Welcome to the Archive site of The Sonic Stadium (2008-2023)
Please note that this site is no longer being updated or maintained; as a result, there may be design issues, and links to images and other media may be broken. Links to posts may redirect you to the same article on the current Sonic Stadium website.
No walls of text here. GameTrailers puts its opinions out to the public in their video review of the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed. If there is one review site that I respect the most, it’s GameTrailers. Although I don’t see any bias or “good/bad” review sites, GT has always seemed to be the tops. Aside from the obvious visual aspect of their reviews, I like their snappy, yet detailed, criticisms.
Next week, be on the lookout for a returning Sonic Stadium feature, “The Spin,” which will discuss why the community is embarrassing when it’s spurred by the media.
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MTV caught up with The Sonic Stadium’s favorite rapper, Charles Hamilton, for an interview, where he professed his love of Sonic. Although what he is saying may perplex you at times, he assures you that he is definitely not “crazy.” He discusses why he chose Sonic the Hedgehog as his inspiration and goes into detail on the time he “woke up” as Sonic one day. What I find interesting about the interview is when he breaks down his meaning of Sonic.
“Sonic” means “sound” and a hedgehog buries himself underground. Thus, Charles buries himself into sound. A novel concept that I certainly would have never thought of.
Anyway, Charles has been recently signed to Interscope records and I hope we can hear some more of his Sonic-inspired tracks in his next album. Hint hint, Charles, you should rap over Lava Reef.
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This piece is by DeviantArt user, NinaUsagi. She got the idea for this piece while playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s Classic Mode. There is always a “metal” opponent in your way to Final Destination and when she was presented with the task of taking down “Metal Sonic,” something clicked in her head. She thought, “what if the green “!” box from Mario 64 made Sonic the actual Metal Sonic and not a silver skinned one?” Well, check out the resulting artwork…
Do you or somebody you know want to be featured on TSS’ front page, send a PM to Slingerland or Dreadknux to get yourself in the fan spotlight.
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Today is Monday. Unlucky for those of you who’ve just woken up thinking it was Sunday; you’ve just missed work. But 16 years ago, it was Tuesday. The most awesome Tuesday ever for a kid in Britain, or the United States. On November 24th 1992, the sequel to the hottest video game of the time was released – Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on Sega Mega Drive. Such a huge media circus this event was, that a special chartered ‘Sonic 2’ plane carrying nothing but crates of the game landed in London a few days ahead of the launch to masses of TV cameras and news reporters. Those were the days.
So here’s to Sonic the Hedgehog 2. A wonderful collaboration between East (Sonic Team, with Yuji Naka returning after leaving Sega briefly) and West (an enthusiastic American team called Sega Technical Institute that were heavily involved in the coding and designing). For a few moments, Sega wasn’t at each other’s throats internally and teamed up to produce what many fans consider the very best in the entire Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Can’t exactly disagree. Celebrate by playing the game and seeing if you can nobble that final boss without dying (always keep falling through his nose onto his spiky hands, the f&%$%*). Or even by trying out Sonic Retro’s work in progress, Sonic 2 HD.
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I was bored one day and decided ‘Hey, why don’t I make the site somewhat accessible for people who like to browse stuff on their consoles?’ So, ignorant to the fact that it probably wasn’t worth my time to work on something like that for the kind of person who does that sort of thing (which includes, er, me), I’ve tweaked the design of The Sonic Stadium for Sony PlayStation Portable users.
Accessing the site is now a piece of piss, as I was made aware that it was bone-grindingly slow today. Upon recognising the PSP Browser, TSS auto-switches to a custom made theme that suits the 400-odd pixel wide screen. There’s no sidebar, and a lot of the heavy duty stuff is cut, but the exact same content and stuff is all there. So if you fancy a little fiddle, crack open that PSP and let us know what you think in the SSMB (although the forums are still PSP unfriendly at this time, so use your PC for that).
You can also sign up to the RSS on your Sony handheld too, by clicking the RSS link at the footer of the page. Swish.
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‘Tis nearly the season to be jolly, and what way to count down the days until your favourite yearly holiday than with a Sonic themed Advent Calender? Not much good if you’re on a diet, mind you, with a Christmas themed chocolate behind each door!
