before Sonic and the Genesis craze in the US, when Sega’s game design was still pretty crude. I can easily imagine MW doing much better had it come out a year-a year and a half later. It’s still crazy that Sega didn’t try some other non-FMV game with MJ after Sonic gave them that legendary boost. The sales could surely cover the expenses.
His involvement with Sonic 3 has been a badly kept secret for almost three decades, I doubt it was a sales push for Sonic 3.

 

[Rendered Tangent]

Moonwalker was a game I remember well.

 

[SmokedMeat]

To think that Sega had the support of the biggest non-movie star of its time boggles the mind.

From what I remember MJ was a fan of the hobby.

 

[ManaByte]

It’s just weird to think that between 1990 and 1993 Sega didn’t try to push their collaboration further.

It's a lot more complicated than that. MJ loved Sega and wanted to do things with Sega, but the problem is he was Sony Music's biggest artist on the planet. SONY didn't want MJ involved with Sega, especially when they were at the time working with Nintendo. That's why MJ's Sonic tracks were always an issue.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

It's a lot more complicated than that. MJ loved Sega and wanted to do things with Sega, but the problem is he was Sony Music's biggest artist on the planet. SONY didn't want MJ involved with Sega, especially when they were at the time working with Nintendo. That's why MJ's Sonic tracks were always an issue.

Aha! I had always missed this part of the story. Thanks!

 

[AJUMP23]

Cool find.

 

[DelireMan7]

I was a fan of the Star Tour attraction (Star Wars theme) in DisneyLand Paris as a kid.
I am pretty sure this is almost the exact same script used for this attraction. It was just a droïd instead of MJ.

 

[acm2000]

maybe if he hadnt paid off those kids parents he couldve afforded acting lessons.

 

[Scotty W]

Precisely, except 1990 was before Sonic and the Genesis craze in the US, when Sega’s game design was still pretty crude. I can easily imagine MW doing much better had it come out a year-a year and a half later. It’s still crazy that Sega didn’t try some other non-FMV game with MJ after Sonic gave them that legendary boost. The sales could surely cover the expenses.
His involvement with Sonic 3 has been a badly kept secret for almost three decades, I doubt it was a sales push for Sonic 3.

You are basically correct, however:

Michael Jackson in video games - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It sounds like they got involved in 88, and then the 2 versions of Moonwalker came out in 90. There actually is a large amount in a short period of time, but the fact that they never pursued a MW sequel is odd- compare with how they milked Jurassic Park.

 

[jufonuk]

more like scramble from the kids parents, am i right?

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

He seems like the peak example of 'product of one's environment' to me - I'm still split on whether he actually did any kiddy diddling...leaning towards no, but he was a fucking weirdo either way.

He was still a kid himself mentally...... Held back by his career and deadbeat father.

 

[Salz01]

I still don’t believe and want to believe the whole boy thing. Feel like it’s distorting things in order to milk the estate of money. The only thing that really signals he did anything really wrong, is the current Jackson family is practically dead silent. No showings nor records, no Janet etc…. And the kids are practically not doing anything where they could easily milk money. It’s either because ‘Oh shit, he slept with boys ‘…. Or ‘I’m so sick of this fucking industry let it burn while we drink mai tai’s on the beach.’ I hope it’s the later….

 

[Sentenza]

He seems like the peak example of 'product of one's environment' to me - I'm still split on whether he actually did any kiddy diddling...leaning towards no, but he was a fucking weirdo either way.

There's an OVERHWELMING amount of circumstantial evidence against him that ranges across almost thirty years of his life (because apparently he was into pretty young boys since he was a teen and it's not a deviance he developed only as wealth made him more of a degenerate). but if you are going to listen to delusional fans and their super-suspicious nitpicking of anyone saying a single thing against their idol. it will never be enough.

You could caught the man on video facefucking a toddler and someone would be making excuses for him.

Dude stopped his emotional development at like age 12 and when he was 30 he never had anyone say "Dude, you don't have sleepovers with boys when you're 30".

"He never had an adulthood and he was a child at heart" is a convenient narrative his Stans pushed for years, in contrast with all the evidence that he was in fact extremely interested in "sexual stuff" and that excuse would never fly with anyone who wasn't a beloved billionaire pop singer.

 

[Games of Today]

This game looks wild! It reminds me a lot of CoD: Infinite Warfare.

 

[Putonahappyface]

no

He did treat his animals liked utter garbage though and that's a fact not conjecture, which made him a colossal malignant cunt in my opinion. No idea if he participated in nonce nuggets, but he was creepy as fuck!

 

[CamHostage]

What a weird ride design?

