Welcome to the Archive site of The Sonic Stadium (2008-2023)
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“Will Microsoft buy SEGA” is a question that has survived within the community since the death of the Dreamcast, but after years of speculation, we now have a concrete example of them trying to do just that… but very, very recently. As reported by The Verge, an e-mail from Xbox’s Phil Spencer shared during Microsoft’s FTC hearing shows that Spencer was seeking approval to approach SEGA Sammy in November of 2020.
Spencer touts SEGA’s portfolio and global appeal as big benefits for their Game Pass service; however, SEGA was among several companies being considered, including Supergiant Games, IO Interactive, and even Bungie. As history as borne out, none of these possible acquisitions were seen to completion, and Microsoft began pursuing Activision Blizzard following ABK’s repeated scandals.
Despite the will-they-won’t-they dogging Microsoft and SEGA over the years, buying SEGA comes with some complications, which Spencer acknowledges in the e-mail. Beyond the cultural barrier, SEGA is a major component of the larger SEGA Sammy group of animation studios, music labels, toy makers, travel resorts, pachinko machine makers, Japanese sports teams, and online-enabled arcade dart machine services. Even if Microsoft wasn’t able to buy SEGA outright, Like a Dragon and Persona fans can still find a hearty chunk of SEGA’s modern library on Game Pass.
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We don’t have any details on what these are, but considering the promotion aligns with the release of Paramount’s Sonic 2 movie, was announced alongside a Sonic 2 movie contest, and highlights a level motif that has become rather important to the Sonic 2 movie, it’s probably safe to say that the new skins and challenge will have something to do with the Sonic 2 movie.
The update will be available on the Minecraft Marketplace on April 5th.
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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.
At the end of June’s Sonic Central presentation, Sega teased Sonic coming to Minecraft. Today, we’ve got our first look and our first details. And our first release– it’s now. The DLC is out now. You can go get it. Or so the trailer says.
While tricky to find exact details without actually owning a copy of Minecraft, the official blog post bills this as an infinite 3D runner featuring loops, springs rings, chao, and badniks across Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary, and Tails’ workshop. Players can use skins of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, and plenty of others.
UPDATE: The pack, available within the Minecraft in-game Marketplace, is priced at $7.99 (USD), or 1340 Minecoins. The pack includes one Minecraft world (as seen in the trailers), and 24 skins including:
Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Eggman, Amy Rose, Big, Cream, E-102 Gamma, Shadow, Rouge, E-123 Omega, Chaos, Vector, Charmy, Espio, Mighty, Silver, Blaze, Ray, Infinite, Mecha Sonic (Sonic & Knuckles), Metal Sonic, Metal Knuckles (Sonic R), and Werehog Sonic.
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Microsoft has got an interesting offer for Sonic fans out there, especially if you’re still planning to check out the new Sonic movie. Until June 15th, you can get the Sonic Movie for just $12.99 as part of the Gamer Flicks Sale. Doing so will also net you a free downloadable copy of Sonic Mania.
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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.
In celebration of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie being released on digital, Microsoft is giving away a custom X-Box One X with a Sonic the Hedgehog movie graphic and a custom Sonic controller. Just head over to Xbox on Twitter and retweet their post with the hashtag #SonicXboxSweepstakes to enter a chance to win the custom console. You have to be over 18 to enter. The contest ends on April 14th.
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In what’s no doubt a way to capitalize on the success and hype of the recently released Sonic Movie, SEGA is offering massive discounts on Sonic games across various digital platforms. In some cases, the games are 50% or even 75% off their regular market price!
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After waiting for years and years and years, Phantasy Star Online 2 is finally making it’s way to the west and SEGA will soon have a closed beta available for the popular MMO only on X-Box One.
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Microsoft just held their weekly sale and among the games on sale are a bunch of Sonic’s titles for Xbox 360 for up to 50% off. While the games below have their US prices listed, the sale should be available worldwide and presumably the same discounts should apply. The sales for these games below shouldn’t require XBL Gold as well. Continue reading Various Sonic games for Xbox 360 are on sale worldwide for up to 50% off
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Microsoft held their second episode of Inside Xbox yesterday, in which they share a behind-the-scenes look at the company’s inner workings, and today’s livestream held a special announcement regarding backward compatibility on Xbox One.
The gaming giant revealed that a handful of backward compatible Xbox 360 games will become Xbox One X-enhanced, a beefy update through which last-gen titles receive a substantial performance boost on the most powerful home console on the market, after the presentation. Among them is none other than Sonic Generations, which also means that the 20th anniversary title celebrating Sonic’s history has also been finally retrofitted for the Xbox One family of systems as of today!
Episode 2 of Inside Xbox also revealed a ton of new original Xbox games being added to the backward compatible library, including SEGA’s own Panzer Dragoon Orta.
