I saw this posted on Twitter by @IizukaTakashi. This is a quite an amazing revelation. Sonic Adventure 2 was inspired by a Pepsi game! Can you believe that Iizuka-san was inspried by Pepsi…?
In case you didn’t realize it yet, I’m not being serious. I wanted to share this video because i found it amazing, regardless of which game was made first, or if it’s even an official Pepsi game.
This week on the show Barry and George talk about the future of the Shenmue franchise, their take on its future and of course Project X Zone, which recently came out. Besides that we cover your weekly news, for more on whats on the show check the show notes after the break.
In a video that is sure to make Sonic fans smile, we see Sonic (actually a guy in a costume) celebrating his 22nd birthday at Tokyo Joypolis in Japan. Surrounded by SEGA staff, Sonic received a birthday cake complete with candles and blew them out with the assistance of Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka. The stage featured some snazzy graphics including assets from the upcoming Sonic Lost World, as well as a dancing strawberry cake. No doubt following the event, Sonic and Iizuka hit the club while Jun Senoue tried to convince the DJ to play some of his music. Good times.
The hilarious Sonic the Hedgehog parody comic “Not Enough Rings” has turned up on Kickstarter to fund a physical book release of the series. We’ve backed it! Why don’t you do the same? Creator Veronica Vera describes the series best: “We know video game webcomics are a dime a dozen. Especially Sonic ones! But in all our years on the internet, we never came across the comic we wanted. No sprite recolors, no tribal Echidna warriors, definitely no werehogs — just a real comic retelling of the remarkable games we grew up playing.”
For just $25, fans get a slick looking copy of the book, featuring comics covering every stage from Sonic 1 through to Sonic 3 & Knuckles. As a special perk to buyers, many of the Sonic 3 & Knuckles comics will release in the book long before appearing on their website. Other goodies include a barrel of death t-shirt, signed copies of the book, original art, and more! So what are you waiting for? Spin dash over to their Kickstarter page and help them out.
From what it seems, all the Sonic the Hedgehog games are 99 cents on Android and iOS, but on iOS most titles are discounted to 99 cents too. There are also a few other titles on sale on Android, but mostly Sonic titles.
If you have been waiting for these games to be discounted, now is your time to pick them up. What games are you guys planning on getting?
The SEGA Blog has revealed the next Game Gear titles heading to the Nintendo 3DS eShop. When are they available? Today! Right now, ready to download, are Sonic the Hedgehog, Columns, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, and Shining Force: Sword of Hajya! All four are fantastic titles. Sonic fans who never experienced the 8-bit version of Sonic’s first adventure should play the Game Gear Sonic the Hedgehog as soon as possible. Both Columns and Mean Bean Machine are solid puzzle games, and Shining Force: Sword of Hajya (aka Shining Force Gaiden II: The Evil God Awakens) is a great mobile version of the strategy rpg series.
SEGA also promises that more titles are on the way, so stay tuned!
With all the new Game Gear games being ported to the 3DS, most people are asking themselves if buying these classics are worth it. Well, above is a 5 minute video from the dudes at Nintendo Life testing out the games.
Now all I wonder is if that tilt effect is optional in Super Hang-On, because it looks pretty annoying.
The guys over at Epic Scents think that gamers like me and you want to smell like video game characters, so last year they teamed up with Capcom to bring a Mega Man scent to the masses. As you can tell, Mega Man was sadly not busy doing games, so it all worked out.
Now Epic Scents wants to team up with SEGA to create some scents based on SEGA brands. They are expected to launch in this year, it seems. Hit the jump to read the PR statement. What SEGA brand do you want to smell like?