I picked one up from my local Games-X-Change store in Bolton (the UK) for a mere £1.99. I asked if other stores in the chain are selling the same, and apparently they are. If you have a Games-X-Change store nearby, it’s worth checking out!
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Do you live in the U.S.? Do you own Sonic Unleashed on Wii? Tried out the variety of control schemes but still not satisfied? Well your local Circuit City are selling an awesome, super cool, limited edition version that supports the Wii Balance Board where you can make Sonic run with your very own two feet and use new all powerful sumo wrestling attacks as the Werehog. Or so it would seem anyway…
The ad is of course an error on Circuit City’s part. Do people even check these things before they are printed? Come on Circuit City, it’s nearly Christmas so get your act together!!
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We saw, for the first time in Europe, the awesome little animated short that ties in with Sonic Unleashed, called Night of the Werehog. It involved, as our Community Day roundup said, two ghosts vying for the attention of a female ghost by scaring the crap out of Chip and Sonic.
The official website for the cartoon has now been updated with the entire film, so you all can see it too. Aren’t Sega nice to you all? It would be nice to see this on other mediums other than just online though – clearly a lot of production work went into this, and it would have been a no-brainer to have had it included as a short in cinemas before Madagascar 2 or something. Would be cool to see it on TV as well maybe. We’ll see how it goes. Watch the full animation at the official website, click here.
Sonic Unleashed is set for an Xbox 360 release this coming Friday. (Thanks to everyone who tipped us in!)
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Most Community Days have been situated at Nintendo’s rather swanky Wii Flat in Central London, but yesterday a troupe of Sonic fans were collectively invited to Sega Europe’s Headquarters in Gunnersbury to have a taste of Sonic Unleashed on Xbox 360, a week before the rest of Europe will get a chance to. Naturally, there were a lot of happy faces around at the mere thought of being in such an illustrious temple, let alone having the chance to play a high-profile Sonic game before release.
A few of the usual suspects were there – myself, T-Bird, Violet, Sonic Yoda, B’man, Fastfeet and Vger were joined by Jemnezmy, Flyboy Fox, Shadz, (DJ) Dan Dyer, Paul Street from TSSZ and some more friendly faces as Kevin kindly took us through the basics of Sonic Unleashed. When Jemnezmy and I arrived, we had just come from Leicester Square, enjoying the treats of the Japan Centre (and scoffing a Bento Box on the train to Gunnersbury, earning a few scornful faces from the people in the carriage) and were therefore a little late, but it was OK as Kevin was showcasing the game in the best way he can. Slowly Thoroughly. Continue reading The Day We Played Sonic Unleashed
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Tomorrow afternoon, (most of) the TSS crew will be lounging it up in Sega Europe’s HQ in London, getting back rubs from ArchAngelUK and Vodka Martinis from the female crowd. Or should that be the other way round..? We’ll be there for one thing and one thing only. Except for seeing AAUK. To play Sonic Unleashed, preferably on the Xbox 360, but possibly on the Wii as well. Who knows what fun and random shenanigans we’re in for. What we do know is, it’s cause for another Community Day; so watch this space come tomorrow night (when I actually get back) where I’ll be posting photos, comments from the guys at the event and random PR speak from the AAUK himself. Oh, and we’ll be putting down our impressions of the game here too. It’ll be a joyous occasion. Stick around. Not all day and night mind, you’ll make yourself ill. Take a break.
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Gaming marathons are all the rage these days – it’s a noble cause, after all, and quite simple to set up. Get a webcam, a donate button, play games, earn money, send money to charity. To my knowledge there hasn’t been a Sonic the Hedgehog marathon set up (we’ve had Mario and the like so far, by different gaming groups), but a small gang called Ocean City Trinity are giving the blue blur a run for his money for the EduCare Foundation. The games will be the main console titles and range from Sonic the Hedgehog to the newly released (in America) Sonic Unleashed, and if you want to watch the fun unfold, it all kicks off on Saturday 22nd November. Head to their website for more details. Good luck guys!
