Sonic 4: Episode 2 will only have one throwback level

Over at the official SEGA of America forums, a fan brought up the ultimate question. Are we going to suffer through throwbacks the whole time like episode one? Good news, Sonic 4 brand manager Ken Balough says that no, we won’t. He confirms that only one of the zones is a genuine throwback.

Also there is going to be a nice unveiling later this month. Now, he does admit that fans will call anything a throwback, only because it’s a similar environment. Read his full response after the jump.

Check out Binary Domain’s Multiplayer Mode in this new trailer

With Binary Domain set to launch at the end of this month, SEGA’s has released this new trailer showing the mulitplayer mode off for the first time since mentioning it late last year. The trailer shows off the two forces players can take control of: either the resistence fighters or the elite government soldiers as they go head to head in several modes. Also showcased towards the end of the trailer is the game’s very own horde mode, where players will take control of humans as they try to take down armies of robots. Binary Domain is set to release 16th February in Japan, 24th February in Europe and Australia and 28th February for the United States on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Aliens: Colonial Marines box art released

Aliens: Colonial Marines just seems like one of those titles that will never come up. We have been covering the game for more than a year, we were promised a spring release date but it seems to have been delayed to fall. No problems, here is a very early look at the box art. Now you know what to look for on those scary game shelves.

Valkyria Chronicle’s Selvaria gets recreated in Soulcalibur V

We already know that Namco wants to have a crossover game with SEGA, but if you can’t get the big blue to agree at least you can add a create a fighter feature. Here is someone recreating Selvaria from SEGA’s fan favorite game Valkyria Chronicles.

In the same post over at Siliconera they have more recreated video game characters, so if creating characters is your thing you should head over there.

Binary Domain: Xbox 360 vs PS3 version


You’d think that this is a post full of drama where someone that bought one of the two leading HD consoles will end up butt hurt, but it really isn’t. It seems that The Yakuza team did really well, at least in demo form. The latest Binary Domain (released in the Japanese XBL/PSN) demo  is taken for a test drive and compared. So what is the better version of the game?

That will depend on what you prefer. Either version looks about the same, but there are small differences. Livedoor says that they think the Xbox 360 version is running 4xMSAA, while it seems that the PS3 version is running MLAA. If the PS3 version is running MLAA, then this will be the first Japanese game to use the feature on the PS3. You can tell that the PS3 version has better  anti-aliasing than the 360 version, especially the close ups. But the 360 version looks ‘sharper’.

Not only that, it seems that the demo version of Binary Domain on PS3 has some framerate issues. The 360 version usually averaged 30 frames per second (24 to 30fps) the PS3 version averaged 29fps (18.5 to 30.5fps). The 360 version had 0.183% tearing, while the PS3 had no screen tearing. Have to say, its weird how the 360 version is doing so well when its the team’s first Xbox 360 game.

Hit the jump to see the rest of the screens.

Win a free copy of Sonic CD by commenting on this post

[The artwork above is by StarRanger. Here is his deviantart account.]

This morning I gave out 3 copies of Sonic CD to our twitter followers, if you missed it, no problem. If you comment on this post you will be entered to win a copy of Sonic CD for XBLA. That is right, just comment and using your legit e-mail (we have to be able to contact you).
Why are we doing this? Simple, we fixed an issue the site had with results. Basically it wasn’t indexing the site and if you now Google search us… Bam! Success. Not to mention that February the 6th is our 2 year anniversary! First winner being picked tomorrow on the 4th and the second winner is getting picked on Sunday the 5th. Best of luck.

Edit: Winner for Saturday, February the 4th is Phantoms-Heart. Cheers. You can still enter for tomorrow’s copy by commenting below.

Edit: The Winner for Saturday, Feburary the 5th is Joey. Cheers. The contest is now over. Keep checking back for our next contests later this month. 

New cinematic teaser for Aliens: Colonial Marines

Looks cool, that’s for sure.

On a somewhat related note, they showed a 30-second Binary Domain advertisement before this trailer the first time I viewed it on IGN: a promising sign for the marketing of SEGA’s other upcoming shooter.

The recently-delayed Aliens: Colonial Marines will now be hitting the PS3, 360, and PC in the back end of 2012, and though it had also been previously announced for Nintendo’s next generation console, there’s no indication of that version in this trailer.

Aliens: Colonial Marines pushed back to Fall 2012

Though it was never exactly given a firm release date, Gearbox’s highly-anticipated Aliens project had long been pegged for a Spring 2012 release. That’s no longer the case according to G4, who’s reporting today that the game has slipped into the Fall 2012 window.

