Sonic the Hedgehog Movie To Release In 2018

real_life_eggman_by_sonicblaster59.jpg[Photo by: sonicblaster59]

SEGA-Sammy Holdings’ CEO Hajime Satomi sat down with The Wordlfolio for a interview discussing many things including the latest restructures and entertainment resorts. But he did let slip that Sony Pictures’ Sonic the Hedgehog movie would be coming in 2018. Could he be mistaken? Doesn’t sound like it, this is what he said about the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog film:

“Sega Sammy Group is currently planning with Sony Pictures to create a live-action and animation hybrid “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie scheduled for release in 2018. Like with this CG animation production, we would like to expand our business into other entertainment areas beyond what we are currently involved.”Hajime Satomi, CEO of SEGA-Sammy Holdings

They did ask about rebuilding SEGA’s brand image and he slightly touched on it but basically didn’t give any new information . Why? It’s his son, Haruki Satomi, that is the CEO of SEGA Games which is trying to repair SEGA’s brand image. One of the ways is obviously reaching a new audience through new mediums, hint why Sony Pictures’ Sonic the Hedgehog movie is important aspect to the future of SEGA’s brand.

As for Sony’s Sonic the Hedgehog movie, is 2018 too long of a wait?

[Via: Sonic Stadium]

SEGA News Bits: Sonic the Hedgehog Amiibo outsold Mario in North America

Even though 2015 wasn’t a big year for Sonic the Hedgehog video games, fans still flocked to Sonic the Hedgehog merchandise and according to Nintendo’s Amiibo sales report the Sonic the Hedgehog Amiibo was one of the top selling Amiibos in America for 2015. It was so popular that it beat Nintendo’s own Mario and Pikachu Amiibos! Don’t let your friends tell you that Sonic isn’t popular anymore because sale numbers say otherwise. Who would have thought that Sonic could sell on a Nintendo platform, just had to make it a Sonic the Hedgehog Amiibo?

So click play and listen to grown men talk about plastic video game toys. If you like what you saw don’t forget to like, share and subscribe. Thanks for the support. Tell us in the comments if you have a Sonic the Hedgehog Amiibo!

Sonic the Hedgehog amiibo outsold Pikachu and Mario in North America

amiibo-store-shelf.jpgSEGA’s blue blur is very popular not only in North America but also with Nintendo gamers, so much so that he ranked in number five on their amiibo sales chart in North America. Sonic beat the likes of Mario, Pikachu Pac-Man, and Mega Man. The most popular Amiibo in North America? Link. Surprised?

Here is the North American sales of amiibos:

1. Link
2. Bowser
3. Toon Link
4. Mewtwo
5. Sonic
6. Pikachu
7. Classic Mario
8. Pac-Man
9. Mega Man
10. Ganondorf

These charts come from Nintendo themselves . They have announced that they have shipped over 31 million amiibos, including 9.9 million in the third quarter alone. Check the best selling amiibos from Japan Europe after the break.

[Source: NeoGAF]

SEGA Games That Are Celebrating Big Anniversaries in 2016

SEGAbitsAnniversary2016

SEGA has created some highly popular and cult classic series of games that have stuck with people over the years. While most of you guys already know that Sonic the Hedgehog is celebrating his big 25th Anniversary this year, many other games get ignored because they aren’t as relevant as they used to be. Today we will list those mostly ignored video game franchises we all love. Did your favorite game make our list?

Fastest Food Alive: A look back at the 1994 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion

As we near 25 years of Sonic the Hedgehog, I wanted to kick off a video series looking back at an aspect of the franchise that has always been a favorite of mine – food promotions! From McDonald’s to Topps to Carl’s Jr and beyond, SEGA has teamed their flagship franchise with some of the greatest, and at times weirdest, food companies. In this first installment, I take a look back at the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion which ran worldwide in 1994 and 1995. Everything from the commercials to the in-store displays is covered, and I even clear up some misconceptions about that whole Tails recall situation and figure out just what that yellow Tails ball was. Special thanks to The Gagaman for additional information.

If you enjoyed the video make sure to like, share and subscribe to us on YouTube if you haven’t already. Thanks for the support!

SEGA News Bits: What to expect from SEGA in 2016

SEGA is getting ready for a whole new year, while 2015 saw a limited release of titles and had the company going through ANOTHER restructure; this year we will see some of the bigger budget SEGA games finally hitting the retail market. On this episode of SEGA News Bits, we talk about what YOU can expect from SEGA in 2016!

During the episode I talk about our article we wrote about why SEGA refusing to localize Phantasy Star Online 2 is a bad sign, you can read that here. If you like what you just saw please don’t forget to like, share and like always subscribe. We appreciate your support.

SEGA News Bits: Sonic Fan Event 2015 Recap

SEGA has held another Sonic Fan Event this year announcing a few surprises for Sonic fans, especially those that are huge fans of Sonic music. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we recap the event, give you our thoughts on the announcements.

Like always if you like our recap make sure to like, share and subscribe to us on YouTube if you haven’t already. Thanks for the support!

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 details released including the character roster

Nintendo has opened the official Japanese website for Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, this was for the 3DS version of the game. The page detailed various things including the sporting events, character roster, amiibo support, and various modes.
There are a total of 14 Olympic sports included in this handheld title. This includes soccer, golf, 100m dash, 110m hurdle, long jump, javelin throw, 100m freestyle swim, archery, boxing, table tennis, beach volley, equestrian, BMX, and rhythmic gymnastic hoop. This will also include 14 extra competition events which are basically one of these with gimmicks added from the Mario & Sonic series.

