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Official US Sonic Heroes Site has added a interview with Jun Senoue to it.
Sega of Japan announced recently that a CD containing the vocal Sonic Heroes tracks will be released in Japan on February 4, 2004. A version containing the sound tracks will be released in Japan on March 3, 2004.
GameSpy.com has a new sonic Heroes preview thats worth a look at, go check it out.
Sonic Central shows sonic battle as a Janurary 6th 2004 release date in the United States.
THQ UK reports that Sonic Battle will be released in February 2004 on the GBA in the UK.
In unrelated Europe news, Amazon.co.uk suggests that Sonic the Hedgehog Movie (Sonic Anime) will be re-released on DVD on December 15th this year.
ELSPA has done a unique poll to find out the most popular game of the last 30 years, and Sonic The Hedgehog has come out as the most popular, click here for their page or read below for their article and game list.
HEDGEHOG MORE POPULAR THAN LARA, PAC-MAN AND VICE CITY
ELSPA, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, and ComputerAndVideogames.com, the UK’s leading multi-format video games website, today published the results of a unique poll seeking to find the most popular 30 games of the last 30 years.The top five games voted most popular by the public are: Sonic the Hedgehog, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Pac-Man, Tomb Raider and Space Invaders.
Yuji Naka, creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, SonicTeam/SEGA, commented: “I am delighted and extremely honoured that Sonic the Hedghog has been chosen as the most popular game over the last 30 years, especially against such strong competition. Sonic and I would dearly like to thank the wonderful game lovers that have voted for us. I hope to keep creating games that will be loved by everyone forever.”
Roger Bennett, director general of ELSPA, said: “We wanted to find out what the people who play video games consider to be the best games of the last 30 years. Not the ones you think are great intellectually but the ones that have touched your heart and made your stomach churn as you battled for supremacy or raced to the winning line.”
Johnny Minkley, editor of ComputerAndVideogames.com, added: “Together with ELSPA, we wanted to learn which games sum up the essence of video gaming for our million plus website visitors? Which games made them throw their controllers at the telly in frustration but to which they returned time and again?”
The top 30 games of the last 30 years, as voted for by the readers of ComputerAndVideogames.com are:
01 1991 Sonic the Hedgehog
02 1998 The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time
03 1983 Pac-Man
04 1996 Tomb Raider (Lara Croft)
05 1980 Space Invaders
06 1997 Final Fantasy VII
07 1985 Elite
08 1985 Super Mario
09 1998 Half-Life
10 2002 GTA: Vice City
11 1993 Doom
12 1987 Tetris
13 2001 Halo
14 1997 Goldeneye
15 2001 Grand Theft Auto III
16 1999 Final Fantasy VI
17 1992 Super Mario Kart
18 1990 Super Mario World
19 1998 Metal Gear Solid
20 1996 Resident Evil
21 1988 Street Fighter
22 2001 Gran Tourismo 3
23 1992 Championship Manager
24 2000 The Sims
25 1996 Quake
26 2000 Shenmue
27 1990 Lemmings
28 1997 Manic Miner
29 1999 Medal of Honor
30 1981 Asteroids
Early in the hours of this morning, a pleasant chap decided to hack into the servers of SonicAnime.net, which hosts TSS, and used it’s SMTP system to bulk mail several people that The Sonic Stadium and the Message Board was to close down. Naturally, the return sender was “Dreadknux” and the return address my email.
Let me say now that this is completely untrue. First of all the person who sent the original email types nothing like me, for starters he must have the IQ of 50 to spell and punctuate like he did (whilst trying to pass himself off for me). Second of all there is a way I tag my emails, and this was missing from “my email”. Nonetheless, it caused a minimal panic. Thankfully, some people realise that is was a hoax created by someone without two brain cells to humble themselves, and now I hope that the whole matter is dispelled.
As for announcements regarding TSS and the SSMB, they will always ALWAYS be announced on the site, be it the SSMB, TSS or Sonic News. They will NEVER be sent to you in an email. Always check the website for the official line on what is happening with TSS projects and status.
… Seeings as we have so much lined up for 2004 – new look Sega Sonic Radio, ‘Real Prize’ competitions, official press statements on Sonic games straight from SEGA themselves, and of course, Sonic Smash Cards, we’ll be here for a loooooooooooooooooong time yet.
