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.

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.

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.

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.

The prequel to House of the Dead 3 features the return of agent James Taylor, now sporting a snazzy PDA and less awkward dialogue and newcomer Kate Green exploring the city to stop the tyrant Goldman’s dying wish to wipe out the human race. The game came out around 2005, the time that the next generation of games was kicking off. At the time, this usually meant increasing the character/object count on screen so there would be 80 zombies of one or two types with awkward character models and animations. It was also when motion controls were introduced to the series, where you shake the gun in order to break free from zombies strangling you, shake the gun to turn valves and shake the gun to break open gates. It’s waggle action made popular before Nintendo took that home on the Wii. Truly, HOTD4 is a game lost in an era of arcade games that were more or less dead, but given the options on how to play the game these days, especially for me, $10 is about a good enough bargain as any compared to buying a cabinet for House of the Dead 4 (Or hell, House of the Dead 4 Special, which was basically a tiny theater with two screens.)

For me, my only option was to play the game at Dave and Busters, and the arcade operators there could care less for the upkeep of maintaining the cabinet. Calibration was always off which meant the game was rendered unplayable, causing me to get grappled then curb stomped by zombies simply because I could not aim whatsoever. I could toss grenades at my feet, and somehow the shrapnel manages to miss the star agents and takes out maybe…half the zombies on screen.

All things considered, the game looks like a one to one port for the most part, although some of the cutscenes in Special seem to have some odd compression issues, some of the assets have been reported to have been up-rezzed to 720p properly. All the motion gimmicks have been mapped to both choices of control, and the Dual Shock mapping is pretty smart all things considered. The shoulder buttons have been mapped for fire and grenades, face buttons to reload, and the D-Pad or Left analog stick can be used to aim, complete with sensitivity options. It’s well rounded considering the game that is being represented here. Plus the game provides the option to start on any level on either version of the game, change credit variables, life points and other in-game options. Worth a look for those who are a fan of the series, the genre or looking for some excuse to bust out the Playstation Move controllers.

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?

So, what is going on here? Well, in an effort to advertise Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz, the latest game in the Super Monkey Ball franchise, Sega of Japan decided to call upon Yukie Kawamura. According to Wikipedia, she is “a Japanese gravure idol, tarento, and actress,” meaning that hardly anyone in the west is going to recognize her. Which is fine, since this isn’t showing up on Sega of America’s YouTube feed anytime soon. Though I do wonder what sort of reaction people would get when suddenly confronted with a woman doing Yoga while trying to play Super Monkey Ball. Especially when it is presented with footage of a photo shoot beforehand where she is posing oh-so-seductively with a Playstation Vita.

Turns out the photoshoot actually has a purpose, though. Sega’s partnership with Yukie extends beyond a very strange video, as her image is actually ending up in the game itself. For the first run of the game, Sega is including special promotional codes for people to unlock the franchise’s first “adult map,” where people playing the game can stare at Yukie’s scantily clad body as AiAi rolls around a variety of obstacles including her chest. No, I’m not making this up in the slightest.

I feel like there are so many things I can say about this whole promotion, but I think it might be better if I just keep my mouth shut. I don’t normally like to say this, but I feel like the only real explanation for how this idea was even considered in the slightest, let alone fully realized, is because “lol Japan.” You can certainly bet that the maps, at least in their current graphical form, are never going to make it to the west. Even if they replaced it with an American or European female model counterpart, it wouldn’t fly. The term “adult map” is slightly misleading since nothing featured would be out of place on prime time television, it’s just… bizarre, to put it simply.

If you’re lucky enough to have access to the Japanese Vita store, you can try out a demo of Banana Splitz with the “adult map” right now. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until the game is released on June 14th in Japan.

[Source: andriasang]

This video actually has been up since March 22nd, but… yeah, I don’t have an excuse for not covering this earlier. That doesn’t mean there’s not news about our favorite new playable Sonic character though. The video’s creator, Melpontro, has now started a show page for the videos starring Pelé the Beloved Dog, with there already being three more episodes. Be sure to read the descriptions:

Pelé the Beloved Dog in Dusty Desert
Hatsun the Pigeon in Wave Ocean
Pelé the Beloved Dog vs. Silver the Hedgehog

All this guy just needs to do now is to hack Sonic Unleashed and swap Sonic with Professor Pickle.

Oh.

OH HO HO HO

Two months ago, we posted some very promising videos from a triad of gifted Retroites working to import Sonic Unleashed‘s stages into the PC version of Sonic Generations, because despite Sega’s apparent new-found love for all things computer, Unleashed never got the chance to pop up. And those videos? They were nothing short of impressive work.

The trio–Dario FF, Twilightzoney, and Chimera–are happy to show you the fruits of their labor since then as Sonic zips around locales like Mazuri, Empire City, Shamar, and the original Spagonia to name a few. The team not only managed to get collisions working on the stages, they’ve been able to successfully import breakable objects and even the Global Illumination Ambiance lighting effects of the original stages so that they look like their original selves.

Oh, and a much-requested golden streak of light makes his in-stage presence felt as well.

Check out the gallery for more photos and the trailer below to watch their efforts in motion. Of course, from the looks of things, the team is only getting warmed up with Unleashed levels and have set their sights to other areas…