It's Sonic's birthday tomorrow. He's turning 18 and leaving the awkwardness of puberty behind to become an adult hedgehog. To celebrate this special time in every blue speed-demon's life, Sega is going to hold a bash and give away many Sonic-related gifts to all of his fans. On Tuesday, June 23 (that's tomorrow), keep your eyes glued to both @sonicgames on Twitter and Sonic on Facebook for a chance to win any one of the 15 prize packs up for grabs (see after the break for deets).

All prizes are available to win worldwide -- there's no silly regional restrictions it would seem (except for Quebec because you're too good for foreign goods*). The Sega Blognik has the full rules on how (and when) to enter the contests, so make sure you hit that up.

*Not an actual restriction

This week, Sega has dropped six new games onto Xbox Live Arcade as part of its Sega Vintage Collection. These six titles are timeless classics and definitely need no introduction for Sega fans. For the rest of you, expect a crash course in Comix Zone, Altered Beast, Sonic 3, Shinobi, Phantasy Star II, and Gunstar Heroes (400/$5 each).

Listen -- not every game at E3 is a winner. The Joystiq heavyweights get to go play all the big games and interview all of the developer hotshots, and that's the stuff you love reading about. But some of us are down in the trenches, doing all of the demos that no one else wants to do, checking out all the games whose names are read around the schedule planning table, and answered only with the silence of bloggers who have better games to play.

That's not to say that Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics is a bad game -- its audience will probably enjoy it. Just like the previous Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, it offers multiple Olympic sports-based minigames featuring popular Nintendo and Sega characters, controlled by various Wii and DS motions. People who like buying that kind of thing (parents wandering a videogame store looking for wholesome family entertainment) will probably enjoy it. But even though most of the Joystiq staff passed on this demo (and your faithful blogger bravely attended it), it was one of the more surreal things we've seen this week. Our strange experiences, let us show you them.

The last Sonic the Hedgehog racing game (not counting the flying snowboard business) was Sonic R on the Saturn, back in 1997. Sega has revived the idea of a Sonic racing game in the form of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, adding some friends from other Sega games, including Super Monkey Ball's AiAi the monkey and Samba de Amigo's Amigo the ... other monkey.

Unlike Sonic R, this time Sonic and pals race in vehicles -- and unlike the Game Gear's Sonic Drift, those vehicles aren't just karts, but take various forms, from planes to sports cars to bananas. Sonic, however, does not have a Smart. Too bad!

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing will be out on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and DS in 2010. The announcement doesn't mention PC, but there's a "PC DVD" logo at the end.

Running out of platforms to cash in on, Sega's original Sonic the Hedgehog has made its inevitable appearance on the iPhone, notes PocketGamer. The Genesis (Mega Drive) classic is available for $6. We know it's not exactly mobile, but we feel obligated to point out that Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (which includes the original Sonic, plus a whole lot more) is $30 or less.

We've yet to play Sonic on the iPhone, so feel free to leave a comment below if the title is worth the entry fee to Green Hill Zone.

What kind of car would you associate with Sonic the Hedgehog? Does Sonic have any defining characteristics that some cars share? Ah, that's right! He's small! Smaller than a normal car.

... at least, that's how Sega of France's thinking seems to have gone. A Sega fan spotted this Sonic Unleashed-branded Smart and sent a picture into Sega's Sonic blog. We suppose it's appropriate given the game it's advertising: it makes as much sense to pitch a game about running fast with a pokey, bulbous little car as it does to make half of that game about a stretchy-armed werehog. At least the car's mostly blue.

Sega has announced plans to release seven more of its classic titles under the Sega Vintage Collection banner later this year, thus confirming one of Xbox Live Arcade's worst-kept secrets. Included in Sega Vintage Collection 2 are Shinobi (arcade port), Comix Zone, Altered Beast, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Phantasy Star II, Sonic & Knuckles and Gunstar Heroes. Interestingly, Gunstar Heroes is the only title also announced for the PSN.

According to Sega, each title will include online leaderboards, re-worked graphics (using smoothing filters, not HD upgrades) and most will feature network play (Comix Zone, Phantasy Star II and Shinobi excluded). No word on pricing or release dates but Sega plans to release the titles separately this summer, with Sonic & Knuckles appearing last. Why the delay? With Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic 2 XBLA and Sonic 3 XBLA owners will be able to use the classic lock-on feature from the Genesis-era to import Knuckles into each classic adventure. Of course, if patience isn't your best quality, you could just buy Sonic's Genesis Collection now (which doesn't support lock-on).

Sega's official Twitter account has confirmed several games that will be shown at E3 2009. The financially troubled slave drivers of Sonic have stated the following games will be on display:

• Alpha Protocol
• Bayonetta
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
• Planet 51
• The Conduit
• Vancouver 2010

Titles we notice are missing so far: Infinite Space, Sands of Destruction, Phantasy Star Zero ... and any of the Aliens games. Hm, no standalone Sonic game ... is that even possible? We'll keep our fingers crossed for a Valkyria Chronicles sequel announcement at the show -- or at least some ports.