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It appears that certain retailers in America are flatly ignoring Sega’s release date for the Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, with images from NeoGAF and other community websites of retail copies in their homes. The Wii and PlayStation 2 versions of the game were released on Tuesday, but the Xbox 360’s was to be held back until the 24th or 25th November (depending on who you believe; North American retailers usually put new stock on shelves every Tuesday).
So, what happened? If it’s true, it’s possible that various GameStop stores are confused in thinking that the 360 version of Unleashed is to be on sale with the Wii and PS2 ones. Regardless, if Sega were able to get the 360 stock to stores early in the first place, it would make the original staggered release date somewhat pointless.
In any case, it reminds us of the good old Dreamcast days in Europe, where retailers completely disregarded Sega Europe’s release dates and put games on shelves a whole week before official sale. Ah, Shenmue, how perfect the extra week I had with you was.
Good luck in getting a copy early though, all you American readers – if Sega start slapping retailer’s wrists for this release date break, you may soon find yourself at a store reluctant to sell you one.
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The Sega Europe Community Blog has been doing a fair bit of Sonic Unleashed coverage over the last few days, with a daily dose of what’s actually in the game for those just waiting with anticipation to find out. Today, the company’s European and American divisions worked together to kidnap interview the Lead Producer for Sega America, Patrick Riley, to ask him more about the upcoming Sonic title.
It’s a fifteen minute long conversation featuring SOA’s ClumsyOrchid and RubyEclipse, SOE’s ArchAngelUK and Martin. The questions range from Werehog gameplay, the new moves that Sonic has at his disposal and the release of the game in the West before Japan. The guys really seem to want to hit home that this isn’t a return to the classic Mega Drive games but rather a brand new direction for the series. We wouldn’t have it any other way, long as it’s actually good. Look at Sonic Rush Adventure, after all.
One thing that we found interesting was the influence SOA appear to have had during the game’s development, and the mention at the very end of ‘something nobody’s ever seen before’ which will very briefly take control away from Sonic. They pulled a fat rabbit out of the ridiculous hat with DarkSpines in Secret Rings, so we’ll be interested to see what happens here.
Listen to the audio programme by clicking here (nice cockney there at the end, Martin).
The Sonic City Blognik has daily updates in the only way an official blog can, so keep checking here.
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Remember that Sonic Unleashed theme song? What was it called? Endless Possibility or something? That track you all went nuts over when it was played at the Summer of Sonic Convention in London this year. Yeah, that one. How would you like to hear to full version? Oh, I know you do. Just so happens we have it for you to listen to. Click on the link to TSS’ Media Portal and be forever Reddick’d.
Oh, if you’re also into all the music in Unleashed, Sheza has an awesome topic right here, give it a look if you want more for your music player.
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Usually Slingerland’s the main man for these community spotlights, but I came across a few cool pieces of fan art myself and thought I’d share them with you, gentle TSS reader. The two pictures we have also represent the best of both worlds – pen and colour pencil work, and computer enhanced colouring. Firstly, HAT-S-I-RO‘s ‘Bubble Shield’ picture, which is rather cute and shows the main trio making alternative uses of the item. Ah, semantics. Knuckles is enjoying his newfound Bubble Gum power-up, while Sonic looks less impressed in a roll of Bubble Wrap. Not sure what Tails is doing with the Bubble Bath. Great work there HAT-S-I-RO!
The second art piece we have today is from SpindashStudios, and is called ‘Race to the Eclipse Cannon’. It’s a great, dynamic shot of Sonic and Shadow rushing towards the superweapon based on the ARK, just before they face off for the final time in Sonic Adventure 2. It captures that sense of speed and atmosphere really well, and I love the attention to detail in the Final Rush/Chase surroundings.
Two awesome pieces of work there from the community! If you have a friend who’s artwork is rather outstanding, give me or Slingerland a buzz and we’ll take a peek at it. Your friend’s work may very well feature on our front page!
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So the US version of Sonic Unleashed is already out, apparently (for the Wii and PS2 it seems). Those lucky gits who decided to take it slow and start with the manual noticed an advertisement for the Werehog figure we spoke about a while ago. But wait, what’s this other circle about? Yes, looks like Super Sonic is also available as a collectible figure, thus increasing my British envy.
