Author Archives: Barry

Sonic Generations PC Mod Brings Back Old Friends

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILGkVbNrB5s

Do you miss the good ol’ days of the Sonic franchise when you could play as Tails, Knuckles and all the other secondary characters? After a bit of modding to the PC version of Sonic Generations, a Russian Sonic fan has brought back the supporting cast by dropping them into modern Sonic’s stages. The video above shows off Shadow, Tails, Rouge, Blaze, Amy and Knuckles running through Crisis City. They may not have their signature moves (yet) but they appear to be fully functional. After the break, more videos of the sidekicks stealing Sonic’s thunder.

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SEGA of Japan Has the Best Restrooms: Video Interview With Toylets Producer

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Courtesy of YouTube show OtakuVerseZero comes a unique interview with Hirotaka Machida, producer of the urinal game Toylets. Machida shows off the game, thankfully using simulated blue urine coming from a statue, and discusses the development of the unique “console”. Highlights include the discussion of the game’s “controller” and how the development team presented the game to the board of directors. Check out the full interview for proof that wackiness is not dead at SEGA.

Thanks to reader SEGA_Portuguese for the link!

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Phantasy Star Online 2 Alpha Impressions and Photos!

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SEGAbits forum member ezodagrom has been lucky enough to participate in the Phantasy Star Online 2 alpha, and he was kind enough to share some excellent photos and impressions in our forums. Regarding gameplay, he had this to share:

When it comes to gameplay, I only played as a Force, and when compared to PSO and PSU, Forces are much more fun to use now in PSO2, mostly thanks to the ability to charge techniques, being able to combo techs in the middle of normal attacks, the dodge teleporting skill, and being able to switch between the normal camera and TPS style camera.

When using the Gunblade weapon, instead of using the dodge teleporting skill it uses the Hunter step dodge, but now the Hunter step dodge is much more balanced than in the first alpha. There’s a delay between dodges, plus after the dodge the player is forced to “walk” for a few seconds before he goes back to running. Not only the step dodge can’t be spammed like before, running now covers more distance than trying to spam the step dodge.

In addition to his thoughts on gameplay, ezodagrom also talks about controls, music, graphics, framerate and has a number of images to share. Check out his impressions and images in our lovely forums!

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We Didn’t Need a Poll, We Already Knew It: Mega Drive named “Best Retro Console”

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Gaming site Playr2 recently polled 1,411 gamers, asking them to vote for the best retro console, and a whopping 61% chose the SEGA Mega Drive! Other SEGA consoles also made the top ten, including the Master System and the Game Gear. Unfortunately, our favorite underdog the Dreamcast did not make the list. Placing second was the Nintendo 64. If the NES and SNES were Nintendo 1 and Nintendo 2, whatever happened to Nintendo 3 through Nintendo 63? After the break, check out the full top ten and feel free to agree with me in the comments that the Mega Drive/Genesis is the best retro console of all time.

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SEGA in the Media: Breaking Bad plays a Broken, Bad Sonic Game

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The AMC series Breaking Bad has depicted some pretty detestable things, including producing and selling meth, but perhaps the show’s biggest offense was the depiction of characters enjoying Sonic ’06. In the eleventh episode of season four, titled “Crawl Space”, the character Jesse plays a two player match of Sonic vs. Shadow in Wave Ocean with his girlfriend’s son. Warning: the following clip features some very bad pretend video game playing.

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SEGA’s Newest Studio is Hardlight

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Thanks to a job listing, we now know the name of SEGA’s newest studio: Hardlight. The job posting for a programmer revealed a number of details. The studio is UK based, in Solihull, and will focus on developing “high quality and innovative experiences for both current and future platforms”. The first of these games is described as a “unique action adventure” for the Playstation Vita. Also revealed, Hardlight would be working closely with Sega R&D to “stay at the cutting edge of developments in technology, middleware and game experiences”.

It’s great to see SEGA growing and we wish Hardlight a bright future!

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SEGA Reveals Sonic 4 Episode 2 Concept Art, Proving They Can Have Original Ideas

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Well this is a surprise! SEGA Blog has revealed concept art from Sonic 4 Episode 2, and this time it’s not a palm tree! From the sound of it, each Friday two pieces of concept art will be revealed. One on the SEGA Blog and one on SEGA’s Sonic Facebook page. I have to say, I’m impressed! Sure they’re not jaw dropping, but they’re original. A blue tube thingy and a cute hermit crab badnik. What a nice way to end each Friday, keep ’em comin’ SEGA!

Edit: Now that I look at it, I realize that the blue tube thing is probably that spinning gimmick from Marble Garden. Original? Maybe not, but I loved the sound they made when you bounced on them.

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The Weekly Five: SEGA CD Games that Deserve the Christian Whitehead Treatment

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Given the success of the Sonic CD rerelease, both critically and in sales, I think it’s about time SEGA gave Retro Engine creator Christian Whitehead his own studio tasked with rereleasing more classic SEGA games from the Genesis/Mega Drive era. While the Retro Engine can cover more than just SEGA CD titles, I think the SEGA CD library is long overdue for some ports. While the SEGA CD console gets a fair share of shit from the gaming community, there is no denying that the add-on had a number of awesome games. In this week’s Weekly Five we’ll highlight five great SEGA CD games that deserve a rerelease utilizing the Retro Engine. I’ve tried to keep the list tied to games that SEGA could conceivably rerelease, so there is no Snatcher due to that title being owned by Konami.

