Sonic Generations has released yesterday on the 3DS in North America, and is set for release on the 25th of November for Europe. The 3DS version features a set of mostly exlusive levels and is said to play quite differently from its console counterpart. It will also feature a multiplayer mode.
Confused about how Crush3D works? Check out this Crush3D tutorial trailer.
If you didn’t already know, Crushed first released on the PSP in 2007, the critics raved about it but the game did not sell as well as it should have, which is sad because it’s such a great and unique game. I’m glad that Sega are giving it another chance and I think the 3DS is perfect for Crush3D because of the ‘crushing’ and ‘un-crushing’ nature of the game. Let’s hope that it can find better sales on the 3DS.
Some juicy tidbits have escaped from Famitsu today regarding Yakuza 5 (Ryu Ga Gotoku 5) The first bit of news is that Yakuza 5 will again be released on the Playstation 3. Considering four Yakuza games have already been released for the PS3 and every game in the series have been exclusive to Playstation consoles and handhelds I’m sure anyone could have guessed that one.
The second bit of info is a lot more interesting-
Here’s a Shinobi trailer where members of Sega of America, such as producer Stephen Frost, feel like they need to prove to us that their new Shinobi game is a ‘real’ Shinobi game. But in doing so, they kind of just remind everyone that it isn’t a real Shinobi game. At one point, Stephen says that they took what was great about the classic Shinobi games and made it better, and those are some pretty strong words.
Na- Just kidding! From what I’ve heard it’s- well- not terrible! Which is a real achievement for Sega of America who like to farm out our most beloved Sega classics to unknown developers that previously only made license games… I only hope that when Sega of America re-imagine the next Sega Classic they make sure it’s treated like a classic and not like Golden Axe: Beast Rider.
Pleasedon’tbeSonic.Pleasedon’tbeSonic.Pleasedon’tbeSonic.Pleasedon’tbeSonic.
According to an ad for a new executive producer, it looks like one of Sega’s IP’s will be getting a reboot. With Iizuka’s confusing talks about “a new standard for Modern Sonic”, I worry that it may be our favorite blue Hedgehog again. Just when he’s making good ground and Modern Sonic’s finally finding his feet. We’ll probably know more in 2012 I’m sure. Until then, start biting those fingernails.
[Source: Gamerzines]
The French are such lucky dogs (or should I say, “lucky frogs”? sorry, bad joke), they’re getting a beautiful 300 page book spanning the history of the Sonic franchise. Released by Pix’n Love Publishing, with approval from SEGA of Japan, the initial release touts a blue hardcover with a gold printed logo and a unique serial number. The book is up for pre-order with an expected January 2012 release and Pix’n Love ships worldwide for a nominal fee. I was able to preorder the book for 35.50 euros, that’s 30 euros for the book and only 5.50 euros for shipping, roughly $47. The downside? Most of it is in French, the upside, a bit of it is in English and there are a lot of pretty pictures to look at. Also, Pix’n Love Publishing has an English language site and they have released a few of their more popular French books in English. So if their History of Mario book is anything to go by, there may be a softcover English release of the Sonic book in late 2012. For more images of the book, check out their virtual preview on their pre-order page.
UPDATE: A rep from the UK Pix’n Love shop has said that an English version is coming, and pre-orders should start in a few weeks. Time to cancel that order from France!
Publisher SEGA today announced that they have acquired San Francisco based developer Three Rings Design, known by many for developing the recently published MMORPG Spiral Knights for SEGA. Spiral Knights has been met with good reaction form critics and earlier this year SEGA announced the game had over one million accounts by July 6th 2011, three months after launch. Speaking to the press, VP of SEGA Digital Content, Haruki Satomi said;
Out of the 15 billion games released yesterday, you may have missed that Mario and Sonic 2012 London Olympics has been launched. The game has twenty Olympic events, ten Dream Events (three of which are based off levels from…Sonic Heroes?), and over fifty mini games in London Party mode. There’s achievements to unlock, scratch tickets to win prizes like music unlocks, costumes and more! If you’re a fan of games like Mario Party, be sure to check it out.
Above is footage of the Sonic CD intro, with the missing vocals. Not only is the vocal track going to be missing from the game, but it will also be missing in the digital soundtrack download for the game. Why? According to Christian Whitehead, its probably do to legal issues.
“I know it’s a bit of a bummer that the vocals had to be left out. It’s definitely not something due to laziness or something silly. I couldn’t tell you the circumstances, but at least from my understanding there are some rights associated with the lyrics themselves.
My guess is that since Casey Rankin is no longer alive, there might be problems negotiating the use of the lyrics outside of Japan. Please, don’t take this as gospel though since I don’t work in legal” – Christian “The Taxman” Whitehead
Is this a big deal for all fans out there? It might suck we don’t get vocals on the soundtrack, but in my opinion it doesn’t ruin the game.
[Via: TSS]
Crazy to think that Hatsune Miku fans all went out to get an extended version of Project Diva 2 at full price. At least 184,673 fans went out and threw their hard earned yen at SEGA to get a copy of Hatsune Miku Project Diva Extend.
The sales charts counted from November 7th to the 13th, but since Project Diva Extend came out on the 10th, it only got 3 days of sales counted. Hit the jump to see the full sales chart.
Turns out that the little peek we had at the final Sonic Generations 3DS stage was wrongfully interpreted, and not just by us. All over the web, SEGA fan sites thought Sonic Unleashed’s Apotos stage was going to be the modern era stage to join Sonic Colors in the haldheld version. However, a scan from the Spanish Official Nintendo Magazine says otherwise. As it turns out, a handheld game IS getting representation. The 2005 Sonic Rush DS stage Water Palace will be remixed in 3D, and surely we’ll also be hearing a remix of Hideki Naganuma’s awesome “Back 2 Back”. This is great news for fans bemoaning Sonic Team for featuring a first stage from a non-handheld title, as now we’re getting a second stage from a handheld title. It’s just a shame that the Game Gear and Advance titles did not get representation. Oh, by the way, the magazine seen above gave the game a 90%.
[Source: Sonic Paradise]
Over 200 volunteers from SEGA, KaBoom! and Youth Uprising built a playground in Oakland, CA in just one day.
What better way to celebrate Sonics 20th anniversary than to build a playground? I think this is such an awesome idea and further cements in my mind that Sega are one of the best videogame companies out there and in fact goes a long way to show videogames aren’t all bad like the media likes to make it seem! As strange as it may sound I think it can be easy to forget that videogames are just as much for kids as they are for us adults that never grew up.
Good on you Sega!
Above is a very short YouTube video showing Kazuma Kiryu in Binary Domain. He is only available for the multiplayer portion of the game and has nothing to do with the story, as far as we know. Got to say, he is looking good for being over a hundred years old.
[Via: AndriaSang]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBxW6aBCuDY
If you are like me and don’t have a 3DS, yet want to see footage of Shinobi 3DS so you can mock it on online forums. Well, here is the first five minutes. Enjoy, troll safely.
In all honesty though, I think the game looks pretty decent.
Yet more Sonic news today, here is some game play of the re-release of Sonic CD on Tablet devices, XBLA and PSN. It will feature improved physics, real HD and Tails as a playable character.
If you can find your way to a GameStop, you can test the game on tablets now.