*UPDATE: It’s Danica Patrick* Could the Hornet be SEGA’s celebrity guest?

Update 2: Sumo Digital producer S0L has said the following over at The Sonic Stadium forums:

You know, when they (SEGA) pitched us the idea we went ‘The fans will go wild…’ I think they didn’t get what we meant from that though

End of the day she hasn’t replaced any SEGA characters, she’s an extra and we’re very happy with the vehicle design we’ve done for her, which incidentally isn’t the one you might think it is

UPDATE: Game Trailers just revealed that Nascar driver Danica Patrick will be in All-Stars Racing Transformed. Remember her from that one SEGA game? Wait, she’s not a SEGA character. But she is racing in a SEGA branded racer which will be revealed at SEGA’s E3 booth. Danica and her SEGA branded Nascar will, in turn, be in the game. I’ll admit, it’s really freakin’ weird, but it does feel very much like when Pepsiman appeared in AM2’s Fighting Vipers. Which is a good, if not odd, thing.

SEGA Blog has posted up some booth pics, including a massive car shaped thing right in the center of the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed booth. Doesn’t appear to be Sonic’s car, I can only imagine a custom made Speed Star would cost a load. But it could very well be the Hornet. Daytona USA’s star racer joining the All-Star roster? What do you think is under there? We’ll know in one hour. There is a small chance that Segata Sanshiro can take the form of a car, and he’s silently waiting to burst out from beneath the sheet to put the Wii U in a headlock.

Pretend you won a contest and download All-Stars Racing iOS for free

To celebrate Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed’s E3 appearance, and perhaps today’s mystery announcement, SEGA has temporarily marked the iOS version of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing down to free. If you have an iOS device, or you just have an App Store account, you can download the game for free right now. I highly recommend it, as it is the best racer on the iOS platform in my opinion. And like I said, even if you don’t have an iOS device, download it now and the free download will forever be linked to your account, assuring you a free download whenever you get an iOS device.

Japan gets crystal white PS Vita with Hatsune Miku bundle


Sony announced at E3 earlier today that they will be releasing a white Playstation Vita bundle with Assassins Creed 3: Liberation. In Japan the bundle for the “crystal white” Vita comes with Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f instead of the US Assassins Creed 3: Liberation bundle. Unlike the US, in Japan there will also be a stand alone unit, for those that don’t enjoy rhythm type games.

The Hatsune Miku Vita bundle is limited edition package that includes specially designed Hatsune Miku Playstation Vita, a copy of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f, a 4GB memory card, screen protector, and lastly a AR card.

Rumor: All-Stars Racing Transformed announcement tomorrow, celebrity appearance

According to gonintendo, an email from SEGA arrived stating the following:

This Tuesday at the SEGA E3 Booth, SEGA will be making a major announcement for their upcoming title Sonic & All-stars Racing Transformed. There will be a large reveal, celebrity appearance and photo/video opportunities. We hope you or someone from your team can make it to cover the big news and please let us know if you have any questions.

Some speculate that the celebrity will be a fictional character, such as a man in a Mario suit announcing the Wii U version and Mario as a guest character. But I think otherwise. Mario isn’t a celebrity, he’s a fictional character. But you know who is a celebrity, has a connection to SEGA and has been mentioned in the past as being a possible racer in the first All-Stars Racing title? That’s right, Hiroshi Fujioka also known as Segata Sanshiro. If SEGA pulls a Segata reveal tomorrow, they will have won E3 without even holding a press briefing. Another possibility is Toshihiro Nagoshi, who is heading to E3. Could Nagoshi be revealing Kazuma Kiryu as a racer?

Rumor: Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed Confirmed for Wii U?

Given the source, think of the rumor designation as more of a formality then anything. Earlier today, Sonic Wrecks uploaded an alternate version of yesterday’s trailer that confirmed a Wii U version of SEGA’s upcoming racer. This confirms speculation that the game was headed to the Wii U, started when Sonic Stadium first reported a Sumo Digital racing title heading to the system back in January.

