SEGA Talk #102: Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (2010)

Buckle up because on this SEGA Talk, we put the pedal to the metal and hit the road to talk about Sumo Digital’s Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing! What are the origins of this racing franchise? What characters didn’t make the cut? What is a Bentley Jones? Click play and find out!

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If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

Going to Evo? Enter the Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown side tournament!


If you are going to attend EVO 2018 and where looking for some Virtua Fighter action, you’re in luck. Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown will have a side tournament at EVO 2018 and you can sign up here if you want to enter. Registration to sign up closes in a week, so don’t wait.

Console: Xbox 360
Where: Evo 2018, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas USA.
When: Friday August 3, 10AM
Entry Fee: $5 (Plus Evo 2018 Event Registration ($60).)

Here are the rules:

Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown free on Xbox via Games with Gold in July

If you are an Xbox gamer, you are in for a real treat. For the month of July, if you are an Xbox Gold member you will be able to download the following games:

  • Assault Android Cactus (July 1- 31)
  • Death Squared (July 16-Aug.15)
  • Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown (July 1-15)
  • Splinter Cell Conviction (July 16-31)

Though if you look through the YouTube video, it seems most Xbox fans are not happy with the games being chosen and I guess a lot of these Xbox fans put more value on the price of the games being given away instead of how good the games are. Basically they are disappointed that they are doing Xbox 360 games and not Xbox One.

But of course these games are playable on Xbox one via backwards compatibility

[Source: .Major Nelson]

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed goes free with Games with Gold in June – Playable on Xbox One

Xbox fans have quite the treat for the upcoming month of June, if you have a Xbox Live Gold account you will get a variety of games during the month of June. Namely Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed during June 1-15. As you already know if you read this blog, we really love Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and if you haven’t picked it up on Xbox 360, now is the time. If you have an Xbox One console, its playable via backwards compatibility.

Other games in the collection:

  • Assassins Creed Chronicles: Russia
  • Smite 
  • Lego Indiana Jones 2
  • Super Mega Baseball 2

What are your thoughts on Games with Gold’s June 2018 selection of games? Which one are you looking forward to playing the most? Sound off in the comments.

What is the best 3D Sonic the Hedgehog video game?

Sonic the Hedgehog launched in glorious 3D back on the Dreamcast (at least officially, there where other attempts prior) and since 1998 it seems that the blue blur has had some trouble really defining what a 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game should be. We have went from the Adventure style games to the boost gameplay that we know now.

But what is the best 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game? 

To me this is hard to answer, like the retro Sonic the Hedgehog games that first came out all had a feel and flow to them, but the 3D ones seem to be all over the place. Even Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 are completely different in tone. For me, it has to be Sonic Adventure and that probably has to do with nostalgia, the fact that I preferred the flow of the game compared to Adventure 2 (letting you pick who you wanted to play instead of forcing you to switch between characters).  Is Sonic Adventure perfect? Nah, but no game is. I will also like to give a special shout out to Sonic Generations, which I enjoyed quite a bit. What about you?

Crazy Taxi joins Games with Gold for February

Hey, hey want to play Crazy Taxi and save some crazy money? Well, it seems that if you are a Xbox Live member you will be able to do just that. The Xbox 360 port of Crazy Taxi is set to join Microsoft’s Games with Gold program this February. Never heard of Games with Gold? Its a monthly service of free downloadable games for Xbox Live subscribers. Unlike rival service PlayStation Plus though, if you download the games, you keep them forever. Even if you cancel Xbox Live.

Crazy Taxi is also backwards compatible with the Xbox One, so you can play it on your shiny new console. While this port of Crazy Taxi isn’t perfect and has its issues, getting it for free to me seems worth it. Actually, since they changed the soundtrack, maybe even for free is asking too much…

Aliens: Colonial Marines Overhaul Mod Version 5 released

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Aliens: Colonial Marines might have released as a huge disappointing game with a ton of broken promises but that isn’t stopping fans from fixing the 2013 disaster piece of a game. The peeps over at Templar GFX Modding have now released the fifth version of their Aliens: Colonial Marines overhaul mod which aims to make the game a somewhat more playable video game.

According to the version five update changes the game will improve visuals on all levels. This includes things like permanent decals and improved Pixel Shader for graphics. The mod is also aiming at improving the AI on both human and xenos including the dodging and jumping. You can see all the changes below. I’m honestly sad that SEGA mishandled the Aliens license the way they did, seeing as how the game’s fans are passionate enough to fix the terrible game, even half a decade after release. The saddest part is, SEGA should have shut and fixed it themselves. Regardless, you can see the notes after the jump and download the latest mod right here.

[Via: DSOGaming]

Sonic Adventure available on Xbox One via backwards compatibility update

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If you have been waiting to replay Sonic Adventure but have been too lazy to hook up either your Dreamcast, GameCube or Xbox 360; you’re in luck since its now fully playable on the Xbox One thanks to the latest backwards compatibility update. As you can tell by the photograph above, the XBLA version of Sonic Adventure uses assets from the GameCube version and sticks with its original 4:3 image.

