Toejam and earl fans, unite!!

[Pur-Rulz]

HIS kids. Have you seen the interviews with pictures and crap? Yeah. He has children. I'm pretty sure, as an ex-video game developer, he would have tons of artwork and crap laying around his house. You don't think his kids would be curious enough to know what the hell those drawings are? Kids are curious as it is. YOU are the delusional one.

Um...how about a big fat no? For all counts; you don't just 'have tons of artwork and crap laying around the house', you'd archive such important conceptual documents away from general wear and tear. Even if his kids did know about T&E in some way, can you guarantee me that they'd be interested in his work? My mum does all sorts of therapies and my dad is an astronomer, but I find crystals (her main tools) nothing more than rocks, and anything space-related bores me after two minutes. See? I'm not the delusional one here.

[Paraloop]

I don't believe he's wrong in wanting SEGA to pay him. The man created the characters and if he doesn't want a company to use his characters then there is nothing we can do about it. In his reply he said that and I quote "...Sega doesn’t want to pay us for that. They essentially want it for free, and they want to lock up future rights to the property, both of which we said “no” to. " Perhaps it's okay to argue about him wanting to get money for them using his characters but he obviously doesn't want his characters exclusive to SEGA and I can respect that. If I created some characters that a company wanted to keep as their own then I wouldn't want to go through with that deal either unless I really wanted them to be exclusive.

[Cius_Warren180sx]

Thats too bad, too bad indeed.

[TGT]

Really? Then who is more biased? Somebody that isn't knowledgeable about something (the younger generations) or somebody who DOES know the older stuff PLUS the current stuff?

I don't really see how being less knowledgeable makes them "biased". At any rate, it certainly doesn't make their opinion matter any less. You seem to have a sense of entitlement just for being born earlier than the "kiddies", who are customers just like you. In reality, you matter no more than the kiddies so it's best that you take your own advice and learn your place.

[Paraloop]

I talked with Mr. Johnson tonight and I told him I'd post the conversation here so here it is:

Me: Please allow Sega to put Toe Jam and Earl in their all-stars racing game. It's always cool to see old classic characters make any type of cameo in new games. I myself never got to play TJ&E but there are many fans out there that would love to see their favorite characters make some kind of comeback.

Greg Johnson:
Hi there,

Thanks for the email, and thanks for being such an awesome fan. We would LOVE for Toejam and Earl to be included. As it happens, Sega doesn’t want to pay us for that. They essentially want it for free, and they want to lock up future rights to the property, both of which we said “no” to. We’ve already allowed Sega to publish the ToeJam and Earl games on the Wii for free (we get not a penny for that). If you want to be pro-active then by all means let Sega know that you feel like you want it, and they should pay a fair license fee to the IP holders.

And thanks for caring enough to write and ask. That is very cool.


Me: I understand why you said no. I'll be sure to send an email to them about this.

GJ: Cool thanks Jon, and thanks again for taking the time to write. It’s really cool that you still are that into it that you would take the time. I really appreciate that.

Me: I only have one issue. I don't know sega's email haha. I'm asking around on a few forum sites in hopes that someone knows. Do you know by any chance?

GJ: You know I really have no idea who the right person at Sega to write to would be. I don’t have email addresses for any PR people or anything like that. Well I don’t think you should waste too much time – it probably won’t make much of a difference. Just the fact that you tried looking means a lot and is much appreciated by me.

If you post on Forums you can let them know we spoke and that I’d love to put TJ&E out there anyway I can and let other publishers and developers use it too – as long as they don’t expect it for free.

Me: I'll post this over on the sega forums. I'll just copy this conversation. It was nice talking to you by the way. I never emailed a person who worked in the industry before so this was a treat. Thanks for your time and I hope you have a good day.


And that's how it went. I still think it's messed up that Sega won't just pay.

[FreshFromFunk-O-Tron1992]

I talked with Mr. Johnson tonight and I told him I'd post the conversation here so here it is:

Me: Please allow Sega to put Toe Jam and Earl in their all-stars racing game. It's always cool to see old classic characters make any type of cameo in new games. I myself never got to play TJ&E but there are many fans out there that would love to see their favorite characters make some kind of comeback.

