Monthly Archives

May 2012

Game News, Merchandise

Sonic Adventure 2 Avatar Items Coming to Xbox Live

Microsoft’s community manager Larry Hyb (aka Major Nelson) has posted a schedule showing what to expect on Xbox Live this and next week. One listing that may be of interest to Sonic fans is the addition of Sonic Adventure 2 Avatar items coming to the Xbox Live Marketplace on June 5th. At the moment there are no details on what the Avatar items are, so we’ll have to wait to see if a Shadow costume will be added to the creepy Sonic costumes available on Xbox Live.

With this, last month’s leaked list of upcoming XBLA games and E3 being next week it looks like SEGA could very well be announcing a re-release of the Dreamcast game very soon. Other SEGA-related things on the schedule are more SEGA Vintage Collections of Golden Axe and Streets of Rage releasing tomorrow for 800 MS points each and Virtua Figher 5: Final Showdown releasing next week on June 6th for 1200 MS points along with Avatar items of the same game.

[Via Major Nelson]

Game News, Sega Retro

Jet Set Radio coming to Playstation Vita

In addition to getting a re-release on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network and PC, the Dreamcast classic Jet Set Radio is getting a new portable version for the Playstation Vita. Like all the other new versions it’ll have a higher resolution than the Dreamcast version and it’ll be in widescreen.

The PS Vita will get one exclusive feature, and that is the ability to spray graffiti using the touch controls. The game will be playable at E3.

[Via SEGAbits]

Game News, Sega Consoles, Sega Retro

Sega Vintage Collection Redux

 This week, Sega has released more from their vintage library for the modern consoles with the return of their Sega Vintage Collection line. Xbox 360 owners can invest in the game packs for 800 Microsoft Points, or individually on Playstation 3 for $5 each. These collections offers a variety of Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis and Arcade titles this time around, which also includes the release of Monster World IV which was released previously for the Nintendo Wii, now for next generation consoles.

These collections are significant, besides the fact that the Xbox Live Arcade releases come in packs of three, they’re being handled by M2 as opposed to Digital Eclipse/Backbone. Which also means a number of features that are actually interesting, which involve sound tests as well as leaderboards for the “Trial” mini games based around core sections of each game, replay modes that allow you to record and share your gameplay, and online multiplayer for supported titles. In addition, Super Hang-On features a 3D mode for 3D-enabled televisions. These packs include Alex Kidd & Co. and Monster World Collection this week. Next week will see the release of the Golden Axe Collection and the Streets of Rage Collection. Hit the jump for the complete list of games as well as screenshots.
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Merchandise

Sonic Merchandise Coming Soon to U.S., Canada

Although our classy friends over in Europe have been able to enjoy having a one-stop online shop to buy all sorts of goods with Sonic’s face plastered all over for some time now, those of us in the United States and Canada will soon have the same convenience.

Quietly buried in a tweet on the site’s official Twitter account, the site is now accepting those interested in the impending North American launch of the site to register for updates and exclusive benefits for when the site goes live. One such benefit includes a Reward Point system where every 100 points earned allows registered customers to save money on future purchases, a benefit enjoyed by European members currently.

To give a good idea of what you can expect the store to carry, the Great Britain counterpart allows fans to purchase Sonic-themed clothes, school supplies, iPhone cases, DVDs, and toys.

Reviews

Sonic 4 Episode II: The Review

Sonic 4: Episode II taught me a lot of things: the power of teamwork and friendship. The soft bigotry of low expectations. The fact that WHITE CASTLE! SYLVANIA PARK! jokes never get old. But is this spiritual successor to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 a Hidden Palace or just lost somewhere in the courtyard?

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Miscellaneous

Sonic And Nike Finally Team Up

It’s one of those promotions that seem incredibly simple: Sonic the Hedgehog, a character with distinctive shoes, and Nike, one of the biggest shoe companies in the entire world, teaming up for cross-brand promotion. For one reason or another, it’s never happened…that is, until today. Well, technically yesterday but y’know how these things go.

The focus of Nike’s latest campaign is their line of Vapor footwear, its newest styles being showcased by some of Soccer’s biggest stars on Youtube. That’s all fine and dandy, but what does that have to do with Sonic, you ask? Well, the version of the video right on their profile has been filled with secret links to send you off on side quests to put you in a Vapor-buying mood. If you go straight to their YouTube page and go scroll about two-thirds of the way in their embedded video (about 1:55 if you want to compare with this video here), you’ll see in the stadium some ads for Nike. Click on one, and you will be sent to a flash-gaming diversion, staring none other than Sonic himself, edited to now be wearing Vaporwear.

For those who might not know, Sega and Nike were supposed to do a promotional deal back in 1994 – Knuckles’ distinctive white swoosh was meant to resemble the Nike logo in a slew of cross-promotion that fell through. As for the game, it plays almost exactly the same as Sonic the Sketchhog, with one new addition: you can now kick soccer balls through Crabmeats. Whoa Nelly!

And yes, even though all the sprites are derived from the original Sonic the Hedgehog, the music all comes from Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. You can’t escape it just yet, folks.

[Source: Nike’s YouTube Page. Also, thanks to Zero-Boom for taking the screenshots.]

Game News

Sonic 4: Episode 2 Gets a Launch Trailer

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 3-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.

Fan Works, Hacking

Windmill Isle Act 1 Released for Sonic Generations PC

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.

Merchandise, Music

Several Sonic Soundtracks Settle onto iTunes

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.