Apotos & Shamar Adventure Pack Now On U.S. PSN

apotosshamar

U.S. PS3 Sonic Unleashed owners can now finally download the Apotos & Shamar Adventure Pack from the Playstation Store for $2.99. If you didn’t catch our last two news stories on the European PS3 release or the Xbox Live release of the content then here are the contents of the pack yet again:

Shamar consists of
Sonic:
Act 1-2: Get to the goal in time!
Act 3: Find the Chao!

Werehog:
Act 2: Head for the goal
Act 3: Head for the goal!

Apotos consists of
Sonic:
Act 1-2: Head for the goal!
Act 2-2: Head for the goal!
Act 4: Head for the goal!

Werehog:
Act 1-2: Head for the goal!
Act 1-3 Head for the goal!

U.S. Official Playstation Blog: Playstation Store Update 4th June

The European Playstation Store hasn’t received any Sonic Unleashed DLC this week so it looks like you EU PS3 guys and gals will be waiting even longer for your missing Mazuri Adventure Pack.

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Sonic Unleashed Mobile – New Trailer And Screens

sonic-unleashed-mobile-screen

SEGA have unveiled five new screenshots and a trailer for the upcoming mobile phone release of Sonic Unleashed. The game is being brought to you by Gameloft, a well known developer on the mobile phone gaming circuit. The game is purely 2D and looks to have some similarities to popular Sonic side-scroller games Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure for Nintendo DS. The levels look finely detailed and Sonic even has new sprites compared to past mobile games using his Sonic Advance sprites.

You can check the games appearance yourself by checking the rest of the screenshots and trailer out over at IGN. SEGA and Gameloft have yet to reveal a release date for the game but we’ll let you know as soon as one is revealed.

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New M&SATOWG Official Site Updates

mario-sonic-olympic-winter-games-logo

SEGA have updated the official site for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. Among the new updates you can find the E3 ’09 trailer that reveals Donkey Kong and Metal Sonic as playable characters aswell as Tails cheating on the ski jump.

You can also find new screens for both Wii and DS formats, character artwork, info on events and character stats for 10 of the characters which oddly reveal Donkey Kong to have higher speed than both Sonic and Metal Sonic.

The site promises More coming soon’ and now displays a release month of October 2009.

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PS3 Version of SSASR to be Playstation Network Only

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SEGA Europe and SEGA of America have updated their format listings on their Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing game pages. The Playstation 3 version’s listing has been changed to Playstation Network indicating that format will now only receive a downloadable version of the game on the Playstation Store. This version is still listed for release in Early 2010, so the change hasn’t affected the release date period.

With the early unveiling of PSP GO (the newest PSP model which can only play games downloaded from Playstation Networks Playstation Store), could this sudden change mean there is now a PSP version on the way to help support PSP GO? SEGA have always supported PSP so it’s possible.

SEGA of America’s game page also lists a PC Download version of the game for an Early 2010 release which has been listed there and in the trailer since the games unveiling but is still absent from SEGA Europe’s game page. We’ll let you know if/when this version gets announced for Europe.

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Apotos & Shamar Adventure Pack Now On EU PSN

apotos
shamar

European PS3 Sonic Unleashed owners can now download the Apotos & Shamar Adventure Pack from the Playstation Store for £2.39. If you didn’t catch our news story on the Xbox Live release of the content then here are the contents of the pack again:

Shamar consists of
Sonic:
Act 1-2: Get to the goal in time!
Act 3: Find the Chao!

Werehog:
Act 2: Head for the goal
Act 3: Head for the goal!

Apotos consists of
Sonic:
Act 1-2: Head for the goal!
Act 2-2: Head for the goal!
Act 4: Head for the goal!

Werehog:
Act 1-2: Head for the goal!
Act 1-3 Head for the goal!

The U.S. Playstation Store hasn’t received the pack this week, we’ll keep an eye out for it in next weeks update and let you know if it appears.

In other Unleashed DLC news SEGA Europe still haven’t released the Mazuri Adventure Pack on the European Playstation Store breaking the pattern that was mirroring Xbox Live’s Adventure Pack releases since the Mazuri Adventure Pack was the fourth pack released on Xbox Live before the Apotos & Shamar Adventure Pack. We’ll let you know if and when the Mazuri Adventure Pack is released on the European Playstation Store.

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Apotos, Shamar Adventure Pack On Xbox – No EU/US PS3 DLC

apotos shamar

Xbox 360 owners and Japanese PS3 users are in for a double whammy as you can now download the Apotos and Shamar Adventure Pack off of Xbox Live Marketplace and the Japanese Playstation Store. The pack weighs in at a massive 795 MB but still only costs 250 Microsoft Points and ¥300. The Xbox Live Marketplace describes the pack to contain five daytime stages and four nighttime stages with three brand new stages and six new missions.

