[UPDATE] SEGA delisting Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles and CD from digital storefronts on May 20th

Update: SEGA Forever has clarified that the mobile ports of Sonic 1, 2 and CD will remain!
SEGA of Japan’s Sonic Channel further clarifies that the following titles will be delisted: Xbox 360: Sonic 1, 2, 3, & Knuckles; PS Now: Sonic 1; PS3: Sonic 1, 2; Steam: Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles. The Sonic CD port appears to be spared, though given this is the Japanese site, it is unknown if the US and Europe releases will match this list.

SEGA has announced that in the lead up to Sonic Origins, Sonic games found in the collection will be pulled from digital storefronts. In SEGA’s words:

This will include Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD. There are a couple of exceptions – Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 will remain available via SEGA AGES on the Nintendo Switch and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will still be playable via Sega Genesis on Nintendo Switch Online +.

Data Discs announces Sonic the Hedgehog CD vinyl – available to pre-order now!

Data Discs is retuning to the world of Sonic the Hedgehog soundtracks with an impressive 3XLP release of Sonic the Hedgehog CD. Available to pre-order now and shipping September 2019, the release will feature the original Japanese score composed by Naofumi Hataya and Masfumi Ogata, newly remastered. The release will present the soundtrack in the game’s time zones, meaning “present”, “good future”, “past” and “bad future” will all be lumped together. The release will be accompanied by three double-sided art prints, liner notes from Naofumi Hataya, and a bespoke etching design on Side F of the soundtrack. There will also be a download code for lossy and lossless digital versions of the soundtrack. The release will be in three editions: 180g Clear Vinyl w/ Blue & Green + Sonic Blue Etched Disc (Limited Edition), 180g Sonic Blue Vinyl + Etched Disc, and 180g Classic Black Vinyl + Etched Disc.

Per the official pre-order site: Pre-orders for the limited edition will remain open until Monday 17th June (closing at 12:00pm UK time). Anyone who orders before then will be guaranteed a copy. The expected shipping date is September 2019.

Sonic Mania – Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1 music track released

The road to Sonic Mania continues and the Sonic the Hedgehog social media accounts are slowly releasing new content to keep fans hyped for the game’s release on August 15. Today we got the Sonic Mania – Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1 musical track, a popular stage from Sonic CD.

This takes the track and gives it that Tee Lopes oomph and it really sounds great. You have to give credit to Tee Lopes, I’ve been loving every single Sonic Mania track so far and I’m very excited to see what the full OST has to offer.

Sonic CD goes free-to-play with ads

Sonic-CD-2.0Sonic CD has now been updated to version 2.0, which changed the app from a paid game to a free-to-play game with ads. The issue with this is, that if you bought Sonic CD before going free-to-play, you will also be getting ads and be asked to pay $1.99 to remove them. According to developer Christian Whitehead this was all SEGA’s doing since he’s been busy working on Sonic Mania.

SEGA has yet to come out and comment on the change, but I seriously think this is just a error that will hopefully be resolved. If not it would be a really slimy move to charge loyal paying customers $1.99 to remove ads that you recently updated into their already purchased $2.99 game. Anyway, what do you think of Sonic CD going free-to-play with ads? If you paid for the Sonic CD, do you feel burnt that you now has ads?

UPDATE: Sonic Social Media manager Aaron Webber has confirmed that a fix has rolled out for those who purchased Sonic CD and still got ads. Let us know if you guys are still having issues in the comments below!

[via Touch Arcade]

Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle launches with exclusive shirt

HumbleBundleSonicHumble Bundle has just launched its Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle which will include a wide arrange of Sonic games for PC including retro and more recent titles.

This is what you get in the Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle.

Pay $1 or more:

  • Sonic the Hedgehog (SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive)
  • Sonic Adventure DX 
  • Sonic 3D Blast
  • Sonic CD

Beat the average (right now $9.00) also unlocks: 

  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode I
  • Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive)
  • Sonic Adventure 2 + Battle DLC 
  • More games coming soon

Pay $10 dollars and also get: 

  • Sonic Lost World
  • Sonic Generations + Casino NiGHTS DLC
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode 2
  • Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Plus Metal Sonic & Outrun and Ryo DLC)

Pay $35 bucks and get: 

  • Exclusive Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle Shirt

If you have never used Humble Bundle, the way it works is that its all tiers. So if you pay the $35 dollars for the exclusive Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle shirt, you also get all the games in the package. All games redeem on Steam.

What are your guys thoughts on this Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle? What tier is everyone picking up? Let us know in the comments below.

BlitWorks tells fans to continue asking SEGA for Shenmue and Jet Set Radio Future HD ports

ShenmueHD
Spanish video game website GameSpek recently interviewed the Barcelona, Spain based company responsible for many ports, including SEGA fan favorite Jet Set Radio.

As we all know, before the Shenmue III E3 2015 announcement, the on again/off again Shenmue franchise was constantly surrounded in a wide array of rumors, some concerning ports or high definition remakes of the first two games having been started on, or even fully completed. These rumors never came to fruition, but now we have some official insight into the status of these Shenmue ports. Says BlitWorks:

“Then we thought it would be a good idea to showcase Sonic CD, Jet Set Radio and Shenmue working on the emulators to Sega, with the prospect of a commercial release for the consoles of that time. They showed interest in Sonic CD and Jet Set Radio“.

When asked if they had anything else to say to fans, BlitWorks said:

Thanks to you! We would like to tell SEGA games fans that they don’t cease to ask for ports of great games like Shenmue or Jet Set Radio Future, we are the first ones that would like to port these games. In change.org or similar webs there are several requests about that.

