It’s the release day of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, and to remind everyone of that SEGA has released a launch trailer for the game. The trailer shows just about everything not shown yet in other officially released media except for the final zone, so those wary of spoilers may want to avoid it:
The most interesting thing about the trailer is that it says “To be concluded…” near the end, hinting at what may be a third episode in the Sonic 4 saga®. It also shows the release dates for most of the platforms the second episode releases on. It’s already been released on Steam and it will be released later today on Playstation Network. Xbox Live Arcade and Nvidia Tegra-powered devices will get the game tomorrow and iOS devices will get it the day after. It seems like the game won’t be available on Android devices without Nvidia Tegra until June. Windows Phone users will be able to buy it in July.
The team consisting of Dario FF, Chimera and TwilightZoney have released the first act of the first stage of Sonic Unleashed, Windmill Isle, for the PC version of Sonic Generations. The purpose of this release is to test the mod on as many systems as possible. If it works on enough systems they’ll start to convert all of Unleashed’s stages. More details can be found in the following video and in the link that follows.
Here is the forum thread with details where it can be downloaded along with instructions on how to install it. Other credits go to JoeTE for ripping the songs, Korama for making CPKREDIR (which makes developing and using mods more efficient and easier) and MainMemory for making Generations Archive Editor (which does what the name implies). Like it was mentioned earlier, the intent for this release is to test it on as much hardware as possible. Meaning that you can help the development of the mod by posting the results of how it works on your set-up on the forums. Also post results if you mess around with it by doing stuff like combining it with other mods like Classic Sonic Adventures or some model swap you found on Youtube.
After much fan demand, Sega has begun releasing several of their Sonic series soundtracks on to Apple’s iTunes service. Most of these albums, though recently released, aren’t too easy to track down and import for those looking to legally own the music, never mind worrying about bootlegs.
The albums now available are the 20th Anniversary editions of Sonic CD, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, as well as “The Best of Crush 40: Super Sonic Songs”, “The Works” (Jun Senoue‘s standalone album featuring several original songs and some Sonic music), and Sonic Colors ViViD SOUND × HYBRiD COLORS, the last one lovingly divided into three volumes for all three discs (Disc 2 and Disc 3 can be found at those links.) Sega further states that the soundtrack to Sonic The Hedgehog 4‘s episodes will also be touching down on iTunes in the future.
It should be noted that the 20th Anniversary album for the two Adventure titles aren’t as all encompassing as their original releases, which may turn some fans off. However, this is the best chance short of importing to show support for the musicians that worked hard to keep series’ reputation for good music alive and well.
Earlier news broke out that M2 was developing a handful of Mega Drive/Genesis collections for Xbox Live Arcade and individual releases on the Playstation Store. One of those sets included a number of Wonder Boy/Monster World games as part of the Sega Vintage Collection, which most notably included the English-translated release of Monster World IV. The game had never seen a release outside of Japan until Sega announced it would be bringing the game stateside to digital release platforms, including the Wii’s Virtual Console service. In fact, this release was a long time coming; It was revealed by an entry in Sega’s blog (which is gone by the way) on the 12th of May of last year. It just so happens that Nintendo has unceremoniously swept them in this week’s release schedule for the Virtual Console in the U.S. and has already seen a release in the U.K. as well. Both regions have a price point of 900 Wii Points.
I used to be big on Retronauts, one of my favorite podcasts that I listened to at every release up until it’s host Jeremy Parish lost interest and eventually wound up as Editor in Chief of 1UP.com. Then writer Bob Mackey would pick the ball back up and relaunch the show as a live podcast to keep the show going despite the hardships that had hit 1UP in recent times. Admittably I don’t listen to it as often, change does become difficult to swallow sometimes, but every now and then comes an episode that strikes all the right chords of what I used to love on Retronauts: Silly non sequiturs overshadowed by rare facts and industry insight, along with uncovering childhood memories of yore, no matter how time-tested or scathing as they may have been.
