We’re not ones to blow our own trumpet, despite the somewhat laid back approach we have to writing about Sonic the Hedgehog and just generally being fans of the series. Hey, we like a laugh, and we’re just here to have a laugh with you. But since its opening on the 24th October 2000, I think this little website has accomplished quite a lot, given its rags-to-riches story. We will be celebrating our tenth anniversary starting tomorrow, but first let’s take a quick look back at some of the things we’ve created for the community, for better or for worse. Continue reading 2000 – 2009: The Decade At TSS
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As a huge Knuckles the Echidna fan, I can express nothing but sheer fanboyish excitement over having Knuckles in his own comic again, albeit only briefly. The arc enters it’s second half as Knuckles is forced to work together with the echidna who decimated 90% of his race, threw his grandfathers into the Twilight Zone, and killed his father. Should prove to be a fun time, huh? Below is the cover, the five page preview, and the solicitation. Enjoy!
“Echoes of the Past Part 3″: New mysteries arise, along with new faces – both good and evil! But is everyone really who they say they are? It’s up to Knuckles to figure it all out and rescue Angel Island before it’s too late! This issue also features the long-awaited return of the Downunda Freedom Fighters and Knuckles’ most unlikely ally – Dr. Finitevus?!
SCRIPT: Ian Flynn
ART: Tracy Yardley
Colossally chaotic cover by Yardley!
Shipping Date December 16th, 2009
On Sale at Comic Shops December 23rd, 2009
On Sale at Newsstands January 5th, 2010
32-page, full color comic
$2.50 US
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2009’s almost out. That means we’ve enjoyed a whole decade of Sonic the Hedgehog goodness in the last ten years, from 2000’s Sonic Shuffle (for Americans, we didn’t get it until the year after, damn SEGA) to 2009’s Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. So, rather than just round up the games of the year, The Sonic Stadium crew have taken to list their Top 10 Sonic games of the decade!
This is how we’ve done it. A bunch of TSS Staffers wrote over their unique Top 10 (which will be listed at the end of this article). Along with it, a short paragraph as to why they ranked each game the way they did. When bunching all of these lists together, we formed an average by giving points to each game’s placement on each staffer’s countdown (so a #1 position would get 10 points, and a game in 10th place would get 1 point). Add all the points up, and we have our own, not-so-scientific average. What game will get TSS’ #1 Sonic Game of the Decade? Read on, dear reader… Continue reading The Top 10 Sonic Games Of The 2000’s
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It’s not escaped my attention in the short amount of time I’ve been writing for the Stadium that we seem to have a lot of female readers. So it’s just for you I spied this awesome piece of custom Sonic clothing by way of UK:Resistance who I’m sure have no female readers.
The top is a one of a kind custom creation by Poppy who runs Poppy’s Wicked Garden on handmade trading website Etsy and can be yours for the sum of $36 plus postage. But because there’s only one if you like it I’d get buying it quick sharp.
If you’re not quick enough then don’t despair as Poppy has a load of other equally interesting custom clothes ranging from Star Wars, Tru Blood, Naruto, Harry Potter and everything in-between. There’s sure to be a unique piece of clothing to meet your geek needs.
Oh, and the alternative girl in the photo? Sorry boys, she’s just a model and there’s no indication that she’s a hardcore Sonic fan.
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If you thought the Sonic t-shirt posted here by the lovely Brad Flick a few months ago was cool then allow me to introduce that t-shirts older cooler brother. Shark Robot now have up for sale a similar t-shirt in concept but made all the cooler by featuring Metal Sonic’s glowing red eyes and evil glare. At still only $17.95 the t-shirt is a steal and I’ve no qualms in telling you all after getting the Sonic t-shirt for Christmas (thanks sis!) I ordered Metal Sonic as soon as I saw it. Click the image for a larger preview and when you’re done gawking get yourself over to Shark Robot and buy the damn thing, pronto!
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Nobody could argue that Jazwares have been slacking off because off the back of several new Sonic figure reveals comes another. While the figure in question might only be Big The Cat the big news is the quality of the figure and the many points of articulation which unlike the Sonic Super Posers doesn’t leave Big looking like a knobbly kneed and elbowed freak. There’s no news of a price or even a release date as of yet thanks to the figures status of pending a license. The figure is also missing from the newly updatesd Jazwares website while the ASR figures have a ‘coming soon’ section ready even if there’s no actual content on them yet.
