Sonic Unleashed: US 360 Release Date Broken?

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.

Official NA Release Date: Broken! It’s out – SSMB (Image from NeoGAF)

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.

SOA/SOE Community Teams Interview Patrick Riley

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.

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.

Listen All The Way To The End Of ‘Endless Possibility’

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.

Endless Possibility (Full Version) (TSS Media Portal) – 3.9MB
Right click and select ‘Save As…’

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.

Super Sonic Figure Now Added to Unleashed Toy Line

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.

Image: MarioandWeege’s DeviantArt (thanks, Clayton!)

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.

Now Your Kids Can Sit On 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?

… 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.

Ultimate Game Chair Unveils First Video Game Chair for Kids – PRWeb (Thanks, ‘Knux’!)

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.

Sonic World Adventure OST Coming January

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.

Sonic World Adventure Original Soundtrack Planetary Pieces – CDJapan (thanks, Rob!)

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.

Sonic Unleashed selling out already


Sonic couldn’t believe his game has sold out

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.

Link

Discuss over at the SSMB topic.

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.

Sonic fan creates Sonic Unleashed YouTube Channel

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*

You can check out the channel here.

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.

Sonic World Adventure delayed until Spring 2009

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.

Sonic World Adventure – via Siliconera (thanks Aly!)

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.

Sonic stages deleted from LittleBigPlanet over copyright claims

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?

Let us know in the SSMB topic.

Link

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.

Sonic Unleashed hits Europe 28th November

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.

Discuss over at the SSMB topic.

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.

Sonic Unleashed Xbox 360 back cover – DLC coming

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.

Link

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.

An Official Sonic Unleashed Trailer

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.

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.

The Trouble With Trailers: The Sonic Unleashed Debacle

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.

And Here Come The Unleashed Toys

This is quite something – Sega haven’t put this much pump into a Sonic game in a long time. There’s even proper merchandise to be had, with this eBay auction popping up for a Sonic the Werehog action figure. Sold at Toys R’ Us in America for a period of time, these are very hard to find according to the seller. They’re apparently different from the Australian pre-order figures, but we won’t know for sure unless someone does a comparison or two (that’s your challenge, Aussie readers! Get in touch!).

We don’t know if these will ever come to Britain (AAUK has responded with a stinging ‘no’), or anywhere outside of America in fact. At this time there are two separate auctions for about $40. So if you’ve got bottomless pockets and can’t wait for a bit of early Unleashed action, then what better to do then invest in a pristine Werehog?

Sega Sonic Unleashed Sonic the Werehog Figure – eBay

Are we getting a Sonic Unleashed toy line? – SSMB

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.

Watch Unleashed’s Opening, Apotos Stage

UPDATE: The spoilsports at Sega seem to have caught wind of the Youtube escapade, as the videos that were featured in this story were taken off shortly after. If you’re looking for a way to view the videos but can handle waiting a million years, Ruliweb have downloadable versions on their website. The last two links in either the HD or SD segment of the page lead to the Sonic Unleashed videos, the other links are other games, we imagine.

It appears someone’s got their hands on review code of Sonic Unleashed early, because there’s a few gameplay videos popping up over Youtube courtesy of “Ruliweb”. The first video, above, shows a cutscene between Sonic and Chip in the Apotos stage, whilst showcasing what the ‘hub’ worlds will look like and even a little bit of main stage action. Chip does sound rather irritating with his sundae fetish, but maybe that’s the point. It’s altogether a pretty charming cutscene, and overall a pretty cool display of Sonic’s character. In the hub world you can talk to various non-playable characters about this and that. You get the option for multiple-choice responses, but as the video quality is pretty poor we can’t tell whether you’ll get any sidequests or anything for doing this.

The Sonic levels still look awesomely impressive. Calls of ‘on-rails’ gameplay may be justified, but if it’s fun and entertaining (and above all, satisfying to play) then does it really matter? It’s no throwback to what made the classics great, but it at least taps the relative success and win that the Sonic Rush series is made of. Basically, it looks like a bowl full of funchips. Also, no loading! We just hope that the ‘EXP’ system doesn’t make the game a chore to play until you level up like in Sonic and the Secret Rings.

There’s more though – Ruliweb kindly captured the introduction cutscene for the game too, which you can download using the link provided above. Trust us though – this opening cutscene is made of a trophy built from the rarest awesome, dug from the farmost mines of win.

Thanks to PeTePoPsS on the SSMB for finding the videos and sharing them!

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.

Sonic Unleashed Wii & PS2 Back Covers

Woolworths.co.uk have uploaded the reverse box-art covers of the Wii/PS2 versions of upcoming game Sonic Unleashed. While both versions apparently use the Criware and Havok engines to create the speedy new worlds Sonic will encounter, there is some extra information. The Wii version will support, as controllers, the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, or the Classic/Gamecube Controllers.

