Our E3 coverage continues with an interview with Sonic Boom Producer Stephen Frost! Stephen was nice enough to sit down on the final day of the expo to answer our questions about the upcoming Wii U and 3DS games Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal. Developed by Big Red Button Entertainment (Wii U) and Sanzaru Games (3DS), both titles are due out November 2014.
It looks like SEGA has reversed their decision to keep Sonic Boom as a Western-only series, as Nintendo Everything reports, the latest issue of Famitsu revealed that the Wii U and 3DS titles will be releasing in Japan under the name of Sonic Toon. No word on whether the TV series will also see release in Japan, but given the new title of Sonic Toon it is possible that the TV show will also be localized and the whole franchise is to be seen as a cartoonish Western branch of the series in Japan. Hey SEGA, as long as you’re sending games Japan’s way, why not localize some of the Japanese SEGA titles for us Westerners, we can consider it a trade.
More news on Sonic Boom Toon as we hear it!
This week we are chatting all about SEGA/Atlus’ presence at E3 2014. We talk all about the SEGA software including what we thought about our hands on with Sonic Boom video games, Alien Isolation and even the Nintendo published Bayonetta 2.
On the Atlus side we talk about playing Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Citizens of Earth and much more.
Want to catch all our E3 2014 coverage? You can by clicking here.
After you’re done reading, get a second opinion from Jason Berry over at Sonic Stadium!
Sonic has been reinvented countless times over the years, to the point where the character has time and time again become unrecognizable in every way except his name, speed and trademark attitude. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric represents the latest of these reinventions and is one of the most radical re-imaginings since Sonic made the transition to 3D fifteen years ago. Nothing has been held as sacred here, with Sonic Boom effectively acting as a near complete teardown of what past games were.
For one, this game isn’t just about speed and platforming, but also features a variety of brawling-centric levels. Though very few speed areas were on display, the final game will apparently feature a mix of speed areas and brawling areas, rather than keeping them segregated from one another as they were in the demo. Since there were no real speed areas on display, this preview will be focusing mostly on the game’s combat areas.
Do you like the humor in Sonic Boom, but you don’t want any of that “having to put effort into playing a game” stuff? Well, this new trailer for the tv show shows off plenty of that. While part of this trailer was already seen in the first trailer, it does show plenty of new plot and funny jokes from seemingly the first episode.
It also has Eggman standing on a tiny hoverboard. Yes, Eggman on a tiny hoverboard.
Official trailers for Sonic Boom on Wii U and 3DS have arrived. Lyric, the new villain for the franchise, has been broken out of whatever prison was holding him and says he has unfinished business with Sonic who seems to not have any idea what he’s talking about as this is their first encounter. Graphics look much better than recent footage shown, which may indicate that it was an earlier build that we’ve previously seen. You can also out the 3DS trailer after the break.
We’ll have more coverage of Sonic Boom as me and Nuckles87 get our hands on the game later today!
With E3 now only days away, companies are finally getting around to unveiling their E3 line-ups. Today, SEGA got around to unveiling what games they will be bringing to the show. The list isn’t exactly surprising:
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (3DS)
Alien: Isolation (PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd (PS3, Vita, PSN)
Though the list is rather paltry, it should be noted that SEGA has occasionally had some small surprises at E3. Back in 2010 the company used the show to unveil Sonic Free Riders and their line-up of Dreamcast titles. Also notably absent are SEGA’s mobile titles, despite the company working to increase its presence in the sector.
Even if these are the only games coming from SEGA itself, we at SEGAbits won’t be getting off so easily. Though not officially confirmed, Nintendo will likely have Bayonetta 2 on display. SEGA’s newest acquisition, Atlus, has their own slate of titles for the show, which we will also be providing coverage for.
With Sonic Boom coming this fall on Cartoon Network, Sonic Boom merchandise seem to be available for pre-order. The Sonic Boom Launcher features our dashing hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, inside a blue wheel that can be triggered with a push of a button sending Sonic dashing in the air along with Dr. Eggman of course.
Another playset features Sonic in a blue wheel with Dr. Eggman’s Burn Bot as seen in the preview trailer of the show on the site. Both toy sets are manufactured by Tomy and are available for pre-order on Toy Wiz’s website for only $27.99 and $16.99. Release date for both products are set for August 2014.
Does this remind you of the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 toys from McDonalds by any chance? If so, tell us your thoughts on the comments below.
For several months, concept art for Sonic Boom has been making the rounds on social networks, and one photo featured a character that looked very much like Sonic Rush Adventure‘s Marine. The importance of this unnamed character became apparent when what appeared to be leaked tradeshow signage featured this new character standing amongst the four main character. Today, SEGA has revealed that this new character is named Sticks the Badger. After the break, check out SEGA’s official announcement as well as a reveal video!
Start spreading the news! Sonic Boom will be heading to New York on October 4th. Along with this news from Sega comes the sad news that Summer of Sonic will be on hiatus for this year. This is very sad news for Sonic fans in the U.K. who’ve come in droves year after year to the event. One bit of good news is that Summer of Sonic has inspired other, smaller Sonic conventions to appear such as Weston Super Sonic (returning on January 17 2015) and Sonic Revolution in Buena Park (on June 15 2014). Read on for a statement from both Summer of Sonic and Sega.
