Author Archives: Barry

Wait! Don’t update Sonic 4 Episode 1 iOS yet!

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Those with iOS devices like the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch know all about the tempting little update notification that appears on the App Store icon. That little red number stating the number of apps with new updates is often a treat. Perhaps some bugs have been fixed, or new stages have been added to your favorite games. Well in the case of Sonic 4 Episode 1, the latest update deletes the players progress! So before you read on, make sure you’re not about to press that “UPDATE” button for the game, at least if you’re playing on iPod Touch and iPhone. The update itself seems to fix some bugs and improve stability, though I haven’t noticed any difference outside of a Sonic 4 Episode 2 ad that popped up the first time I opened the app. I haven’t seen the ad since, so it may be a one time thing. I did lose my progress, but I knew full well I might and updated anyway for the sake of this article. SEGA has yet to comment on the update, but hopefully an update to the update brings back the save file or a revised update appears that saves those who have yet to download the update. More updates on the update when we’re… updated.

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SEGA says to Disney: “Make my Eggman grow!”

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Rich Moore, director of many classic The Simpsons episodes and director of Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, shared a funny SEGA anecdote while being interviewed by IGN:

“We did have kind of a check-in process, where we would show them the footage and say, ‘What do you think? Is it good?’ At one point, [Nintendo] said, ‘Bowser’s much bigger than that. He’s way bigger than Zangief.’ We were like, ‘Okay, we’ll make him bigger. How’s that?’ They’d say, ‘Yes, that’s good — but he wouldn’t drink his coffee like that. He wouldn’t make that mouth.’ [Laughs] Of course, then people from Sega said, ‘Well, Doctor Robotnik is bigger.’ [Laughs] They wanted their characters bigger and bigger. We were going to end up with these giants in a room, with Ralph as this little guy… But I think that stuff really helped. I looked back on our original animation before the Nintendo notes, and it was like, ‘You know, he does look more like Bowser now.'”

You can read the full interview over at IGN, though this is the only SEGA mention.

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Sonic 4 Episode II True Blue Initiative video goes live

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When Sonic 4 Episode I released, the SEGA Blog did something quite controversial: they rewarded those who bought more than one version of the game. The nerve! It’s one thing to offer the game on multiple platforms, but it’s quite another thing to reward those who decide to spend their own money on more than one version of the game. The community team is at it again. For Sonic 4 Episode II the offer was: buy two or more versions of the game and get a mention in a video. Buy four or more versions of the game and get a mention and a Sonic 4 Episode II poster signed by those from SEGA of America who worked on the game. Seeing as we here at SEGAbits are true blue, and we like to hear the community team say our name, we sent in our digital receipts and got a mention at 56 seconds into the video. Kellie thanks the site and the entire SEGAbits crew. Thanks Kellie! SEGAbits forum member Kori, who maintains the Website of the Dead, gets a mention in the poster tier. Did your name get a mention? Sound off below.

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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Bonus Edition appears on Amazon

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Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk have updated their product pages for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed with prices, mention of a “World Tour” mode as well as a Bonus Edition. The 360, PS3, 3DS and Vita versions are listed as being a “bonus edition” of the game, but no mention is made as to what that bonus is. Given that the games are listed as “out of stock”, and pre-orders have yet to open, don’t expect a reveal of the bonus until the game is available for pre-order. The price for the 360 and PS3 version is currently $39.99, $10 less than the first All-Stars Racing game. The Vita and 3DS versions are priced at $29.99. As for World Tour mode, this is most likely the story mode in which you island hop and unlock racers. The Wii U version has yet to appear on Amazon, but a listing for it has appeared at Game.co.uk for £49.99.

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SEGA in the Media: “MANOS – The Hands of Fate” fan game pays homage to Alex Kidd

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Fans of MST3K, bad movies and early 80’s film to game adaptations should really check out the iOS game MANOS – The Hands of Fate. Based on a movie that many consider to be the worst ever made, ranked #4 on the IMDb bottom 100, Manos is an 80’s inspired platformer with numerous homages to both classic games and bad b-movies. SEGA fans should recognize the death animation, in which the player turns into a transparent ghost and flies upwards. This, according to the game’s developer, was an homage to the Master System’s Alex Kidd in Miracle World. Nice to see the Master System getting some homages, the Master is pleased.

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Sumo Digital clarifies the All-Stars Racing Transformed roster… again!

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Sumo Digital has yet again commented on the number of racers found in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. This time it was Steve Lycett, also known as S0L, leaving a comment on the SEGA forums. Steve stated that over all the various platforms, there are 29 playable choices. However, no platform has all 29. Some platforms have rosters in the low 20’s, others have rosters in the high 20’s. Steve went on to state “Playable choices doesn’t necessarily equal drivers either. Not as we’re talking passengers or hood ornaments, counting those would indeed be cheap, but you know this is game all about transformation, we are doing things with the vehicles that we’ve not shown you, that are going to really surprise you.” Overall, some very cryptic stuff! Steve should really try out for the role of Gollum, because he is quite good at riddles. After the break, more from Steve as well as an assessment of his comments.

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Zavvi product description reveals new All-Stars Racing Transformed gameplay details

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With the release of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed just four months away, online retailers have started listing the game and revealing new tidbits within the product descriptions. Zavvi has listed the game, and treats potential buyers to a rather lengthy write up that borders on being a full on article. While the product description does not reveal new racers or tracks, it does detail the game’s many modes and expands on things mentioned in past interviews. After the break, a handy bulleted list of the info as well as the full description.