For anyone who can’t read the text on these back covers, it reads: “As the sun sets… A new adventure begins!”

  • Sonic at his fastest, super 2D to 3D high-speed action.
  • Explore exciting locations in a world wide race against time.
  • Transform after dark with all new powerful combat skills.

Wii owners should be pleased and can’t complain about controls with such a variety of control schemes available. Regarding the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, Woolworths haven’t put those back covers up which adds further to the speculation that they will be released later than the Wii/PS2 versions. As soon as those back covers are put up, we’ll post them here for you guys. See how we look after ya?

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.

Unleashed: Night of the Living Werehog

To get you into the spirit of things, SEGA have made this awesome Hallowe’en trailer for Sonic Unleashed. But it’s not a trailer for the game. Nope, it’s a trailer for a special animated film that SEGA are producing, to tie in with the game. So it’s Sonic the Hedgehog’s “Thriller” then.

It’s done in a classic horror movie style, and features Sonic and new character Chip heading into a haunted house, with the blue blur unable to contain his dark secret when the full moon comes out… Almost reminded me of the intro to Luigi’s Mansion until Were-Sonic started beating the snot out of some Looney Tunes-esque bull.

Give it a watch, it’s ghoulishly good. Ahem. The full animated short will be available in November.

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.

Werehog Figurine for Australian Pre-Orders

Live in Australia? Picking up the awesome looking game that is Sonic Unleashed? Need more Werehog for your cash? Well EB Games has got something for you, a Werehog figurine. He stares, he snares, he scares, tears into your soul while you sleep at night… ok he doesn’t do that, or does he? Personally, with the evil Tails Doll out there somewhere in the shadows I won’t be trusting the Werehog Figurine. *Oh dear, what have I started?*

The deal is available for all versions of the game, online and in-store and is exclusive to EB Games. As of now, EB Games is listing Xbox 360, Wii and PS2 versions to be released on the 27th November and the PS3 version as Dec 2008, but no release date has been officially announced by SEGA yet.

Link

Thanks to Game Boy over at the SSMB for informing us of this!

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.

Early Unleashed box-art found?

I was browsing around UK retailer websites, checking up on Sonic Unleashed’s supposed ’28th November’ release date, and came across this alternate box artwork at Argos. It may be an early box art, due to the ‘TBC’ PEGI logo. That, and SEGA have already revealed the final cover and it looks slightly different to this. If that’s the case, then in my opinion they really should have stuck with this design. It’s more interesting and gives a hint as to the game’s story, with the world crumbling behind Sonic (rather than the final render which just has some pretty colours).

Still, I guess it doesn’t matter as long as the game’s good right?

Link

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.

IGN’s Sonic Unleashed Developer blog – Update get!

Is this the face of a man you can trust? We sure hope so. Yoshihisa Hashimoto, Game Director and Lead Designer on ‘Sonic Unleashed’ over at SEGA Towers in Japan assures us the upcoming title in the series will be nothing short of revolutionary. Previously updated by Patrick Riley, Hashimoto joins in on IGN’s ‘Sonic Unleashed Blog’ page with a lengthy post on how much awesome Unleashed contains along with a couple of brand new screen shots to top things off.

Hashimoto discusses how him and the team conjured up the concept for Sonic’s latest adventure and elaborates on why certain design choices were made over others. There’s some talk on the coming to be’s of the ‘Hedgehog Engine’ too explaining exactly what it can achieve and how it will allow future Sonic titles to benefit from it.

Click here for a direct link to the blog and thanks to Spyne for pointing out the update over on the forums earlier today.

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.

China is looking lovely on Wii

Wiiz.fr have got their hands on some China screenshots from the Wii version. The screens look a little grainy and you can see the jaggies in places but overall they look good because of how well the background and foreground are designed. Continue reading China is looking lovely on Wii

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.

Sonic Unleashed PS3 out now in U.S….apparently

Sega of America have updated their product page for Sonic Unleashed. The page now has 2 copies of the China trailer and states that the PS3 version is OUT NOW. So U.S. gamers, how is Unleashed? Any good?

On a serious note though, what a mistake to make. Does this mean we’ll be getting a release date soon or are Sega of America’s web site staff as bad at noticing errors as Sonic Team are at noticing bugs in their Sonic games?

In other news if you run your mouse cursor over their Egypt trailer it says ‘Petra trailer’, I haven’t seen that name anywhere on the official Sonic Unleashed site so could this be the official Egypt stage name?

SOA Sonic Unleashed product page Discuss, if only for the lulz at the SSMB topic.

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.