The trailer has since been removed from Sonic Wreck’s Youtube channel, thus this will be considered a rumor until the game is formally announced for the Wii U this week at E3. If the game is playable, you can expect hands on previews from both SEGAbits and Sonic Stadium when the show opens on Tuesday.

Toshihiro Nagoshi is headed to E3

SEGA’s Chief Creative Officer and head of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Toshihiro Nagoshi is headed for E3 as he is set to leave Japan for a week. In a blog post today he said that E3 is the time when game industry people all leave Japan for a week. He will be taking the late night flight out of Haneda. Not one to come off as being lazy, Nagoshi is already started to get worried about the work he will leave building up in his office once he returns to Japan. Wither he is there on official business or just enjoying E3 is not known, but the Yakuza fan in me hopes that Yakuza 5 would be announced for Western release. Unlikely but hey, it’s nice to dream from time to time.

Jet Set Radio HD track list revealed, and it is very pleasing to the ears

Since the announcement of Jet Set Radio’s HD rerelease, the biggest gray area has been the game’s soundtrack. Like most games filled with licensed tunes, getting a complete or near complete track list is very difficult. Hell, look at Crazy Taxi. Great game, but just not the same with the entire soundtrack ripped out and replaced with new music. Thankfully, SEGA done good. Real good. After the break, check the full track list as well as learn which two tunes did not make the cut.

All-Stars Transformed: Joe Musashi races through Adder’s Lair

Leave it to IGN to spoil SEGA’s fun. A recent post over at the site revealed a hell of a lot of new Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed details. The BIGGEST is that, yes Shinobi fans, Joe Musashi himself is a confirmed racer! IGN has also revealed that Adder’s Lair from Golden Axe is a new track. Also appearing is Jet Set Radio’s Tokyo-to which features a gang war playing out in the background which affects the racers. Previously revealed Gilius Thunderhead finally gets his public showing, and the expected return of Shadow is confirmed. After the break, another tasty screen and the trailer!

Check out the Sonic 4: Episode II billboard in San Francisco


Above photo is taken by frostman007

Look at it, its beautiful. Most non-SEGA fans will whine and ask whats so special about a video game billboard. It’s a SEGA billboard, when was the last time you seen this? Me? Probably forever since I don’t live in a big city. Good to see a sizable advertising budget for a digital title.

This is where you insert something negative, like how Sonic games get a nice advertising budget but games like Binary Domain, Rhythm Thief or Anarchy Reigns get ignored.

Anarchy Reigns Japanese PSN and LIVE demo now available. In full English!!

Get your Japanese PSN and X-Box LIVE account going because the Anarchy Reigns AKA Max Anarchy demo is now out! As you can tell in this youtube first impressions video, it has options to put the game in full English including the dialogue, options and subtitles. This is great news for those who wish to import this game since it won’t be at E3 and sadly doesn’t look like it will make it’s way here anytime soon. Can someone tell me why this game does not look like it will be available in the U.S. for awhile if at all when it’s got full localization?!!

Thanks to Substance TV for the first impressions video.

Rob Zombie’s Dragula Confirmed for Jet Set Radio

 

SEGA has confirmed another track for Jet Set Radio, this one from Rob Zombie. As far as I’ve heard, this is the first news of Rob Zombie’s track being confirmed for Jet Set’s upcoming digital re-release, meaning that fans of his work shouldn’t be left out in the cold! SEGA has more confirmations for Jet Set Radio’s soundtrack coming in the future, so stay tuned.

SEGA’s list of E3 games goes live

SEGA has posted a list of games they will have at E3. Sadly a few games that are expected are not included. Yep, Anarchy Reigns is missing and Phantasy Star Online 2 is nowhere to be found. I assume some are missing due to being unannounced, like Sonic Adventure 2. Anyway, check out the ‘confirmed’ titles for E3 this year.