I’ve downloaded the pack and here’s what’s been added:
Shamar consists of
Sonic:
Act 1-2: Get to the goal in time!
Act 3: Find the Chao!

Werehog:
Act 2: Head for the goal
Act 3: Head for the goal!

Apotos consists of
Sonic:
Act 1-2: Head for the goal!
Act 2-2: Head for the goal!
Act 4: Head for the goal!

Werehog:
Act 1-2: Head for the goal!
Act 1-3 Head for the goal!

European and U.S. PS3 users will be getting an update to their Playstation Stores later today, if any Sonic Unleashed DLC gets added we’ll let you know.

UPDATE:
European and U.S. PS3 Playstation Store’s have updated and there’s no Sonic Unleashed DLC to be found on either regions store this week.

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Holoska Adventure Pack Now On EU PS Store

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European PS3 users have been very patient while they have been lagging behind with Sonic Unleashed downloadable content packs. For the past couple of weeks the European Playstation Store has been two packs behind Xbox 360 users and PS3 users from other regions but today you can now download the Holoska Adventure Pack. Unfortunately the Mazuri Adventure Pack is still to come but with no downloadable content released today on Xbox Live or the Playstation Store in other regions at least you EU PS3 users aren’t far behind now.

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Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles XBLA Coming This Summer

sonic_3__knuckles_title_screen

SEGA UK have today confirmed SEGA Vintage Collection 2 for Xbox Live Arcade. Among the games to be released in the new collection are Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. Sonic 3 has been known about for a while after the achievements were released to the net a few weeks back which you can check out in our article here.

Sonic & Knuckles will also include the lock-on feature we informed you about 2 weeks ago if you have Sonic 3 and Sonic 2, a feature missing from the recent SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection version.

Other games to be released in this collection are –
Gunstar Heroes(XBLA, PSN)
Comix Zone(XBLA)
Shinobi (Arcade) (XBLA)
Phantasy Star II (XBLA)
Altered Beast (XBLA)

New features in the games will include:
Re-worked for High-Definition
Online Leaderboards
Network Play (Excludes Phantasy Star II, Shinobi, Comix Zone)

All of the games are currently planned to be released summer 2009 except for Sonic & Knuckles which will be released late summer 2009. No news on the collection being released outside of the UK yet but we will update you when we hear news.

UPDATE:
SEGA Of America have confirmed in their blog that the games will be released in the U.S. too.

Also, SEGA have posted a blog entry about this news on their European blog confirming their release in the whole of Europe.

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U.S. PS3 Unleashed owners get Mazuri DLC

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U.S. PS3 owners of Sonic Unleashed have caught up to Xbox 360 owners again with the Mazuri Adventure Pack released on the Playstation Store yesterday.

Here’s some information released on the Official U.S. Playstation Blog

Sonic Unleashed Mazuri Adventure Pack ($2.99)
Download an all-new Mazuri adventure! From tree-tops to sand-stone structures, four daytime & two nighttime stages await you in this exotic town built on reddish-brown soil. This pack includes three brand new stages and three new missions. Be sure and download the other location packs to unleash the full Sonic experience!
Note: These stages are accessed in Mazuri, so unlocking Mazuri is a requirement to play these additional stages.
File size: 678 MB

U.S. PS3 Unleashed owners can also purchase and download the Holoska Adventure Pack which was released on Playstation Store two weeks back.

EU PS3 owners haven’t received any packs this week so will have to continue waiting for their Holoska and Mazuri packs.

Check back next week for further Sonic Unleashed downloadable content updates!

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SEGA confirm M&S Winter Olympics To Appear At E3

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SEGA have confirmed via their Twitter feed that Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games will be appearing at E3, no version(s) was mentioned but I think we can assume that both versions will be present.

SEGA will also be showcasing these upcoming games –
* Alpha Protocol
* Bayonetta
* Planet 51
* The Conduit
* Vancouver 2010

E3 is also a place to announce the unnanounced so no doubt SEGA will have some more great titles appear at the event, maybe the next Sonic? Here’s hoping!

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IGN Readers Vote Sonic 3rd Most Overrated Videogame Character

sonic-unleashed-shock-face In a recent poll, IGN asked readers to vote for their most overrated video game characters and the top 10 results are now in.

Here’s a list –
1. Master Chief
2. Lara Croft
3. Sonic The Hedgehog
4. Marcus Fenix
5. Chris Redfield
6. Kratos
7. Pac-Man
8. Big Daddy
9. Altair
10. Donkey Kong

As you can see IGN reader votes placed Sonic as the 3rd most overrated video game character, the only two they consider more overrated than Sonic are Lara Croft and Master Chief which is already causing a stir in the Xbox community but should the Sonic community take this in an equally immature manner? Well no, this is a gaming press sites poll like any other to be taken with a grain of salt.

