Sonic 4 Episode 1 on the iPad, As You Truly Imagined It

SEGA has released an iPad version of Sonic 4 Episode 1 just in time for the holidays! No longer will players have to upscale the original iOS version of the game. Now, the game appears in HD! What more, word has it that the level select now matches the one found on the console versions, the original iOS version only had the simple menu listing. Also, Sonic sports a new model (perhaps what we’ll see in Episode 2?). The revamped Lost Labyrinth and Casino Street act 2’s are not present, however. Instead, the game features the original pinball mini-game and the strange mine cart. I noted in my original iOS review of the game that the strange mine cart, while a boring level in itself, does sport fun tilt controls. You can buy the iPad version now for only $1.99!

Toshihiro Nagoshi Teases ‘Project-A’

Not satisfied with already having three in development (Binary Domain, Yakuza Black Panther 2 and the recently announced Yakuza 5) Toshihio Nagoshi and the newly formed Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is teasing yet another game in the works. The new game tentatively titled ‘Project-A’ has a teaser site HERE. The teaser site has very little information on it beyond Nagoshi’s big angry face looming over you like a sex criminal. It does however credit the concept of the game to Nagoshi himself and also says that the game will be announced world wide in four days time.

Could it be Yakuza 5? Could it be a brand new IP? Check back in 4 days to find out!

[Thanks Pao]

Sturmwind Delayed

Those hoping to have the new Dreamcast game in time for Christmas will be disappointed, I’m afraid, as Sturmwind has ran into some production problems. Unlike the previous delay this has nothing to do with the game itself. Sturmwind has gone gold and is ready to go into production. Unfortunately, the CD pressing company that was slated to print copies of the game has gone bankrupt. Sturmwind’s publisher, RedSpotGames, has already found a replacement manufacturer, but for the time being the game’s release date is now “TBA”. We’ll be sure to update you as soon as a new release date is established. An announcement is expected later in the month.

Until then, if you wish to purchase the game, you can pre-order the regular edition, special edition, or the Wind and Water combo pack here.

Full press release is below the fold.

Renegade Ops Accolades Trailer

Sega just wanted to remind you how good Renegade Ops was, so they made this accolades trailer! Pretty sure this is exactly the same footage as another trailer just with quotes spliced into it… But hey, why not? It does a good job of showing off what Renegade Ops is all about, driving around and blowing stuff up!

It’s a brilliantly fun game that reminds me of classic top down shooters of the 90’s like Jackle and Desert Strike except in beautiful HD graphics, online play and four player co-op. If you haven’t already got it, go treat yourself it’s on PSN, XBLA and Steam and its well worth it.

Samurai & Dragons gets first gameplay trailer

SEGA has just released the first trailer for their up and coming Playstation Vita exclusive, Samurai & Dragons which is being produced by famed SEGA developer Masayoshi Kikuchi. The trailer features the 4 play co-op that will be half the title, as players will go through various dungeons and fight minotaurs, the undead and as you may have guessed, dragons. The other half of the title will be the town building aspect, which you will be able to expand after hunting for resources in the dungeons in the world and by beating bosses. So far there is no release date announced for Western audience or in the game’s native Japan.

[Thanks to Pao for the tip!]

SEGA delays Anarchy Reigns to July 2012

Following hot on the heels of Konami’s recent announcement that Platinum Games would be taking over the development of the next Metal Gear game, we now have information on a delay for the studio’s other project, Anarchy Reigns.

The beat-em-up, which had already been delayed until January, has been pushed further back to July. The semi-sequel to MadWorld will now release on July 3 in North America, and on the 5th and 6th in Australia and Europe, respectively. SEGA West’s Gary Knight has said that the delay will be to increase the scale of the game, teasing that 1 vs 1 and 2 vs 2 fighters will become “a thing of the past.”

No word yet on whether Anarchy Reigns will be seeing a similar delay in Japan.

Rhythm Thief – Has Samba de Amigo and Space Channel 5 Games!

I was pretty excited about Rhythm Thief for the Nintendo 3DS when it was announced and the more I’ve seen of it the more it looks like another fantastic Sega IP. But this little update is probably the most exciting thing I’ve seen so far; A throw back to both Space Channel 5 and Samba de Amigo- two of the best rhythm games ever made! (In my opinion…)

I’m totally sold on this game now, it looks amazing! Now throw in that Hatsune Miku character and grab yourself an easy 200k more sales Sega.

Hit the jump to see the Samba de Amigo gameplay, and another game play video.

Sonic CD on Android getting lots of one star ratings

I wake up this morning from a hazy slumber to go straight to the Android market to see if Sonic CD was uploaded. Expecting near perfect scores for the game, I get shocked to see so many one stars rating from users. It seems that a ton of people are angry due to three factors:

  • Most can’t download the additional 270mb of data required. Some are saying that the server got hit too hard.
  • You can’t install additional data to a SD card. It has to be on the phone memory. This is easily fixable and has been fixed for ChuChuRocket in the last update (another Android SEGA game).
  • Doesn’t seem to work with the Nexus Prime, the new ‘Google’ branded Android phone released today.

Come on SEGA, fix your damn servers. There is a reason why you have 63 one star ratings and 69 five star ratings. I have a feeling if the servers worked and people would be able to download their data, that it wouldn’t have gotten such low scores, even if you couldn’t install to SD or work on Nexus Prime. If it makes you feel better, its getting near perfect scores on Apple’s iTunes stores because people can actually download the game.

