Hey, another episode of the Swingin’ Report Show! On this episode me, Barry the Nomad and Nuckles 87 discuss games that blew our minds when we where fragile childern and how they hold up now that we are adult men. We also talk about that damn new SEGA Japan teaser, Sonic Dash and of course the 3DO?
After five years with the company, SEGA’s Digital Brand Manager Ken Balough is moving on to join the team at Sony Playstation. The announcement was made in a statement at the SEGA forums:
After 5 absolutely amazing years, and a lot of great memories and games, it is with a heavy heart that I am announcing Friday March 22nd will be my final day at SEGA.
I can’t tell you all what an incredible experience this has been. Ever since I was a kid playing the SEGA Master System, I wanted to work at SEGA. I grew up on our games playing Wonder Boy, Sonic, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and so many more. When the chance to work on the Sonic franchise appeared – I never thought twice – it was a dream come true!
I am incredibly proud of how well the Sonic Franchise has grown; and it is poised to continue to grow into some amazing directions.
The Sonic fans are the best I’ve experienced – passionate, intelligent, with an unrivaled love of the franchise. I have been privileged to get to know you, and hear your thoughts, and talk to you personally when given the opportunity. There are so many of you I want to thank. You guys are really one of a kind. Continue to encourage everyone at SEGA to make better games – it’s really fuel for us when we see, or hear you guys excited.
As many of you know, I am very passionate about the Latin America side business, and I have been given a phenomenal opportunity to join the team at Sony PlayStation and do just that. I am very excited, and while I am VERY sad to be leaving my dear friends at SEGA, am looking forward to be working with a 1st party in an emerging market.
Thank you all again for… well…. Everything! And maybe I’ll stop by and make a visit in a future Sonic event
Your ever-grateful Sonic 4 Brand Manager
Ken Balough
We wish Ken all the best in his new venture, and hope that his time with SEGA was as he truly imagined it. Okay, kidding aside, we here at SEGAbits want to thank Ken for his service to SEGA and for all the good times. From joining us for a Sonic 4 Episode 2 after party, to helping us with all things Sonic 4 and more. Ken, this one is for you.
Customers who pre-ordered Sonic 4: Episode 2 on Steam got quite a surprise late Friday night when an early Beta of the game became available for them to download. The download has since been taken off of Steam and those who downloaded have found that the “play” option has been disabled making it defunct. Of course, this was not before players uploaded a bunch of videos all over the internet. However, out of respect to Sega and to keep our readers spoiler-free until the game’s release, we will not be linking any of those videos on our site. Read on for more detail.
Here it is folks! Only our fourth show in and we got our first big guest. Sonic 4 Brand Manager, Ken Balough! He’ll be answering some of your concerns about the upcoming Sonic 4: Episode 2.
But that won’t be until the middle of the show. In the meantime, Nuckles 87 and I are joined by GX Echidna and nSega54 to talk about what small news we have on the upcoming Game Gear games for 3DS, our favorite Archie Sonic artists, what Sonic would look like if he was drawn by slices of pizza instead of artists, and, after the interview, we talk about the Sonic Advance series. Read on to leave a comment or see our show notes.
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Tomorrow will be the release of Sonic Talk: Episode 4. In it, we interview Ken Balough about all things Sonic 4:Episode 2. One thing that’s been discussed in other forums and kinda revealed lately is how the physics are shaping up and it’s all true. Here’s what Ken had to say on the new and improved Sonic 4-2 physics.
“You’ll notice the changes right from the get-go. We took fan feedback and made sure he doesn’t uncurl. So now when he rolls up those hills, he’ll stay in ball-attack form. The other thing was to start having the game have more momentum style physics similar to the Genesis. In act 2 of Silvania Castle, it starts off at a big hill. So if you just put Sonic towards the edge and have him tuck and roll (not spindash) and let him roll naturally, you can put your controller down because not only will he roll down that hill, but he’ll actually pick up speed and roll off a ramp (for example) and have it similar in essence to the way it was on the Genesis.”
Check out Sonic Talk 4:Episode 2 tomorrow to find out more on the physics, how Sonic CD is now embedded into Sonic 4 and the Genesis trilogy, what kind of adaption will be in the Archie magazine, which versions have “transfarring” and much more right here on SEGAbits!
*= He didn’t exactly say “affirmative”. It just sounds good in the header.
It has officially been confirmed by Ken Balough that Sonic 4: Episode 2 will not be making it to the Wii platform. Sadly, for Wii Sonic fans, this is the third multi-platform Sonic game in a row not making it to their system. It’s seriously doubtful it will make it to 3DS either. I guess Sonic does what Nintendon’t. Here’s what Ken had to say.
But no – the reason Episode I was on the Wii was because we wanted to bring the Sonic 4 saga to the widest possible audience. Episode II unfortunately will not be coming to the Wii – for reasons most people have probably guessed, but that doesn’t mean the SEGA isn’t supporting Nintendo platforms, we have a very strong partnership and will continue to do so.
Source [Sega Forums]