Fan Made – Father and daughter create an Amy Rose Pinewood Derby car

SEGAbits reader Shawn reached out to us to share an awesome Amy Rose Pinewood Derby derby car that he and his daughter carved. Shawn told us that the inspiration came from the upcoming release of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, and it really shows! The car is all wood, aside from the wheels and four nails, and the resemblance to Amy Rose is excellent. After the break, check out more photos of the derby car. Kudos to Shawn and his daughter, and if you’re participating in a Pinewood Derby race, best of luck!

32X Month – My Life With SEGA packs a punch in Cyber Brawl

While the modern SEGA gaming world is enthralled with Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, the retro SEGA gaming world is in the midst of 32X month. In celebration of the little add-on that couldn’t, we continue with a brand new episode of My Life With SEGA. This week, AJ and Mickey Mac play Cyber Brawl.

Mickey Mac joins the 32X celebration. This week, we’re playing Cyber Brawl, otherwise known as Cosmic Carnage in North America. Released alongside Doom, Virtua Racing and Star Wars Arcade, this was the first fighting game to grace the ‘shroom with it’s presence….

I guess the big question is, “How does it fare after 18 years?”

The answer lies within.

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Community fundraiser: Help us raise some money in memory of a young fan

Earlier this year, SEGA and Sonic fans heard the sad news of a four year old Sonic fan who lost his life in an unfortunate accident while on holiday. The boy, Dylan Cecil, was such a big Sonic fan that the family had a Sonic casket and flower arrangements made for the boy. Really heartbreaking stuff. Members of the Sonic and SEGA community, from Sonic Retro to Sonic Stadium, knew something had to be done to help the family. AAUK of Sonic Wrecks, with the support of SEGA of America and several fan sites, has created a series of eBay listings featuring rare and unique Sonic items. All profits will go towards the Burnham Area Rescue Boat fund at the request of the Cecil family. Fans who do not want to bid, but still want to help, can donate on the BARB website directly.

Items include a rare Sonic Generations press kit, t-shirts and Generations gold Sonic rings. There are currently ten items up but there will be more additions in time.

You can find a summary of goods on the SSMB Marketplace whilst the items themselves are on sale here: http://www.ebay.co.uk – Seller: Kevskingdom

Jet Set Radio Vita free for PSN Plus Members on 11/20

Jet Set Radio will finally be out on Playstation Vita November 20th, but if you’re a member of Playstation Plus, the game will be free*. This is done to help promote Playstation Plus’ debut on Vita. Jet Set radio is only one of six free* games that will be available next week. The other games include Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, Wipeout 2040, Final Fantasy Tactics and the awesome Mutant Blobs Attack.

*Free, outside of the $50 a year and the fact that if you stop being a member, you no longer own the games and they’ll no longer work.

 

Watch the Valkyria Chronicles anime now on Crackle in North America

You read that right. Crackle, Sony’s free streaming video service which is available on PS3, XBOX 360 and online, includes many anime programs which they own the rights to. Turns out, one of them is Valkyria Chronicles. It includes all 26 episodes subtitled. This is a great opportunity for fans to see this rare anime which hasn’t been released on DVD yet. Watch the full series at Crackle’s site now! Or watch it on your PS3 or XBOX 360 via the Crackle app.

SEGA announces release dates for Jet Set Radio Vita and Mobile

While the HD version of Jet Set Radio has been out since September, fans were left wondering when the Vita and mobile versions would be announced. SEGA’s blog has the answers! Jet Set Radio is heading to iOS, Android Devices and Playstation Vita. Vita players get the game on the 20th of November, and iOS and Android fans can buy the game on the 29th of November. In North America, the game will be a PlayStation Plus Vita Instant Game Collection launch title. PS Plus members can enjoy Jet Set Radio for free from November 20th through December 31st. After the break, screens of the Vita and mobile versions!

SEGA Tunes All Stars: Vyse’s Theme

With All Stars just a week away, now seems like the perfect time to start posting Tuesday Tunes again, focusing tunes for the characters and tracks featured in the game.

Skies of Arcadia is an upbeat game that eschews the usual heavy drama common in Japanese RPGs for optimism and a thrill for adventure. Embodying this is Vyse, a young idealistic air pirate who wants explore the world and do things no one else has ever done before. The above track is the perfect theme for the character, embodying Vyse’s energy and optimism.

I’ve got Fina’s character theme below the fold for another dose of Skies of Arcadia auditory glory!