They also discuss Jet Set Radio‘s removal from iOS, and more. Check out the full interview here.

Swingin’ Report Show #76: Interview with Stealth, co-developer of Sonic the Hedgehog 1&2 Remastered

On this week’s SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast, we’re joined by Stealth, who worked on the official recent remasterings of Sonic The Hedgehog CD, Sonic The Hedgehog, and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 alongside fellow developer The Taxman.

Stealth talks to us about how the remasters began development, the process of remaking classic Sonic titles, the much talked about the remastered Sonic The Hedgehog 3 proof of concept, and what fans can do to try and make Sonic 3 remastered a reality. Also featured is discussion of Sonic The Hedgehog 4 and the recent decisions SEGA has made with the franchise. If you love classic Sonic games and behind-the-scenes stories of game development, this is the show for you!

Also, Barry and George discuss the recently revealed ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove Kickstarter by Greg Johnson (who will be joining us next week) and Sonic Team’s mobile release Sonic Runners, which soft launched yesterday.

Support the Sonic 3 Remastered campaign: http://sonic3remastered.com/


[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

SEGA fan shares his 1993 Christmas home movie featuring Sonic CD

You guys might remember the SEGA Channel from a post we did where he gathered his home movies and did a touching tribute video to his dad. Now he is back, this time sharing a 1993 Christmas video. I got to admit, I love this sort of stuff and honestly a bit jealous, mostly because my parents weren’t so hip about the ‘vidya gaming’ growing up.

So the question for you all are, do you remember what you got for Christmas of 1993?

Amazon Digital Games Mayhem: SEGA bundles available including a Sonic the Hedgehog bundle

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Amazon is having another PC gaming sale, usually when Amazon does these they focus on bundles that include multiple games for a cheap price. This time around they have two SEGA related bundles. Let’s look at them.

Don’t Die Pack: $9.49

  • Aliens vs. Predator
  • Binary Domain
  • Condemned: Criminal Origins
  • The Typing of the Dead: Overkill
  • Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Next is the Sonic Everywhere pack that includes up to 17 Sonic the Hedgehog games/DLC.

Sonic Hits collection discounted by Humble Bundle and Jet Set Radio hits 50% off on Steam

SonicHitsCollection

If you guys enjoyed our Jet Set Radio week long celebration, you probably have been itching for an excuse to paint the streets of Tokyo-to once again. Don’t fear, Jet Set Radio HD is part of Steam’s week long sales. The game is being discounted by 50%, costing you only $2.49.

On related PC sales news, Humble Bundle store is having their spring sale on PC titles and part of that sale includes the ‘Sonic Hit Collections‘, which is priced at $7.49 and comes with the following 17 Sonic the Hedgehog games:

SEGA’s launch lineup for Amazon Fire TV

amazon-fire-tv-pricing
Amazon’s new Roku/Ouya killer Fire TV was announced yesterday with a lineup of software partners including SEGA themselves. We didn’t really know what the lineup of games were until the system got shipped to the public today. Here’s Sega’s list of games along with their prices.

  • Sonic CD ($2.99)
  • Sonic 1 ($2.99)
  • Sonic 2 ($2.99)
  • Sonic 4 Episode 1 ($3.99)
  • Sonic 4 Episode 2 ($4.99)
  • Crazy Taxi ($4.99)
  • The Cave ($4.99)
  • Virtua Tennis Challenge ($4.99)

Since the Amazon Fire TV doesn’t make use of Google services, some of the games won’t have Google Play Achievements or use Google’s leaderboards. That will also mean that Sonic 2 doesn’t have multiplayer since it used Google’s services. According to Taxman, the developer, Sonic 2 won’t even have a splitscreen mode due to ‘the projects scope’. The Amazon Fire TV is already shipping and you can purchase on here. Gaming controller sold separately.

Sonic Talk #26: Genesis with SEGA’s Aaron Webber

[MP3] (iTunes Link coming soon)

Now with 100% more of Sega’s beloved Aaron Webber! In this months Sonic Talk Aaron, Shigs, Nuckles87 and Sonic Revolutions’ own Shayne Edwards discuss the Genesis Era of Sonic. Games include Sonic 1-3 and Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Sonic 3-D Blast, Sonic CD and Knuckles Chaotix. We also go into what makes Eggman tick and more!

CONTEST TIME! Listen in on this episode for a Sonic trivia question. Be the FIFTH person to answer (and answer correctly) to win an AtGames Sega Genesis (which I reviewed here the other day) with Street Fighter II and a Sega 6-Pack cartridge. Yeah, yeah. It’s not a great prize, but it’s better than nothing.

RULES: Be the fifth person to answer to win. Why fifth? I want more people to listen of course! If there is not a fifth person to answer, then the very first person will win the system and carts. Winner must join the Segabits forums and PM me their address. U.S. CITIZENS ONLY (I can’t afford the U.K. postage. Sorry.)

SEGAbits Summer of Art/Season of Colors Contest: the Silver and Bronze winners

Oboro in snow

There can only be one winner, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also have stuff for the people who got second and third place. Above is one of the many entries sent into us by SEGA Nerd’s Kopke, aka Manuel Garcia Melgar. This awesome depiction of Hotsuma from SEGA’s criminally underappreciated Shinobi PS2 was one of several entries that nearly won him the grand prize. Here’s the one that came the closest. Please click it to see it in its full resolution glory!

Check below the fold for Manuel Garcia’s silver winning entry, as well as our bronze winner, Chase Svent!