And no amount of lowlife hermit ‘hackers’ (read: pre-teen 13 year olds who think it’s funny to perform pointless tasks to destroy sites in an attempt to make themselves jack off successfully) is going to deter me from keeping this site open. TSS is here to STAY!
GameSpot has added new Screens of the upcoming Sonic Battle.
Shadow90 has also submitted his supposed American Sonic Battle art below:
In most locations, if you buy a item at Best buy (CD, game, movie, so on), you’ll get a free DVD that has coming attractions. In it, you can watch a trailer of Sonic Heroes that shows off the teams and gameplay.
IGN has new Sonic Heroes movies to view, check those out by clicking HERE.
SEGA has created their official Sonic Heroes website, which has alot of cool content to check out, its in flash.
Check out a new Streaming Video interview of Mr. Naka-San. The video is almost 10 minutes long and you’ll need Real One player to view it, and was conducted by the Official Japanese Playstation Website.
A Tails mini-game said to be from Sonic Battle.
Dragon Book 2, a card game.
You can check out both of these at the link below.
Sonic Heroes. One of the most anticipated games of the year. First Americans were told to wait 16th-ish January 2004 for the game, while Japan had it coming mid December ’03. Europe was unconfirmed.
SEGA Europe treated us to a 5th December release date for Heroes, something so that us Europeans could be thankful for living in the hell-hole of games releases (not including New Zealand and Australia) for once.
Then the US release date went FORWARD (very uncommon), the Jap release got pushed BACK and the European release was still the same. It’s most likely that there was some miscommunication, but apparently SEGA Europe assured everyone the date of Heroes will be before the Japanese release date.
5th December has come and gone, and no Sonic Heroes. It looks like the online shops are right about the game being pushed back as far as FEBRUARY 2004 for Europe. At present we’re contacting SEGA Europe about this, but at the moment, it looks like there’ll be no promised Sonic this Christmas for us Europeans. Shame that.
“Home Part 4: Finale”: The final chapter of Sonic’s eventful return home! His family and friends thought he was dead but now he’s back – and in the fight of his life with Robotnik’s mysterious henchman, uh, woman, Mecha! Are the Mobians in danger losing Sonic again?! Meanwhile, Knuckles and the Freedom Fighters make their final stand against the Warbots on the wasteland in front of Robotropolis! SCRIPT: Karl Bollers. ART: Steven Butler (pencils) and Jim Amash (inks). ALSO: “Mobius, 25 Years Later” continues with future Knuckles and Rotor having a serious summit over developments on the planet! SCRIPT: Ken Penders. ART: Steven Butler (pencils) and Ken Penders (inks).
The official Sonic Battle site reveals that our favorite watery creature, Chaos 0 will be a character in the upcoming Sonic Battle. Thanks to the ultra cool Topaz for the heads up.
SEGA Europe has begun a national search for a Real Life Billy Hatcher. In Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (a review of which at TSS can be found here), you needed courage to overcome the threat of the evil crows.
SEGA are looking for kids aged between 5 and 16 years old, with an extraordinary story of real life courage or kindness to help others out. Here’s part of the “press-y”:
Do you know a child that has gone to exceptional lengths to be kind to others. Has your friend beaten all odds to overcome difficulties? Or perhaps a brother or sister has reacted with strength and courage in the face of tragedy.
It doesn’t have to be you, or if you’re too old, you can nominate a younger cousin, sibling or other friend that has something on a par with the Chicken-Suit-Wearing freak that is Billy.
What happens if you win? Well, the kid awarded as the national ‘Real Billy Hatcher’ will get an exclusive day out at the SEGA Europe Headquarters in London, where you get to become a games tester there for a day (SO, that’s how they process an application is it? =_=), giving feedback to the chiefs on unreleased SEGA games. Regional winners will also win a specialised ‘Billy Hatcher Bedroom’, where your room will win Billy Hatcher bedroom decorations, a games theatre (including a console and SEGA games), and most likely a copy of Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg.
To participate, you have until the end of January 2004 to get your application in – go here for the information: Billy Hatcher Official Website, and click the signpost that Recky is holding to the left.
Good luck to those that participate!
Hey guys! How’d you like the new Christmas theme to TSS? NiGHTS, for those that don’t know, is a character created by Sonic Team during the Sega Saturn days. Needless to say, it was an instant classic, and it’s got an army of cult fans begging Naka-san to make a remake or sequel. Will “The Man” succumb to the pressure though? Hmmm, maybe. He’s on and off about it most days.
