--- mark parkell  wrote:


---------------------------------
Hi It's your old friend from ages ago mark
parkell, i have one simple question, i saw a
trailer for sonic riders, that comes out soon,
but at the end when sonic says "ill show you what
true speed really is" it didnt sound like your 
voice at all, arre you doing sonic's voice in
sonic riders? i heard you were the official voice
actor for sonics voice, so hearign someone else's
voice on sonic in a sega commercail gets me
worried, i liked your voice for sonic, the other
guy doesnt sound liek the sonic we all know and
love, so im hoping you'll put my fears to rest
and let me knwo if your still doing sonic's voice






--and here's his reply( he got back to me with in 4 hours hows that for fan service?)



Hi Mark!
Thanks for writing in. I wish I had happier
news to tell you, but I don't. I am NOT leaving
Sonic's voice by choice. Here is an excerpt from
the AUGUST 2005 newsletter that will be up on
RyanDrummond.com sometime by the end of the
month. Thought I'd give you a sneak peek since
you were nice enough to write in. 
Read on...

************************************************
Last thing to mention this month is all for the
Sonic the Hedgehog fans out there. A lot of you
have been emailing in and asking about whether or
not I’ll be doing Sonic’s voice for the new
“Shadow the Hedgehog” game, etc. Well, here’s a
news flash on that and a true insight to how this
business works (and sometimes works against you).

After hearing some rumors on the internet and so
forth about how the game had already started
voicework (or in some cases was already done), I
emailed my contacts at Sega to find out what the
deal was. I got the following facts:
Many of you remember what happened with the
whole “Sonic X” television show. Please read all
about it in the July 2003 newsletter. In short,
4Kids was really inconsiderate and cast it
without me, not caring about what the fans
thought or about product continuity. Well, all of
a sudden, Sega decided that product continuity
WAS important to them starting with this new
Shadow game. So, WITHOUT TELLING ME, they have
*replaced* me as the voice of Sonic with the
fella who does Sonic’s voice for the Sonic X
show. I was only told after it happened. My Sega
contact told me that they thought it would be a
good idea that from now on that Sonic’s voice
remain the same in the game and the non-Sega
cartoon series. So after FIVE YEARS of providing
the voice of Sonic, I was let go without a word
or an explanation (until I went looking for one).

Now I have no ill-will towards the new voice.
I’ve heard him. He does a fine job. And he’s just
an actor like me trying to make a living, so good
for him! I DO, however, have issue with Sega for
having no grace in letting me go from my
position. That’s life, you could say, but you
know, in MY life, you treat people with respect.
And I believe five years of giving my all to the
little blue hedgehog (and to all the fans!)
deserved a little more respect. So Sega, goodbye
and good luck. Sounds like you’ll get along fine
with 4Kids when you do business that way. 
*************************************************

So that's the story. Spread the word. Sorry it
doesn't have a happier ending. In my opinion,
Sega does not care what the fans think, because
they figure the fans will buy the games and the
products no matter who's doing the voice. If you
feel so inclined. Write them and tell them what
you think and feel. Let your voice be heard!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your wonderful support.
You have my deepest gratitude.

~Ryan Drummond

    Source: geocities.com/tspr5