Everyone has opinions and their own different tastes in gaming, what one person likes doesn’t mean another person will like it whether it is a good or bad game. This poll has allowed people to vote on a wide range of characters from various different genre’s too so the vote was always going to be messy and end up with some of the most popular characters ever included in this list.

Some people will no doubt give this list some credibility but that’s their opinion and viewpoint. Yes Sonic has had a rough time for a few years now games wise but I really believe that the gameplay of the Sonic stages in Sonic Unleashed was a big step in the right direction.

Now what are your views on this? Do you think Sonic deserves his spot in 3rd place? Do you think people should listen to it or just shake it off and ignore it?

Thanks to Flamerstreak over at his SSMB topic for the info.

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New Unleashed Xbox 360 Update, More DLC Coming

sonic-unleashed-box-art

The Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed has received a new update for download on Xbox Live this morning in Europe, no news on wether other regions have received this but Xbox Live updates are usually worldwide so other regions will most likely have this too.

The update doesn’t seem to have changed anything about the game(Adabat’s frame-rate is still choppy) although after loading up your game save the cursor on the planet isn’t over the last area you visited like normal but instead the cursor is over an open ocean area. If it’s anything like the last update the game got over Xbox Live and Playstation Network, it will be to prepare the game for upcoming downloadable content and then any fixes to the game will take effect once you have the downloadable content.

We’ll bring you more news on this as it happens.

UPDATE:
Archangel UK over at the official Sonic City Blognik has confirmed that the Unleashed Xbox 360 patch put out today does indeed confirm our speculation that more downloadable content is coming and that current hidden areas in the game people in the research community have been digging into will be opening up.

Link

We’ll let you know more on this when the downloadable content becomes available.

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Sonic Channel Colouring Page Art Update

shadow-sonic-channel-colouring-page sonic-sonic-channel-colouring-page

Sonic Channel, the Japanese official Sonic website has updated today with the second of this years colouring pages with official artwork from Sonic Team. First we had Sonic in a cheery walking pose and now we have Shadow standing with his hand to his chest maybe taking an oath? If you like the look of these, or would like to see Sonic in a shade of green and Shadow in a shade of purple or just want to colour them in properly (you boring person) you can download them from Sonic Channel here.

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Ebay Watch: Rare Tomy Sonic Char-G

sonic-char-g

News is slow at the moment, so it’s time for another edition of Ebay Watch. Back in the early 90’s toy developers Tomy released alot of Sonic merchandise to fill the young fans playtime when away from the awesome Sonic video game titles. One piece of merchandise Tomy released was a Sonic edition of it’s then popular Char-G remote control cars.

What was so special about these were that they could be recharged in about 45 seconds from the remote handset and when driving them around you could make them spin, flash the headlights and do wheelie stunts. Doesn’t sound like much now but these were pretty cool back in the day and having a Sonic one made you even cooler.

If you’d like one of these very rare pieces of merchandise you can bid for it on eBay here.

 

 

Also on eBay –
sonic-rush-empty-box

Someone is amusingly enough selling an almost empty Sonic Rush box, I say almost empty due to the fact there is no game card and just a manual inside. Even more amusing, one person so far has actually bidded on this. Some crazy people out there on eBay. You can check this out here.

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New Merchandise: Super Sonic/Shadow figures

super-sonic-figure-tru super-shadow-figure-tru

It seem’s Toys R Us can’t get enough of our favourite video game franchise, after the exclusive Sonic Unleashed posable Werehog action figure’s you can now pre-order two new figures exclusively at their stores/website.

The two figures available are Sonic Super
Posers – Super Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic Super Posers – Super Shadow The Hedgehog. Bet you can’t say either of those fast without stopping for breath. Both are extremely posable with (as the packaging puts it) “Over 25 points of articulation”, great for those battles with your sisters Barbie dolls. Each figure costs $10.99 and their estimated ship date is 05/10/2009(that’s 10th May 2009 for us Brit’s).

You can pre-order the figures at Toys R Us website at the following links –
Super Sonic
Super Shadow

No sign of the figures on the UK Toys R Us website at the moment but we’ll let you know if they do turn up.

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U.S. Unleashed PS3 Owners Get DLC

sonic-unleashed-spagonia

We have just received news that U.S. PS3 owners of Sonic Unleashed have finally received the Chun-nan and Spagonia downloadable content packs in the Playstation Store. Xbox 360 owners in the U.S. have been enjoying these stages for 7 weeks now, even European PS3 owners of the game got the Chun-nan pack a week or two ago.

The Chun-nan Adventure Pack costs $2.99 and it’s file size weighs in at 367 MB and the Spagonia Adventure Pack also cost’s $2.99 with the file size almost double that of the Chun-nan pack at 707 MB.