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The Weekly Five: Why Dreamcast fans should be playing Gunlord

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The indie Dreamcast game Gunlord from NG:DEV.TEAM has been out for less than a month, and while I’m sure many fans of indie Dreamcast titles have picked it up and are enjoying it, there are always those who are still on the fence and are either waiting to hear more opinions or for a price drop. I’m sure there are also those who have their Dreamcast stashed away in a closet and need a reason to dig it out. In this week’s Weekly Five I thought I’d share five reasons why Gunlord is worthy of a Dreamcast fan’s collection.

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“Oh, alright!” exclaims SEGA as they reverse their decision on Gamescom

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Okay, so SEGA didn’t really exclaim anything, but they have started to send out invites to a behind closed doors event at the German gaming expo. Back in May we reported that they were not attending the show, due to the release timing of their 2012 titles not lining up with the event (whatever that means). But now SEGA has reversed this decision, as they will be there even if it may be only in a behind closed doors capacity. Possible titles on show include Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Aliens: Colonial Marines and Total War: Rome II. Who knows, they might even reveal a public event in the coming weeks. If they do, we’ll let you know.

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Say it ain’t Joe! Shinobi track coming to All-Stars Transformed?

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Courtesy of Kori from The Website of the Dead comes a photo from the title screen of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, taken at SEGA’s Arcade during Comic Con. Kori claims that this is a yet to be announced Shinobi track, and we can definitely see the resemblance to Joe’s 16-bit adventures. Sumo Digital has said that tracks will be selected, at least in the story mode, via an world map of floating islands. Each island represents a track, and this island looks very Shinobi themed. What do you all think? Is Joe getting a track to call home?

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Sonic the Hedgehog to cameo in Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph

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We’ve known of Eggman’s cameo in the upcoming Disney movie Wreck-It Ralph, as well as a few other SEGA cameos, but what about SEGA’s mascot Sonic the Hedgehog? At the Comic Con Wreck-It Ralph panel it was revealed that Sonic will in fact appear in the movie by way of a PSA warning video game characters that if they die in a game that is not their own, they will not regenerate and will cease to exist permanently. No word on who will be voicing Sonic, or if he will be speaking at all, but fingers crossed for Roger Craig Smith. It would just be odd to hear yet another voice coming from Sonic. I’d assume that the proper voice would be something SEGA would require when using the character, given it’s their brand and not Disney’s. Wreck-It Ralph, along with a slew of retro and modern video game characters, hits theaters this November in the US.

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UPDATED Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed gets a release date and a new trailer

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UPDATE: A US trailer has been released, revealing a US release date of November 20th, 2012. Also, we have package art for the 360, PS3, 3DS and Vita after the break.

With Comic Con comes many announcements, and not just ones pertaining to comic books. SEGA has officially announced a release date for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Trasformed, at least for the UK: November 16th, 2012. I’d guess that this means the US release date will either fall on November 13th or November 20th. Ah yes, and that lovely trailer. No real new reveals, though it does show off a bit more of the CG intro and features Sonic and friends plus Joe Musashi, Gilius Thunderhead, Vyse and other already revealed SEGA all-stars. I do like how the Panzer Dragoon track is the setting for the intro. Enjoy the trailers and mark your calendars!

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More Sonic & Mega Man crossover art – Knuckles and Shadow meet their rivals

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Archie Comics has released more promotional art for their 2013 Sonic & Mega Man crossover event. This time they’re showing off Sonic’s rivals who, in turn, have their own rivals. Looks like Knuckles will be meeting Mega Man’s rival Proto Man, while Shadow will meet Bass. I gotta say, these team ups really work well! Far better than a Mario crossover, in my opinion. So who is next? While, I’d imagine Tails will be paired with Doctor Light and I’d love to see Amy Rose paired with Tron Bonne. I could even see more obscure Archie Sonic characters, like Sonic’s dog Muttski, paired with Mega Man’s dog Rush. After the break, check out Shadow and Bass as well as a larger image of the Sonic & Mega Man logo.

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Archie’s Sonic & Mega Man – When Worlds Collide announced

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We shared the teaser, but here’s the official announcement. Archie Comics, SEGA and Capcom have officially announced a twelve issue comic book cross-over of the Sonic and Mega Man franchises, entitled “When Worlds Collide”, to be released in 2013. The cross-over will span four issues of Sonic the Hedgehog, four issues of Mega Man and four issues of Sonic Universe to create a twelve issue story. Archie’s Paul Kaminski shared a few details on the event: “We’ve been gearing up for this for years. From the moment we had Mega Man at Archie, we knew we wanted to bring Sonic and the Blue Bomber together. It’s a big budget movie featuring two of the most storied video game franchises. This has never happened before. We’re making history here, and it’s going to knock people for a loop. This is what comics are all about – drama, fun, action and tons of surprises. Fans will not be disappointed.”

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NiGHTS announced as racer and track in Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed UPDATE: Video link added

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Update: Watch the Summer of Sonic video here, footage begins at 1:17:40, there is also a Q&A with Sumo Digital at 0:27:30

Update 2: DiGi Valentine tells us on Twitter that the race track areas seen in the video are: Spring Valley, Gilwings Lair and Wizeman’s boss arena.

Summer of Sonic is in full swing, and Steve Lycett of Sumo Digital took the main stage to talk about Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed. The big reveal of Steve’s presentation was that NiGHTS will feature in the game as both a racer and a track. Sonic Wrecks tweeted a few details, stating that the game will have both NiGHTS and Reala, NiGHTS rival, as racers driven by a Pian (those little chubby angels). No word yet on which NiGHTS game will feature, but I’m guessing the original as it is far more popular and is rereleasing this year. Also no word on if the NiGHTS and Reala racers take up two roster slots or if they’ll be considered alternate skins of the same racer. When we hear more, we’ll share it here. This is great news for NiGHTS fans! Details after the break.

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