Sonic Unleashed to get PS3 Trophy support on release

Joystiq’s PS3 blog PS3 Fanboy have updated their list of upcoming games that have PS3 Trophy support and among the list is Sonic Unleashed. No sign of a list of the Trophies yet or the Xbox 360 Achievements list yet but no doubt they will be the same like alot of other multi-platform games. Good news though for PS3 fans looking to get the game and get their moneys worth or owners of both consoles who might only opt for the Xbox 360 version over the PS3 version for Achievements. We’ll update with both lists as soon as they are available.

PS3 Fanboy
Source: Sega Nerds

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.

Sonic Unleashed TGS Footage, Positive Impressions

Like many on The Sonic Stadium, I have been fairly pessimistic regarding Sonic Unleashed. With severe frame rate problems being reported from several sources, as well as “boring looking” Werehog levels, it seemed like Unleashed may be more of the same. What’s more, due to bad magazine scans, the Wii version appeared to be a shoddy port.

The more I see of the game, however, the more it begins to win me over. Are the first, incredible looking videos from the Wii version enough to win you over? Is the latest preview good enough to get your hopes up? Decide for yourself. Here’s the first video. Two more videos and a preview after the break:

Continue reading Sonic Unleashed TGS Footage, Positive Impressions

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.

Unleash the hunk/babe in you with this T-shirt

Sega have updated the official Sonic World Adventure website with news of a new themed reversible T-shirt. One side of the shirt displays Sonic the Hedgehog (White) and the other Sonic the Werehog (Black). The T-shirt comes in sizes small, medium and large and retails for 4,200 Yen. That’s a whopping £22, mind you.

You can check out the T-shirt here.

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.

Sega Dates Unleashed in Japan

At a press briefing of Sega’s own, Sega have announced their Japanese line-up for 2008/9 and among them is Sonic Unleashed or Sonic World Adventure as it’s being named over there. The game will be released in Japan December 18th 2008. Here’s a Google translation of the Sonic Unleashed announcement –

Action on behalf of Sega games, Sonic’s latest film series. The album is Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic UEAHOGGU The two types of character to operate the Games to proceed. PS3/Xbox 360 and Wii versions are slightly different, Wii version of Sonic the UEAHOGGU me to let my part, to wave attack when the Wii remote control features intuitive operation. But the attacks also NANDO is wielding a little bit tired (laughs). Features of the series is the same sense of speed with the fans of this series, if the contents of any problems with it? Release date is scheduled for Dec. 18, 2008. Priced at 7,140 yen (PS3/Xbox 360) and 6,090 yen (Wii).

A new screenshot from the Xbox 360/PS3 version was also shown

and an old Wii one

Reading the announcement it look’s like the Wii version Werehog will involve some waggle attacks among other things when using the Wii Remote. With the Japanese release date announced, hopefully the U.S. and Europe will get a date soon.

Source: Watch.Impress

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.

Roarey’s RacCOMIC #3: Pessimistic Edition

Hey, kids, it has been a while, but the Roarey’s comics are back with the third iteration.  Feel like I’m misrepresenting the community with my overt pessimism?  Well, you are full of shit, because a good deal of us feel the same way.

If anything, the other bloggers are representing the optimistic crowd rather well, so don’t get all bent out of shape about it.  It’s Sonic the Hedgehog for crying out loud.

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.

See How The Hedgehog Engine Works

At the CEDEC Conference Sonic Team showed off the latest build of their Hedgehog Engine to an engaged audience. Thanks to reader ‘Brent’, we were able to grab some clips from their presentation that showcases various aspects of the ins and outs of the code. If you’re a budding game engineer (and can read Japanese) then this will be of particular interest. For the rest of us, it’s still pretty nifty to see images of Sonic Unleashed in a debug state. Gallery after the jump. Continue reading See How The Hedgehog Engine Works

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.

New Unleashed video all up in China

SEGA of America’s official YouTube profile has released the Unleashed trailer of the China level, as seen at the LGC.  In this video, you can catch some mad “game playing itself” action, “homing attack badniks over bottomless pits” action, as well as some “repetitive button mashing with howling” action.  So much action, so little time!

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.

Gamespot Quiz Sonic Team’s Director on Sonic Unleashed

Sonic Smash!

Will ‘Sonic Unleashed’ be the best Sonic game since the Dreamcast era? Sonic Teams producer and lead designer on Unleashed ‘Yoshihisa Hashimoto’ seems to think so!

.:Dark.Prowl:. of SSMB gave us the heads up earlier today regarding a recent interview published by Gamespot with the lead designer of Sonic Unleashed. The interview discusses the newly developed ‘Hedgehog Engine’, playable characters such as Tails in his Tornado plane for a ‘shooting game’, the main story involving the huge beast ‘Dark Gaia’ and the option of new maps available to download over the Xbox Live and PSN service if demand is high enough.