You can check out pictures of the prototype figure below provided by Toy News International and be sure to keep a lookout for further updates regarding any and all Sonic based figures right here at the Sonic Stadium.
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuCTTPm-a2w&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
As seen above Game Reactor have had a recent interview with Steve Lycett of Sumo Digital about their upcoming racer Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing. In the interview Steve is asked about Ryo Hazuki’s coming to be which he reveals to be from the obvious demand from the fans. Steve is also asked about balance in regards to the mighty All Star Moves and shortcuts which Steve rests assured are very balanced and definitely not game breaking.
Source: Game Reactor’s YouTube Channel
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ShopTo.net have uploaded a new picture to their Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing Wii version product page. The new picture contains the game and what look’s like a Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing themed Wii Wheel peripheral. The peripheral has the game’s logo and SEGA’s logo making it look pretty official.
No info is given on the product page about the peripheral so there’s no telling wether this comes as standard, wether it’s a ShopTo exclusive or not or even wether it’s for pre-orders only.
Least the price hasn’t gone up and there’s no seperate listing for this bundle so we can at least guess that this peripheral is a free gift. We’ve had a look around many other retailers websites and can’t see this peripheral so for now at least it’s a ShopTo exclusive but it wouldn’t be surprising if the wheel comes as standard like with many racing games on Wii such as Mario Kart Wii and F1 2009.
Source: ShopTo.net
Thanks to Hero of Legend for the higher res pic.
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We have been keeping you up to date on the Gamespot @ SEGA event and as promised Gamespot have begun posting up their interviews at the event. Currently they have posted interviews with the Yakuza 3 and Infinite Space developers but they inform that more is on the way in the coming week including an interview with “an exclusive interview with Sega head of consumer business Naoya Tsurumi to talk things House of Sonic.”
We’ll keep an eye out and let you know as soon as the interview hits their website and write up any interesting information that may come from it.
At the top right of Gamespot’s SEGA event page a piece of Sonic art can be spotted that is actually fan art by awesome SSMB member ENVY16. Way to use Google Gamespot, needs more credit to ENVY16 though.
Source: Gamespot
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The results are in for the Sonic Site Awards 2009! You can listen to The Sonic Hour special broadcast that announced the winners live last night by going straight to our Media portal, or by subscribing to TSH’s podcast feed). For a full rundown of nominee placement, head to the Sonic Site Awards page, where you can see total votes and percentage votes for all the runners.
But for the sake of brevity, here are this year’s winners:
A big win for the Brazilian Sonic community this year – a side of the online fanbase that is just finding its feet and experiencing a boom not unlike the British and American one of several years ago. The level of excitement and energy between these websites is quite inspiring and reminds me of when I first joined the Sonic community way back in ’99. There are some truly deserving websites here, and I hope you’ll join me in congratulating them and visiting their sites on a regular basis.
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It’s Christmas Eve. You don’t expect us to be writing many Sonic articles and posts over the next couple of days, because we’re all going to spend some time with our families and friends. Most probably while playing Sonic the Hedgehog games.
All of us at The Sonic Stadium, SSMB and all over the TSS Network want to wish all of our readers (and even those that don’t like us) a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, successful New Year into 2010.
How do you plan to spend your Christmas holidays? Let us know in the comments box below! Feel free to give your best wishes to fellow Sonic fans on the SSMB Forums, and we’ll see you throughout next week to round off the year – and the decade – in Sonic the Hedgehog.
Our friend from across the Channel, Adamis Fox, sent us a Christmas card from France Belgium (click to enlarge) – we’re posting it here to share it with you all and extend our wishes to Adamis and the French/Belgium Sonic community (and all international communities beyond). Take care and have a good one!
= The Sonic Stadium =
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Shadzter told you a week and a half ago that Sonic was nominated twice for ScrewAttack’s “Shitty Ass Game of the Year” Awards. Well, all of the G1s (not the staff) at their forums have spoken and Sonic & the Black Knight has earned the title of the worst game on Wii for 2009 by a landslide “victory.”
61% – Sonic & Black Knight
24% – Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
15% – Wii Sports Resort
SWORDS. Watch the awards presentation at ScrewAttack.
(Please post your 60+ comments below.)
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Ever seen a Snowman with as cool an attitude as Sonic? Neither had I until SonikkuForever sent us some pictures of a Sonic snowman he made.
Continue reading Newcomer: Sonic The Snowhog
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2tIFj97M6c[/youtube]
Steve Lycett under his S0L nickname has responded to rubber banding discussion’s over at the SEGA forums by detailing how it all works in Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing.