This particular episode rings true for sure as Retronauts Live, in it’s new iteration, has a bigger emphasis on the hosts talking directly to the developers and figure heads of the industry, with the most recent episode featuring Victor Ireland, co-founder of Working Designs, a company driven to bringing niche Japanese titles to western markets adapted for their tastes and boasting a high quality standard for the games as proudly as possible. While the episode does cover topics regarding the Playstation, there’s still plenty of talk of Vic’s company dealing with Sega, including stories on Vay for Sega CD, the dire development on the last Sega Saturn game in the US, Magic Knight Rayearth, and extensive coverage on the Lunar series. Not to mention Working Design’s position during the brief decision from Sega of America to transform Popful Mail for Sega CD into Sister Sonic. Yes! The Hedgehog! Imagine playing a Falcom game designed around an as-then unnamed female relative, (Not Sonia the Hedgehog,) of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Check out the podcast here complete with shownotes. If you aren’t up for people talking about old video games, now’s a good time as any to shoehorn the opening theme to the Sega CD version of Lunar – The Silver Star (In English!) as they sure don’t make any upbeat video game music like this anymore. Or click here if you prefer it in Japanese…
The original Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing was a bit of a surprise, we hadn’t seen Sonic in a racing game with cars since the Sonic Drift games. It was also a pretty good game that received lots of praise from fans, so it makes sense that the spin-off title is getting a sequel. Like the title implies, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has vehicles that transform. During a race the vehicle changes into either a car, boat or plane whenever the track needs it to, making it more similar to Diddy Kong Racing than Mario Kart, which certainly isn’t a bad thing.
A trailer showcases this along with better graphics and a stage based on Panzer Dragoon, another stage based on Super Monkey Ball is shown in the screenshots. As for new characters, there’s Vyse from Skies of Arcadia and Gilius Thunderhead from Golden Axe (who was going to be in the first game but got scrapped) joining the roster, with more newcomers to be announced. Scripted events change the course every lap, which you could compare to Motorstorm Apocalypse, though much more colourful. The game’s soundtrack won’t just consist of old tracks, as they are remixed with composer Richard Jacques doing some contributions. There’ll also be a story mode and the annoying commentator is no longer present.
IGN has a preview up with more details along with a video with some of the folks at Sumo Digital talking about the game with more gameplay being shown. The game will be coming to Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation Vita, Nintendo 3DS and PC Digital Download later this year. Screenshots can be found after the jump.
[Via IGN and Sonic Stadium]
Finally, rail shooter enthusiasts can finally bring home House of the Dead 4 this week, Sega’s last mainstay zombie shooter for arcades, for around $9.99, £6.49 or €7.99 depending on region. The port features standard Dual Shock 3 and Playstation Move support, leaderboards as well as a number of bonus features, including the entirety of House of the Dead 4 Special and an interview with the producer and director of the game.
Marketing is one of those strange concepts. No matter what sort of product you have, be it good or bad, there are people who are tasked with the job of making someone want to buy it. There are a million different ways to do this, especially with video games. I’m sure we’ve all watched Andy Dick pretend to be a woman to market Sonic, or seen the strangest pair of kids ever rap about The Legend of Zelda. With the explosion of new age media, however, advertising is a far wilder beast to tame. You have to compete with a million and one distractions to convince people to watch your movie, listen to your music, or play your game. For a recent example, everyone here on Sonic Retro is intimately aware with the ways Sega of America has been utilizing social media to push Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, a trickle of concept art and the odd screenshot, along with wild beards and teasing trailers to gain the public’s interest.
But what about Japan? How does the marketing department in the Land of the Rising Sun choose to market their latest titles with the help of viral Internet marketing?
Caution: the video you are about to watch is mostly safe for work, though you might be wary just who you play this near as it does feature an Asian woman in a red bikini.
Oh, did I forget to mention she ends up playing Super Monkey Ball?