The Spagonia pack has yet to be released on the European Playstation Store but we’ll update you as soon as it is.

Thanks to Spicylicious at the SSMB for the update!

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New Mario & Sonic Playtest In Games Master Magazine

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In their new issue out in shops from today Games Master have a new 6 page hands-on playtest of both the Wii and DS versions of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. Aswell as their hands-on views Games Master have plenty of new screens, all new info from a recent talk with the games producer and directors and a look at both Mario and Sonic’s games over the years.

You can pick up the mag in UK stores now or online here for just £3.99. People outside the UK can buy the mag on that site too.

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SBK Script Up For Grabs In SEGA Europe Competition

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UPDATE: In an update at the Sonic City Blognik ArchangelUK informs that the competition is now open to all countries.

SEGA Europe together with entertainment and media news website Digital Spy are offering you the chance to win one of only two copies made of the Japanese Sonic and the Black Knight script. Even better it’s signed by the game’s producer Tetsu Katano. ArchangelUK tells us in his latest Sonic City Blognik entry that he has the other one but with a bit of luck and by answering a simple competition question you could be the lucky owner of the second one. Three runners-up will get a Sonic and the Black Knight inflatable sword and a SEGA vinyl sticker. Entries are to be one per household and are to be in by Friday, April 10, 2009 at midday.

You can check out the question and full competition details at Digital Spy’s website.

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SATBK receives highest score yet from kids mag ‘Toxic’

toxic-mag

So what? I hear you say… Well, if anyone remembers Tetsu Katano claimed Sonic and the Black Knight was developed for the younger gamers and until now all other media have given this game an 8/10 or below and now a kids magazine called Toxic comes along and gives the game a 9/10 and their ‘Star Game’ award.

The reviewers from this magazine may not be kids but its these people’s jobs to actually look at the game from a kids point of view which alot of reviewers especially from the big gaming sites have failed to do. Toxic’s reviewers have reviewed it from a kids eyes and gave it a top score, other sites have reviewed it from an hardcore Sonic fan’s point of view and constantly complained about the gimmicks, gameplay and how it’s not like traditional Sonic. This game has been designed to be different and easy to pick up and play for kids but most reviewers just haven’t understood that.

Toxic, we love you! Tetsu Katano and the rest of Sonic Team would be proud!

Also, one of Toxic’s free gifts this issue is an official set of Sonic and the Black Knight stickers. –
toxic-mag-satbk-stickers1 toxic-mag-satbk-stickers2

After picking up this issue I’ve noticed it says their next issue is out tomorrow so merchandise fans wishing to pick this issue up will be out of luck at their local shops. I suggest contacting them through their website and requesting a back issue order of it. It’s issue ‘136 18-Mar-31 Mar’.

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Spagonia Adventure Pack now on Xbox Live

sonic-unleashed-spagonia

A second downloadable content pack for Sonic Unleashed titled Spagonia Adventure Pack is now available from Xbox Live Marketplace. 2 weeks ago we saw the first pack titled Chun-Nan Adventure Pack which contained extra stages for both Sonic and his Werehog form.

We are currently downloading this pack to investigate it’s contents and will update you soon. The description says four daytime stages and two night-time stages are available, three of them are all new and three are new missions. No word on if this is available on the Playstation Store which in the U.S. and Europe still hasn’t received the Chun-Nan pack.

UPDATE: I’ve had a quick play of the stages and here are my findings. Sonic: The first two are hard mode versions of Act’s 1 and 2 with the other two stages being completely new. One is a tricky platforming stage held in the skies of Spagonia and the other is a chase against some flying bots.

Werehog: The first is a hard mode version of Act 1 and the second is a completely new stage that see’s you travel round the canal’s of Spagonia.

Seem’s a pretty good pack that’s definitely worth the 250 MS Points.

You can download the pack here.

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Mega777 found! Happy ending to SatBK contest

Good news everyone, ArchangelUK has let the community know in a new Sonic City Blognik entry that he has managed to track down Mega777!

For those who don’t know, a SatBK fan art contest winner by the name of Antonio Miniero entered into the contest a near exact copy of Mega777’s SA2 scene art piece despite the rules clearly stating that submissions had to be original artwork created by yourself. Antonio Miniero’s copy made it into the final shipped copies of Sonic and the Black Knight for Wii but Antonio was found out soon after the game’s release and was immediately disqualified, though he took it well and understood he had broken the rules.

Mega777 who’s real name is Francesca will now be sent a free copy of Sonic and the Black Knight together with a SEGA goody bag and some rare Sonic and the Secret Rings art prints signed by Ogawa-san from ArchangelUK’s own personal vault. Nice one AAUK 😉

ArchangelUK also informs us that Francesca(Mega777) has taken her talent to the world of work animating storyboards for TV shows and movies. How cool is that? Happy ending all round!

