But how does the UPC transform it into an American game? Just...how? We've gone through this pages back about the idea that by giving the game a unique SKU is what makes it different. But we've seen how that's not true. Games do not need different UPC codes to be from different regions. And a game can have multiple UPC codes and not count as multiple games. It's completely arbitrary.
If you're going to say the UPC is what makes the difference you need to justify it somehow. All the evidence points to it not meaning jack. Meanwhile, all arguments going for the UPC angle aren't backed up by anything concrete.
It comes off as reverse logic. Rather than ask whether or not Sonic is American and examine the evidence to come to a conclusion, it seems like you're starting from the conclusion that Sonic is American and using the UPC as proof simply because it's literally the only thing there. If UPC codes were notoriously region specific or something like that then you'd have the evidence to back it up. But they don't work that way. It's completely arcane.
I certainly don't know why they stuck on the sticker, if it was even Sega that did it. But looking at the evidence from a few pages back it doesn't seem to have anything to do with making the game American. It's probably even a stretch to call it a variant. I'm being incredibly generous to do that, I think. It's a separate sticker on the outside of the case. Literally anybody can do that, and they do. It's not a variant in the sense that it had a separate printing or manufacturing. I'm not sure there are any popularly accepted variants out there that have only a single sticker making the difference.
You also can't say that comparing the Master System to the Saturn is inappropriate without showing just how so. You're not really making a case for it. You're just saying that you can't do it and leaving it at that. Radiant Silvergun says NTSC-J? Yeah, and Sonic is partially written in Dutch. I call that a tie.
I happen to think that given the extreme situation the burden of proof falls on the side calling for it to be American. And they simply haven't made their case. You got a mysterious UPC code that could mean lord knows what and Sega trying to squeeze a few more bucks out of its dead Master System. I'm just not seeing it. At absolute best it's a game that is equally American and European, a dual release. But that would mean a person could complete his American Master System collection with any copy of Sonic, sticker or otherwise, since they were all printed for both regions. Either way, the UPC means diddly squat.
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