Here’s Steve’s response –
You can enable catch-up for human players (in Multiplayer that is, both online and split-screen), but the aim is for the weapons and All-Stars to do the movement through the pack.
Or you can turn it off – and see who is actually better at racing 😛
—
S0L
—
So, very good news for gamers who hate ‘rubber banding’ in multi-player games like Mario Kart and should make for some interesting race’s online. No word on single player but the way Steve says “in multiplayer that is,” we can assume it is in single player, we’ll let you know if we hear any different.
Meanwhile, are you happy with Sumo Digital’s decision to make this optional in multiplayer? Let us know in the comments.
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We’ve previously reported on GameSpot’s trip to SEGA’s Japan Headquarters and have only so far seen pictures. Now, we get to the questions. Oh, yes… the questions. I know what I want to know. Give me some Project effin’ Needlemouse information. Come on… let me have it.
GameSpot readers: Can you give us more details about Project Needlemouse?
Ah, yes. Awesome question, GameSpot. I like you again. SEGA, the floor is yours. Dish some dirt…
Darren Macbeth: More information on this project will be revealed in the new year.
*waitsforprojectneedlemouseinfoslol*
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ShopTo.net don’t seem very pleased with the recent announcement of Banjo-Kazooie being an Xbox 360 exclusive, they’d rather the bear and bird come back to the Nintendo side and be included in the Wii version of Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing. The site has even left the Xbox 360 box art blank compared to the other 3 box arts out of protest.
But seriously how did they make an error like that with the box arts?
EDIT:
Seems ShopTo have fixed the error now but it was still funny none the less.
Xbox 360
Wii
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UPDATE: PC box art revealed.
Amazon’s UK site has revealed the final UK box art for Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing which looks to be matching the U.S. box art including the Xbox 360 version’s ‘With Banjo-Kazooie’ sub title. ShopTo.net have also revealed the PC box art.
(Click to enlarge)
Also worth noting on Amazon’s UK site is that they are now selling Bentley Jones new songs from his So Much More… album in MP3 format as an album and individually, those who prefer CD’s are out of luck. As far as I’m aware this is the first time a UK retailer is selling any of Bentley Jones songs so this is very good news for Bentley Jones and the fans. Hopefully we’ll see more UK retailers follow suit.
Source: Amazon UK
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Because we really can’t wait until January to get our next Bentley fix, it appears Amazon.com already has previews of the soon-to-be-released Bentley Jones EP “So Much More”…
Continue reading Preview Bentley Jones EP on Amazon Now!
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SEGA of America and SEGA Europe are having a 40% Off Mega Sale in the spirit of the holidays on PlayStation Network(U.S. only) and on Wii Virtual Console. Wether it’s classic games, PSP games or DLC SEGA have got you covered.
There’s no mention on the SEGA Europe blogs or the PlayStation Store Update on the PlayStation Europe blog of a PSN sale in Europe so we’re left to assume the sale is only on the U.S. PSN. If we hear any different we’ll update this article and let you know.
Playstation Network (U.S. Only) –
PS3:
Sonic Unleashed Apatos & Shamar Adventure Pack
Sonic Unleashed Chun-nan Adventure Pack
Sonic Unleashed Empire City & Adabat Adventure Pack
Sonic Unleashed Holoska Adventure Pack
Sonic Unleashed Mazuri Adventure Pack
Sonic Unleashed Spagonia Adventure Pack
SONIC: Very Hard Shadow Missions
SONIC: Very Hard Silver Missions
SONIC: Very Hard Sonic Missions
Valkyria Chronicles Edy’s Mission “Enter the Edy Detachment”
Valkyria Chronicles Hard EX Mode
Valkyria Chronicles Selveria’s Mission “Behind Her Blue Flame”
PSP:
Alien Syndrome
Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars
Crush
Full Auto 2: Battlelines
Gunstar Heroes
Iron Man
Sega Genesis Collection
Sonic Rivals
Sonic Rivals 2
Super Monkey Ball Adventure
—————————–
Wii Virtual Console(All regions):
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Gunstar Heroes
Toe Jam & Earl
Puyo Puyo 2
Shining Force
Golden Axe
Altered Beast
Streets Of Rage 2
Sources:
SEGA Europe Blog & Sonic City Blognik
SEGA of America Blog(Wii V.C.)