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Sonic Rivals 2 to enter Greatest Hits range

sonic-rivals-2-box-art

Sony has announced that the second title in the PSP Sonic series Sonic Rivals will be one of a new group of games to enter their ‘Greatest Hits’ range in the U.S.

psp-greatest-hits-banner

No this isn’t a brand of video game nostalgia music albums but a range of classic games released on Sony’s consoles. To enter the ‘Greatest Hits’ range a game has to have sold over 250,000 units and be out for 9 months. The game will now retail in the U.S. for $19.99 from April 5th.

The ‘Greatest Hits’ range is very similar to the ‘Platinum’ range Sony has over here in Europe where Sonic Rivals is already among titles in the range so should we expect to see Sonic Rivals 2 enter the ‘Platinum’ range soon? I’d say so, we shall let you know if it does. Until then you can pick the standard copy up pretty cheap in both the U.S. and Europe if you shop around. Go on, you know your PSP is begging for some Sonic.

Source: Kotaku

UPDATE:
Sonic Rivals 2 is already in the Platinum range in Europe. So, if you want a new Sonic game for your PSP on the cheap during the credit crunch go get it now! Thanks to BADavid in the comments section for the heads up.

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Best of Sonic Relief 2009

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Sonic Relief has been a big success having reached its £100.00 fundraising target by raising £102.00 for Comic Relief. We received 36 fantastic entries in total for the event and me and MK Skillz(founder of Sonic Relief) wanted to showcase some of our picks of the lot.

MK Skillz:
Casanova’s video entry –
The Bestist Sonic Fan Fiction Ever

Indigo Rush’s entry –
sonic_relief_2009_by_indigorush101

Continue reading Best of Sonic Relief 2009

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Sonic Relief 2009 – Grand Total Announcement

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15-3-09 UPDATE:
SONIC RELIEF 2009: THE GRAND TOTAL

Red Nose Day has now been and gone and Sonic & The Black Knight is now on UK shelves… but there’s still one last thing to do before we say “sayonara” to Sonic Relief 2009 (which was conceptualised to celebrate the two) and that’s to announce the grand total we raised for charity.

Only a couple of weeks ago we asked you to “do something Sonic for money”, be it a drawing, a video, a song… literally anything. And you did. For a relatively unplanned event and a fairly short time span, we received loads of entries – all in the name of a good cause. Thank you to all who entered.

Certain members had vowed to donate money to Comic Relief based on how many entries we received (be it 50p per entry, a set amount whatever the number of entries, or strange mathematical calculations) and before I reveal the total I’d just like to say thank you to all of these. Without you, this event could never have taken place or been the success it has become. Special thanks goes to MK Skillz who originally put the idea through to me and without his constant help throughout the event, none of this could have happened. Special thanks also go to my wife Emma, Urtheart, vger, JJ4eva, The DJ and bolt7 for all their donations, you rock!

So then, shall we get on with it?

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for!

I can now reveal that Sonic Relief 2009 managed to raise a rather spectacular £102 for Comic Relief!

It may not sound like much but considering the short space of time we had, that’s a really respectable amount. It may only be a small addition to Comic Relief’s current total of over £57 million but it’s a valuable addition nonetheless – and it’s also helped to bring our community together to aid a common cause.

In celebration of this year’s success we are also planning to present some of the best Sonic Relief 2009 entries on The Sonic Stadium’s front page.

So, I guess that’s it for Sonic Relief then… right?

Well, no. Judging by the success of this first fundraising drive, I’m more than up for doing it again sometime in the future – and I’m sure that a lot of you would be too! With more time, more planning, and more support who knows what we could be capable of raising…?

14-3-09 UPDATE: That’s a wrap folks!

So if I’ve counted right, we have 36 entries! Some are from multiple entries some people submitted but it’s still an awesome number of entries.

Thanks to everyone who contributed, that’s £17.00 I will be donating to Comic Relief. We have £20 going to Comic Relief from The DJ, that makes £37.00. Urtheart will be donating so much per entry via his calculation that I can’t get my head around 😆 Other staff will be donating some cash too. Once we have a full total of the raised amount, we’ll let you know our grand total.

Thanks again everyone, you’ve helped a great cause 😉

6-3-09 UPDATE: To make things more official, gain optional donations and to put entries in a place where everyone can see and appreciate them Sonic Relief now has an Official Comic Relief site which you can check out here. Turns out these Comic Relief pages only allow 3 pics and 3 videos up at one time so we’ll be rotating entries so that everyone has some showcase time on the site.

To celebrate the UK release of Sonic & The Black Knight as well as Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day on Friday 13th March 2009, we’re giving you the chance to help raise some money for charity in the very first Sonic Relief!