The toys will supposedly be available this month, it’s worth checking out Sega America’s official website for more details on where you can grab ’em.
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Hunter Bridges, the composer of the Sonic Nexus fan project, is offering $20 worth of digital download points and a free copy of the completed Nexus OST in a contest where users create faithful, MIDI arrangements of the game’s music. All the contest asks people to do is to create MIDIs of the zone themes (not the Retro Remix tracks) and submit them to Hunter by January 7th, 2009. All the tracks have been put in the on-site music player. This contest is the second of a series of contests to hit the Sonic scene. Take advantage while you can!
For full information about the contest, visit the contest page.
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Sik, over at Sonic Retro, has completed his hack of Sonic 3D Blast that removes the Flickies from the game, leaving you to run around and play the game as if it were a true, isometric version of a Sonic game (where the goal is to simply make it to the end without dying). I must say that I enjoy 3D Blast one-hundred times more than I did (I didn’t really like it, so that’s a huge improvement). Who knew that taking out the entire crux of a game could make it more entertaining?
In this hack, Flickies will still appear, but you will no longer be able to collect them. The big rings will always let you proceed to the next area and any areas (like the tube in Panic Puppet) that prohibit your advance due to your Flicky count will allow you to go anyway.
With all this fun to be had, however, it must be said that now that the lost, core mechanic of the gameplay makes the game much easier. It was designed around Flicky collection and now you can just blow through every stage without a need to explore every corner of the isometric worlds. Still, I hate Flicky collection, so it does not bother me that much. I have never been arsed to play this game all the way through, so here’s to Sik for making a mediocre game interesting.
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Gaming chairs are a pain in the arse. I mean, seriously, what good are they for? You get a leather chair that tears easily, has to be on the floor so you feel like a Hobbit watching the screen, and you get ‘surround sound’ blaring into your ears that most times sound all distorted. Worst of all are those gormless fools on the box, sitting in them making idiots of themselves. Who in the hell would want one of these things?
… oh, there’s a Sonic one being released? Get down, that changes everything.
Well, maybe not, but it’s still some interesting news that’s travelled across the Interwebs. According to PRWeb, Sega have teamed up with Ultimate Game Chair to release the new Reactor Mini, a gaming relaxer for kids ages 3 – 9 years, that features a picture of Sonic on it. It’ll coincide with the launch of Sonic Unleashed in North America.
These gaming chairs supposedly rumble at every little thing happening in the game, to totally immerse the player, but we wonder if it’ll do anything out of the ordinary whilst playing Sonic Unleashed. Shaver adaptor whilst playing as the Werehog? Oh wait, they’ll be too young for that. Apparently the chair is also labeled as a massager. That may come in handy if they get addicted to Sonic hen- oh wait, they’ll be too young for that.
You can buy the Reactor Mini Game Chair from Ultimate Game Chair’s website from the 21st November; it’ll set you back about $70.
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Sorry for taking so long to reveal the results of our latest competition, but I’ve been away for a week and hadn’t had time to run through all of our entries. Thanks so much for everyone that took part – I got a whopping 57 submissions for this contest, and if anything it’s proven that the whole lot of you are proper little thieves in the making. Almost all of the entries involved a Sonic character assaulting or otherwise managing to outright steal candy off of the poor residents of this world.
I’ve had a whole range of characters sent in from Sonic to Big to Metal Sonic and Charmy. Even Marine had an entry. As a fun fact, it will be settling for all of you to know that nine entries featured Shadow holding the homeowner at gunpoint. That’s not slightly worrying at all.
But I have five sets of prizes to give away – a Sonic Chronicles tin and stylus set, plus an additional goodie bag for the entry I found the greatest. So hit the jump to see the winners, and a list of people that took the time to enter… Continue reading Who’s Won Our Hallowe’en Contest?