SEGA of America Blog(PSN)
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With last week’s news of Sonic Unleashed hitting the Xbox 360 Platinum Hits and Classics ranges it looks like SEGA fans have another game to celebrate hitting Platinum Hits status with Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection joining the range. There’s no evidence as yet of the European version titled SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection joining the Classics range but we’ll keep an eye out.
With this news we can safely say there are still alot of fans of classic SEGA titles out there and now any fans who were holding out can now go pick the collection up pretty cheap in the budget Platinum Hits range.
Source: Xbox.com
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n87VS0RB3J8[/youtube]
As a Christmas present to all fans of upcoming racer Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing, SEGA Europe have released the above trailer. It show’s more footage of the Billy Hatcher Blizzard Castle track to someone singing a SEGA themed version of the classic carol Twelve Days Of Christmas. Nothing new is revealed in the trailer before anyone asks.
Source: Sonic City Blognik
Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing is on track for an Early 2010 release.
P.S. Yes the pun was intended.
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The votes are in! We’ve tallied up all the nomination’s poll numbers for the Sonic Site Awards 2009, and soon we will be announcing the winners. As is tradition with the SSAs, there will be a live online broadcast celebrating and announcing the award winners. Known as the ‘Ceremony’, this year’s event will take place live on SEGASonic Radio.
Listen to The Sonic Hour on Sunday, 27th December 2009, 6pm GMT to catch the winners and the no-doubt comical celebration that Dreadknux (me) and Roareye Black will provide. Won’t it be jolly good fun? We’ll also be talking about the New Year and things like that, in a bumper TSH special.
You can listen to SEGASonic Radio live, right now, by clicking here – you can perpetually listen in from today and wait there until Sunday if you really want. Or, you could remember later on and come back. Your choice.
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An extremely well-done crossover job by Toughset of DeviantArt. Submitted to us by Silva Rhymes. KAAA-BOOOOOOM…
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7f5deRz7Hc[/youtube]
Fresh of the OCRemix grill is a remix of Hidden Palace Zone from Sonic 3 & Knuckles. What makes this piece intriguing is how it squeaked by the judges panel at OCR, as the song plays it real loose to the source material, according to djpretzel:
Some of you in the peanut gallery may snicker (pun) derisively when the judges get out their metaphorical – and in some cases, actual – stopwatches and break a ReMix down to ensure it’s more arrangement than not.
I don’t see the issue. I hear Hidden Palace’s melody for a good minute. I can’t understand why this song was on the judges’ panel so long. Aside from the hiccup at the judges panel, this piano piece is beautiful. It’s an emotional, thoughtful, and mellow arrangement of a tune that we’ve all come to know and love.
Download “Hidden Within” by XenonOdyssey at OCRemix
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Our friends at TouchArcade give us the skinny on the recently announced mobile title “Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.” Much like the last mobile olympic outing, Sonic and Co. will be going it alone without the characters from the Mario universe. TouchArcade has provided an HD video of two of the four events, curling and snowboarding cross. Hit the jump to check it out.
Continue reading Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Curling to iPhone
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The SSSS (that’s the Sonic Stadium Soundtrack Squad) launch their regular soundtrack review program; to kick off we take a look at the recent Crush 40 Best of album, Super Sonic Songs…
Continue reading The Sonic Stadium Soundtrack Squad Review: Crush 40 – Super Sonic Songs
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(Click to enlarge)
Own a PS3? Annoyed that the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing get’s Avatar support and Banjo-Kazooie? Well, relax as some lucky fan’s who have got to try out the PS3 exclusive title Modnation Racers beta test have made Sonic and Shadow models to race with among many other video game characters. Check them out here.
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Bonkers Aussie Sonic superfan Elson “Darkspeeds” Wong usually goes full-tilt when he wants to do something, and he’s certainly added some spice to the SEGASonic:Radio line-up; this week will be no exception! Voice actor Mike Pollock, best known as the voice of Dr. Eggman in the Western version of Sonic X will be joining Darkspeeds for a chat on his show!
Continue reading “Voice of Eggman” Mike Pollock Live on SSR Sunday 4:00PM GMT on DJ Darkspeeds
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An under-the-radar post on SEGA Europe’s Flickr account reveals their holiday cheer, a Christmas tree with blue lights! And that’s all I got to say about that. Hit the break for another photo.