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Sonic Generations Lost CG Intro

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Leading up to the release of Sonic Generations, a number of trailers appeared showing various CG footage. Fans assumed that all of these elements would combine to be the game’s CG intro, however when the game released the only CG featured was the initial teaser footage of classic and modern meeting in Green Hill. I’ve combined all the CG elements that I know of into an extended “lost” intro. Enjoy!

Update: Revised the video to include a bit of new footage found in a Japanese commercial.

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Sonic 4 Episode 2 Comic Adaptation Points to April/May Release of the Game?

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Those who bought the second issue of Archie Comic’s Sonic Super Special magazine (available now at most newsstands, bookstores and comic shops) have spotted a preview for the third issue which promises an exclusive Sonic 4 Episode 2 adaptation. The preview refers to Episode 2 as “SEGA’s hottest new game” and features Sonic, Eggman and Metal on the cover. Given that Archie’s Sonic Generations adaptation released the same week as the game itself, and the fact that the Sonic Super Special magazine is quarterly, AND the fact that one quater of the year from January is April/May, one could guess that the third issue containing the adaptation will release in April/May and that the game will also release at this time. This is, of course, speculation.

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Indie Genesis/Mega Drive Game Pier Solar Back on Sale!

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Back in March I recorded an unboxing and preview of the indie RPG Pier Solar for the Genesis and Mega Drive. Initially the game released in late 2010 as a limited edition cartridge and enhanced CD for use with the SEGA CD, giving a Genesis game CD quality music. When the limited edition sold out, the developers quickly created the reprint edition. The reprint edition was in a sturdy plastic clamshell case, and featured a full color manual, as well as stickers and a poster, but lacked the CD (though the CD could easily be burned using files from the developer’s website).

After the reprint sold out, nothing was available outside of ebay auctions. But now, over ten months later, the reprint edition is back on sale and what more, there is also a snazzy soundtrack available (sold separately)! If you missed the first or second time, do not miss the third time that this game has been available! It’s a fantastic indie release, and far better a game than some official Genesis RPGs. Visit their shop here, the game is $49, and the soundtrack is $25.

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The Weekly Five: A Salute to Miles “Tails” Prower

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The secondary playable characters of the Sonic series get a lot of flack. Some, like those who veer the series into bizarre directions, deserve criticism. I like Big the cat as a character, I think his design is great, but the fishing gameplay? Ugh. But I believe there are some who wrongfully receive such hate. I have never been a fan of the term “Sonic’s shitty friends” because it gives an undeserving label to a number of good characters. Some cite the center of this week’s weekly five as the one who kicked off the “shitty friends”, but those folks couldn’t be more wrong. Not only did Tails prove that characters other than Sonic could offer similarly fun Sonic-style gameplay, but he also introduced a new way to traverse zones. To honor Sonic’s sidekick, who has his own 20th anniversary this November, we’ll take a look at five of the fox’s best moments from over the years.

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Taking a Look at the Latest Sonic Generations Statue

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The 2013 Guinness Book of Records Gamer Edition better give Sonic the award for most statues produced for a video game mascot’s anniversary. The latest commemorative statue, released by Jazwares in the United States (more territories have yet to be confirmed), may not stack up against the fancy First4Figures release or what was offered in the Sonic Generations Collector’s Edition. The scale is smaller than the other statues released and the paint job is typical Jazwares quality. However, there are a lot of good things to say about the statue, and it is a great addition to any Sonic collector’s shelf!

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Sonic 4 Episode 2 Logo Revealed

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When the Nvidia CES press conference was nearing, SEGA of America’s community team was pointing Sonic fans towards the live stream, hinting that something would be shown. After watching an hour of the show, there was absolutely nothing Sonic related to be found. Fans, myself included, felt like they just wasted an hour. Thankfully, the SEGA community team was quick to apologize for the time spent, stating that “there was a last minute switch up during the press conference”, and uploaded the official Sonic 4 Episode 2 logo to the SEGA Blog! I gotta say, it looks exactly like what I expected! Even some fan creations came pretty close. Good on SoA for remedying the situation!

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Sonic Appears in a New Progressive Commercial

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http://youtu.be/RfUsKWyRRm0

Typically when a Progressive insurance commercial comes on the air, I mute the television. But this brand new one requires SEGA fans to crank the volume! For whatever reason, Sonic is now in a Progressive ad. Sonic is shown running about to the Sonic 3 invincible theme looking for savings on insurance, which is smart considering he always has a violent evil doctor out to get him. Flo, Progressive spokeswoman, stops him and yammers on about savings and insurance. The ad ends with Sonic celebrating to the Sonic 3 extra life jingle.

Overall, a very unexpected but awesome ad. The animation is well done, and everybody loves some classic Genesis tunes pumping through their speakers. One note: when the humans get toonified, they look very much like Sonic Unleashed-style humans. Cool to see that SEGA hasn’t dropped this style, despite humans being MIA since 2008 (Eggman aside).

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