Rock the Rock

To do

• From Chris Tang: "Chris Tang representing San Francisco checking in! Definitely a memorable moment in gaming history. Besides the $25,000 Sega sent me everything they made (games and hardware) for 2 years. There was another ceremony at Sega headquarters at a corporate meeting where Tom Kalinske handed me a giant mock up check and I got to perform a better run of 297 rings (though I was trying to get over 300). I kind of wish Yuji Naka (who was actually at the event, wearing a green suit) got some camera time on MTV, and wish I had brought a copy of Phantasy Star to get autographed. Not that there was any time to pack anything from the regionals... D: Many thanks for uploading the video!!"
• Eventual mention of the broadcast's recovery, as it was considered lost for a while.
• S&K was launched and marketed less like a game and more like a Hollywood motion picture. Pamela Kelly came up with the idea/organized Rock the Rock. Possibly more information here.
• MTV was seemingly only involved with the Alcatraz and video editing side of the tournament, but that needs to be verified. (Where did I hear this?)
• Hosted by Bill Bellamy and Daisy Fuentes.
• 50 initial contestants, chosen from around 100,000 participants. 5 additional contestants chosen from phone line, totaling 55 contestants.
• Neat source here. "Five additional participants in the event were randomly selected from a pool of people who called into a dedicated phone line."
• Features interviews/segments with STI's General Manager Roger Hector, Technical Director Adrian Stephens, Music Director Howard Drossin, and Artists Kunitake Aoki and Chris Senn, as well as Sega Test (division)'s (Lead) Game Testers Aron Drayer, Janine Cook (misspelled Jamine), Marcus Montgomery, and Tracy Johnson. And then back to STI with Executive Producer Dean Lester.
• JP Tournament was known as "World Championship Japan Tournament", held at Yokohama Joypolis some good shots/video snippets of it in the video. Sponsored by Pioneer (and a second company, but I can't catch a legible still)
• Is all the crazy editing in this video like... MTV's take on SoA's marketing?
• I have a gut feeling segments of this may have been produced by the same company which did that one video with Al Nilsen's face floating and stretching around the screen as he just sits there and quietly talks. Welcome to the Next Living Room?
• "Sonic & Knuckles International Preliminary Tournaments" is the 'official' name for exactly that.
• Sega Visions says 16 US Hard Rocks.
• Do something with RocktheRock Sonic3conceptart.png.

You may already know this, but this event was covered in an issue of Sega Visions.

sweeeet, thank you so much! please feel free to dump any relevant info/magrefs/links here, or even edit the main article :) CartridgeCulture (talk) 07:07, 10 October 2022 (EDT)

To our fellow User:CartridgeCulture... What are you waiting for?! ... have fun, dude!... ;) --Asagoth (talk) 07:57, 10 October 2022 (EDT)

Contestants

• 1st: Chris Tang - 248 (San Francisco)
• 2nd: Mark Guinane - 274 (unknown)
• 3rd: Jared Finder - 200 (San Diego)
• 4th: Hitoshi Kobayashi - 197 (Yokohama)
• 5th: Juan Torres Jr. - 156 (unknown)
• 6th: Kristen Klemetsen - 147 (New Orleans)
• 7th: not listed?
• 8th: Ryan Brad - 126 (unknown)
• 9th: Jeff Falco - 121 (Chicago)
• 10th: Steve Hughes - 101 (Vermont)

Invitational tournament locations

• Sao Paolo, Brazil
• New York, NY
• Yokohama, Japan
• Boston, MA
• Ottawa, CA
• Atlanta, GA
• Hamburg, Germany
• Miami, FL
• Washington, D.C.
• Orlando, FL
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• Nashville, TN
• San Francisco, CA
• Dallas, TX
• New Orleans, LA
• San Diego, CA
• Las Vegas, NV

CartridgeCulture watches this video (WIP)

• Uhm those police bikes aren't real are they? ofc not, but dang they got their lights on and everything
• Some kinda pre-tournament event thing being held Sunday morning at Pier 41. Bellamy on a stage (I think near the aquarium/bushman area) getting a crowd of ppl hyped up, which are likely just the public - there's easily enough tourists in that area but who knows.
• Although they got from Hard Rock to the airport in individual limos, their hotel > pier transportations was a single prison bus, keeping with the theme.
• Officers are taking cartoon sacks of money from the Brinks truck. The sacks have giant dollar bills on them. This is awesome.
• oh frick what hotel is that. street view it. and why are they getting into a limo when theyre later showing up at the pier on the bus. also check clothes to times/etc.
• Lots of good shots of different tournament places. MIGHT BE Yuji Naka in frame to the right at 3:25. And WOW look at that Sonic logo in the back there, is that the modern logo? This was late 1994, either way, neat.
• I can't stop watching this fake hotel guest get body slammed out the way. And now the cops are walking besides the limo in live traffic these balls.

[ ]

Sega Visions, "December/January 1994/1995" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 6