New information on the game has been a little scarce as of late despite a playable demo showing up at the Leipzig Games Convention a couple of weeks back. The interview discusses a good deal of new things and shows some promising features and compelling gameplay Sonic fans have so desperately wanted for some time now. Hang on… Haven’t we heard all of this somewhere before… though?

You can check out the article for yourself here.

Source: Gamespot.

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.

New Sonic Unleashed Wii details

Spanish gaming site Revogamer have had the opportunity to talk to Sega about the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed and here is a translation of their main findings from GoNintendo –

  • Half of the game normal, the other half were-hog
  • Wii-PS360 more similar than first thought, design and gameplay-wise
  • You use Wiimote + Nunchuck
  • Won’t have motion controls for attacking from the air, despite of being pretty similar to The Secret Rings
  • Some problems controlling Sonic at a low speed. Walking for rings, etc
  • Wiimote just for accelerate-push
  • No motion controls for side-step, you’ll use B and Z, like on 360
  • Don’t know if they’re using for balancing ropes or QTEs, but they should!
  • According to SEGA, the game (Wii version) should be shown in the upcoming TGS, in October.
  • Not showing the Black Night because of focusing on this one first.

So barely any waggle in Sonic’s sections at least, wether that’s a good or bad thing I’ll let you be the judge. Now hopefully with the Wii version confirmed to be at TGS next month we’ll see some footage at long last.

Link

Source: GoNintendo

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.

Unleash Sonic on PS2 for only £17.99!

Yes, my Photoshop is still broken. =(

Upon hearing the news, Sonic promptly dashed off to his local Woolworths to lay down his pre-order. His store is in Louth, it appears.

Want Sonic Unleashed when released in November? Of course you do! What if you’re running a little low on pennies though?

Well not to fear because UK retailer ‘Woolworths’ has an offer you just can’t possibly refuse! The online website for the company currently has Sonic Unleashed on PS2 up for pre-order at the most convenient of prices, £17.99. The PS2 version of the game may not posses graphical awe like on next generation consoles, although Dimps has issued a helping hand with development and the concept remains the same.

If that isn’t the bargain of all bargains we don’t know what is.

Thanks to bcdcdude for alerting us on the forums earlier today!

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.

Chris@ONM to go hands-on with Wii Unleashed in 1-2 weeks

Chris@ONM, one of Official Nintendo Magazine’s writers has announced in an ONM forum discussion that he will be going hands-on with the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed in 1 to 2 weeks time.

Aye, naturally the controls will be slightly different. What I mean is that the basic game and levels will be the same on each version.

I don’t know what the Wii controls are as yet because I didn’t go hands on with it. I believe it’s movement with the analogue stick though. I’ll be getting to play it in a week or two so I’ll let you know.

Incidentally, a couple of people have mentioned to me that other sites have complained about the 360 version’s framerate. This game is still in early stages of development: please don’t think for a second that the finished game will have the noticeable framerate problems the demo I played did.

Link

Chris had recently been to GDC Leipzig to try out the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed but unfortunately when he got there he was told by a Sega rep that the Wii demo isn’t working and got directed to the Xbox 360 demo instead. Continue reading Chris@ONM to go hands-on with Wii Unleashed in 1-2 weeks

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.

Another off-screen Sonic Unleashed video

On the heels of GameVideo’s off screen video, Gamekyo has come up with their own video. While the quality isn’t quite as good, what with all the people walking between the camera and the screen, this video does help add some persepective to just how many different paths there are in Unleash’s first level. At the very least, it looks like this game will have some nice replay value.

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.

Meet Chip

Game Videos have posted a cool off-screen video of Sonic Unleashed in action at Leipzig’s Game Convention. The most notable about this video – despite the fact that you can see for yourself how awesome it’s looking with it’s alternate paths – is the rather random first appearance of a new character called Chip. Now, remember when we broke news that Sonic Unleashed would add a new character to the series? Looks like we totally called it, but we never thought Sega would reveal his/it existence so unceremoniously. Seriously, we’d have thought there’d be some sort of super-announcement for it or something.

Chip, from what we’ve seen and heard, appears to be some sort of tutorial pal and may well be integral to the story. Long as he doesn’t say a damn word during levels (so far so good) and stays on a totally platonic relationship with Sonic, I think we’ll be OK. Seems kinda cute actually. I hope Sega are as careful with Chip in consideration for future games as they have been with Blaze and Marine and not, for example, Shadow, however. I wouldn’t want to see this purple thing in every Sonic game since.

Check out Sonic’s assessment of his ranking at the end of the level with Chip, and the proceeding breakdance once he’s discovered he got an ‘S’ ranking. Pure Sonic gold, that is.

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.