For the past few years, Sega has struggled to keep important information on upcoming titles from leaking to the public before an official announcement – and by “struggled”, I mean “failed spectacularly”. Sonic Unleashed saw promotional images as well as an early video of Savannah Citadel find their way to the public before the game was even announced; Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I leaked in its entirety prior to release, and the negative reaction to the game at the time led to a six month delay; Sonic Generations had its entire roster of levels, bosses, and characters revealed months in advance; even Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II was accidentally released several weeks early on Steam.
And so the cycle has continued with the upcoming high-definition remaster of the Dreamcast’s swan song, Sonic Adventure 2. Waaay back in April, we reported that the title had been spotted in a massive leaked list of upcoming Xbox Live Arcade titles. A month later, Major Nelson of Xbox Live pseudo-fame accidentally posted that Avatar items based on the game were due for release. And finally, just last month, Microsoft themselves posted an official listing for the game on Xbox.com, complete with screenshots, box art, and a release date of October 3, 2012. At this point, presumably Sega realized that keeping the game a secret any longer would be utterly futile, so Ken Balough and the Sega of America superteam took to the stage at Sonic Boom on Friday to show the first official trailer for the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network rerelease, poking a bit of self-deprecating fun at the company’s inability to keep a secret. Oh, and apologies in advance for the overly-enthusiastic crowd.
[Video courtesy of YouTube user joshua593210.]
Wii owners in Japan this month will receive it’s second Virtual Console Mega Drive game that can be taken online: Super Street Fighter II – The New Challengers. The first being Puyo Puyo. Little is known about this version, but Japan Wii owners can expect a release to land for the month of November at the standard price point of 600 Wii Shop Points. The Super NES version will not obtain this feature, despite it already being released. No announcement has been made for other regions. You can check out the teaser direct from Sega’s Youtube channel below.
Credit goes to Nintendo Life for pointing out this release.
Sonic Retro has largely clung on to this whole crazy Web2.0 movement, what with our own Facebook page after much demand, a Twitter feed, and even our own little Steam group. And yet, it feels like there’s something missing…
So, being arbiters of shameless self-promotion, I’m happy to introduce to everyone the Official Genuine Imitation Sonic Retro flickr™!
Right now, there isn’t too much going on there aside from some of the photos we took while over at Sonic Boom this year, but please check them out! Maybe even friend us, you aspiring photographers out there? I’ve seen some of the work you all do in Creative Works.
Clearly the biggest draw of the event was the ability to play a demo of Sonic Generations at Sonic Boom. At least 20 stations were set up across the venue for fans to take a crack at the tale of two hedgehogs.
Here we have yours truly going through both the classic and modern versions of Green Hill Zone. Being my first time running through the game at all (no fibs here), they’re not the most stylish, but they should address whatever concerns people have with the physics, or raise more. Who knows!
Sega announced that the demo was making its way to PS3 and 360 soon, meaning those who didn’t attend will get their hands on them soon enough.
Like what you see or want someone dead? Comments and trash talk about how much I suck are down below for your pleasure. And yes, the DJ was terrible. Feel free to mute the audio.
Over at Sonic Boom, a small concert was thrown for the club’s goers by none other than Crush 40′s Jun Senoue and Johnny Gioeli, singing songs like Open Your Heart, His World, In The Wind, and Live and Learn to name a few. However, Alex Maklouhf from Cash Cash joined them on stage to also perform Sonic Colors’ Credits Theme, Speak With Your Heart.
So imagine some people’s reactions when they all got together and did new versions of Sonic R’s Super Sonic Racing and Sonic CD’s Sonic Boom, which were apparently one time performances for Sonic Boom attendees. Well, we got you covered.
You may have noticed your Sonic Retro Boom Crew has been a bit quiet with poor David stepping up and keeping this place from being a waste. We love you and you’re awesome.
Well, we weren’t strangers at Sonic Boom. To those who went, you may have seen us. We were that small group near the cupcakes and the 3D Generations station not wearing those Sonic hats. Some of you stopped by to say hi because you somehow know how Scarred Sun looks like or you wanted to chew out Slingerland before realizing he’s a behemoth of a man, and we thank you for all the kind words and support!
You’ll recognize me as that one dork in the brown overshirt with a blue shirt, a DSLR and the huge red backpack stuffed with eight Sonic hats flitting around the floor taking photos and talking to whatever Sega people showed up.
Now, most of of us are heading home today, so things are going to be a teeny bit slow on Boom content, but rest assured, we got tons of photos, video, and maybe some more goodies lined up for you as the weekend rolls on by.
Again, thanks to everyone who stopped on by us!
So…I’m not one of lucky ones who got to go to Sonic Boom. So I’m not hanging out with Scarred Sun and Slingerland and Gene and doing shots. But if you want to pretend that you are Sonic Boom, you can. Because apparently everyone who is there is getting their picture taken and being bros. So if you hurry, click here and you can experience the event Almost Live[tm]! And if you come in late, those pictures will still be there haunting you, knowing you’re not playing Sonic Generations until later this year.
So, while here at Sonic Retro World Headquarters™ we’re prepping to head out to Los Angeles for the next few days, the fact is, dear Internet, that not everyone is going to be able to make the trip to be with the coolest folks in the community. Some of you will be off to Summer of Sonic in London in a couple of weeks–as someone with a peek behind the curtain, let’s just say if you’re going that you will be far from disappointed. Unfortunately, though, there will be a good number of people unable to attend either event.
Good thing Retro has your backs.
The Retro crew will be doing live Tweeting and picture shots throughout the day and evening to keep the rest of the Internet in the loop on all the action. Fellow staffers Gene, Slingerland and I plan to feed back as much information as we get it to you all, but we’ll probably rope in a few more people before it’s all said and done. We may try a few more…ambitious things as well, but we’ll see how those pan out. 
If you don’t already follow us on Twitter, we have the oh-so-creative handle of @sonicretro; likewise, you can like us on Facebook and keep up on everything there. Also keep in mind that if you’re in the area and are over 21, we’re hosting a pre-Boom party at Blipsy Barcade. You can also come up and say hi to us at Boom; I’ll be the lady wearing the Retro donor pins–if you’ve got ‘em, flaunt ‘em.