Bad news, guys. We were going to pass along that more Sonic Unleashed DLC is in the works (we just read about it on Sega's Twitter feed). But, within the confines of the English language, there's no way we can be more apathetic than the last time we had to tell you about Sonic Unleashed. Last time, we couldn't even finish the headline. We just can't top that.

We've been reduced to using the slightly-profane music you'll find after the jump to express ourselves. That's where we're at now.

Your wardrobe could use a bit more gamer chic. One of Japan's more popular clothing brands is introducing a new line of t-shirts in collaboration with a number of gaming companies. The store is offering tees based on Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega-Man, PaRappa the Rapper, LittleBigPlanet, Resident Evil and more. The shirts retail for 1500 yen (about $15) each.

The designs are simple, often featuring very subtle references to these gaming franchises . This way, you can make a nerdy statement without actually having to look like one.

[Via Offworld]

When Sonic the Hedgehog came over from Japan to the US, Sega of America felt the need to invent a storyline and background for the character. Sonic, after all, was going to be the face of the whole company, so it made sense to take the utmost care in developing his world for American audiences. And that's how the "Sonic the Hedgehog Bible" -- a book of storyline experiments and character biographies -- came to be.

"The bible was developed at SOA in-tune with getting the game from SOJ," Sega designer and game counselor Dean Sitton said. "There was little to no exposure to the original Japanese fiction at that time." As a result, the bible contains story ideas developed completely without SOJ's help. Like the one in which he grows up as "Sonny Hedgehog" in Hardly, Nebraska.

In the pages of the Sonic Bible, you can see the Sonic mythology develop, with handwritten notes detailing the relationship between Sonic and Robotnik, the origins of Sonic's speed, and more. In one draft, Sonic grows up in the forest and learns skills from his animal friends: "From Rabbit, he learns how to outrun every creature in the forest; from Squirrel, he learns how to lob acorns down from trees to pester the unsuspecting victim below; Chicken teaches him how to squawk like a rooster and wake everyone up in the morning ..."

The same document speculates that Sonic turned blue when he broke the speed of sound while running on a treadmill (note: "BORN BLUE") and that Sonic developed his spin attack in response to Robotnik's evil turn (note: "HE'S HAD IT").

[Via GameSetWatch]

In the past, we've seen a number of cool Unreal Tournament mods -- including that fascinating LEGO creation from a year ago -- but we've never seen anything quite like the Sonic the Hedgehog mod (posted after the break). The concept takes the gun-slinging action of Unreal Tournament to Sonic's Green Hill Zone. The mod looks just like the original level from the first Sonic game; it even sounds like it (listen to the bumper sound effects), though it's missing the original's catchy background music.

Just don't go showing this off to Sega. We don't want the company getting any bright ideas ... you know, like: "Sonic Shooters." Sonic and the Black Knight was just about all the innovation that we can handle.

We hope you're ready for some more stretchy-armed Werehog combat, because Sega has released yet more DLC for Sonic Unleashed. The Spagonia Adventure Pack, available now on XBLM contains four new levels for daytime Sonic to run around in. Nighttime Sonic gets two new levels to do his thing: Smashing both evil robots and a treasured franchise at the same time.

The Xbox 360 version will run you 250.

[Via Sega Nerds]

Few beloved characters from our childhood have fallen quite as hard as Sonic the Hedgehog. After numerous franchise reboots that included an inappropriate romp with a Princess and a Werehog scare, Sonic looks to recapture an audience ... in comic book form!

From the pages of Archie Comics comes Sonic Universe -- the monthly series, on its soon-to-ship second issue. Sonic Universe trails Shadow the Hedgehog and Metal Sonic taking their rivalry to a whole new dimension. Fans of the franchise will enjoy settle callbacks to simpler, and better, Sonic times, like the above flashback to Sonic Adventure 2 where Sonic and Shadow went Mano-e-Mano Hedgehog-e-(artificially created)-Hedgehog for the first time. Seeing as though this is published by Archie Comics, we can't wait to see the issue where Blaze the Cat goes up against Mr. Weatherbee.

Sega, whose business is as much about publishing games as it is about punishing Sonic fans without mercy, has revealed in an interview with Videogamer that the future could feature more of Sonic being a Werehog. In discussing the possibility of Sonic's alter-ego emerging from his permanent residence in the clearance bin at your local Wal*Mart, Sega's Ketsui Tatano doesn't think "producing the Werehog was a mistake per se," but he does admit there "were a lot of things we could have done better if we had more time and resources." Then, he delivers this dark omen, saying that should Sega pursue a Sonic Unleashed 2, seeing the Werehog again is "a possibility."

Oh yeah? Well, we can tell you where he won't be, should that dark future come to fruition: spinning inside of our console's disc drive.