Sonic Relief is a concept made by SSMB forumer MK Skillz, which simply asks you to “do something Sonic for money”. Thanks to the super power of teamwork, The Sonic Stadium is heavily supporting the idea and it’s been given the go ahead.

All we need you to do is to be a part of Sonic Relief! Whether you want to dress up as your favourite Sonic character, sing a song, draw us a picture… literally ANYTHING (as long as it’s funny and will make us laugh!) then we want to see it! The possibilities are endless!

For every entry that we receive, Shadzter (as well as other supporting members such as Urtheart, Vger, bolt, and SEGA Sonic’s Radio DJs The DJ and JJ4eva) will donate money to Comic Relief. The more entries, the more money we raise… simple!

For those of you who do not know who or what Comic Relief is, it’s a UK based charity which aims to make “a just world free from poverty”. Every two years, Comic Relief holds Red Nose Day – a live television extravaganza which is usually a guaranteed night in of laughter. The general public can also purchase specially made Red Noses or simply do anything to raise money, with all the proceeds going to the charity. If you wish to find out more, please visit http://www.comicrelief.com/ or http://www.rednoseday.com/

All entries should be posted in the SSMB Sonic Relief  topic.

The closing date for entries is Friday 13th March 2009.

Thanks for all your support so far, stay tuned for more Sonic Relief announcements coming soon!

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Djahalland Reveals Sonic World Adventure Concept Art

ShadiWulf from Rings & Emeralds has discovered the website of the art studio that was commissioned to produce concept artwork for Sonic World Adventure (or Sonic Unleashed to you and I). Geoffroy Thoorens, on his personal website Djahalland, was working at art studio AOKI when they were asked to provide settings for the game back in 2007. He has recently uploaded all of those works online, and you can see them here (or on the Djahalland website).

AOKI Concept Art

Click the image to see all the Concept Art

The concept art is focused on the stages found in the final game, you can even see some of your favourite moments from the game like the lood de loops in Holoska. The artwork is amazing for the persons first job, it’s great to see how much effort went into the design on the stages and it certainly shows, in this art and the final game.

Djahalland Gallery (via Rings & Emeralds)

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SEGA Europe reveal SATBK UK release date

SEGA Europe have revealed the UK release date of the next installment in the Sonic Storybook series on Nintendo Wii, Sonic and the Black Knight. The game will hit UK stores Friday 13th March. Let’s hope the release goes well despite being released on the 2nd of this years Friday the 13th’s and on the same day as Resident Evil 5’s release.

SEGA Europe’s product page

Thanks to MK Skillz at the SSMB for the tip.

Will any of you be picking Sonic’s sword slashing adventure up? Let us know in the comments.

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Sonic receives broken arm by a Mitsubishi

The diabolical Dr.Eggman has finally damaged our beloved hero Sonic The Hedgehog with his latest vehicle contraption designed with a Mitsubishi car theme.

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This was the moment Eggman reversed into Sonic who was posing for the media for upcoming game Sonic and the Black Knight…

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The incident has left our spikey blue hero with his arm in a sling but he refuses to let it get him down because he’s cool like that.

After hitting Sonic, Eggman jumped out of his vehicle and ran off (as best an egg shaped man can) laughing like the evil villain he is. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

Sonic is recovering well after Princess Elise of Soleanna happened by and treated his arm with one of her thin white sheets she always carries around handy(see Sonic ‘06) which she made into a sling for the injured hedgehog.

When asked about the incident Sonic said “It’ll take more than a Mitsubishi to beat me Eggman! Next time you won’t be so lucky!”

Sonic has since given the Mitsubishi car to Tails who is now tinkering with the vehicle and plans to build a flying car called the Tornadobishi. More on that at a later date.

Joke’s aside, this is obviously a giant Sonic The Hedgehog statue like the one TSS’s own Brad Flick reported on last month. That particular statue started life on ebay at £500.00 and sold in the end with the winning bid at a whopping £620.00. Well, now we have another one on ebay at the cheaper starting bid price of £200.00 which is no doubt because, as the owner states –

Right arm original fixing broke, temporary repair made (bolted & mastic).

You can also ‘Buy It Now’ for £300.00.

The owner ronb8364 has taken plenty of photo’s of the gigantahog by his garage and Mitsubishi car which if I may say, Sonic is alot taller than as shown in this pic –

sonic-mitsubishi

ronb8364 – Sonics head alone half filled back of Mitsubishi pickup.

The statue currently has no bids and ronb8364 although preferring collection is willing to deliver upon agreed costs, well everyone needs costly petrol to get places :p

You can bid for this bad boy here

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SEGA granted PS Home development license

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Sony Computer Entertainment have revealed 24 third party companies who have been granted development licenses to support Sony’s community focused virtual world PlayStation Home and among those 24 names is SEGA. PlayStation Home is currently available via PlayStation Network in BETA form but with all of this third party support should soon be on track to being complete.

