Sonic Boom and Summer of Sonic event locations and dates revealed!

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Hey Sonic fans, tired of the internet and want to mingle with fellow Sonic fans in the real world? Well, thanks to SEGA and The Sonic Stadium’s Svend Joscelyne, Summer of Sonic is back! The event takes place Saturday, August 3rd at the Westminster Central Hall in London, UK. Details can be found on the official website, including the mention of a theme for this year: Metal Sonic and Badniks. Live in America and can’t make it to London? Sonic Boom is also back, this year at The Pageant in St. Louis, MO on August 10th, 2013 at 5pm. Why St. Louis? SEGA figured the East and West coasts get a lot of love, and it was about time that we saw a midwest event.

More details can be found in the SEGA Blog post. Are you attending one of the events? Let us know in the comments section!

SEGA’s recently announced Hero Bank turns out to be the latest project from Toshihiro Nagoshi

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It’s not much of a stretch to say that the announcement of Hero Bank, a 3DS exclusive RPG said to deal with real world currencies, hasn’t set the world on fire. Though I’m personally still trying to wrap my head around its general concept, details are beginning to trickle in for SEGA’s newest IP; one bit of info that may be of most interest to SEGA fans is that it comes from none other than Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi. For more, including quotes from the man himself, hit the jump.

Shadow the Hedgehog hits ‘PS2 Classics’ in Japan

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Sony calls their digital PSN re-releases ‘PS2 classics’ and the latest addition is the not so classic Shadow the Hedgehog. This game is just one of those titles that we here like to forget exists. What’s next? Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 port for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One?

Not to mention the Playstation 2 version of Shadow the Hedgehog is the worst version of the game. It ran better on both Gamecube and Xbox. If you live in Japan you can pick this up for 1,200 yen (About $12.60 USD).

HUGE Sega/Sonic sales on LIVE and PSN

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Time to transfer your titles to digital and save some money while doing it! Both PSN and X-Box LIVE have big savings on some of your favorite Sega titles. On PSN, you get the “Sonic Master Collection”. It’s 7 Sonic titles and their DLC for $29.99. This includes Sonic Adventures 1 & 2, Sonic CD, Sonic 1 & 2 and Sonic 4 Episodes 1 & 2.

But X-Box LIVE has even bigger sales! Get Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Generations, Sega Superstar Tennis or Condemned for only $9.99! Sonic 4 Episodes 1 & 2 are 400 points ($4.99) each while Space Channel 5 Part 2, Sega Bass fishing, Guardian Heroes, Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles plus Sonic CD are a mere 160 Points ($2) each. Sonic Adventure 1 also comes in at 160 points while Sonic Adventure 2 is 400 points. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, Crazy Taxi, NiGHTS, Daytona USA HD and Jet Set Radio Come in at 400 points. Also, check out The Cave and Renegade Ops coming in at 600 and 320 points respectively. There’s big savings on the DLC as well, so hurry up and don’t miss out!

Is Ecco the Dolphin getting a 3D makeover on 3DS?

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Looks like Sonic the Hedgehog won’t be the only Genesis game getting a 3D make over. If PEGI’s ratings website is anything to go by, Ecco the Dolphin will soon be coming to 3DS with a new 3D coat of paint. I hope this sells: its superior sequel Tides of Time would be a real sight to behold in 3D.

The game hasn’t officially been confirmed by SEGA, but given the track record of the ratings boards in predicting SEGA’s 3DS digital titles as of late, I am definitely willing to take this at face value. Is it too much to ask for this to use content from the SEGA CD version, SEGA?

The Cave is coming to iOS this summer

 
It’s sort of weird, SEGA listed the mobile version of The Cave to be shown at E3 and our guys didn’t see it there.  What we do know is that it is coming out this Summer.

Well, it seems that TouchGen was shown the game and said that they are changing the ‘console’ controls to ‘touch to move’, which isn’t that big of a deal considering that only the console versions had platformer like controls. I played it on PC and it’s basically a point and click game, so ‘touching’ instead of pointing and clicking will be the same basic thing.

The Cave was also announced awhile back for the Ouya, the  $99 dollar Android console. So I’m assuming SEGA is also working on an Android port for phones and tablets along with the Ouya release. We did a pretty nice review of the game over here, if you want to check it out.

Crimson Dragon creator wants to to make a Crimson Dragon RPG

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Yukio Futatsugi is the creator of the acclaimed Panzer Dragoon franchise, though he has left SEGA to work at Microsoft Game Studios Japan, the developer working on Crimson Dragon. Yes, that Xbox One title that looks very similar to the iconic SEGA franchise.