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2010 was the year Sonic the Hedgehog came back. Yes, we all heard the stories about how the franchise had declined not long after the jump to 3D, how gaming news outlets and critics even now would begin their pieces with some variation of “Sonic has had a rocky history,” and how every new Sonic game released around the “dark ages” period couldn’t shake off the dreaded “Sonic Cycle.” Continue reading The Spin: How SEGA is Ignoring the Middle Children of Sonic’s Legacy
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With word from Xbox’s very own Larry Hryb, “Major Nelson” himself has revealed today that the Xbox Live Arcade version of Sonic Adventure 2 is at last Xbox One Backward Compatible. Those who previously owned the remastered HD edition of this classic on Xbox 360 can recover the digital download at no extra cost; those interested in picking it up can do so for $9.99/£6.75/9,49€.
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The Xbox One has a growing list of backwards compatible games from the previous generation, be it from a retail release on the Xbox 360 or a digital title via the old Live Arcade. From it also comes a steady stream of Sonic games, with the classic games, Sonic the Fighters, and both episodes of Sonic 4 having been rereleased onto Microsoft’s modern console.
Earlier today, Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb announced that three more games are relaunching on Xbox One Backwards Compatibility today, including Sumo Digital’s Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The second All-Stars racing game originally launched in November 2012 across several platforms to a positive critical reception.
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Sonic Generations has quietly joined the Xbox 360 Classics range this month (March 1st to be precise), a status awarded by Microsoft to games that reach an unknown high sales number. Along with this status comes a budget price; in fact the below UK retailers are selling the game for as little as £12.99, so if you’re still on the fence, there’s no better time to snatch it up.
Thanks to Blue Blood at the SSMB for the heads up!
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Microsoft has priced and dated its line-up of what they’re calling ‘Must Have Games’ for Windows Phone. Six titles are planned for release on Xbox Live individually each week from Wednesday May 25th and they will all feature achievements, leaderboards and more. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 will launch on June 15th and will cost you £5.49/$6.99 to download. Check out an official screenshot and gameplay footage of the Windows Phone version at the 0:34 mark in the trailer below.
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To help celebrate the Xbox Nations Event SEGA’s discounting their Xbox Live Arcade library this week. From April 19th (tomorrow) until April 25th you can get up to 50% off classic Mega Drive and Dreamcast titles or even some more modern titles like Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1.
You can check out the full list of games and prices below:
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Microsoft’s new Kinect sensor for Xbox 360 is hitting U.S. stores shortly and what better way to help grab interest than for Microsoft to show all Xbox 360’s Xbox Live users the launch game line-up in an Inside Xbox video, what could possibly go wrong? Well, it appears the Inside Xbox team haven’t paid too much attention to SEGA’s Sonic Free Riders, because they seem to have it confused with the original Sonic Riders title on Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Gamecube. When Microsoft’s Bridget O’Neill gets to the game at the 02:34 mark, a trailer for Sonic Riders is on display, logo and all. Before the end of the video the Sonic Riders logo (seen below) is shown again and O’Neill refers to the title as Sonic Riders, too.
You have to wonder, how does the company behind the Xbox 360 confuse an original Xbox title with an Xbox 360 game, especially one that’s launching the next day, only on their new Kinect peripheral? Now, I wonder what SEGA would have to say about this comical promotional failure…
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It would seem Microsoft have got alot of faith in SEGA and Sumo Digital’s Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing. Not only do they give the game Avatar support and Banjo-Kazooie a playable appearance, they’ve now given it February 2010 Family Game of the Month title. The Xbox 360 edition maybe be getting some exclusive downloadable content according to a leak on the game’s website where that piece of info was quickly removed.
Will Microsoft and their studio Rare’s contribution’s pay off? We’ll have to wait and see when the game is release Feb 23 in the U.S. and Feb 26th in Europe.
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No sooner has the ink dried on the deal between SEGA and Sammy to merge companies, has the House of Sonic had to issue a denial on several fronts of rumours that both Electronic Arts and Microsoft are planning a takeover.
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Chalk this one up to being one MASSIVE rumour at the moment, but reports are circulating that Xbox console manufacturer Microsoft could be eyeing up a takeover of SEGA. Shares in SEGA rose by 17 per cent as a result of the speculation.
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SEGA’s commitment to Microsoft’s Xbox console might be down to more than just a ‘platform-agnostic’ view of developing titles for the right machine. According to a new report, Bill Gates and his team in Redmond were in talks to merge the Microsoft gaming division with SEGA – or buying them outright – to gain a foothold in the growing console space. Continue reading Report: SEGA and Microsoft Were in Talks to Merge Companies
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Looks like the rumours were true – SEGA has formally announced this week that they will be bringing eleven titles to Microsoft’s Xbox. They revealed four such titles during this announcement, which involve sequels to some classic SEGA properties. Looks like anyone who’s after a new Jet Set Radio might have to look at getting a new console! Continue reading Sega Officially Confirms Microsoft Xbox Release Slate
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The upcoming Spring 2001 Tokyo Game Show event will be the venue for a big SEGA announcement that will see a list of games planned for Microsoft’s Xbox, according to IGN. The site says that it expects the publisher to outline specific titles alongside Microsoft when it introduces the Xbox console to the Japanese market. Continue reading Rumour: Sega to Announce Xbox Partnership at Tokyo Game Show 2001
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