Sonic CD is out, it’s cheap and it’s really, really good!

SEGA have done something fantastic today, something you don’t see big publishers doing very often. They have chosen to reach out to the community and nabbed themselves Christian Whitehead aka ‘Taxman’ and his quite marvelous ‘Retro Engine’. It’s my understanding that Whitehead has been developing his ‘Retro Engine’ for quite some time now and gained a name for himself in the Sonic Community, and I can see why. His re-master release of Sonic CD for XBLA, PSN, iOS, Android, Windows Phone and of course PC is really, really good!

Unlike Backbone’s rather poor and often botched efforts at updating SEGA classics, Christian Whitehead’s ‘Retro Engine’ has given us Sonic CD locked at 60fps on every platform, both Euro/Japan and US sound tracks, new features, playable Tails, a choice of filters and modes, achievements and more… It really boasts the lot!

Hit the jump to find out why I think SEGA should snap up Whitehead and his engine!

Binary Domain gets PowerUp extras if you pre-order

SEGA has announced a new pre-order bonus that will stack with their last pre-order bonus at Gamestop, this one is called the Dan Marshall Pack. This one will give you unique enhancements for the character Dan, including a enhanced Sowsar-17 Smod Type G assault rifle and three bonus skills. Unlike the last pre-order though, you have to be a PowerUp member at Gamestop.

How to get this bonus:

I personally hate in-game pre-order exclusives and now it seems Gamestop is doing pre-order exclusives to Powerup members. Super rage. If you want to pre-order, you can do so here.

SEGA makes Kazuma in Virtua Tennis 4 on Vita


SEGA showed off some of Virtua Tennis 4’s create a character mode. Sure, we already played the mode on the console releases so we should know how it works. But SEGA is showing off new things you will be able to do when the portable title comes out. They showed off by make Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu and Black Panther’s Tatsuya Ukyo. You can see them both above.

Shown above, the Vita’s camera will be able to scan a human or picture’s face to re-create in the game. So you could take sexy looking Kazuma, put his face in the game. Pretty neat right? You can also take pictures with your 3D character you created, so you can create yourself and then take a photo side by side thanks to Vita’s argumentative reality camera. Hit the jump to see all the photos.

Sonic CD Release Date, Price and Launch Trailer!

You heard it right. Sonic CD releases tomorrow for XBOX LIVE worldwide at 400 MS Points, on PSN in Europe/Australia for $5 American and on iOS for $1.99. Android too, but price unknown. PSN America gets it one week later for $5. Sega has released a trailer for the launch. Here’s what was said in a press release sent via E-Mail….

“Sonic’s 20th Anniversary has been a banner year for him – as well as for everyone at SEGA. Gamers around the world are rediscovering their love of Sonic through his adventures, new and old. Whether you’re a long-time hedgehog aficionado looking to enjoy a favorite moment from Sonic’s past, or a brand-new player who wants to join in on the fun, there’s no better place to start than with one of Sonic’s most celebrated games, Sonic CD.”

All I gotta say is…5 bucks?!! DAAAANG That’s way cheaper than I was expecting. May buy it for both my console and iPhone.

Binary Domain to feature over 4 hours of cutscenes

The British Board of Film Classifiction has revealed that SEGA’s up and coming third person shooter Binary Domain is going to feature 255 minutes (4 hours and 15 minutes) of cutscenes. It has not been made clear if the figure includes in-game cutscenes or if certain cutscenes are dependent on player’s trust levels with other characters.

However it would not be out of the ordinary for a game directed by SEGA’s famed Toshihiro Nagoshi, whose Ryu Ga Gotoku/Yakuza series features more than several hours of cutscenes. It is interesting to note that Binary Domain could possibly have a longer duration in cutscenes alone than certain shooters have in their main campaign.

Thanks for the tip Suzuki Yu!

Crush3D – Story Trailer

Here’s the story trailer for Crush3D, a remake of Crush for the PSP, now on the 3DS. The game seems to have had many changes since the first release on the PSP. The game boasts a new art direction, the story seems to be slightly different and there appears to even be some new levels in the mix.

Crush was met with much praise from critics when it released on the PSP but didn’t fair as well sales wise, let’s hope it can find a better reception on the 3DS because it was a cracking game!

Main Bayonetta developers not involved with Metal Gear Rising game

You know you saw all that hype that the developers from Bayonetta are working on Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Its a half truth, Platinum Games are developing the Metal Gear Solid Rising title, but that doesn’t mean that the main people behind Bayonetta have already jumped on board. First of all, director Kamiya has not been announced as working on the project. He basically is the man behind Bayonetta, he directed it. That is the reason the game was so hyped.

Our forum member Pao brought up on his twitter account that he has already asked Kamiya who was doing character development on his next game:

“MGRising is not Kamiya’s next game. Why? I asked him months ago, who is the character designer and lead artist on his next project. He said its Mai Okhura and Masateru Shirai. The credits for Rising says Yoji Shinakawa and Takahito Washisaka. #DetectiveWork”

If that wasn’t enough, Kamiya himself (@PG_kamiya) has replied to fans tweets about how their glad he is working on his own game and not a Konami title. It could be that Platinum Games is in either finished or finishing up Anarchy Reigns and are in the planning stages for Bayonetta 2 while another smaller team works with Hideo Kojima’s on Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

Now it’s just a matter of time.