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Sega Europe has revealed the box-art cover to Sonic and the Black Knight (sorry its so small, there are no larger sizes available at present). It look’s like their going with the Nintendo Power cover which was published for their exclusive first look at the game a few months back. No Wi-Fi logo can be seen, so that confirms there will be no Wi-Fi features. The game’s PEGI rating can also be seen on the cover, the game’s been given a 12+. Guess the European ratings board are getting pretty touchy again, no doubt the swordplay has them thinking “OMG SONIC HAS A SWORD, KIDS WILL COPY!!!”.
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With Sonic Unleashed just round the corner, it’s more than enough time to start promoting the blue blur with just about anything and everything you can create, right? Well, McDonald restaurants in Australia are being a bit more… economical with their promotion of Sonic the Hedgehog, by offering Sonic X Happy Meal toys. The same ones we saw in Britain about a year or so ago. Still, a collectible is a collectible, and according to our Antipodean tipster this is the first time the Launcher toy series has been seen in the land of Oz.
So if you’re Australian and want to get fat, roll yourselves down to your nearest Maccy’s and catch ’em all! Or, if you’d rather not indulge in their food, see if you can buy the toys separately. I know some places will let you have the toys for a dollar or something.
Thanks for the tip, BlitzChris!
UPDATE: We’re being told by Aussie members of the SSMB that these toys have been around before, something like six months ago. So maybe McDonald’s aren’t as slow as we thought, but it was strange to hear that they had brought them back again in that case. As of today (18th November) it doesn’t look like Sonic is part of the Happy Meal parade anymore, according to our Australian fast-food goers. Still, there’s always eBay or something.
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Just like clockwork, the latest Sonic the Hedgehog title is to get an original soundtrack release in Japan. Called ‘Sonic World Adventure Original Soundtrack: Planetary Pieces’, no doubt it will be a pretty comprehensive collection of tunes from all the stages, bosses and events found in Sonic Unleashed. If you’ve yet to hear the sublime music so far, you can catch a preview at the official Sega website. That Chun-Nan track sure is tight. Those wanting to sit patiently until the release date can file behind T-Bird for the 29th January 2009. Bring some crisps. And 4000 Yen.
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It’s that time of year again! GameFAQs is running another character battle, and as usual, Sonic is fighting for his life in the quater finals. This is typically as far as Sonic goes, but with your help we may be able to get him to the semi finals!
The finalists are as follows: Kirby, Dante, Sephiroth, and Sonic the Hedgehog.
At the moment, Sonic is in third place, behind Kirby and Sephiroth. A character needs to make it into first or second place in order to move on to the semi finals. If you all vote for him, maybe he can make it. Vote for it here.
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Yes, you read the title right. Sonic Unleashed is selling out of stock before the game has even hit launch day. After taking pre-orders for just a couple of months, UK retailer Woolworths ran out of pre-order stock for all versions of the upcoming game that sees our beloved Hedgehog travel the globe. It has been ages since a Sonic title has sold out after launch, never mind before release (not counting Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games), and with Christmas coming up sales can only increase. With good impressions from previewers, fans happy with what they’ve seen so far and now this, Sega might just have a winner on their hands.
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Someone in YouTube land is really looking forward to Sonic Unleashed, so much they have created a YouTube channel dedicated to Sonic Unleashed. The channel is called ‘sonicunleashedinfo’ and currently has 134 video’s all containing Sonic Unleashed news, info, gameplay video’s, images, trailers, music and magazine scans. The owner of the channel even lists their interestes and hobbies as just Sonic Unleashed.
If this isn’t dedication then I’ll eat my Knuckles plushie *shot by Gabz Girl*
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While everyone seems to be jumping up and down about Sonic Unleashed, one thing that seems slightly off is regarding the game’s release date. According to the official Japanese website (the game is called Sonic World Adventure over there), the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions are being held back until Spring 2009. The website states that this is to “improve the game’s quality”, something we’re not exactly against given the known rushings of past Sonic games.
Oddly though, this delay does not affect the Wii version, which is still scheduled for an 18th December launch. This release date confusion follows our report the other day, where we revealed that the European PS3 version won’t be released until December. Reasons were not given for the pushback, but other consoles are as yet unaffected.