SEGA also had a spin-off of sorts called Panzer Dragoon Saga, which happens to be an RPG instead of a rail shooter. That title was created by Yukio Futatsugi, and when asked at E3 if he would ever return to make a new RPG, he said he would like to make one based in the Crimson Dragon world. Seems that the team is full of SEGA employees that worked on the old Panzer Dragoon titles and it shows.

When he was also asked if he would like to see Panzer Dragoon Saga re-released by SEGA, he stated yes. He said that they’ve talked about a re-release over at Grounding Inc (the name of his studio) and ultimately came to the conclusion that it would be too hard to remake. Of course, this RPG will only happen if Crimson Dragon does well on Xbox One…

Marza Animation Planet’s next movie is called ‘Robodog’

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If you didn’t know, SEGA-Sammy own a CGI animated studio called Marza Animation Planet, who is co-producing the Captain Harlock movie.

The studio has now announced its new film which has begun pre-production and will be their first original film. They got Henry F. Anderson III (Gnomeo & Juliet) directing, Paul Wang (Astro Boy, TMNT) producing and Jeannette Manifold (Happy Feet, All Dogs Go to Heaven) as head of production. Its based on a script by Robert Reese.

SEGA announces “Hero Bank” – a 3DS exclusive money-based RPG

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Via Famitsu comes the reveal of a new 3DS exclusive from SEGA Japan entitled Hero Bank. Set to release on December 19th, Hero Bank is a unique RPG that revolves around world currencies. Seen after the break are two heroes, one with a yen theme and one with a US dollar theme. From what we can gather, the game is based around a fictional sport known as “Hero Battle”. Through one-on-one battles, players must earn as much money as possible to become the winner. Players download “hero data” which is based on real world individuals for in-game use. SEGA uses racers and baseball players as examples of potential real-world individuals.

It sounds like a pretty unique spin on the RPG battler genre, and the character designs are pretty cool. When we learn more, including who exactly is developing the title, we’ll be sure to share it!

Direct-feed footage of Sonic Lost World reveals some awesome music!


 
The past few days of E3 have given us a lot of Sonic Lost World footage, but a bulk of that was either filmed from the show floor or featured the manly voice of “Men of E3” winner SEGA brand manager Aaron Webber. Now, thanks to Gamespot and TSSMB member Woun comes direct-feed footage of Sonic Lost World in action on the Wii U, free of show floor chatter and commentary. Check out the video above and the video after the break to soak in all the sounds and music we’ll be hearing this holiday season. Should more footage appear, we’ll be sure to add it to this post.

Want to learn more about how the game plays? Check out our hands-on preview.

Four more Game Gear games now available on the 3DS eShop

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The SEGA Blog has revealed the next Game Gear titles heading to the Nintendo 3DS eShop. When are they available? Today! Right now, ready to download, are Sonic the Hedgehog, Columns, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, and Shining Force: Sword of Hajya! All four are fantastic titles. Sonic fans who never experienced the 8-bit version of Sonic’s first adventure should play the Game Gear Sonic the Hedgehog as soon as possible. Both Columns and Mean Bean Machine are solid puzzle games, and Shining Force: Sword of Hajya (aka Shining Force Gaiden II: The Evil God Awakens) is a great mobile version of the strategy rpg series.

SEGA also promises that more titles are on the way, so stay tuned!

Kowloon Walled City, as seen in Shenmue II, is recreated as an arcade in Japan

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What if you could walk around Kowloon, just as Ryo did in Shenmue II, playing SEGA arcade games and collecting capsule toys? SEGA fans will remember Kowloon best as the location of Shenmue II’s second act. Seeing the city in video game form is no match to seeing it in person, but unfortunately the city no longer exists. What is a Shenmue fan to do? Is it still possible to recreate Ryo’s Kowloon adventures? Thanks to Kawasaki, you can! Located in Kawasaki City, an amusement center south of Tokyo, is “Digital Kowloon City”.

“Digital Kowloon City” is an indoor recreation of the Kowloon Walled City, a city which in the late 1980’s was home to 33,000 people in a 6.5 acre space. Quirky Japanese blog RocketNews24 paid a visit to “Digital Kowloon City”, and the photos they took are incredibly cool. The place really does look like Kowloon at night, and there are arcade games, capsule machines, and UFO Catchers all over the place. Head on over to their blog for a virtual walkthrough of the virtual city. By the end of their article, you’ll want to visit the place yourself and will probably boot up Shenmue II instead, since you can’t afford a trip to Japan.