Yuji Naka Is Shocked That Michael Jackson's Music Is Missing In Sonic Origins

Seriously, does he even realize how many tabloid fodder recyclers he just left without a source of income?

This guy is an agent of chaos.

What does he mean by "Sega official uses it"? Sega maybe in the past did, but now, things are more complicated.

This is just an ex-Sega employee / creator reacting to what has happened. I doubt he knows the real reason why the music couldn't be used.

Honestly, I think it's just the right holder's being stubbon as a mule.

SEGA Official:
https://www.tiktok.com/@segaofficial/video/7111708290152795394

The Michael Jackson music has been struck by a smooth criminal

@RadioShadow i don't think you understand the immensity of this situation

Well there is always a possibility that he is just trolling us?

Thanks for sharing 3 dorks doing the exact same joke.

I'm assuming it's just a matter of Sega and the Jackson estate being able to agree on a licensing fee in the past and not being able to in this instance. I mean, they should have seen this coming, collaborating with the most popular artist of the era and not having a rock solid contract. But I guess the idea of constantly re-releasing classic games, or even of "classic games" in general, wasn't really a thing in the early 90s.

@bonjong23 literally what the article is 👍😆

I played Sonic 3 this morning. Honestly, yes, if you listen closely, you notice it's not MJ's music, but it isn't that unnoticeable.

Those new tracks should just beat it.

@NinTempo I think we should separate the art from the artist at all times. Or else you would have to stop listening to things like the Beatles albums.

@thinkhector THANK YOU!!!

😮I'm still shocked MJ is missing from Life...

I wish they were in the game as well, Naka.

I'm pretty disappoint ice Cap zone is my alarm when I wake up every morning that track jams!

@HotGoomba

Sega’s legal troubles are some Hard Times.

Ice Cap Zone closely resembles Hard Times by The Jetzons. It's frustrating that it has seemingly been tied up in the MJ rights issue, presumably due to Brad Buxer's links between the two. Clearly the reworked Ice Cap Zone music must have included something linked to MJ that was used elsewhere in the game.

The thing I do not understand at all is why SEGA allowed The Jetzons to release a special edition vinyl of Hard Times with Sonic 3 artwork on the vinyl/sleeve if the music for Ice Cap Zone was not allowed to be used in the game. What kind of a negotiation is that?!

Also, it so closely resembles Hard Times... why not just use it without the MJ elements?

I just wonder why it was a crazy secret for all these years. Or maybe he thought it was well known and nobody ever asked him directly?

Sega will now have an excuse of releasing yet another paid DLC for Sonic Origins, called the Michael Jackson Pack (restoring all original Sonic 3’s music and priced $20 including licensing costs)

@Sun_wukong they do that, I’ll be all in! I was prepared to purchase if the MJ tracks were there, without them I’m not buying, sorry Sonic!

@OrtadragoonX but those Genesis days were the happiest of their life.

I don’t understand why people assume Sega CAN’T use the Sonic music?? The much likelier assumption is that Sega just doesn’t want to pay the licensor royalty, which is probably at the average rate any company would pay for any music. But Sega is just that cheap. I doubt the executives at Sega give two flying figs about Sonic 3. Like damn, lol

Epic fail! I wonder how they will replace it, can't be as good.

I remember my modern version of Meat boy (on Switch) having a different soundtrack because of a dispute. I don't dislike the soundtrack but heard the original before on youtube. And the original is better.

@NinChocolate I agree that it's likely Sega doesn't want to pay the royalty fee, and/or they didn't think the Sonic Origins package will make enough profit to justify paying for those royalties.

I remember the Simpsons season 3? DVD commentary just casually said the Michael Jackson did do the episode. They were like "Did we just reveal it?" "Yes we did."

@Captain-N i really think it’s down to Sega not wanting any amount going out to any third party, even if it’s a fraction of the total income. Because I don’t believe Sonic 3 is that meaningful to the upper management at Sega these days. They are no doubt willing to dis the history in this case to save themselves a transaction

It’s so strange to me that they likely changed the music over copyright issues with a musician that isn’t even credited anywhere in the game or on the box. Who owns the soundtrack if not Sega? Is it a part of Jackson’s estate or something? These are total classic songs that play heavily into my enjoyment of Sonic 3. It’s a real shame that they’ve been removed for vague, mysterious reasons.