The full third party support list is shown in the above slide shown at a press event but if you’d like a written list here it is –
Atlus
Activision
Acquire
Irem
EA
SNK
AQ Interactive
GungHo
Games Republic
Q Entertainment
Capcom
Koei
Hudson
Sega
Disney
D3
Spike
Genki
Nippon Ichi
Ubisoft
Bandai Namco
Paon
Tecmo
Konami

Big names missing are –
Square Enix
THQ
Atari
Midway
LucasArts
Rockstar
Take-Two

No info or media has been revealed as to what these third party companies plan on adding to PlayStation Home yet due to them only just getting their development licenses but it should certainly be interesting with the ability for these companies to be able to develop rooms themed around certain games as shown a while back with Sony’s titles.

Could we see a Sonic themed room with rings, item boxes and Chao decorated around the room. Sonic 1 playable arcade machines in the corner? Maybe it could be like Sonic’s room on Sonic Shuffle? Either way, make it happen SEGA!

Link

Would you like a Sonic room in PlayStation Home? What other SEGA franchises could have a good home in Home? *dodgy pun* Let us know in the comments

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Tetsu Katano and Yuji Naka on recent Sonic

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At a recent event in London where Sonic Team’s upcoming Sonic and the Black Knight title for Wii was being showcased, Eurogamer managed to grasp a video interview with Tetsu Katano, who is well known for his work on past achievements such as Sonic Adventure 1 & 2.

In the interview, Tetsu responds to feedback about recent Sonic game gimmicks, his awareness of the criticism and how they implemented into the game. When asked about returning to Sonic’s 2D gameplay, Tetsu let’s us know they do like to target the core Sonic users but it’s under discussion at the moment and he can’t say alot about it. A new game for the hardcore Sonic fans in development, perhaps?

Yuji Naka also had a look at the new game while he was at the event, and explains his feelings on the recent Sonic since he left Sonic Team. Naka-san explains how he is happy to be free to work on new projects now he doesn’t have to work so hard on Sonic. He sees today’s Sonic as one that is breaking out of the mould he made and taking a new direction, and hopes this will be one the fans can enjoy.

You can check out the video interviews here. Yuji Naka on let’s Tap: 0:00-06:09, Tetsu Katano: 6:10 and shortly afterwards Yuji Naka’s thoughts on recent Sonic.

What are your oppinion’s on these statements? Do you like Sonic’s recent direction? Is the TSS front page getting too clogged up with Yuji Naka love? Let us know in the comments.

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Sonic the Snowhog

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As anyone in the UK will know, it was a very white day yesterday with the blizzard that arrived in the morning, and what better way to have fun in the flakey weather than to draw Sonic in the snow? After 2 attempts this is what I ended with – it only took 10 minutes but I don’t think it came out too bad and I labelled Sonic’s name under it too just in case people in the area didn’t recognise it right away.

I originally planned for it to be bigger and use all of the patch of grass but I slipped and fell on my arse while ‘drawing’ the first attempt to which some guys nearby laughed at, oh well it was worth it to immortalize some hedgehog love outside my block of flats. After 2 hours nobody trampled it so I assume it’s got some fans. Some people in the surrounding blocks of flats should have a good view of it.

You can see more of my pics and the members of the SSMB’s pics here.

How was your snow day? Have you done anything Sonic related in/with the snow today? Let us know in the comments.

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Sonic Mega Collection + Rated for XBLM

smc-xbox

European ratings board PEGI have rated the Xbox Original title Sonic Mega Collection Plus for Xbox Live Arcade. We can only assume they mean the ‘Originals’ section of the Marketplace, and not the Live Arcade itself. For those who don’t know, SMC+ is an Xbox re-release of a Gamecube Sonic compilation, with added Game Gear titles as well as a few hidden non-Sonic titles.

PEGI have rated the game 7+, which is odd because they rated the original Xbox version 12+, so could we see some cuts in this port? Another thing that’s odd about this is that the original Xbox version is backwards compatible with the Xbox 360 anyway, the Mega Drive games will soon be released in SEGA’s newest compilation (SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection) and two of those Mega Drive titles are already on the Xbox Live Arcade.

Oh well, if it’s going cheap and people can’t find the original Xbox game and want some added Game Gear action, this will be a good buy for them.

