Wish This Was Real: The Links Speedway Ultra Rare O.C. Sega Genesis Game!

One of the Everything The O.C. staff members happened to find this rare gem at a garage sale last Sunday! It's called The Links Speedway which was obviously inspired by The O.C.'s Season 1 Episode 16 titled "The Links"! After doing some initial research on the title we found out that this game was a prototype and never made it to box stores. Only a few copies existed and it's believed that the remaining copies were buried in a landfill to never be seen again...Until now!

The back of the game box reads:

"Welcome to The Links Speedway Bitch!

The most state of the art 16-bit Sega title out to date!

Just when Ryan thought things couldn't get worse, 

Marissa's new friend Oliver has finally went crazy.

On the last hole of the day Oliver declares a race back to

the club house. Ryan and Luke must WIN to stop Oliver

from ruining their trip and stealing Marissa from them.

But beware there are many turns and tricks up Oliver's

sleeve so race with CAUTION!

Navigate through 5 Palm Springs golf courses to win

back Marissa and get rid of Oliver once and for all!

Everything goes, are you ready to roll?"

Controversy 

Further research revealed there was some controversy regarding the game's content as it included violent golf cart crashes, underage drinking and lacked an 18 hole golfing function all the while being rated GA (appropriate for all audiences). The other minor problem was the media on which it was released, Sega Genesis was an outdated system even in 2003. Marketing analysis revealed that gamer's and fans of the TV show wanted the game but the studio just wasn't willing to risk lawsuits or compromise changing the original experience. So they decided to pull the plug on the whole idea and destroy the remaining copies, which is a huge shame! 

Game Features:

• 1 to 2 players (can play your friend or computer)
• Choose to be team Purple (Oliver and Marissa) or team White (Ryan and Luke) 
• Race one of the 5 Palm Springs golf courses
• Character hat and hair customization
• Original "California" soundtrack by Phantom Planet (midi version)
• Dialog box with character face
• Different Win/Lose outcome screens featuring Sandy or Natalie
• Realistic dirt flings off of back tires while driving
• Great sound effects
• Great Luke catch-phrases like "Im gonna drop The Great Gatsby on his face!" and "Speed up their gaining on us"
• Once your power meter is full a unique to character attack can be made

Minor complaints: 

• Ryan and Oliver are always the drivers, while Marissa and Luke are always the clubbers/beer throwers
• Phantom Planet's "California" song on a loop can be a bit repetitive
• Luke's golf clubbing attack is a bit more superior to Marissa's due to longer reach
• Marissa's beer throwing ability is a bit better than Luke's (which makes sense)
• A couple of the race tracks have very difficult/close to impossible obstacles
• Randomly a seagull walks across course 3 and can totally salt your game
• Oliver throws down money on the track that can lead to your golf cart getting spun around
• Ryan uses his smirk attack that can result in a 10 percent increase in golf cart power and speed

Above are The Links game controls! Notice the throw beer and club options by hitting X or Y. We found these to be the most satisfying attacks besides the typical ramming of team Oliver/Marissa's purple golf cart! 

Finally here is a little demo of the awesome game-play and head-turning graphics! We give this title a cool 9/10! It's a truly a one of a kind game and I must say flipping Oliver's cart and beating him to the club-house is therapy within itself as well as the epic Sandy Cohen cut-scenes! They don't make them like this anymore folks! See you on The Links!

The O.C. Basement: Sidekick II Sweepstakes plus more!

Back in 2005 the official fan club of The O.C. "The O.C. Insider" featured an awesome contest!
You simply had to fill out the contact form with basic stuff like name, email, birth date and wallah your submission went out! The prize was none other than the very high-tech Sidekick II. Which was timed perfectly with the release of Season 3's episode 5 "The Perfect Storm", also known as the camera phone that captured the Dean Hess and Taylor Townsend making out!

The O.C. featured product placement such as this throughout the series but none are as obvious as the Sidekick II! When sandy tells Dean Hess "This little puppy is a phone, surfs the web and unfortunately for you it transmits photos" its a clear sign that Josh Schwartz was welcomed to the dark side. But never the less it was done tastefully!

Here's one of the close-up shots of Taylor Townsend using her bedazzled Sidekick II. She is messaging Dean Hess, notice the Dean's messaging handle "Dartman 4 U", wonder what that even means. Even more interesting is the date on Taylor's Sidekick, September 15th. The episode didn't air until November 3rd, so September 15th could very well be the day the filmed the episode or scene!

Lets take a look at the beefy specs shall we!

