Old school fans of SEGA will likely remember the ToeJam & Earl series and are probably excited for the future XBLA release of the original game.  However, if you were looking forward to see the funky duo appear in the up-and-coming Sonic and SEGA All Star Racing...well you're out of luck.

According to series co-creator Greg Johnson, they will not appear because SEGA doesn't want to pay for it.  One dedicated fan over on the official SEGA forums messaged Johnson for comments in hope that the lovable aliens will appear.  However, the message was as followed:

"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."

The saga never finished there though.  Greg Johnson heard the ruckus on the message boards and joined in on the discussion in hope to push the issue to SEGA.   His comments were:

"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..."

The end result (so far) was that SEGA and Johnson never ended up talking terms.  If you wish to voice your opinion on the matter, you can on our forums.  That or you can email Sumo Digital at info@sumo-digital.com or Greg Johnson at comments@tjande.com or at his new company greg@humannaturestudios.com.

This fan reaction revolved around the inclusion of Shenmue protagonist Ryo Hazuki last month which surprised many SEGA fans.