Via our broniks at Sonic Retro comes news that Taxman and Stealth’s remastering of Sonic the Hedgehog is releasing to iOS today and tomorrow! While some fans have bemoaned the fact that its the same game we’ve seen released again and again, Sonic the Hedgehog remastered has more than enough goodies to warrant a purchase. The game offers up Time Attack modes, remastered music, spin dash feature, slightly updated boss patterns, smoother motion in the Special Stages, and… unlockable characters! We’ll give you a hint as to who they are: one is red and the other is orange. Given Taxman’s work on Sonic CD, there are surely more surprises to be had, but we won’t know of them until the game arrives. Owners of the original Sonic the Hedgehog iOS App will receive the game as a free update. Android owners take note, according to Taxman on the Sonic Retro Forums: “Thursday 16th PST for Android, US & Canada so you’ll have to wait a bit longer sorry.”
After the break, sweet screens of the game and the cool new menus.
Looks like we’ll be getting a heavy dose of the original Sonic 1 this year.
Thanks to our sister site Sonic Retro, we have learned that Sega of Japan have announced Sonic 1 as the third Sega game (along with Space Harrier and Super Hang-On to get the 3-D treatment. It looks like this will not be the same as the version coming from Christian Whitehead for the iOS. While it will have full 3-D effects, it will still looks to be in 4:3 mode. Besides 3-D other new features include..
While the game will be coming to Japan on the 15th, but given how long it’s taking Space Harrier and Super Hang-On to come over here, it may be awhile before we see it stateside.
Oddly enough Sonic made it into Shirt Punch’s Super Smash League shirt design, which features all Nintendo owned IPs (besides Sonic of course).
In before “But man, Sonic was in Super Smash Bros Brawl!” Yes, we know. You can pick up the shirt here. It is only on sale for 24 hours, so get it while its hot.
The folks over at Insert Coin Clothing have added brand new, and in one case revised, SEGA clothing to their collection. The new items include Sonic leggings, t-shirts featuring Sonic, Tails and Green Hill designs, Knuckles and Shadow hoodies, as well as a Space Channel 5 logo vest top and a revised Jet Set Radio Beat t-shirt which finally has the record icon on the back. You can view the full gallery here, or check out the images after the break. Insert Coin Clothing promises more details in the coming weeks. In the meantime, which new design is your favorite?
Via the Tokyo Joypolis website and The Sonic Stadium comes news of a new Sonic arcade game set to release at the Japanese arcade on April 25th. Dubbed Sonic Athletics, the game features a line of eight treadmills set in front of vertical screens depicting a track stadium. Players choose from Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, Metal Sonic, Silver, and Blaze and begin running. The faster you run, the faster your character runs. First to the finish wins. Pretty simple game, but quite a slick looking setup. I wonder if the arcade staff allows boosting? After the break, check out a few more images of the new game.
Third place SEGAbits third anniversary contest winner nikibaby won herself a My Life with SEGA DVD thanks to these two cool photos showing off her unique drawing style. Of course, the contest rules stipulated that the entry would have to be a review, but we left it as open as possible, hoping to see some more unique takes on the guidelines of the contest. As such, nikibaby worked in a short, but sweet, written review of SEGA by proclaiming “I ♥ SEGA”.
But the real stars of the pieces are her takes on iconic SEGA characters Sonic the Hedgehog and Jet Set Radio’s Beat. Using nothing but paper and Sharpie markers, nikibaby depicted Beat by way of bright colors, hatching, and cross-hatching. Sonic, meanwhile, was expertly drawn using a technique called pointillism. Bonus points for not scanning the drawings, but rather displaying them in a photo alongside the markers used. You can see nikibaby’s Sonic drawing after the break.
Great job, nikibaby!
Yesterday we shared a five page preview of the Sonic and Mega Man crossover comic, and today IGN has released a launch trailer for the event. Yes, you read that correctly, a video trailer for a comic book. The trailer is actually quite well done, with a motion comic vibe to it and a ton of great drawings lightly animated to awesome official music from both franchises. Check out the trailer above and head to your comic shop today to pick up Mega Man #24, the first of twelve parts in the crossover event.