I know that there were probably laser and screen LED effects inside the cabin, but the video shows every enemy craft getting away! (Unless they projected additional spaceships on the screen and then riders/players "shot" those down? But then there's usually a ship right in front of you when they say to shoot your weapons, so it seems unlikely that such an effect was used?) It's the same thing then also the same for the final attack, your partner fires all the rockets that blow up the space station and you just fly by. Then the ending, there's two different fail states, only one success path (which would be the least fun to ride, since the only action is a jet zooming out of your path and then you land safely, the others have you smashing through windows and spinning out on the tarmac.) Where's the fun in that?

Star Tours was made in 1987, so it's cool that this experimented with branching paths and "video game" interactivity in a motion ride, but it's not like there was no successful model to know whether the story flow and motion thrill design were good ideas or not.

...In any case, the early-'90s "high-end" CG and effects work is a hoot, with the explosions layered in from video animation because they didn't have those kinds of particle effects. Plus the fake set behind MJ (which shoots animated sparks once the ship is damaged.) And why didn't they build enough of the set so that he'd have real buttons to push above him, not pantomime it so awkwardly?

Cool flea market dig.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Moonwalker is a 1990 game, and 1990 was the peak of MJ’s fame. He looked perfect, he was on top of the world. It’s just weird to think that between 1990 and 1993 Sega didn’t try to push their collaboration further.



Precisely, except 1990 was before Sonic and the Genesis craze in the US, when Sega’s game design was still pretty crude. I can easily imagine MW doing much better had it come out a year-a year and a half later. It’s still crazy that Sega didn’t try some other non-FMV game with MJ after Sonic gave them that legendary boost. The sales could surely cover the expenses.
His involvement with Sonic 3 has been a badly kept secret for almost three decades, I doubt it was a sales push for Sonic 3.

Sega approached for Sonic 3, MJ didn't care for how it turned out which is why he didn't make his involvement too public.

Moonwalker wouldn't have did much better even after Sonic, it would have had to release around the same time or close to Sonic 1 to ride any waves, people gravely underestimate how bad Sega software sales were and how they kept screwing up putting the spotlight on games, or if they did, long enough to where there could be something gained from it.

It's telling how many hyped games in 1989-1990 that didn't really move the needle much for the Genesis. Moonwalker couldn't even get the console to 1 million US sales, let alone whatever numbers it did WW which is part of the issue, Sega dropped the ball big time on MJ's brand then. They even cut off the games potential growth not long after with other releases which never made sense, that was a headlining game.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

There's an OVERHWELMING amount of circumstantial evidence

Problem was a lot of that circumstantial evidence was screwed up by incompetence which is why the entire thing regardless of guilt has been a mess for years, and since he makes so much money now still with his brand and music it's unlikely there's going to be anything new that's directly evidential coming out from this, at least not for another decade or two.

"He never had an adulthood and he was a child at heart" is a convenient narrative his Stans pushed for years, in contrast with all the evidence that he was in fact extremely interested in "sexual stuff" and that excuse would never fly with anyone who wasn't a beloved billionaire pop singer.

To be fair he was raised poorly that kept him interested into a theme and behavior that did seem stunted.

However, he himself was not mentally stunted in the way people claim he was. I don't really see how that argument still gains traction, MJ did many things himself and even tried to get involved in political discourse (which we can't do here so I won't go further) so he was not mentally stunted, at least not to a level where he wasn't self-aware.

I think some fans are trying to use the abuse by the father (and potentially Q.Jones) to claim mental scarring but MJ if you looked at what he was doing beyond music interviews and videos was actively more in the know and able to take action on various things you wouldn't expect. I think you can only come to the mental stunt argument if you believe all MJ did was be a music slave and never went outside to smell the roses because he would be dragged into a cellar, and that's not what happened lol. Sure there was abuse arguably and there's evidence for that for all the Jacksons, but mentally stunted at a child level? No.

 

[93xfan]

To think that Sega had the support of the biggest non-movie star of its time boggles the mind.

Surprised he didn’t go for a partnership with Nintendo, given their younger audience.

Will never overlook the fact that this guy is a pedophile.

 

[Puscifer]

He seems like the peak example of 'product of one's environment' to me - I'm still split on whether he actually did any kiddy diddling...leaning towards no, but he was a fucking weirdo either way.

I recently decided to be very impartial at looking at the details of what's happening and all I have to say is if you still hold this opinion then you've fallen for the masterful deception his legal team brought forth. One of his accusers drew his penis and so far only 3 people saw it, 2 lawyers (Jackson and the Accusers, the lead investigator) and immediately afterwards he settled out of court. The family took a financial pay off and vanished off the face of the earth because people were showing up to their house and shooting at them. The dude has children locked behind closed doors for WEEKS at a time, the only family member who was truthful about shit was ostracized by her family. He treated Neverland like a playboy mansion for underage children.