Author Archives: Barry

All-Stars Racing iOS adds Ulala and three new tracks!

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SEGA and Sumo Digital have really been doing an outstanding job in updating Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing for the iOS. Previously, they added Knuckles, Shadow and a new track. Now they’ve added Ulala (take that, Deee-Lite!) and three new tracks. Given that SEGA has added the ability to buy SEGA Miles with real cash in the last update, I’m assuming they’re banking on users buying these new additions via buying Miles. Hey, if that means more racers and tracks in future updates, I’m all for it! The added tracks include Super Monkey Ball’s pirate themed “Monkey Target”, Sonic’s Seaside Hill themed “Ocean Ruin” and the casino themed “Bingo Party” – a new Sonic trope for the iOS version. All the new content is locked, so I can’t share how Ulala handles or how the tracks play, but I’m hoping they’ve added new music. I’d love to hear some casino music. After the break, more screens of the additions.

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English version of The History of Sonic book coming courtesy of Udon?

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GoNintendo has stumbled upon a pre-order listing on Amazon for Pix’N Love’s The History of Sonic book. The fact that there is an English language version isn’t a surprise, since Pix’N Love confirmed that one is in the works earlier this month. What is a surprise is that the book is not being sold on Pix’N Love’s English site, and that the book looks to be published by Udon Entertainment. Udon Entertainment, for those who don’t know, is a Canadian based publisher responsible for gaming art books both original and imported including the Valkyria Chronicles 2: World Artworks book and the upcoming The Eyes of Bayonetta art book. So has Pix’N Love left the English language duties to Udon? Seems like it. The English translation already exists, as it was approved alongside the French translation several months ago. So at most, Udon would have to handle printing and perhaps a slight redesign to the cover to accomodate their logo. Pix’N Love estimated that the book would sell for between $45 and $50, and the MSRP on Amazon matches that guess at $49.99. However, Amazon currently lists the book for a cool $32.14. The release date is tentatively October 9, 2012. An Amazon.co.uk listing also exists, however a price is not given. The UK release date is listed as September 19, 2012.

A big thanks to Tracker the Doggy for the heads up!

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5 things Sonic can do now that he is 21

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Tomorrow marks Sonic’s 21st birthday! While not a milestone like the 20th anniversary, Sonic’s 21st is a big deal in regards to the perks that come with being a 21 year-old, at least in the United States. In a very special Weekly Five, we’ll take a look at five things Sonic will be doing tomorrow. Some good, but mostly bad. Okay, mostly bad. Do you really think we’d be all cheery and PC when it comes to Sonic?

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The Rudie boobies SEGA of America doesn’t want you to see

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No, this isn’t one of George’s old “spot the differences” contests. SEGA Network chum TheGagaman spotted this funny difference between the US and UK sites for Jet Set Radio. See the change? Piranha’s boobies have been covered by a green tank top. Guess somebody at SEGA legal thought the US page was too scandalous for the kiddies. No word if this change will be applied to the in-game character (unlikely), but its a funny example of American squeamishness.

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Vyse races through All-Stars Transformed’s Panzer Dragoon track – E3 gameplay footage

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With E3 2012 over, videos are beginning to appear showing off the many games on display at the event. SEGA fans will no doubt love these Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed gameplay videos, the coolest one being Vyse racing through the Panzer Dragoon track. Fans will remember that Vyse and Panzer Dragoon were the two big surprises when the game was first revealed in late April. Now we get to see those two surprises in action! Eagle eyed readers may spot Amigo in his Loco-motive racing past Vyse. After the break, many more gameplay videos featuring other racers and tracks.

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Epic Mickey Power of Illusion is truly a Castle of Illusion sequel

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As this Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion only has a loose SEGA connection, and is neither developed nor published by SEGA, consider this our only article on the game.

While SEGA did not feature prominently at last night’s Nintendo 3DS E3 Software Showcase, aside from a mention of Rhythm Thief, SEGA got an indirect mention when Warren Spector and Peter Ong of DreamRift took the stage. Ong shared his love for Castle of Illusion, stating that for a time as a child he played the full game once a day. His love for the Genesis classic carried over to his pitch to Junction Point Studios for how he and his studio would develop a 3DS Epic Mickey game. The end result is much less Epic Mickey inspired, and much more Castle of Illusion inspired. In fact, the trailer states “a beloved hero returns to a castle of illusion” and Castle of Illusion sound effects return including the item collection and jump sounds. The mushroom enemies from Castle of Illusion’s first stage make an appearance, hearts are used for health and paint replaces apples as a projectile attack. You can even butt bounce on enemies heads. Essentially it is a full-on sequel. One off bit was the mention of Mizrabel of Castle of Illusion returning as the main villain, yet Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent was shown. So either they goofed and mistook one villainess for another, or figured they’d use a more recognizable evil witch for the new game. Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion releases this Fall.

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*UPDATE: Altered Beast and HotD cameos added* Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph trailer hits, check out Eggman’s cameo!

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For those living under a rock, Disney has been working on a CG animated feature called “Wreck-It Ralph” which is essentially “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” with video game characters. For quite some time we’ve known that Eggman had a cameo, but it wasn’t until today that we got to see Eggman in action. He doesn’t say much, if anything, but he’s there. Try and spot other SEGA characters in the Game Central Station scene. I’d assume Eggman, being in his modern design, crawled out of the Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing arcade machine. The movie hits this fall.

After the break, another SEGA baddie spotted!