Greg Johnson:
Hi there,

Thanks for the email, and thanks for being such an awesome fan. We would LOVE for Toejam and Earl to be included. As it happens, Sega doesn’t want to pay us for that. They essentially want it for free, and they want to lock up future rights to the property, both of which we said “no” to. We’ve already allowed Sega to publish the ToeJam and Earl games on the Wii for free (we get not a penny for that). If you want to be pro-active then by all means let Sega know that you feel like you want it, and they should pay a fair license fee to the IP holders.

And thanks for caring enough to write and ask. That is very cool.


Me: I understand why you said no. I'll be sure to send an email to them about this.

GJ: Cool thanks Jon, and thanks again for taking the time to write. It’s really cool that you still are that into it that you would take the time. I really appreciate that.

Me: I only have one issue. I don't know sega's email haha. I'm asking around on a few forum sites in hopes that someone knows. Do you know by any chance?

GJ: You know I really have no idea who the right person at Sega to write to would be. I don’t have email addresses for any PR people or anything like that. Well I don’t think you should waste too much time – it probably won’t make much of a difference. Just the fact that you tried looking means a lot and is much appreciated by me.

If you post on Forums you can let them know we spoke and that I’d love to put TJ&E out there anyway I can and let other publishers and developers use it too – as long as they don’t expect it for free.

Me: I'll post this over on the sega forums. I'll just copy this conversation. It was nice talking to you by the way. I never emailed a person who worked in the industry before so this was a treat. Thanks for your time and I hope you have a good day.


And that's how it went. I still think it's messed up that Sega won't just pay.

I figured as much. Sega would rather hump a dead cow than let their hedgerat on life-support get overshadowed by people who are prime and ready to take the SEGA throne.

Still, I will continue fighting for Masta T and Big E! Even if it means I have to download them via WiiWare! Though I can honestly say this right now: If ToeJam and Earl aren't in another Sega "All-Star" Game, OH PARDON ME, another Sonic The Hedgehog with some Sega "All-Stars" in it Game, I have lost all hope in SEGA. Sonic's Dead, and if they refuse to revive what MADE THEM A SUCESS TO BEGIN WITH, Then I could care less if the company executives get run over.

[Hikaru Okami]

Maybe we can launch said dead cow at Sega of America's HQ. That should get our point across. I don't blame Greg Johnson for wanting money from Sega. TJ&E are HIS characters. HIS! Don't call him greedy for wanting a cut of the profit!

Like I said in my earlier post, TJ&E gave life to the Genesis in North America. Up until then, most of the Genesis library consisted of arcade ports. Greg and the crew gave Sega a original and fun game to the market. You fanboy *******s just want them out for more cheap Sonic characters. You know what, screw Sonic! Sega, stop beating a dead horse and let Sonic die with the little dignity he has left.

I'm done. I'm going to go listen to Parliament.

[Daftlittleinsomniac]

tojam and earl is some of the most cherished coop platforming from my childhood. it would be a lot of fun to see them in a racing game. add them sega, add them for coolness.

[NinMicroSega]

Has anyone sent that very good information over to Kotaku and GoNintendo? How about we bombard Joystiq since they haven't even mentioned anything about this situation yet.

[Big Earl]

Well I gotta say I'm impressed. You guys are amazing.

Yo Wha'sup. Big Earl here, a.k.a. Greg Johnson - co-creator of the ToeJam and Earl games.

I just want to let you know that I hear you my alien brothers and sisters, and your voices make a difference. I can't promise anything but I'll give it another try and see if I can get the homies at Sega to talk again on the phone. No promises, but I'll see what their interest level is. Hopefully they can see what amazing devoted fans TJ&E has. Hurray for the FUNK! Well if I get any news I'll come back and post it here. And I'll keep trying to get some new TJ&E game off the ground. No publisher has agreed to foot the bill yet, but never say never. The funky duo shall yet return.

Thanks for keeping the faith after so many years. Who says you can't make a difference.

Big Earl out...