Continue reading SEGA Europe’s Christmas Tree
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Remember that “meh” slot car racing set that we showed you last month? Well, now you don’t have to pay for it. Among the latest subscription offers for Official Nintendo Magazine, one of them is the Sonic & Tails tabletop racing set, complete with FOUR FOOT OF ACTION.
This fantastic collector’s edition racing set is an ideal way to pass the time after a heavy gaming session. Can Tails actually beat Sonic in a race? There is only one way to find out and that is to subscribe to Official Nintendo Magazine, bag yourself this awesome gift and save an impressive 20% off the cover price as well! (Requires 4xAA batteries that aren’t included – sorry)
Key errors in that statement: “fantastic” and “ideal.” But hey, it’s free now, I guess. Subscriptions to ONM with these promotional offers cost £10.37 for every three months. Gift alternatives to the slot car racing set include Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for the DS (uh… wow, awesome), Guiness Book of World Records for the DS (the only item worse than the slot car racing), a 2 GB SD gaming card, or a Wii courier bag. I don’t know why the racing set is the “premiere” item to subscribe. You can actually play M&S Olympiad for more than 15 minutes.
FUNKY AKSHUN.
Subscribe to Official Nintendo Magazine and get free stuff already.
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SEGA of America and SEGA Europe have issued a press release regarding yesterdays official announcement of Banjo-Kazooie and Avatar’s presence in the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing. An high quality trailer has also been released on SEGA Europe’s website. SEGA of America have also uploaded the U.S. version of the trailer to their YouTube account.
LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO (18 December, 2009) – SEGA® Europe Ltd., SEGA® of America, Inc. and Microsoft today announced an exciting new partnership for Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing™. For the first time ever in a racing game for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, you will be able to jump in to the game in the form of your Avatar and race against your favourite Sonic & SEGA characters. In yet another addition to the character roster and exclusive to the Xbox 360 version, Banjo and Kazooie will make a welcome return to the console and take to the starting grid in their Bolt Bucket all terrain vehicle!
Working closely with the Rare Studio to bring the popular characters to life, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing sees Banjo and Kazooie taking their place on the starting grid alongside classic SEGA characters such as Sonic, AiAi, Amy, Knuckles and Ryo Hazuki. As well as mastering the drift system to get the best out of the tracks, and picking up weapons such as Sonic speed boots and homing rockets along the way, Banjo and his faithful sidekick Kazooie will be able to unleash their own unique All-Star move in a bid to cross the finish line in pole position!
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing will also be the first racing game for the Xbox 360 to feature fully playable Avatars. Have you ever pictured yourself speeding around the lush green hills of Sonic’s Seaside Hill Zone? Or wondered how you’d look rolling around the levels of Super Monkey Ball? Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing will allow your Avatar to hop in to the All-Stars Racing “Avacar” and put your pedal to the metal around SEGA world inspired tracks! If you find yourself towards the back of the race, or taking hits from everyone’s weapons, it’s your friends that will come to your rescue in the Avatar All-Star move, with recognisable faces from your Xbox LIVE Friends List offering a helping hand!
“We’re very excited to see Banjo and Kazooie back on the screen racing against these great SEGA characters” said Shintaro Kanaoya, Head of Business Strategy and Development at Rare. “We’re also very proud to see the Xbox 360 Avatars, which were conceived of and developed at Rare, incorporated into the game and allowing players to put themselves in the driving seat. The project has been an excellent collaboration between Rare and SEGA, and we’re looking forward to its retail release and tearing around the tracks!”
David Gosen, Vice President, Xbox EMEA says “Avatar characters are fast becoming integral to gaming for the Xbox 360 owner. We are therefore really excited to be bringing them to life as fully playable in this world exclusive. It’s even more thrilling to be launching this activity with such a big title especially when it heralds the return of Banjo & Kazooie to the platform.”
“Having characters as big as Banjo and Kazooie in the Xbox 360 version of game is huge for Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing,” commented Gary Knight, European Marketing Director, SEGA Europe Ltd. “SEGA are proud to have been able to work with such an acclaimed development team as Rare and to go one step further by being one of the first publishers to put truly playable Avatars in a game, really cements SEGA’s commitment to working with first party partners, bringing the best possible content for individual platforms.”
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing sees Sonic and friends speed around tracks set in medieval castle ramparts, lush rainforests and bustling cities, all taken from the visually rich and varied universes of Sonic and SEGA. Are you gonna be faster than Sonic?
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing featuring Banjo Kazooie will be in stores Early 2010.