AAUK, the Sega Community Manager for Europe, has stressed that the delays in Japan doesn’t mean that the Japanese version will be superior to the others.
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CVG are reporting that user generated levels based around other videogames are being deleted off the servers due to copyright claims from Sony. These themed levels include Sonic the Hedgehog stages. So anyone wishing to publish their favorite stages like Green Hill Zone or Emerald Hill Zone will have to keep them to themselves. CVG have contacted Sony but have received no reply yet but LittleBigPlanet developers Media Molecule have issued this statement –
“We’re reviewing the moderating system currently to provide better feedback on why levels are moderated,” he said, going on to explain: “Primarily, any level that is reported using the grief tool will be checked over by a moderator, at which point they’ll examine it in line with the EULA. If a level is found to be in violation of the EULA it will be moderated and you’ll receive a message to that effect.
“We’re moving towards a system where additional information is given, however for the time being if you don’t want your level moderating avoid anything unsuitable for users of all ages and copyright content,”
What are your oppinions on this? Has anyone with the game had their Sonic stages deleted off the server?
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Guest Crossfire with SSMB member, Dan Hibiki. Check it…
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I’m a writer. I write fanfics, of course. Mainly crossovers. The folder containing (most of) my works has so many files with individual chapters that my brother told me he was astounded that I could actually write them all. I’m also the story lead for the 3D Sonic fan-game lead by Chris Senn, Project S (yes, THAT one, it’s still alive and kicking, no worries). What the hell does this have to do with anything, you ask? Well, it helps when I look a discussion involving stories, characters and whatever the hell goes into why Sonic is kicking Eggman’s rounded butt again. What I’m really here for is to write about something fairly simple – deep plot, or simple? Epic cutscenes with full voice-acting, or simple player-controlled scenes with no dialogue whatsoever, ala Sonic 3&K? What an interesting dilemma. Let’s start with…
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Sega Europe have updated the European official Sonic Unleashed website with a release date for all formats. The game will hit stores Friday the 28th November. Except for the PlayStation 3, which will see a European release in December for some bizarre reason.
Fans have been going crazy over the past few weeks digging at every source possible for a release date, ask Mr.ArchangelUK he’s been torn to shreds by rabid fans begging for a release date. Now European fans can get their pre-orders in and rest at ease until release day.
For the release date and more info/media on the game check out the official site.
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Word. Fan Spotlight is showcasing some marker and color pencil work today with some artwork from GregTheCatofGordawn. In this work of art, Greg depicts one of the final boss battles of Sonic (3) & Knuckles. What I like about this work the most is Sonic’s facial expression, because it’s absolutely ridiculous. “WHOAMG LAZOR:”
As always, you can send me you or a friend’s art via SSMB private message. Who knows? You might be featured on this here front page!
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Because you simply cannot own enough copies of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Mega Drive, SEGA have announced today they are developing the SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collectionfor the XBox 360 and PS3 consoles. Looks like our original rumour story wasn’t that far off the mark.
As well as being the first opportunity for players to have a go on Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 3D Blast on current generation consoles, this compilation will also include other kick-arse titles from SEGA’s extensive 16-bit catalogue, including Streets of Rage 1, 2 & 3, Alien Storm, Golden Axe 1, 2 & 3, Ristar and Ecco the Dolphin. Not only that, there will be a whole host of unlockable 8-bit Master System titles as bonus material too!
Some fans will be a bit miffed that they have already shelled-out a few hundred Microsoft points for these games already, but I think that will probably be drowned out by the fact there are well over 40 titles to play; that’s a lot of gaming for your pennies! Plus, there will also be a set of achievements for XBox owners to collect – always another incentive to play through those classics once more!
The collection is due out early 2009, check out the Official Website for more info.
Me? I’m thrilled they’re putting Dynamite Headdy on there! YEEEEAAS!!!
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After unveiling the Wii and PS2 back covers of upcoming game Sonic Unleashed, Woolworths have updated their website with the Xbox 360 version back cover. In the Xbox Live features ‘game content download’ can be seen, what downloadable content we’ll get is unknown right now so we’ll just have to wait and see what SEGA has in store for us after release.