We decided to celebrate NiGHTS Christmas style, and we’ve just bagged a whole heap of exclusive NiGHTS material! Cover Scans, Manual Scans, Reviews, Music MP3s and much more will be handed your way each week, as NiGHTS takes over Santa’s job. Aren’t we great? =P
Also, as time goes on, we’ll be covering Sonic Battle, which is due for Japanese release on the 16th, if sources are to be believed. I’m ordering my copy right now, so expect a review by the end of the year – speaking of the end of the year, Sonic Heroes is due for Japanese release then too, so you can expect a review on Heroes, the Sonic world’s most anticipated game, by the time the Americans get their grubby mitts on it. 😉
TSS will be the place to be over the coming weeks, have a merry Lead-Up-To-Christmas! ^_^
Sega Puzzle has added jigsaw puzzles related to both Sonic Battle & Sonic Heroes.
Sonic Team’s Puyo Puyo Fever website has been updated with new pictures and release info as it’ll be released on the 4th of February next year in Japan.
Belows article explains all your questions about Sonic Battles release, which will be January 2004 in North America. Also, the third Sonic Advance will be released sometime in 2004.
CALABASAS, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 1, 2003–THQ Inc. and Sega Corporation today announced a co-publishing agreement through which the companies will release two new Nintendo(R) Game Boy Advance adventures based on one of the biggest videogame icons of all time, Sonic the Hedgehog(R). The games are scheduled to ship in North, Central and South America in the first half of 2004. The companies previously released two other Sonic-branded games for the Game Boy Advance that boast combined sales of approximately a million units.
Sonic Battle, the first title planned for release under the agreement, is scheduled to release in North America in January 2004. Coinciding with Sega’s new Sonic Heroes console release, Sonic Battle will benefit from Sega’s multi-million dollar Sonic Heroes marketing campaign. The companies are also scheduled to release Sonic Advance 3 in 2004.
“Sega’s uncompromising approach to design innovation and game quality have captivated audiences of all ages across every viable gaming platform since Sonic debuted on the SEGA Genesis(TM) in 1991,” said Brian Farrell, President and CEO, THQ. “We look forward to delivering two compelling new Sonic adventures to handheld gamers in 2004.”
“With THQ’s handheld publishing expertise, we have had tremendous success leveraging the Sonic brand on the Game Boy Advance platform,” said Hide Irie, President and COO, Sega of America, SEGA Corporation. “Sonic Battle and Sonic Advance 3 are poised to be strong performers in the expanding Game Boy Advance marketplace.”
The Sonic The Hedgehog series began in 1991 with the release of “Sonic The Hedgehog(R)” on SEGA Genesis(TM). The game quickly became a global hit. Over the years, Sonic The Hedgehog has been featured in more than 11 games on multiple SEGA gaming platforms including SEGA Genesis, SEGA Game Gear(TM), Pico(TM), SEGA Saturn(TM) and SEGA Dreamcast(TM). Most recently, the series continued with “Sonic Adventure 2 Battle” for Nintendo GameCube and “Sonic Advance” for GameBoy Advance, the first titles to utilize the Nintendo GameCube/GameBoy Advance Link Cable. In just over 10 years, Sonic The Hedgehog has become one of the most beloved and recognized video game characters of all time and the series has sold over 32 million units worldwide.
The Sonic Stadium’s biggest assets was always the Video Games section. It’s been applauded as the biggest Sonic games database online, and as you may know, it’s been poor lately. We have been attempting to work a new look about the place.
We can happily say that it is finally complete.
You can head to the revamped VG section here
Plus, we felt this as a chance to clear out all the submitted stuff that has been clogging up our systems. So, along with the new look, we’ve added a ton of new material. Because we can’t remember all of it, we’ll just make a list of what we remembered we added below:
There’s more in there, and more will be added of course, as it’ll be business as usual again for the VG section. ^_^
That’s not all. Over the coming weeks, TSS will be having somewhat of a NiGHTS Winter Wonderland theme, as we give you exclusive NiGHTS material, more news and previews on Sonic Heroes and, of course, Sonic Battle. Yes, Christmas will be very happy for you with The Sonic Stadium.
… Just make sure you check back regularly, schamone. 😉
Planet GameCube has new Sonic Battle Screens, go check em out.