Following the reveal of Sonic Boom, SEGA and Sonic fan communities exploded with discussion regarding the redesigns of the characters. Things like muscles, sports tape, scarves, tool belts, and blue arms became the subject of heated debates. Before the assurance from SEGA staff that the new game and TV show were a branch of the franchise and not a reboot, fans were both delighted and angered at the idea of Sonic undergoing another redesign after getting to know Modern Sonic for the past 7 years. Of course, fans of the franchise are not new to redesigns of SEGA’s mascot, so they can’t be blamed for assuming that Sonic was undergoing another permanent major change. While Sonic Boom Sonic and Modern Sonic “will continue to move forward in parallel” to each other, as stated by Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka, the new Westernized design of Sonic is here to stay – at least for the near future.
As we move forward into the Sonic Boom era, we thought it would be fitting to look back at five major moments in Sonic’s history of redesigns, from buttface to green eyes and beyond. “Buttface” is enough incentive to read on, right?
It’s not often that we get a look at how Sonic games are made, so it’s surprising that SEGA released a behind the scenes video for Sonic Boom. While there’s not much new info, it does show a lot of new concept art for the game and a couple of voice recording sessions for the TV show. There’s also one very small bit of new gameplay that you will probably miss if you blink.
The cast for the game and TV show was also revealed, which confirms that Orbot and Cubot will be present in this spin-off. It also shows that Tails now has a new voice actress, with Colleen Villard replacing Kate Higgins. This isn’t the first time Villard voiced a Sonic character, as she is also the current voice of the beloved Charmy the Bee.
Today has been a big day for Sonic Boom, as we just uploaded our latest podcast which features an hour long interview with producer Stephen Frost.
Hot on the heels of the reveal of the new Western television series and video game Sonic Boom, SEGA of America producer Stephen Frost sat down with Swingin’ Report Show hosts Barry and George, as well as David of Sonic Retro, to discuss all things speedy and blue. In this hour long discussion we delve into the genesis of the project, learn more of the team at Big Red Button Entertainment, and get a few hints at what we can expect to see in both the game and show. If Stephen’s enthusiasm is any gauge for what we can expect, we’re in for a real treat later this year!
Learn more about the new branch in the Sonic franchise at the official Sonic Boom website.
SEGA Sammy has released their earnings report for 2013, yielding a net profit of ¥44.3 billion, or $434 million, and a 564% increase year over year. The company attributed it to strong Pachinko performance and the sales of investment securities and non-current assets.
On the home electronics side, SEGA’s top three performing titles were Football Manager 14 at 680,000 units, Sonic Lost World for a combined 640,000 units, and the Japan-Only SAKATSUKU Pro Succer Club wo Tsukurou! for 200,000. Despite this, the nine-month period ending on Dec. 31, 2013 in which SEGA tracked numbers returned only 6.5 million total units of games moved, a decrease it attributes to “the harsh market environment.”
It’s not all doom and gloom because the company also found what they call “continued favorable” success on the digital side with Phantasy Star Online 2 and mobile phone titles Puyopuyo!! Quest and CHAIN CHRONICLE as the top runners there. The whole division saw a 19.7% increase year-to-year in net sales to a total of ¥72,934 million.
Keep in mind, back in November, SEGA purchased Atlus-parent company Index for a seemingly paltry ¥14 billion.
The release of the financial data comes hours after SEGA unveiled its plans for a massive spin-off of Sonic The Hedgehog with Sonic Boom.
Update: We reached out to SEGA of America over the big question of whether this is a reboot or it’s own thing. Their reply? “Sonic Boom is a new branch of the Sonic universe and does not replace modern Sonic.”
Update 2: The SEGA Blog has posted the official announcement. After the break, check out an image gallery for both the TV show and the game.
Update 3: This is crazy. So way back in March of 2013 a CryEngine 3 demo video was uploaded to YouTube, and the video featured some unnamed environments from Big Red Button. Those environments are actually from Sonic Boom the game! We’ve added the video after the break.
Not only is Sonic Boom the cartoon series landing later this year on Cartoon Network, but SEGA has also revealed today that LA developer Big Red Button Entertainment, a team made up of Ex-Naughty Dog staffers, will be leading the development of a video game adaptation of the series which will be exclusive to the Wii U and 3DS. This makes Sonic Boom the first Western created Sonic cartoon and video game adaptation in over 20 years, the last being Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, as well as Sonic Spinball which featured Sonic SatAM elements as well as characters which were carried over to Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Some may be tearing their hair out in the belief that Sonic has been rebooted, Sonic Team are no longer developing the games, and Sonic will forever be Nintendo exclusive. HOWEVER we have yet to hear from SEGA themselves over whether we can expect to see the usual Sonic Team developed “modern Sonic” we’ve come to know continue and be seen as separate from Sonic Boom the cartoon series and game adaptation. Much like the aforementioned Western Sonic cartoons and games being separate from the Japanese developed titles. Once we learn more, we’ll be sure to share it!