McDonald’s/Sega Mini Video Games

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Here are the direct links to all the 5 Sega mini video games that
were released once a week (in a series) for five consecutive weeks from
26th June 2003 – 30th July 2003 as a McDonald’s promotion:

Sonic’s Speedway
McDonald’s & Sega Mini video game #1 – Sonic’s Speedway [sixthseal.com].

Knuckles Soccer
McDonald’s & Sega Mini video game #2 – Knuckles Soccer [sixthseal.com].

Tails Sky Patrol
McDonald’s & Sega Mini video game #3 – Tails Sky Patrol [sixthseal.com].

AiAi Banana Catch
McDonald’s & Sega Mini video game #4 – AiAi Banana Catch [sixthseal.com].

Sonic’s Action Game
McDonald’s & Sega Mini video game #5 – Sonic’s Action Game [sixthseal.com].

McDonald’s & Sega promotion – Sega mini handheld games – Sonic’s Action Game

McDonald’s and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog mini game #5 – Sonic’s Action Game

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This is the final one in the series – it came out yesterday, and I
went to get one early in the morning. The quality of the photos are
quite dismal because they are taken using a webcam, the Logitech
Quickcam Pro 3000 that I had since the beginning of this blog. My
digicam is still out of service, and probably will be for at least a
week. Anyway, Sonic’s Action Game differs from the others in that it
only has one button instead of the standard two. The background is the
most colorful and detailed in the series and the game play is different
– this one is a platform game, like the first Sega Sonic the Hedgehog
games. The single red button is used to make Sonic jump over obstacles
(where there sometimes are rings) and the game speeds up at each level.
It seems to have 4 levels instead of the usual 3 and the last two
levels are quite fast – rather challenging, until you find out that
depressing the jump button repeatedly will get you through the final
two levels without even looking at the LCD screen. It’s an interesting
game nevertheless, different from the others and a nice one to end the
McDonald’s/Sega mini video game promotion series.

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The manual for Sonic’s Action Game

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The front of Sonic’s Action Game

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The back of Sonic’s Action Game

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Sonic’s Action Game in action!

McDonald’s & Sega promotion – Sega mini handheld games – Sonic’s Speedway

McDonald’s and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog mini game #1 – Sonic’s Speedway

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This is the first one in the series, the only one I don’t have. It’s
called Sonic’s Speedway and it’s a racing game that follows the same
game play as the others in the series. The three photos are taken by Daniel
[geocities.com]. His sister owns this game. Tomorrow is the day the
last one comes out, going to send out some more resumes tonight and
sleep earlier to queue up tomorrow.

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Sonic’s Speedway in action!

McDonald’s & Sega promotion – Sega mini handheld games – Ai Ai Banana Catch

McDonald’s and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog mini game #4 – Ai Ai Banana Catch

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Ai Ai Banana Catch is the fourth one in the McDonald’s/Sega
promotion series. I got this last Thursday morning at the McDonald’s in
Sibu, but didn’t get around to posting it till today. The branch
supervisor actually recognized me (probably due to my impatience ;))
from that Monday where they were selling off the rest of the back
stock. Anyway, I found that Ai Ai Banana Catch is the hardest mini game
I’ve played to date – the third (last) level is actually quite
challenging if you aren’t concentrating, unlike the other two in the
series preceding it. The game play is still very much the same. Two
buttons move the protagonist (Ai Ai) into three positions (left, middle
and right) in order to catch falling bananas. Oh, and I noticed that
the batteries of these handheld games doesn’t last that long. I don’t
think I’ve even played them for one hour, before noticeable
manifestations of battery drainage occurs – volume decreases, screen
becomes dimmer etc.

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The manual for Ai Ai Banana Catch

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The front of Ai Ai Banana Catch

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The back of Ai Ai Banana Catch

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Ai Ai Banana Catch in action!

McDonald’s & Sega promotion – Sega mini handheld games – Knuckles Soccer

McDonald’s and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog mini game #2 – Knuckles Soccer

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I got this back issue from the McDonald’s Sibu offer last Monday,
where they reintroduce the sold out games (only #2 Knuckles Soccer and
#3 Tails Sky Patrol, not #1 Sonic’s Speedway). It was supposed to go on
sale at exactly 12 noon and man, the place was packed! Everyone was
jostling, shouting around etc. and the staff finally had to resort to
giving out numbers, and I got Number 2. Heh. Anyway, after a long wait
and a lot of pushing around, we (me and gf, she was still in Sibu at
that time) walked out with two copies of Knuckles Soccer. Yay! The game
features Knuckles in front of a goal and you control him using the two
right-left buttons to guard the goal from incoming balls. Fun, but all
too easy to win again. The background has a wider variety of colors
compared to Tails Sky Patrol though – colorful. I couldn’t post it up
before because of my broken digicam (didn’t have photos). Why do I have
photos now? I’ll write about that in the next post, here are the photos
that I took:

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The manual for Knuckles Soccer (scanned)

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The front of Knuckles Soccer.

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The back of Knuckles Soccer.

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Knuckles Soccer in action!

McDonald’s & Sega promotion – Sega mini handheld games – Tails Sky Patrol

McDonald’s and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog mini game #3 – Tails Sky Patrol

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I did not wake up early because I was still sleeping, so I didn’t
queue up at 9 am. I only got up at around 10:45 am after a call woke me
up. I rushed down to the local McDonald’s and I’m happy to report that
I have managed to acquire two of Tails Sky Patrol (the Sega mini
handheld game this week – a new one every week). I’m planning to
collect one (unopened, in shrink wrap) and play with one.

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Sonic’s Tails Sky Patrol game.