This means that it will be facing competition from the likes of Bioshock Infinite and Halo 4, plus whatever Call of Duty game Activision’s prepping, so SEGA’s marketing department had better be ready to write some big checks if they don’t want this promising-looking title to get lost in the shuffle.

Binary Domain – Assassination Attempt trailer

SEGA has released a 5 minute long trailer showing off more of the story that you will find in the full product. I have to say, even though I like the concept of the game, I do think that the English dub is a bit hard to swallow. Especially the dude that sounds oddly enough like Bill Clinton.

The trailer talks about hallow children, robots born thinking they are humans. Basically the plot twist for Terminator Salvation. Did I ruin the movie? Oops.

Rise of Nightmares demo finally debuts on Xbox Live


For all those Kinect owners thinking about picking up Rise of Nightmares, now you can try out the game for free. SEGA has finally released a demo for their horror Kinect title earlier today. Make sure you have 334.26 MB free on your harddrive to play the game.
The demo is Kinect only, so you will have to have the device to play the game.

Sonic games get a 66% discount on Xbox Live


Seems that Sonic fans get a another discount. This time coming from Microsoft’s 12 days of deals promotion. The 9th day of the sale will feature most XBLA Sonic games at a discount of 66%. Sorry no Sonic CD, but if you want that for free, enter our podcast contest.

The following titles will be discounted today (and today only).

  • Sonic 4: Episode 1: 800 320 msp (60% off)
  • Sonic Adventure: 800 320 msp (60% off)
  • Sonic Adventure DX: 400 160 msp (60% off)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog: 400 160 msp (60% off)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2: 400 160 msp (60% off)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 3: 400 160 msp (60% off)
If you have been waiting to get some of these old ports or waited to pick up Sonic 4: Episode 1, now is probably the time.

Rumor: Sonic 4: Episode 2 to feature Tails and Metal Sonic?

According to the original rumor, the last bit of info confirms that Tails will be playable. Not only that, Metal Sonic would be the main villain. I guess there was something to that marketing for Sonic CD. Reading the info that the source gave, it seems the version he got was pretty early and sections of it weren’t completed yet.

You can select either Sonic or Tails before loading the first stage, but selecting Tails simply grants you playing as Sonic with a Tails life icon and ‘Tails got through Act X’ messages.
The level design consists of many bottomless pit areas and failing to avoid Metal Sonic after he teleports usually results in death.

I’ll be publishing the full e-mail later tonight for the interested. This seems like a given, at least to me. After Sonic CD coming out ‘before’ they announced this? I pretty much knew it was going to have Metal Sonic. Tails was a given because he was introduced in Sonic 2, so introducing him in Episode 2 makes sense. Like you can assume that Knuckles will be in 3.

Rumor: Sonic 4 Episode 2’s first stage called Cryptic Clock Zone?


Adding to yesterday’s exclusive rumor on Sonic Episode 2, this time we hope that we are revealing the first stage name for the game. According to the anonymous e-mailer the first zone is going to be titled ‘Cryptic Clock Zone’.

The first stage is titled Cryptic Clock Zone, set in a dark moonlit stonehenge like area.

I’m pretty sure if this turns out to be true, that this is an original level idea, unlike the first episode that seemed to borrow themes from past Sonic titles. Or am I wrong? Is there a super secret stonehenge inspired Sonic stage that I missed?

Edit: Put rumor in the title after some sites started running the story as a fact. This is a rumor and has been filed under rumor since I posted it.

Rumor: Sonic 4: Episode 2 not fixing physics complaints


We got an anonymous tip from a fellow reader that has actually played Sonic 4: Episode 2 and his opinion on the title wasn’t a positive one. He stated that the game uses the same physics from the first episode.

“I have obtained access to a prototype build via the Xbox Live PARTNERNET program, and what is concerning is that the physics are exactly the same as they were in Episode 1. Yes, letting go of the stick makes Sonic drop like a brick. The reason I am telling you this information is that if it is out in the open, the fans will have a chance to speak out and make Sega delay the game. I am worried if it is left too late Sega will push out yet another disappointing software product.” – Anonymous e-mail

Some fans didn’t seem to hate the new physics, but many did. We have more Sonic 4 information that he leaked, we will be posting something everyday, so come back when you can. Hopefully we can get some screenshots as well.

Edit: Put rumor in the title after some sites started running the story as a fact. This is a rumor and has been filed under rumor since I posted it.