The U.S. version of the Press Release (revealed via the SEGA of America blog with the Banjo-Kazooie artwork) ends a little differently –
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing featuring Banjo Kazooie will be in stores Feb 2010.
Let’s hope a European release month/date is revealed soon.
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I think one of my all time top ten fantasies (after the one where I’m trapped in an elevator with Tia Carerre) would be to sit around a table with some of the musical geniuses who have worked on Sonic music past and present. Well, to commemorate the launch of the second best of Sonic the Hedgehog album “True Colours”, The big names in the Sonic music Universe, namely Tomoya Ohtani, Hataya Hisashi, Jun Senoue and Kenichi Tokoi gathered to reflect on some of their masterpieces from the past….
Continue reading Sonic Music Artist Roundtable On True Colours Album
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Nintendo Power have previewed the Wii & DS versions of Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing and have also received a few new screenshots of both versions. Nintendo Power re-affirm their earlier confirmation of a Space Channel 5 character presence in the game, no specific character is mentioned but our bets are on Ulala the star of that series. No new information is revealed unfortunately but its always nice to have a look at how the game is looking on the Wii & DS with so much attention always on the HD versions.
Check out the article below(Click thumbnail to enlarge).
Thanks to Emerl over at the SSMB for the scan.
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With the official unveiling of Avatar’s and Banjo-Kazooie’s appearances in Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing some new screenshots have been revealed of those characters in the game. One interesting tidbit in the screenshot showing the Avatar’s All-Star move is the updated HUD that has a tracking bar instead of a map indicating how far you and your opponents are from the finish line. Wether this will be used instead of a map or as a seperate option to maps we can only guess until we receive confirmation from SEGA/Sumo Digital.
Check out the other three screenshots below (Click the thumbnails to enlarge)
Sources:
Official Xbox UK site
MundoRare
Thanks to NinMicroSega over at the SSMB for the non-Silverlight link.
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You may remember last week when we informed you that Gamespot were after user questions for their visit to SEGA’s Tokyo HQ, well they have returned and shared some photo’s from SEGA’s foyer.
Continue reading Gamespot Check Out SEGA Tokyo HQ
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UPDATE: Now on YouTube –
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fdhHMlxsj4[/youtube]
A new trailer for Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing featuring Banjo-Kazooie has just hit Xbox Live on Xbox 3660. The trailer weighs in at 72.12MB.
The trailer is now available via the Marketplace on the official Xbox web site too.
The trailer reveals your Xbox 360 Avatars are playable in the game for a more custom experience. The trailer also lays to rest any hope fans had for exclusive characters in the other versions of the game with the voice-over confirming “Exclusive Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing characters only on Xbox 360.”
Examining the trailer:
– Shadow’s All-Star Move is, you guessed it Super Shadow!
– The Avatar’s All-Star Move gathers your friends Avatar’s to lift your vehicle and run while carrying your car to give you what looks to be a comical boost in speed while bashing through opponents.
– A track that looks like Dino Mountain from Billy Hatcher is shown.
– A Tokyo type city track is also shown, possibly representing Yakuza, Shenmue or Jet Set/Grind Radio.
– Banjo-Kazooie’s vehicle’s license plate says BANJO for anyone interested.
– Final Fortress from Sonic Heroes also appears as a new track.
– Banjo Kazooie’s All-Star Move has Kazooie peck Banjo’s head then get out her magical wrench from Nuts & Bolts to throw Jiggies behind them to attack their opponents.
– Amy is shown attacking Tails with a giant blue ball item.
– Banjo Kazooie’s vehicle has the Rare logo as a hood ornament.
– The trailer’s description reveals Banjo-Kazooie’s vehicle to be named the ‘Bolt Bucket’ Jeep and the Avatar’s vehicle to be called the ‘Avacar’.
– The UK official Xbox site is now displaying the same box art as the U.S. with Banjo Kazooie on the front so that’s the UK Xbox 360 box art confirmed.
The desert track shown is from Super Monkey Ball. If you pause the trailer at the part where Banjo stands up and waves at everyone behind him to the left you can see a giant stone wheel with AiAi and Mee-Mee’s faces on with a picture of a banana. The track also has banana peel obstacles too. Super Monkey Ball character statues can also be seen at the end of the trailer.
Steve Lycett from Sumo Digital under his nickname S0L has confirmed via the SSMB that the Tokyo track is from the Jet Set Radio games.
Steve also assures fans that Bajo-Kazooie are on the disc and not downloadable content.
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