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Well, the construction of these Sega mini games seems to be pretty
solid – the only one I have (Tails Sky Patrol) feels light, but sturdy.
There’s a bit of a rattling sound when it’s agitated though. The back
of the game has a simple On/Off toggle switch and the front is molded
to the Tails character from Sonic the Hedgehog. The LCD is about the
size of a postage stamp and has a pre-rendered background. By that I
mean the background is “painted on” and shows up even if the game is
not on. You know what I mean if you’ve been messing around with
handheld games before.

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Front of the handheld game.

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Back of the handheld game.

The background has scenery of a blue sky, with nicely rendered
cumulonimbus clouds. The two red buttons to move Tails up and down
seems to be able to handle a bit of rough play, but I haven’t put that
to the test. This game also has sound – it emits beeps, boops, and
squeaks, depending on whether you made Tails eat a ring, you missed
one, or the game is over. πŸ™‚

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The game in action!

The game is pretty compulsive, a lot of fast reflexes are needed to
get through the levels, but I suspect that this isn’t a device that
would take a lot of punishment, so personally, I don’t think it’ll last
for all that long. It’s great value for RM 5 (A$ 2.50) so I would be
getting the other two in the series. Please email me
if you have the first two in the series, I’m interested in getting two
of each (but one would do if that’s all you’re willing to part with),
just offer a price in the email. Thanks!

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The manual

P/S – Has anyone taken photos of the back of Tails Sky Patrol? I
noticed this very interesting visual distortion where the blue bits
swirled and blinked and moved around. It’s not an isolated incident so
I wouldn’t call it a flashback. Try taking a close-up photo of the back
of this mini game and see if you experience the same visual distortion
when viewed through the LCD viewfinder. The front and other parts did
not produce the same effects, only the blue back of Tails Sky Patrol
did. I had to think very hard to remember whether I consumed any
mushrooms or blotters during the night! I’m pretty sure this phenomena
occurs because of the silvery finish at the back of the game – it just
messes with the digicam’s autofocus and that translated to bizarre
visual distortions in the LSD viewfinder.

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McDonald’s (Sibu), grainy B&W photo in ze papers and NO DRUGS!

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I went to McDonald’s for lunch today. I wanted to get those Sega
mini handheld games they’re having a promotion on – RM 5 (A$ 2.50) for
each one with the purchase of a meal. Unfortunately this is what we saw
upon arrival:

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There goes my hope of getting every one in the collection. πŸ™‚
Hmm…come to think of it, if anyone happens to have a spare one that’s
still inside the shrink wrap, I’ll be more than happy to get it off
you, email me and name a price. Well, we had lunch anyway since we were already there.

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I had the Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal while my girlfriend had
the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe meal. It seems that the Quarter Pounder has
finally arrived (it says “New” on the menu anyway) and I haven’t seen
it the last time I was back home. I also asked the girl behind the
counter about the mini handheld games and she said they get sold out on
first day they’re available, so I guess I’ll have to queue up before
opening hours on Thursday. It’s not like I have much to do until my
results come out on the 17th of July anyway. πŸ™‚

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Anyway, the Quarter Pounder here is pretty sad…they are still using
the standard size buns, so the meat patty was visibly overflowing from
the bun’s edges. It tastes pretty much the same though, except for the
over mustard-ization of this one. Unfortunately, the fries here are
still very dismal. I have eaten at McDonald’s (and other fast food
joints) in Malaysia (various states), Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand
and Australia and no one came even close to the QUALITY fries in
Australia’s McDonald’s (though Singapore’s shaker fries at McD’s gave
it a run for it’s money). I don’t know about the other states, since
I’ve only eaten at McDonald’s in Victoria and New South Wales, but
damn, the McDonald’s fries in Australia is absolutely melt in your
mouth delicious. The fries of the McDonald’s in Malaysia tastes like
the ones in Burger King/Hungry Jack’s in Australia – very unremarkable.
πŸ˜‰ While we’re on the topic of fries, I’ve also eaten the most obscene
ones in Australia – at KFC’s, which is why I can count the number of
times I’ve eaten at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Melbourne over a three
year period on the digits of one hand. I would have gone to a fish and
chips shop instead if I wanted fries of that size and girth.

Well, on another topic, I saw a group photo of the candidates and
photographers from the Miss Photogenic photo shoot yesterday in Sin
Chew Daily, a local Chinese newspaper. It was on the top of Page 8 of
today’s edition, which I’ve scanned here:

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I can’t translate the captions because I can’t read the language,
sorry. I can speak it fluently though (this is something I always feel
the need to add). Anyway, I’m the second one from the right in the
photographers group photo. The one in a t-shirt and slacks, biting my
lower lip like I always do while on stimulants. Gotta have something to
keep me awake at that ungodly hour. Of course, when I say stimulants it always means caffeine or another legal substance, while when veritas says stimulants it’s probably something else – can’t be too careful when I’m in Malaysia. πŸ˜‰

Which reminds me, don’t call my cell phone number asking for drugs,
I’m not a dealer. I don’t mean to be rude or anything, it’s just that I
can’t sort you out, so you’re wasting your time. I also have to add
that there are two authors on this blog, the Digi number in one
of the posts below is mine, and I put that up for friends and/or
important matters. To the girl from KL who called this afternoon, what
I’ve told you on the phone is correct, please don’t comment about
anything here as this is a publicly viewable medium. This goes for
everyone who has privileged information as well. Thanks! πŸ™‚ My
apologies if I come off as being discourteous, again, I don’t mean to
be rude.

Anyway, here’s two views from inside McDonald’s in Sibu:

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Link: Brain rewiring during learning boosted by drug [newscientist.com]

Thanks to Haggas for pointing this out. Very, very interesting read about a study on the use of amphetamines in enhancing learning.

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