Sonic Team

Sonic Lost World: 3DS version gets online multiplayer, Wii U does not

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In an interview with Nintendo News Report, Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka confirms that Sonic Lost World will have online multiplayer on the 3DS, but not on the Wii U.

“We’ll have different multiplayer modes on both Wii U and 3DS. On the Wii U, there’s booth cooperative and versus multiplayer. In cooperative play, Sonic will be using the Wii U GamePad and someone can be supporting Sonic in co-op with the Wii Remote. In versus mode, one player will be playing on the TV screen and the other player will be racing using the GamePad so you don’t have to have split screen. You both have your own screen and can race each other. The Wii U multiplayer is not on the Internet. It’s basically everyone sitting on the same couch. The 3DS for the first time we’re having 4-player versus racing over Wi-Fi and the Internet.” – Takashi Iizuka

Pretty intersting. What are your guys thoughts on the lack of online multiplayer on the console version? Does this effect your purchase? Do you even care about multiplayer in a Sonic game?

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SEGA says they have exciting plans for Sonic in the near future

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thefutureofsonic
Sometimes people at SEGA just love to tease and those teases sometime excite us. Its almost going to be two years since Sonic Generations came out and that seems like a long time for Sonic games (which used to have almost yearly releases). So Sonic fans ask, where is the next one? VentureBeat spoke to senior director of digital marketing Mike Evans and director of online operations Ethan Einhorn, this is what they teased:

“We’re taking, on the console side, more of a pillar approach. We’re doing some very exciting things with Sonic as a brand in the near future. We’re also very heavily focused on strategy, as you’ve seen with our pickup of [Company of Heroes developer] Relic, as well as what we’re doing with [Total War developer] Creative Assembly. Of course, we’re continuing to do core titles like Aliens: Colonial Marines.”– Ethan Einhorn, Director of Online Operations

Are we shocked that SEGA has big plans for their #1 brand? No, but its exciting to see if this new game will be on a next generation system. If you want to see the full interview head over to VentureBeat.

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Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode 2 footage to be shown April 9th

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We posted last month that SEGA announced the first expansion pack to Phantasy Star Online 2, titled Code Episode 2. Satoshi Sakai stated that they will show footage during their live Nico Nico broadcast on April 9th (which happens to be my birthday, thank you Sakai!).

He also talked about a new update that is hitting the Playstation Vita later this month. This update will allow players to customize the controls in the game and chat adjustments.

So what about us Phantasy Star fans in the west? Well, SEGA’s last update was that it was delayed and didn’t give a release date…

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SEGA Corporation to Air 24-Hour Internet TV Broadcast In Feb

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SEGA Corporation will be airing a 24-Hour Internet TV Broadcast on February 2nd from 6PM JST to the 3rd at 6PM JST the next day. The broadcast will feature SEGA titles including Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F, Phantasy Star Online 2, Yakuza 5 and the licensed-for-Japan title Rusty Hearts. The Internet broadcast seems to be also focused on the 20th Anniversary of the Puyo Puyo series and a time slot made specifically for Sonic Team. There are no word on this portion of the broadcast, but may include details based on the rumors of the upcoming Sonic game. You can view the schedule of the broadcast here and the live stream video by clicking this link.

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New Phantasy Star Online 2 trailer shows off new content and quests

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Phantasy Star Online 2 is still getting summer updates that adds more story quests and much more items to try to collect. This will take you to the planet Lillipa which is known as the Land of the Dragons. Not only that, new outfits and a White Rappy are part of the update too.

This is in Japanese since the game won’t be coming to Europe and United States till 2013. It has been confirmed that the European and US servers will be the same, while Japan will be isolated (unlike the original Phantasy Star Online).

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Sonic Team gives Hell Yeah! their approval

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Arkedo Studios, the French developer behind the upcoming digital title Hell Yeah! had a meeting with two main members of Sonic Team, where they played the game and told them what they thought about it. One of the guys was the infamous and lovable Takashi Iizuka.

“They said, not a lot sucks, but you should pay attention to what happens when you’re jumping, the stop and go, the inertia you have when you’re jumping on platforms. You should add this little thing, this little thing… We said, hey yeah, it’s much better. Thank you very much. That’s the craftsmanship. Those guys, they are bright yellow, they glow. Okay, this guy knows what he’s talking about. We loved it.”

Yeah, there are now developers asking Sonic Team what they think about their platforming game. I consider this to be a positive step and I’m glad that Arkedo Studios is so open to feedback. I think this is something that more developers need to do. If something is broken, fix it. Make a great game! Hit the jump to hear more quotes on what they thought!

Continue Reading ➜

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All the Phantasy Star Online 2 information from the conference

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We have showed you the trailer that SEGA showed off. That trailer has all the new features shown, so once you read about the features here, head over and re-watch it.

  • You can have a team of 12, though you will be split into 4 smaller teams to keep the feel of PSO.
  • The PSO2 alpha testing kicks off in Japan in August.
  • PSO2 now allows you to jump and jump attack (already known).
  • PSO2 allows a TPS like system for Rangers. Lets say, you can aim at an enemies head for extra damage.
  • Levels (still random generated) will have parts that people can get on higher ground for more damage. Especially for Rangers.
  • You don’t level up like before. Instead you level up your class and have new abilities unlocked.
  • PC game will support both controllers and keyboard/mouse.

The game is planned for PC later this year in Japan. SEGA says more information will come in the Tokyo Game Show. Check out the official website for the game here.

[Source: AndriaSang]

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Mario & Sonic platformer never happened due to internal disagreement

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When we where kids, growing up in the 16-bit era, we always took sides with either Sonic or Mario. But deep down inside, we always wanted to see them do a game together, an awesome platformer. Then SEGA announced Mario & Sonic Olympic series, making people angry. But why not make a platformer game?

“Prior to this project there has always been a discussion between Nintendo and Sega about bringing Sonic and Mario together somehow. But every time we talked about it, there was an issue as to exactly how we could achieve that.

These characters come from two totally different backgrounds, and have completely different worlds. If you do any kind of collaboration, you can’t just get them to run on one of the Sonic stages or vice versa. You have to create something from scratch, a neutral location. Nintendo and SEGA never managed to agree on just where or what kind of universe we could set a Mario and Sonic adventure in.

Then, some time ago, SEGA secured a license to create games based on the Olympics. At that point I came up with the idea of having Mario and Sonic compete with each other in the Olympic games setting. We proposed that idea to Nintendo and they were really positive and interested in the idea, so that is where we started building it into a concrete game proposal.” – Osamu Ohash, Producer.

Very interesting, minigames seem to be the easiest way to cash in on the brand names.

[Source: Spong]

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SEGA helps raise awareness of declining hedgehog population

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Did you know there is a decline of hedgehogs? 300,000 less hedgehogs in Britain than there where 10 years ago. 50,000 of them are killed on roads every year. Now there is a charity, lead by David Wembridge to raise awareness about this issue. They are even teaming up with SEGA.

“The level of our concern about hedgehog numbers is growing because of the mounting evidence of decline in their population. All the indications are that something is going wrong and that in a few decades time, the hedgehog might be under threat as a species.” – David Wembridge

SEGA set up a ‘hedgehog road crossing’ in Twickenham, which just happens to match up with the release of Sonic Colors. Can you mark ‘advertising’ as ‘charity’ off of tax forms? Wait, do Europeans pay taxes?

[Source: Dailymail]

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