While I have plenty of not so great things to say about how Xbox One brand has been handled, one thing I do think is very ambitious is how Microsoft is setting up the console to be the only Xbox console you would need to own thanks to its focus on backwards compatibility. I find it to be a great solution and a lot better than ‘streaming’ your last generation games like on PlayStation 4. How many of you guys are giving Sonic Adventure another go on Xbox One?

Daytona USA on sale for $2.49 on Xbox One & Xbox 360

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SEGA’s legendary Daytona USA HD port for the Xbox 360 is on sale for only $2.49 (regular price: $9.99). Daytona USA HD port is also playable on the Xbox One family of consoles thanks to the backwards compatibility it offers.

Daytona USA on XBLA 

If you have never played Daytona USA before, the game does offer a demo for you to try, so give it a shot. If you want some more Daytona USA while you play Daytona USA HD, give our SEGA Talk Podcast episode all about Daytona USA a shot! Are you picking up the game?

Bayonetta is free this August for Xbox Live Gold members

If you own a Xbox 360 or Xbox One (since its backwards compatible now) and been wanting to play Bayonetta? If you have Xbox Live Gold then you will be able to download it completely free as part of their ‘Games with Gold‘ program. If you are new to ‘Games with Gold’, you basically get to keep the games given out each month, as in keep forever. That means if you decide that you don’t want Xbox Live Gold, you’ll still be able to download the titles, which is different to how PlayStation Plus handles their service.

You will be able to download the following games this August:

  • Slim Rancher – Xbox One
  • Trials Fusion – Xbox One
  • Bayonetta – Xbox 360
  • Red Faction: Armageddon – Xbox 360

So what games are you guys going to give a shot? If you already own a physical version of Bayonetta and have Xbox Live Gold, I’d suggest getting the digital version as a back up copy. I mean, it is free and will be on your Xbox Live account in case anything happens to your physical. Always be prepared to play Bayonetta at any time!

[Via: Major Nelson]

 

SEGA Talk Podcast #04: Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

The infamous Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) celebrated its 10th year anniversary earlier this week so George and Barry decided to sit down with Sonic Retro‘s Bartman3010 and David (dtlurker) to recount our thoughts on the title. On this episode we go through the concept of Sonic the Hedgehog, talk about various game play elements, glitches, music, and some of us even have nice things to say (maybe). If you wanna go back a whole decade and relive the grand adventure that is Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 just hit play below or subscribe to us via your favorite podcast network.

[iTunesStitcher – Play Music – RSSDownload]

If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

The SEGA Five: SEGA published games that deserve more attention

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If you discuss Streets of Rage, Super Monkey Ball, or even anything Sonic, chances are you can hear that 90’s jingle of retro goodness (SEGAAAAAAAAAAA!). The company helped create some wonderful games and franchises and are still going strong to this day. That being said, most of the games published by SEGA are sometimes often forgot about and usually sit on store shelves to collect dust and/or be pauper’s pennies.

While I haven’t played every single game SEGA has helped publish, some of those games stick out to me in a very unique and interesting way. And SEGA, being the quirky company they are, brought me wonderful memories and breathes a one-of-a-kind charm to those certain games. So in no particular order (with the first one being my favorite out of the five), here are some games that rightfully deserve more attention than they get!

Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown playable on Xbox One via backwards compatibility

Screenshot_031We know that PlayStation 4 will get a playable version of Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown as its part of Yakuza 6, but Xbox One owners will now be able to play their Xbox 360 version of Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown thanks to Xbox One’s backwards compatibility feature. Confirmed by Major Nelson, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown should work today thanks to the new update.

We still haven’t seen tests, but hopefully this gets a few new people playing the game since its basically dead online. But hey, what are your thoughts? Personally feel that if I get a Xbox One, i’ll be spending lots of time playing Xbox 360 games and not sure if that is a good thing.

The SEGA Five: PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 Games That Need PC Ports

SEGAPCPortsFiveThe seventh console generation was SEGA’s big test as a 3rd party publisher, while they were still a 3rd party during most of the sixth generation, the seventh was the first time they didn’t have home console hardware to sell from the very start. Who knows how game history will see the once big console manufacture turned 3rd party during this time and while not all the games they released that generation were considered great, they did release quite a bit of overlooked gems that fans think deserve second chances. Like always this is a personal opinion list of games, if one of your favorite SEGA published games on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 didn’t make the list, let us know in the comments below.

Note: We didn’t include the Nintendo Wii games that deserve PC ports because the Wii was a really unique console, but we might have a list dedicated just for the Nintendo Wii in the near future. Also titles that already had PC releases but got delisted aren’t included (aka OutRun 2). 

First Look: Sonic the Hedgehog’s Lego Dimensions figure

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This morning Mark Warburton, a producer at TT Games Publishing posted the first look at the Sonic the Hedgehog figure in action. If you didn’t know Sonic the Hedgehog will be included in the latest update of LEGO Dimensions. Mark Warburton showed off Sonic the Hedgehog‘s Lego Dimensions figure in a mock race against Superman. You can check out more photos of Sonic the Hedgehog‘s Lego Dimensions figure at the bottom of the article.

We also did a SEGA News Bits episode where we discussed our thoughts on Sonic the Hedgehog joining LEGO Dimensions. What are your thoughts about Sonic the Hedgehog’s Lego Dimensions figure? Tell us in the comments below!

[Via: NeoGAF]