Local play is only possible if each person has a copy of the game, but the game will feature ‘Download Play’ mode which will let you play with people that don’t have the game but these users will have a limited selection of characters to play as.

Talking about characters, hit the jump to see the 40 characters (not including Miis) that will be in the game.

[Via Nintendo Everything]

Tails and Knuckles Mii costumes coming to Super Smash Bros

Tails and Knuckles in Smash

Bayonetta wasn’t the only Sega surprise announced for Super Smash Bros yesterday, as Tails and Knuckles also enter the fray! Errr…sort of. They will be included as Mii Fighter costumes. Tails will be used for gunner fighters while Knuckles can be used for brawlers. Now you can have a real Sega vs. Nintendo match online! Bayonetta and Mii costumes arrive in February 2016.

SEGA posts sales profits despite having fewer sales

SonicUnleashedRing
SEGA-Sammy has posted their detailed financial report for the last six months, spanning from April to September 2015. If you guys didn’t know, April 1st is when SEGA’s massive restructure happen and around June is when SEGA of America did their big move. Not only that but the company hasn’t been releasing as much software as they used to, but they still manage to make profit even with a decrease in sales.

SEGA-Sammy reports 1.2 billion in net sales, which happens to be a decrease of 2.5% over the same six month period in 2014, where they reported over 1.3 billion. Yet SEGA-Sammy posted a profit of $7.9 million, compared to losing $23 million in 2014.

SEGA-Sammy said that digital games just happen to be one of the big money makers for the company which happen to them get out of the red. What games did good? Lets look.

SEGA News Bits: Sonic 25th Anniversary game to play like classic games?

SEGA is getting ready to celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th Anniversary next year and their new marketing director in Europe has dropped a hint on what to expect that new game to play like. According to him the new Sonic the Hedgehog games will be more inspired by how they “played in its heyday.” What is Sonic’s heyday? What does this all mean? Let’s talk about that. Read the original story here.

If you like what you see, make sure to subscribe to us on YouTube and never miss a video.

 

Sonic The Hedgehog 1 & 2 Virtual Console and XBLA to be delisted October 30th

sonic2

Via XBLA Watchdog Twitter user Lifelower comes news that SEGA Japan has announced that the Xbox Live Arcade and Wii Virtual Console versions of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will be pulled tomorrow, October 30th. The reason for the games being pulled is unknown, but there are two possibilities. The most likely reason is that the contract for the games’ music rights, which are held by the original composer Masato Nakamura, are expiring and these versions of the game are affected. Another possible reason is that the Taxman/Stealth remastered versions are finally making their way to consoles, but take that possibility with an Oil Ocean sized amount of salt.

If you haven’t bought these versions yet, you have less than a day to do so. However it should be noted that there are several other versions out there including the original cartridges, Sonic Jam for Saturn, Sonic Mega Collection (playable on both the Xbox 360 and Wii via backwards compatibility), Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, the aforementioned Taxman/Stealth remastered versions, and 3D Classics versions. I’m sure I missed a couple dozen others, but you get the point.

SEGA hints Sonic 25th Anniversary game could be inspired by classic games

ClassicSonicSEGA really has changed the way they handle PR for their Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, admitting to wrongs and promising a brighter future for the franchise. So far they are keeping that promise and recently went as far as delaying Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice into 2016 (shall see if its a better game for it).

The other day Marketing Week interviewed SEGA Europe’s marketing director Jon Rooke who also admitted to Sonic the Hedgehog‘s recent poor track record of games and suggested that the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog game will be “more inspired by how it played in its heyday.”

“Sega has publicly apologised to the fans as the quality of console games in the Sonic franchise hasn’t been acceptable over recent years. It’s been tough translating that iconic side scrolling 2D experience from the 90s into 3D but Sonic is still huge for us so the new games will be more inspired by how it played in its heyday.” – Jon Rooke, SEGA Europe Marketing Director

Honestly this isn’t the first time I have been hearing call backs to Sonic’s heyday, they do it with marketing trailers all the time. I guess we shall see soon enough if this is all just talk.

[Via: TSSZNews]

SEGA News Bits: Sonic Boom Season 2 announced & the state of the franchise

With Sonic Boom Season 1 coming to a close and the announcement that the series will continue with a second season we thought it was time for us to chime in on the show. We talk about what we liked, disliked about season 1 and our hopes for season 2. Tell us what you thought about Sonic Boom season 1 in the comments below and tell us what you want to see for the second season!

If you liked what you saw, don’t miss a video! Subscribe to us on YouTube!

Cook and Becker release officially licensed Sonic the Hedgehog and Virtua Fighter art prints

paul veer sonic the hedgehog print for SEGA

Art Dealership Cook & Becker have released several new officially licensed SEGA prints, adding to their previous prints including Phantasy Star and Streets of Rage; as well as a gorgeous Shenmue print. This time in the spotlight are two Virtua Fighter prints (for different coloured backgrounds) and everyone’s favourite spiny mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog himself. The Virtua Fighter print was produced by Gerald Parel, whilst the Sonic print was produced by Paul Veer (Also known as @pietepiet on Twitter), who you may know for his work on games such as Nuclear Throne. 

You can check out the prints here:

Unframed, the prints cost $115, or roughly £100/140 Euros, give or take. Be sure to let us know your favourites, and support these incredible artists! You can check out previews below.