Don’t happen to own any of the hundreds of platforms that Sonic 4: Episode 1 has been released on thus far? Well fear not, because as of today, Droid users have the opportunity to download the first episode of Sonic 4 from the Android Marketplace for only $3.99.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, meanwhile, is looking increasingly likely for a release in the first half of this year if all goes well. Though if you haven’t played Episode 1 yet, I suppose for $3.99 you can’t go too wrong.
I have become increasingly excited for SEGA’s upcoming 3DS rhythm game. Produced by Shun Nakamura, the same man who directed Samba De Amigo, the game features homages to both Samba de Amigo and Space Channel 5, and looks like a lot of fun going by all the videos we’ve seen. Of course, we won’t know anything about the game’s quality until we get to play it, but going by Famitsu’s review scores it may very well have the quality to match the games it homages.
Rhythm Thief and The Emperor’s Treasure (3DS) – 8/8/8/8
The game also sold decently in it’s debut week, placing second behind Mario Kart 7:
01./02. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 <RCE> (Nintendo) {2011.12.01} (¥4.800) – 35.105 / 1.404.728 (-33%)
02./00. [3DS] Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure <ACT> (Sega) {2012.01.19} (¥6.090) – 31.598 / NEW
03./03. [3DS] Monster Hunter 3G # <ACT> (Capcom) {2011.12.10} (¥5.800) – 31.369 / 1.159.866 (-30%)
04./04. [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.11.03} (¥4.800) – 26.051 / 1.265.491 (-35%)
05./00. [360] Onechanbara Z: Kagura <ACT> (D3 Publisher) {2012.01.19} (¥7.140) – 22.013 / NEW
Rhythm Thief & The Emperor’s Treasure will launch in Europe on February 24th and in America on the 28th exclusively for 3DS. A demo on the eShop has also been confirmed for Europe.
The AMC series Breaking Bad has depicted some pretty detestable things, including producing and selling meth, but perhaps the show’s biggest offense was the depiction of characters enjoying Sonic ’06. In the eleventh episode of season four, titled “Crawl Space”, the character Jesse plays a two player match of Sonic vs. Shadow in Wave Ocean with his girlfriend’s son. Warning: the following clip features some very bad pretend video game playing.
This week was a contest between Shenmue and a Sonic song. Since I’ve already shown a load of orchestral pieces over the last month, I decided I needed to go in a different direction….and expose my weakness to Crush40’s brand of rock n’ roll.
Yes, I love Crush40, and I won’t apologize for it. Yes, their lyrics make no god damned sense and can be cheesy as hell, but the beats. I love the rhythm and sheer auditory awesomeness of their songs, and What I’m Made Of is easily my absolute favorite song out of them. It never misses a beat, it never slows down, and it just sounds like something huge is going down, which was very fitting considering this was the final boss theme. The song even has a proper ending, with all the instruments stopping just before the final verse is uttered. Sure, he’s daring someone to reach inside of him….and gain his energy…but if you stop trying to actual give the lyrics context they aren’t so bad!
Perhaps most importantly, this theme makes up for the absolutely atrocious main theme of Sonic Heroes. It’s as if Crush40 knew how horrible it was and made something new just for the boss battle so it wouldn’t be so lame!
Next month is Panzer Dragoon month, so be ready for something completely different!
SEGA has released a 5 minute long trailer showing off more of the story that you will find in the full product. I have to say, even though I like the concept of the game, I do think that the English dub is a bit hard to swallow. Especially the dude that sounds oddly enough like Bill Clinton.
The trailer talks about hallow children, robots born thinking they are humans. Basically the plot twist for Terminator Salvation. Did I ruin the movie? Oops.
If you saw the title and got a bit excited, you are probably a Tails fan. Hi, how are you doing? Good? Great. First things first, who is making the figure? First 4 Figures, they are known for doing other Sonic collectible statues. How much is it going to cost? A cool $199.99. Expensive yes, but it is 12 inches and only limited to 500 units. Did I mention it has two fully spinning tails and a mushrooms that pulse with light?
Its damn impressive, hit the jump to see a ton of pictures of the statue in action.
Valkyria Chronicles has some amazing art, so its good to see the Japanese artbooks get American releases. This is going to be the second Valkyria Chronicles artbook that publisher Udon has published in America. The first art book released had art from the first title, this new one is going to be based on the PSP sequel.
If you guys want to pre-order the art book, you can do so on Amazon. The book is listed for $31.24, with a release date of April 10th, 2012.
Thanks to a job listing, we now know the name of SEGA’s newest studio: Hardlight. The job posting for a programmer revealed a number of details. The studio is UK based, in Solihull, and will focus on developing “high quality and innovative experiences for both current and future platforms”. The first of these games is described as a “unique action adventure” for the Playstation Vita. Also revealed, Hardlight would be working closely with Sega R&D to “stay at the cutting edge of developments in technology, middleware and game experiences”.
It’s great to see SEGA growing and we wish Hardlight a bright future!
Actually right now, as I’m writing this, the podcast episode hasn’t been recorded. They are recording in a couple of hours (3PM PST) and have a phone number for people to drop in questions. Anyway if you are interested in the podcast, you can get more information here.
Sonic CD is a smash hit on PSN! It has topped the charts and has beaten some of the bigger PSN titles such as Infamous2: Festival of Blood, and Castle Crashers. At the $5 price point, it’s not hard to see why. Still it’s great to see a Sonic game #1 in sales again. Full top ten list of PSN titles at the link.
Sonic Stadium has today received a news tip that there may, in fact, be another SEGA All-Stars game in development. Their tipster recently spoke to a high ranking member of Sumo Digital, who had this to say when querried about upcoming projects:
“Now working on another title for Sega on 3DS, VITA and WiiU. [The] title we are working on is top secret but the last game we did for them was Sonic And Sega All-Star Racing, so the logical conclusion would be… ”
An interesting, albeit cryptic little message, no? Sonic Stadium has been able to confirm the authenticity of the discussion and it’s source from Sumo Digital, lending considerable credibility to this rumor.
Another great trailer for Fall of the Samurai, the stand alone expansion to last years Total War: Shogun 2. Fall of the Samurai takes place during a turbulent time in the history of Japan where outside influence from Dutch, American and other European nations were influencing the way battle was fraught. With Gatling guns and rifles War would never be the same again leaving the future of the Samurai looking bleak.
Total War Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai will be available for PC in March.
Following on from the previous developer diary for Binary Domain, Destructoid has uploaded a second one, this time discussing the principle heroes of the game, the Rust Crew. This time Binary Domain’s script writer Tsuyoshi Furuta and art director Nobuaki Mitake take us through the various characters that make up the group and their various quirks (Such as the special ops humanoid machine Cain, who can hack into other robots) and their own personality traits be it their pride, Charlie, or their rationality, Big Bo. Click on the source link below to read the full developer diary and except many more in the coming weeks.
Well this is a surprise! SEGA Blog has revealed concept art from Sonic 4 Episode 2, and this time it’s not a palm tree! From the sound of it, each Friday two pieces of concept art will be revealed. One on the SEGA Blog and one on SEGA’s Sonic Facebook page. I have to say, I’m impressed! Sure they’re not jaw dropping, but they’re original. A blue tube thingy and a cute hermit crab badnik. What a nice way to end each Friday, keep ’em comin’ SEGA!
Edit: Now that I look at it, I realize that the blue tube thing is probably that spinning gimmick from Marble Garden. Original? Maybe not, but I loved the sound they made when you bounced on them.
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