Axel, Blaze (not the cat) and friends are back in Sega’s next free Genesis game for PSN+ subscribers. Those with a PSN+ account or who are on the one month free “welcome back” plan can download it right now. If you are only on a temporary plan though, you will need to fork over $4.99 if you plan to keep playing a month from now. Exclusive to the PSN version are trophies and online scoreboards.
At E3, we were shown an exclusive demo of Binary Domain, an action packed third person shooter done by the same team behind Yakuza. The story is a cross-breed between “The Terminator” and I Robot. The year is 2080. The setting is Tokyo. A company has developed intelligent robots for the sake of manual labor. However, an incident occurs when someone has been producing robots that look like humans and some robots are given an ego. This is a breach of international law. An American company called Burgen corporation believes the Amita corporation is doing it. You pay as Dan Marshall, a member of the IRTA which regulates robotics internationally. You are sent into Japan to find the person responsible. However, Japan has gone back to its feudal days and has sealed itself off from foreign intervention, so you will have to infiltrate your way in and fight off large groups of robots who want you dead for invading.
(NOTE: Because this is a Q&A with questions taken from staff from both Sonic Stadium and Segabits, this article will be posted on both sites simultaneously.)
On the Tuesday afternoon of E3, Alex (nuckles87) and I got the privilege of seeing the first new footage of City Escape from Sonic Generations played by Takashi Iizuka himself. Seeing little classic Sonic going through the famous SA2 level was a thrill. We saw as the large GUN truck made every attempt possible to run down the roly-poly hedgehog as two new remixes of “Escape from the City” played through both levels. As he played through he told some interesting tidbits, including the fact that outside of Green Hill zone, all stages on the 3DS will be different from the HD versions and will have levels based on the portable versions of Sonic’s games. Also, voice overs will be done for all nationalities. Not just Japanese and English. He quit the last level as the GUN truck with it’s giant sawblades ran over modern Sonic as he ran out of boost. Here, our Q&A commenced.
I finally got my hands on (well technically, my hands were not on anything) with Rise of Nightmares. The game’s brought to you by the same team behind the House of the Dead series and it shows. This is by far the most violent and gruesome Kinect title ever released: Kinectimals it is not. It starts off with your character waking up and watching as a mad scientist has another victim tied to a chair. He chops off the man’s hand just for the hell of it and then stabs him in the head. Before he can get to you, his nagging wife calls on the phone and he leaves you with a nurse zombie in your care. Just before this nurse checks your pulse with her teeth, another ally comes out and slices her in two. A gruesome way to start a game, but after he frees you it’s time to go find your wife and slaughter some zombies.
Today I finally got to check out Platinum Games’ latest offering, Anarchy Reigns, which takes place in the mad world of Madworld. Full impressions inside.
After playing through a level of the Wii version of Captain America, I was almost disappointed in how much it did NOT suck. Yes true believers, there is a good Marvel/Sega game out there for your Wii. Read on.
Me and Nuckles87 just finished a session with Sonic Generations. Both the 3DS verion and X-Box360 version in 3-D. Given the different developers, both have a fairly different feel. One leaving me excited while another leaves me a little dissapointed.
The year was 1998, and the Sega Saturn was on its way to obsolescence and breathing its last. Sega decided to give the system one last hurrah with some very limited edition games. Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers and Shining Force III (I think) were released at a very limited 5,000 copies each. If you didn’t pre-order these babies, you were paying through the nose later. In fact, I payed $100 for my used copy last year. Does Sonic Team’s future fire fighting game still hold up or has its charm burned away?
A horrible crisis of inifnite porportions has hit the Sonic Boom event. The menu of food items for sale has gone up. There are no, I repeat NO chili dogs on the menu! How can you have a Sonic event and not offer Chili Dogs? The full menu after you click.
Sega of America has announced details on their latest blog about the Sonic Boom event. The event will include prizes such as T-Shirts and hats. Also, demos of Sonic Generations will be on hand. Folks who want to get in without a ticket will have to wait until others leave in order for a chance to get in. That means those of you without a pass may still have a chance to get in. And the best news of all………..
(Re-Edited from Shigs Sonic Stadium Review)
Many of you may only know Sonic 3-D Blast through the Genesis version, which you either played back in the day or on the Mega Collection. If that’s the case, then sadly, you’ve been playing the far inferior version. Yes, the level design is the same, but graphics and sound can make a big difference in your enjoyment of a game. Sonic 3-D Blast was originally intended to be a Genesis only game developed by Traveler’s Tales with some help from Sega of Japan. However, the Saturn was suffering not only in sales, but from a complete lack of any Sonic titles. Sonic Extreme was in development Hell at the time and would not make Christmas release. (Then again, it would not make ANY release, as it was cancelled shortly afterwards). In seven weeks, Sega managed to port the game over to Saturn, polish up the graphics, change the music from Jun Senoue’s tunes to new, jazzy ones by Richard Jaques, and add what is arguably one of the best bonus stages in Sonic history. That’s quite a feat for a seven week port!
Music man of awesomeness Richard Jacques. Composer of well-known Sega games such as Sonic R, Sonic 3-D Blast, Headhunter and a track on Jet Set Radio will be signing at “The Maestros of Video Games” event at Dark Delicacies Books & Collectables in Burbank, California on June 11th. Several other game composers such as Greg Edmonson, Mike Reagan and more will attend for an hour-long Q&A panel followed by a meet and greet signing.
The year was 1995. The Saturn had already successfully launched in Japan, and was preparing for an American launch later in the year. Sega of America was eager to bring the system to the states despite the fact that the 32x had been launched during the previous holiday season. With the mediocre sales of the Sega CD and the failure of the 32X, Sega was starting to do poorly, and they wanted another hit console on the market soon. Perhaps a little too soon.
TSSZ has reported that scans of the latest Nintendo Power have hit the web and news has circulated very fast. Details from the article have surfaced and we’ve got confirmation on an exclusive 3DS level.
Licensed games tend to be cursed. They’re usually made by low-end development teams with little budget and even less time. This is even more true with Sega’s games that are licensed out by Marvel. Iron Man, Incredible Hulk and especially Iron Man 2 have all been stinkers that seemed to have been made for a quick cash-in.
However, when given to the right developer, you can have a winning game on your hands. Such is the case when Sega gave development of the DS version of Thor to Wayforward. The company behind such other 2-D hits as Contra 4, Shante and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Here’ they bring their expertise to make what could have easily been movie tie-in garbage into a well polished 2-D action game.
