Sega have seemingly made it loud and clear that the Sonic Storybook Series, featuring Sonic and the Secret Rings and the upcoming Sonic and the Black Knight, will be an ongoing sub-series with the regular Sonic games. This is especially apparent given the new little addition to the U.S. Sonic and the Black Knight boxart. Picture after the jump.
As some of you may have heard, Sega announced Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection today with a whopping 40 games on a 9GB DVD disc! Moreover, there are a grand total of 4 games that are not already on Gametap!
Intrepid Sonic Retro members were so excited over this upcoming game that they hacked into Sega’s servers and used the same pixie dust magic to get their own games into Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection! Behold!
Not to be outdone, Retro members have rallied to make their own project, Sonic 2 HD, able to compete with this glorious advancement in technology with the new Sonic 2 HD HD (working title). We were able to get a sneak preview of this amazing update, as seen below in this screen shot–thanks to nineko for leaking this~
I’m totally amped for this exciting new title! A big thank you to Sega for taking the immense amount of time and effort required for such a compilation!
An interesting nugget from the pages of the New York Times appeared today to remind us that everything can kill us; it seems terrorist organization al-Qaeda has been looking into making Sega cartridges into detonators. No word as to why they specified Sega only. As pulled from the New York Times:
One detainee is said to have been schooled in making detonators out of SEGA game cartridges.
The story’s origin seem to come from the case of Hassan Bin Attash - a seventeen year old (at time of capture) detainee that several human rights organizations claim was tortured in Jordan before being held in Guantanamo Bay.
Be careful with the prototypes out there, prototype hunters. You may very well wind up with the one Sonic 2 prototype packing Genocide City Zone.
In the latest interview from Gamasutra, it is revealed that Simon doesn’t believe the old version of Sonic is ‘cool’; of course, here’s a better approximation, in his own words.
“…I think the Japanese side, at Sonic Team, have realized that old Sonic doesn’t really gel with today’s consumer and today’s kids especially. We needed to do something to make something more appealing.”
This stands to be a sort of blow to his reputation amongst those who like the old-school Sonic, especially since Sonic Unleashed looked to be a sort of acknowledgment of the old Sonic with its 2D sections. He further went on to say…
“…I would love for Sega to not be thought of as the Sonic company. I think we probably will be for a little while, but the more content that we bring out that’s successful in other areas, the better. ”
Of course, this brings up the question: What else does Sega have to replace Sonic? Some fans have remarked that, of recent, SEGA has not had a good track record with regards to creating proper sequels of their other franchises. The review mentions how Nintendo has many such successful franchises; but without such on SEGA’s side, how are they to move beyond their current affiliation with Sonic alone?
Of course, it’s not all bad. Old sonic may be out of the playbook for him, but he apparently has no problem with the gameplay style of that same character–quite puzzling.
“…But then a large part of the gameplay [in Sonic Unleashed] is absolutely traditional Sonic — 2D speed, and nothing else. We think that’s really why it works quite nicely.”
Who knows what else Simon will say? We’ll be watching…
While, naturally, this has already been posted on other news sites, it’s helpful to list what we know about this game now.
The aforementioned infamous Nintendo Power issue which introduced us to this game also included an in-depth look at how it’s shaping up. To break it down, the game revolves around the various features:
It’s a sequel to Sonic and the Secret Rings, continuing what may become known as the ‘Storybook’ series.
Sonic will possess a variety of sword-based moves.
The sword talks to him, instructing him on how to become a knight. Apparently it is also possible to smite innocent villagers, although this is frowned upon by the game.
Jun Senoue is composing the game’s music, and will be working on a sort of Celtic themed soundtrack.
Yet another special gauge (just like in SATSR) will be a part of the gameplay, allowing Sonic to build up energy for use in combo attacks.
Just like Secret Rings, the story involves a warped story world; in this case, King Arthur has apparently become evil and Sonic must stop him.
Unlike Secret Rings, some of Sonic’s friends are playable.
While many people (myself included) don’t have incredibly high hopes for the title, it appears to, nonetheless, possess decent graphics and some upgrades to the SATSR engine. We will have to wait for actual gameplay videos to be sure, although the story is shaping up to be pretty strange.