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed hits shelves early, and new details emerge…

… but we aren’t going to write what they are! Why spoil the surprise? Instead, we’ll leave it up to readers if they want to head on over to the original Gamefaqs post where the spoilers began, or check out our forums where we’re discussing the new bits of information in spoiler tags. Until SEGA or Sumo Digital share things officially, we won’t be posting blurry photos of television screens or descriptions of the new tracks in news posts. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed releases officially later this week!

First 4 Figures teases Shadow the Hedgehog statue

First 4 Figures are at it again, teasing another of their Sonic the Hedgehog statues. This time, the company are adding Shadow to their line of modern era statues, which began with Sonic the Hedgehog. The Sonic statue as well as the Shadow statue have yet to release. Both are available for pre-order, with Sonic slated for a Q1 2013 release, and Shadow slated for an unspecified date. First 4 Figures, however, has revealed the pre-order date, which begins November 11th. Personally, I find these statues to be incredibly cool but far outside my price range. It’s a shame First 4 Figures never expanded their awesome, and affordable, classic Sonic vinyl figures. Still, those who have been collecting all of these statues as well as the Shadow fans out there should be very happy to hear the news.

Sonic the Fighters Achievements Revealed

The achievements for the HD rerelease of Sonic the Fighters have been revealed, and they seem rather easy to attain. I’m sure plenty of folks would get all the achievements within minutes. There are a total of 12 achievements to earn, and all together are worth 400 gamerscore points. I wish there was a Super Sonic achievement to make it a bit more challenging. Hit the jump to see the achievements.

Review: Sonic Adventure 2 (XBLA/PSN)

SEGA’s rerelease of Jet Set Radio was, in my opinion, excellent. After the so-so Dreamcast Collection rereleases, the first game of the SEGA Heritage Collection was a breath of fresh air. HD visuals, widescreen support and SEGA trying their best to retain as much of the original game as they could. My hope was that this trend would continue with the next two Heritage titles. Does Sonic Adventure 2, a game that is considered one of Sonic’s best 3D outings, carry on the SEGA Heritage quality or is it a step back? Read on to find out!

SEGA Five: A Salute to the SEGA All-Stars Part 4

I can’t believe that four weeks have passed since we began this salute to the SEGA All-Stars appearing in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed! Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 can be viewed at those handy links. If you’re all caught up with us, let me introduce you to our five All-Stars for this week: Ulala of Space Channel 5, Shadow of Shadow the Hedgehog (oh, and some franchise called Sonic the Hedgehog), Sonic’s not-quite girlfriend Amy Rose, Aiai’s wife MeeMee and our flagman of the game Ristar.

New Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed trailer shows off the Wii U’s features

This morning, Sega put up another trailer for Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed. This time, the focus is on all the features of the Wii U version. Features shown include 5 player split-screen, 10 player online, rear view and weapon view cameras, optional tilt control and more. If the video is indicative of the Wii U version, it’s looking pretty smooth. Now you know why this is the version I’m picking up with my launch Wii U.

And you too can pick Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed on Wii U, 360 or PS3 when it races into stores November 18th.

32X month – My Life With SEGA kicks things off with a hardware review and T-Mek

Apologies for the day delay. Blame Hurricane Sandy, the Nintendo Wii U and Mitt Romney. In any case, here is your weekly dose of My Life With SEGA. This week, A.J. starts off 32X month by doing a very special hardware review, followed by a classic episode in which A.J. takes on T-Mek for the, you guessed it, 32X.

Oh yeah, ladies and germs; I’m reviewing the 32X. Not just a game, but the hardware itself. 18 years ago this month, Sega unleashed their 32-bit peripheral upon the American public. While it’s earnings were initially strong, it soon crashed harder than the Hindenburg….

How? Why? Well, here’s my take.

After the break: T-Mek!

Pier Solar HD project hits Kickstarter, Dreamcast named as one of the platforms

We’ve written about the indie SEGA Genesis game Pier Solar a number of times, and here we are writing about it again. WaterMelon Co., the team behind the original game, are taking to Kickstarter in hopes of funding an HD version of the game for a number of platforms including the SEGA Dreamcast. Other platforms include Xbox 360, PC, Mac and Linux. As you can see above, and at their Kickstarter page, the game is making a big graphical leap! If fully funded, the project appears to have an estimated completion date of December 2013. All the details concerning the project can be found over at their Kickstarter page, but after the break check out the SEGA related bits.