@NinChocolate I agree. I get the feeling Sega wanted this to be a budget production. Maybe I'm wrong, though Sega deciding to make Sonic Origins digital for now, and maybe permanently, gives me the impression that they aren't fully confident in it. Again, I could be wrong.

@nocdaes

It doesn’t just resemble it. It is Hard Times.

I can’t listen to that theme without singing the lyrics. They’re the exact same track. Just different instrumentation.

@nhSnork lmao, Sonic 3 rumors are big money these days?

@Captain-N Sega’s a strange cat. Hard to say what they’re up to at most times. At the end of the day fans let them back into the house because we’re just attached, lol

This..... This is beautiful... I think after his dealings with Square, Naka now just wants the world to burn. He's dangerous.

And the new music is just bad. You know it. It's bad.

I think I own the older 360 ports on XB. Hopefully I still have the original tracks in there. The music was a big part of the game.

@AmplifyMJ While I agree with everything you are saying, it should be directed at the the person making the original comment. I am painting out that people do terrible things and great things. It's called being human. Every person is a mixed bag. Even game creators.

@Sun_wukong Get the rights to Michael Jackson's MoonWalker while they are at it so they can release the game for Genesis Expansion service.

Guess I'll just stick to the Wii Virtual Console version of Sonic 3/Sonic 3 & Knuckles for now. Not getting Sonic Origins until they can be arsed to make a physical version or confirm there won't be one.

Seriously SEGA, I hope you learned your lesson and stop hiring popular artists to compose music for your games and use your own composers instead. And yes, I know MJ and his associates didn't compose the entire Sonic 3 & Knuckles soundtrack, but you get the point. Particularly, I'm also referring to Masato Nakamura, but at least he seems more open when it comes to the music of Sonic 1 and 2.

@GuyProsciutto I mean, if stuff like "This Skyrim player found a >>click for full<<" still appears to be...

@AmplifyMJ Believe what you want to but when there's that much smoke there's gotta be a fire somewhere.

@HotGoomba The replacement songs are Bad

@Rainbowfire They're bad, they're Bad (Really, really bad)

Naka's tweet is a verbal molotov cocktail & I just think that's beautiful.

At this point I am mostly confused about those Sonic games and collections. There's Sonic Mania, Sega Ages, that Mega Drive collection, NSO versions and now this... And you people say Nintendo is the one selling the same games over and over again!

@NinChocolate I agree with you there, too. I'm a perfect example. I'm going to get this collection, if I can physically. If Sega confirms no physical, I'll purchase the download.

whether Michael is guilty or innocent, I think Sega decided not to use his music for a game that targets kids. They wanted to avoid that controversy but still created it with adult gamers.

Imagine thinking you know better than the game's own creator on what it's development history was like.

Hadn't they confirmed this multiple times in recent years? I know like 6 or 7 years ago, this rumor was a little bit more mysterious, but I'm pretty sure around 2015 or so it was officially confirmed and the rumor put to rest.

I was genuinely more shocked by the reaction to this.
I thought this has been confirmed ages ago already...
Especially considering that Sonic 3 had some licensing issues with its music here and there.
Iirc, it was the reason we never got an M2 port on the 3DS or a SEGA AGES release on the switch.

@RubyCarbuncle I completely agree! I just loaded up the game and went straight to the Museum section to listen to Ice Cap Zone and Carnival Night Zone.

My initial feeling was that they sound like Game Gear Sonic music. So not a criticism per se... it's clearly Sonic, but they simply don't fit with the other Sonic 3 Zones. At all. They stand out as the worst music in the game as a result - further hindered by them being Zones 4 and 5 in the game - I.e. you hear them both together. Not good.

This is a pretty big deal honestly, even if I've been thinking it was MJ.

@SmaggTheSmug Sega is going to milk every last gold ring, er coin, they can out of Sonic's little blue teats with as little effort on their part as possible.

@RadioShadow sega official, the Japanese twitter account, very recently posted a happy birthday sonic video playing Michael Jackson music. Many people believed that this was sega teasing that they got the license to use the music again.

@bonjong23 yeah, it'd be better if it was just Jon's and the first guy's because the other 2 are the same thing.