The PS3 back cover is yet to be seen on Woolworths website but that version will most likely see downloadable content too, as soon as it’s unveiled we’ll post it up for you guys.
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It’s generally understood that you only submit one entry into competitions. The case is no different with our currently ongoing Hallowe’en Competition for some Sonic Chronicles goodies. We can understand that one or two people may send two entries – be it accidentally (dupe-entries) or on purpose just to see if they can push their luck. But this is a bit excessive.
‘datkross412‘ decided that one of the best ways to get our attention is send in a whopping eighteen entries, featuring almost every Sonic character under the sun. The guy even did Sonic twice. I guess the plan was to see whether one of them was our favourite character or something. There was an entry for, in order: Sonic, Chip, Werehog, Tails, Rouge, Blaze, Shadow, Knuckles, Silver, Super Sonic, Eggman, Vector, Espio, Big, Amy, Metal Sonic, Elise, and Sonic again.
So yeah. Obviously, that’s taking the piss. We’re not going to pick the best one for his entry, much less look at them, so ‘datkross412’ here’s your challenge – pick one. Pick the entry you want to enter for this contest. If you don’t, we’ll bin them all and disqualify you. Usual contest email address, just give us the name of the character you want to keep.
And that ends today’s lesson in “Don’t give Svend a headache”. Thanks for playing.
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Now for a trailer that hasn’t been leaked! This video comes courtesy of Sega America and was posted on Hallowe’en of all times – it’s a brief showcase of the jungle-esque stage titled Mazuri. It’s really quite difficult for someone like me to keep a track of all these Zone names when they’re so bizarrely named. Whatever happened to Jungle Leaf Zone, or Tarzanhog Zone, or King of the Swingers Zone? Much easier to remember. What’s also easier to see is that this stage has had vast improvements over the original trailer some months ago, and even retains the classic re-interpretation of the Sonic 1 8-Bit credits theme. Groovy.
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The recent video leak from Taiwanese gaming website Ruliweb has caused big action from Sega Europe, with original Youtube videos being deleted and member accounts being suspended. The news came shortly after we revealed the Opening Cutscene and Apotos videos that were posted, where we had to resort to offering download links from the original source.
Now Youtube members are responding in force, reposting the trailers many times over with various conspicuous titles. One video is named “The Epic opening in the series that is not so falling” and “pessimists beware ice cream will own you” – which is more than sign enough to see that people are very excited about the way Sonic Unleashed is looking at the moment.
It’s not surprising to see Sega curl up into a ball and go out on the Copyright Infringement Attack Force. It’s happened before many times, and it’s only natural to see a publisher defend information that it doesn’t want made public. It will be more interesting to see how Sega continues to respond, particularly given the positive reception the leaked videos have created.
In fact, these two movies have largely been decision-changers in most people, between a pass to a day-one purchase. The question is, will Sega now react positively to the reactions from fans and gamers alike, or will they pursue the retraction of material to the end, causing no end of headaches for them in an open space like the Internet and simultaneously endangering the new consumers the videos appear to have generated? Watch this space, kids.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
MTV caught up with The Sonic Stadium’s favorite rapper, Charles Hamilton, for an interview, where he professed his love of Sonic. Although what he is saying may perplex you at times, he assures you that he is definitely not “crazy.” He discusses why he chose Sonic the Hedgehog as his inspiration and goes into detail on the time he “woke up” as Sonic one day. What I find interesting about the interview is when he breaks down his meaning of Sonic.
Gaming chairs are a pain in the arse. I mean, seriously, what good are they for? You get a leather chair that tears easily, has to be on the floor so you feel like a Hobbit watching the screen, and you get ‘surround sound’ blaring into your ears that most times sound all distorted. Worst of all are those gormless fools on the box, sitting in them making idiots of themselves. Who in the hell would want one of these things?
While everyone seems to be jumping up and down about Sonic Unleashed, one thing that seems slightly off is regarding the game’s release date. According to the official Japanese website (the game is called Sonic World Adventure over there), the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions are being held back until Spring 2009. The website states that this is to “improve the game’s quality”, something we’re not exactly against given the known rushings of past Sonic games.