• Flip screen 
• Screen Size: 5.1″ x 2.6″ x 0.9″
• Weight: 184g (6.2oz)
• Display: 240×160 pixels, over 65,000 colors (16-bit color), Transflective TFT screen viewable in bright sunlight
• 5-row QWERTY keyboard , dedicated number row , dedicated 12-key dialpad area , includes easy access key for @ symbol
• Backlit screen and keyboard with light sensor
• Integrated VGA (640 x 480 pixel) camera, supplemental LED for close-range illumination , night mode setting for darker environments, convex mirror for self-portraits
• Navigation and Controls
• Scroll Wheel with push capability
• Send/End buttons (with page up/down capability)
• Directional pad
• Control buttons: Menu, Jump, Done, Cancel, Volume up/down, Power , Application-specific shoulder buttons
• Front and back speakers
• Speakerphone
• 12-voice polyphonic sounds
• Vibration Motor
• GSM/GPRS radio Tri-band (900/1800/1900 MHz) Multislot Class 10 functionality
• Wireless off “airplane mode”
• Memory: 32 MB RAM, 16 MB Flash
• Battery, Rechargeable internal Lithium polymer battery
• Interfaces: Audio jack, Power jack, Lanyard attachment

Interestingly enough Big Boi, Paris Hilton, Burt Reynolds, Molly Shannon, Snoop Dog and Wee Man were all featured in the promotional commercial above. Did Molly Shannon just say let me Ask Jeeves!?! Ewwwwww, good gosh the worst search engine known to man, even back then! Ahhh a true spectacle of the early 00's sigh..Who would have thought that devices like these would soon take over our lives in a much bigger way than just looking up recipes and chatting! One thing is unsolved though, who won the Sidekick II?!

To read more about O.C. Insider click here!

The O.C. Fan Fiction: The O.C. Crystal Pepsi!

Its 8:00am Seth, Ryan and Kirsten are all hanging out in the kitchen, chit-chatting before they head out to "the man" OR school..Sandy walks in the kitchen with a overly chipper step interrupting them as he hands them each a soda..

Sandy: *in a kid in a candy shop tone says* They did it guys, they brought it back! I'm presenting to you the holy grail of the soda world, a glimpse in the obscure and exotic..soon you will be calling my Sandy the soda king

*Seth, Ryan and Kirsten pick up the frosty cold soda's looking at them as if they were something from Mars*

Seth: I thought Michelle Obama upped the standards for breakfast requirements dad? What happened to a nice glass of OJ?

Ryan: *just gives a look*

Kirsten: *giving a happy smirk* Oh I remember these..

*Before Kirsten can get another word out Sandy super enthusiastically says*

Sandy: It's a Crystal Pepsi! Its the drink of champions, back in the early 90's these babies made my year...well...something special.

Seth: Yeah if you call 69 grams of sugar special

Kirsten: 69 grams of sugar?!?

Ryan: *gives a surprised raised eyebrow look*

Sandy: Well yeah but you see, this is a classic and it's only here for a limited time so drink up....

*Family is loosing enthusiasm*

Seth: Yeah dad such a classic, that it *looks at his phone* only lasted a year before it was taken off the shelves. I guess Pepsi was blown away by the major success that they cancelled it?

Sandy: You know, you're lucky to be having one of these things son they are rare as ever!

Kirsten: Rare? How much did you pay for these sugar bombs?

Sandy: *Sandy starts to get shy* Well, you know like I said it was a special occasion and they are highly sought after..I kind of made a little, I mean not so little eBay bid for the bundle.

Ryan: *gives a surprised look plus a one-eyed eye brow lift as he goes in for another sip, enjoying the drama unfolding before him*

Kirsten: *starting to get annoyed* Don't dance around the question Sandy!

Seth: This tastes kinda funny actually..does anyone notice the after taste?

Sandy: My stomach is feeling a bit strange but I blame that on the excitement..

Kirsten: Well yeah its filled with high fructose corn syrup, a ton of calories...

*before Kirsten has can finish her sentence Ryan blurts out*

Ryan: And has an expiration date of JULY 1993.

*Sandy immediately spits out one of his last gulps of the drink, wipes his mouth on his suit sleeve in utter amazement, shock and disgust and says*

Sandy: Well that explains the price!!

Kirsten: SANDY!!!

Seth, Ryan, Kirsten and Sandy end up spending the next 30 minutes throwing up the expired Crystal Pepsi drink. It wasn't pretty. Rosa was later called to the scene and spent 3 hours cleaning up the whole kitchen until it was crystal clean.

THE END