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Seven minutes in Hell – Check out Sonic racing through Adder’s Lair

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Check out this gameplay demo of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed from SEGA’s E3 booth. Clocking in at just over seven minutes, the demo shows off a complete race through the Golden Axe track Adder’s Lair. Sonic is the selected character, and while he doesn’t pull off an All-Star move, he does use some new weapons including snowballs and some sort of catchers mitt. You’ll notice that outside of the three transformations, the track itself also transforms via in-game events. There are also a number of alternate routes. And was that a dragon I saw?

After the break, a quick impressions video from ScrewAttack with a bit more footage.

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*UPDATE: It’s Danica Patrick* Could the Hornet be SEGA’s celebrity guest?

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Update 2: Sumo Digital producer S0L has said the following over at The Sonic Stadium forums:

You know, when they (SEGA) pitched us the idea we went ‘The fans will go wild…’ I think they didn’t get what we meant from that though

End of the day she hasn’t replaced any SEGA characters, she’s an extra and we’re very happy with the vehicle design we’ve done for her, which incidentally isn’t the one you might think it is

UPDATE: Game Trailers just revealed that Nascar driver Danica Patrick will be in All-Stars Racing Transformed. Remember her from that one SEGA game? Wait, she’s not a SEGA character. But she is racing in a SEGA branded racer which will be revealed at SEGA’s E3 booth. Danica and her SEGA branded Nascar will, in turn, be in the game. I’ll admit, it’s really freakin’ weird, but it does feel very much like when Pepsiman appeared in AM2’s Fighting Vipers. Which is a good, if not odd, thing.

SEGA Blog has posted up some booth pics, including a massive car shaped thing right in the center of the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed booth. Doesn’t appear to be Sonic’s car, I can only imagine a custom made Speed Star would cost a load. But it could very well be the Hornet. Daytona USA’s star racer joining the All-Star roster? What do you think is under there? We’ll know in one hour. There is a small chance that Segata Sanshiro can take the form of a car, and he’s silently waiting to burst out from beneath the sheet to put the Wii U in a headlock.

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Pretend you won a contest and download All-Stars Racing iOS for free

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To celebrate Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed’s E3 appearance, and perhaps today’s mystery announcement, SEGA has temporarily marked the iOS version of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing down to free. If you have an iOS device, or you just have an App Store account, you can download the game for free right now. I highly recommend it, as it is the best racer on the iOS platform in my opinion. And like I said, even if you don’t have an iOS device, download it now and the free download will forever be linked to your account, assuring you a free download whenever you get an iOS device.

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Rumor: All-Stars Racing Transformed announcement tomorrow, celebrity appearance

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According to gonintendo, an email from SEGA arrived stating the following:

This Tuesday at the SEGA E3 Booth, SEGA will be making a major announcement for their upcoming title Sonic & All-stars Racing Transformed. There will be a large reveal, celebrity appearance and photo/video opportunities. We hope you or someone from your team can make it to cover the big news and please let us know if you have any questions.

Some speculate that the celebrity will be a fictional character, such as a man in a Mario suit announcing the Wii U version and Mario as a guest character. But I think otherwise. Mario isn’t a celebrity, he’s a fictional character. But you know who is a celebrity, has a connection to SEGA and has been mentioned in the past as being a possible racer in the first All-Stars Racing title? That’s right, Hiroshi Fujioka also known as Segata Sanshiro. If SEGA pulls a Segata reveal tomorrow, they will have won E3 without even holding a press briefing. Another possibility is Toshihiro Nagoshi, who is heading to E3. Could Nagoshi be revealing Kazuma Kiryu as a racer?

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SEGA Memories: SEGA’s amazing E3 2000 floor show

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I’ll come right out and say it: I’m not too excited for this year’s E3. Why? Well, for starters, no SEGA press show. Of course, there has been no SEGA press show for many years so that’s an old complaint. But as the years have passed, it feels like SEGA has done less and less in terms of spectacle at E3. No press shows, as mentioned, no big reveals and most importantly: no awesome floor shows. That’s why this week’s Monday Memories article exists, to take you back to 2000 when SEGA had a floor show worthy of Disneyland.

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New Anarchy Reigns trailer appears at Canada’s EB Games stores

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SEGAbits forum member and EB Games employee Randroid reported a bit of good news in our forums regarding the elusive Anarchy Reigns. While SEGA West has said nothing of the game since April’s restructuring, Randroid says that the latest DVD containing the trailers that play non-stop on the store’s televisions arrived and on that disc is an English trailer for Anarchy Reigns! Randroid says that these in-store trailers advertise games coming out within the next two months, and buying a spot on the EB Games in-store televisions does not come cheap and that SEGA probably made the buy recently. Our tipster says that the store’s computers still list the early July release date, which as we know has been changed to “TBC” on most sites, so nothing new on that. But the fact that an ad has popped up is a good sign, and possibly means that we’ll be seeing the game later in July or early August if the original release date is to be changed. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for the tip, Randroid.

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The Mystery Science Theater guys briefly rip on Sonic ’06

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Leave Sonic alone! Oh wait, it’s Sonic ’06 you’re kicking in the ribs? Please, continue.

Former Mystery Science Theater 3000 stars and current RiffTrax riffers Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett applied their brand of making witty comments while watching movies to a slew of video game cutscenes over at Joystiq. One of their subjects was none other than 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog. Just what nice things do the guys have to say about Sonic getting some love from Princess Elise? Well, see for yourself here. Sonic’s scene starts at the 1:11 mark, but you might as well watch the full thing.

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