Source: PEGI

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Ebay Watch: Rare Sonic goodies to be had

sonic15th Anniversary Ltd Ed Statue

I admit, news has been slow lately so I thought I’d dig around Ebay and see what Sonic treasures there are to be found and I managed to find a few gems for you lot to get your grubby little mits on. One of the item’s I found was a 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog 15th Anniversary Limited Edition statue, one of only 2,500 made. The item still has the certificate of authenticity too and looks to be in mint condition. The statue is currently going for $19.99 and has no bids at the moment so get bidding while you still can.
Link

sonic-sketch
The 2nd item I dug up was an original 1994 Sonic the Hedgehog sketch from a Sonic artist Manak NR. I don’t know much about this one or wether this was an artist from the comics or games. After researching around the net I could only find an artist from that time known as David Manak who designed for the Sonic 3 comic adaptaion. The item is currenty going for $9.99 and has no bids at the moment.
Link

sonic-2-gold
The 3rd item I came across is a SEGA Gold Collection edition of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Mega Drive. I’ve never seen one of these before but it looks pretty cool and very collectible. It even has a little gold Sonic at the bottom right of the box. The item is being sold at a ‘Buy It Now’ price of $10.00, pretty cheap if you ask me.
Link

Now hop to it bargain hunters! *God damn I hate that show…*

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CONFIRMED: Sega of America Cut ‘About 30’ Staff

sega-sonic-logo

After an early report from IGN who claimed they had reason to believe 30 staff had been cut from our beloved video game publisher SEGA, a new report from EDGE with word from a SEGA of America representative has arisen to confirm jobs have been cut.

In an e-mail response to EDGE, the un-named SEGA rep stated –

Sega of America has grown at pace with the booming videogame industry, but at this time of economic recession, harsh retail landscape, and the reality of business challenges to profitability, we must take steps to reduce our cost structure and ensure long-term success.”

Guess even Sonic’s latest title can’t save them from the current financial crisis (sorry Sonic, we know you try).

The rep informed EDGE “around 30 people” have been laid off work and went on to say –

“The decision to lay off staff was a difficult one, and we thank these employees for their contributions and wish them well in their future endeavors.”

With todays financial crisis and more and businesses facing pressure and/or closure every day, it is becoming tougher for people to find employment. We at TSS wish those staff members well for the future and hope they do manage find more work and happiness through this difficult time whatever happens.

Source: EDGE

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OPM: Unleashed 1 of 4 Biggest Diaspointments of 2008

sonic-unleashed-disapointment-OPM:UK-award chip-worst-new-character-OPM:UK-pic

In their latest issue, Official Playstation Magazine: UK have revealed their 2008 game awards as voted by you the public.

Sonic Unleashed was 1 of 4 games to be voted ‘Biggest Disappointment’ for 2008, the other 3 titles are Haze, Need For Speed: Undercover and Army Of Two.

Here’s what OPM:UK had to say –

Only disappointing in the same sense as a wayward child’s final, severing act of betrayal. We fervently hoped the hog would come good. He didn’t.

Many fans of the series have seen this game as a high turning point for the series, a step in the right direction but it looks like the general UK Playstation public don’t feel that way about the PS3 version at least. The PS2 version of the game has been placing pretty high on Chart Track in the UK Budget Priced charts since release.

The UK Playstation public didn’t stop striking Sonic Unleashed there, oh they had a problem with a certain someone from the game… Namely, Chip who was unfortunately crowned ‘Worst New Character’ for 2008.

Here’s what OPM:UK had to say –

Another year, another disastrous attempted comeback from Sega’s answer to Elvis. But for all the bile Sonic Unleashed triggered in our bellies, we reserved the purest rage for our spiky (ex-)friend’s latest sidekick, Chip: a purple douche who loves ice cream, trots out an endless stream of banality and looks like a flying Chihuahua. Which is kind of fitting given that we’d rather let a lap dog gnaw on our own undercarriage than play the big bag of balls that was Unleashed ever again.

That has to be the biggest over-exaggeration I have ever seen, there is no real reason given as to why he has been voted Worst New Character. Anyone can say they hate a character and just describe said character with vulgar words and phrases. Oh well, I guess this childish rant fits in with their review score of 4/10

Do you agree with the UK Playstation public’s votes? Let us know in the comments.

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Own a Dreamcast? Fancy singing with Sonic?

So, I was browsing Ebay for rare Sonic merchandise and stumbled across this little gem being sold by user 1ninja*com. I’ve never seen it before as apparently it was only released in Japan. It’s a karaoke add-on for the Dreamcast that comes with a microphone, this particular pack I assume has Sonic tracks on the CD with it to sing along too since the seller lists it as ‘Sonic Karaoke’, though I don’t know which tracks they are. Continue reading Own a Dreamcast? Fancy singing with Sonic?

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SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection dated

SEGA Europe have updated their product page for their upcoming retro collection game SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection. The game will hit European shelves 20-02-09. The collection will feature many titles from SEGA’s 16 Bit history in HD visuals including: Continue reading SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection dated

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