If it continues as it is now, it should shape up to be a strange version of SATSR, replacing the Arabian motif with slashing enemies to pieces, and the occasional character change… I would predict that it should be easier control, as well.
The current president of Sega of America has had a mixed reception with the press and fans alike. After stating in a BusinessWeek article that Sonic loses his cool factor with anyone above 12, Jeffrey’s been busy worrying about other, more important things.
However, in Forbes’ “Sega’s Quest for Cool,” Jeffrey lays out his plan to get Sega back on track as a major video game publisher:
“Sega used to be synonymous with cool,” Sega of America President Simon Jeffrey told Forbes.com. “It’s something Rockstar [maker of "Grand Theft Auto IV"] has. There’s no reason Sega can’t be cool.”
[...] Jeffrey also wants Sega to become a must-have content provider for Microsoft and Sony consoles, appeal to everyone from hardcore gamers to families, and still remain distinctive. “Sega has always done stuff a little differently from everyone else,” he says. “We want to maintain that difference. We don’t want someone to look at Sega and say, ‘What’s the difference between Sega and THQ?’ We want people to go, ‘It’s Sega!’”
-Stumbles onto the blog looking rather tired and worn out.-
Yes, I know. I haven’t been posting much. Sorry guys, but I’ve just been pretty busy lately! Anyway, I was checking out one of my favorite gaming blogs, Joystiq.com, and thought it would be a nice idea to post a link to their view on Sonic Unleashed. All together, they seemed fairly up-beat about it and said “Even with rough shadows and unfinished lighting physics, the game looks gorgeous.” for the version they saw at E3. They also warn that they hope it controls as good as it looks, so here’s hoping for that too. An interesting bit is they say that Sonic’s Warewolf form looks like it’ll be fun for those who love good old fashion platforming. Follow the link below for their full perspective on the game.
Everybody’s looking forward to Sonic Unleashed–after all, it’s the newest Sonic game coming out to the mainstream media!
Or is it?
I direct your eyes to this:
Yeah. That’s right. It’s Sonic! With a sword. No, this is not a sick joke; believe me, I wish it was.
More credence is led to its authenticity through this post on C3 news, which shows the following picture:
Showing a glowing sword and a silhouette of Sonic.
The game is rumored to be a sequel to Secret Rings, assuming that Eggman is not the main villain and that the game is to follow another “fairly-tale” approach to the story. No more details have been revealed thus far.
No official confirmation has been made of this game, though there is a strong possibility that it is legitimate.
The Dubai Mall, one of the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destinations, is opening doors to a new wave of high-adrenaline entertainment with SEGA Republic, an indoor theme park featuring thrilling rides, motion-simulator adventures and cutting edge amusements.
SEGA Republic is the flagship project of the partnership between Emaar Malls Group, the developers of The Dubai Mall, and SEGA Corporation, a global leader in hi-tech entertainment. SEGA Corporation, based in Japan, is a global leader in interactive technology-driven entertainment facility operations, amusement manufacturing and consumer entertainment software. Among the hundreds of sites SEGA has developed over the 30 years it has been in the location-based entertainment business, the hugely successful Tokyo Joypolis is the flagship.
SEGA Republic, is a two-level, 76,000 square feet indoor theme park, featuring a diverse line-up of rides and amusements, all in a controlled environment designed from the concept stage to entertain all age groups, at all levels. It will be the first of its kind in the region, and will serve as a benchmark for future SEGA indoor theme park developments across the Middle East and North Africa region and the Indian Subcontinent. With zones themed to reflect the experiences on offer, from the thrill of the ‘Speed Zone’, the active ‘Sports Zone’, the major rides and simulators, and huge redemption zone, SEGA Republic offers something for all age-groups. This extensive mix of leisure pursuits will appeal to residents and tourists looking for a world-class and distinctive entertainment experience.
YouTube user midknight1987 has gathered over 140 of “Sega” logo screens for games on the Game Gear, Mega Drive, Sega CD and 32X. The result, a 3-part video series, shows the diversity and creativity given to many games’ opening screens. Try and see how many you can identify!
