Yes. There is a speed walking event. I'm not kidding.
Just released on the Nintendo E-Shop in North America comes a demo of the upcoming release of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The demo features five events. 25MM Rapid Fire Pistol, European Football (AKA American Soccer), Trampoline, 100m Backstroke, and BMX. Your character in each event is chosen at random and will be different with every playthrough. The European demo should be out very soon, but if the other M&S games didn’t thrill you, I doubt this one will either. I will say the controls in each event are very unique to each other and help give the game variety. Also, the last event is like a fully realized 3-D Excitebike.
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games will be available in North America on Valentines day, February 14th and in Europe on February 10th.
SEGA has released a whopping 327 screenshots of the Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games ahead of its release in just over two weeks time. The screenshots show a large variety of the game’s Olympic events, as well as an in-depth look at the early parts of the Story Mode. Check out all of the screenshots in our gallery after the jump.
Last year saw Crush 40 release a one-off single Song of Hope dedicated to the Japanese Tsunami disaster victims, which was the first new non-Sonic themed track since those that featured on Super Sonic Songs back in 2009. Many fans have been keen to see Jun Senoue and Johnny Gioeli team up once more in order to produce a full-blown Crush 40 album, the likes of which have not been seen since their self-titled album back in 2003 (which was a re-working of their album Thrill of the Feel from way back in 2000 when they went by the name ‘Sons of Angels’).
However, it looks increasingly like a new Crush 40 album may be in the works, with Senoue posting a teasing image on facebook and twitter with the statement:
“Just want to let you know the name of the songs we are currently working on. Yes, new Crush 40 songs! “
The new tracks look set to be titled Rise Again, One of Those Days, and Sonic Youth – the latter appears to give a nod to the Sonic Adventure title tracks, with the opening verses of “I’ve opened my heart, I’ve lived and learned”.
Hopefully we will have more information on any potential future releases very soon!
Tracy Yardley gets to write his first story arc since Sonic X in a tale that starts out with the Babylon Rogues in a dangerous race against the Battlebird Armada to find the lost Babylon Garden, their ancestral home. But as the story takes a huge twist involving Sonic, does it become too epic for it’s own good? Kinda, yea. Keep reading.
I can’t remember the last time I got to see this headline, let alone write it, but indeed it seems to have finally happened: a Sonic game has topped a sales chart. Sonic CD, the port of the legendary SEGA CD title managed to become the best selling on the PSN for the month of December, outselling other titles such as inFamous 2: Festival of Blood.
Sonic CD’s success on the PSN shows just how strong Sonic brand is more then 20 years after his debut. Given how fun Sonic CD is all these years later, it’s no surprise. These games definitely have a timeless quality to them!
You can find the full PSN chart after the break.
We have received word from a tipster, who wishes to remain anonymous, that a new Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing game could be on the way. Our tipster recently spoke to a high ranking staff member at development studio Sumo Digital, and when queried about new projects, the developer gave the below reply.
“Now working on another title for Sega on 3DS, VITA and WiiU. [The] title we are working on is top secret but the last game we did for them was Sonic And Sega All-Star Racing, so the logical conclusion would be…
”
While the game could be a sequel to 2010′s Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, there is also a possibility, given the platforms, that it could be a remixed version of the first game with new characters & courses specifically tailored to Wii U, 3DS & Vita. But having said that, the tipster informs us that the developer told them months ago that they will be doing no more additional work on the first game.
Read the rest of this story »
SEGA has started a very familiar campaign called ‘Concept Art Friday’ which will see SEGA release concept art for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 every Friday on their blog and on Sonic’s Facebook page. To kick things off, SEGA has today released two images on their blog of what appears to be a wheel switch from Sonic the Hedgehog 3′s Marble Garden Zone and an image on Sonic’s Facebook page of a new badnik.
Check back next week for more. In the meantime, let us know what you think of SEGA reusing this marketing strategy in the comments section.
Sources: SEGA Blog & Sonic’s Facebook page
SEGA Europe has today released a gameplay trailer for the Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games showing how players can use the many features of the Nintendo 3DS to interact with the game’s over 55 events. You can check out the trailer above and share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games will be available for Nintendo 3DS February 10th 2012 in Europe, February 14th 2012 in the US and February 9th 2012 in Australia.
Source: SEGA
Among all of the Sonic the Hedgehog love dished out to PC gamers today, SEGA has also confirmed in their press release that Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II will be available for PC digital download later this year. Unfortunately, no other information regarding Episode II was given, but we’ll let you know when SEGA releases more details. In the meantime, PC fans can finally experience the first episode of Sonic the Hedgehog 4. You can purchase and download it from Steam now.
Check out the press release after the jump. Read the rest of this story »
What a huge morning for Sonic fans! Sega has just announced a bucketload of PC Sonic digital content available now. Sonic CD is now on steam! For a limited time, purchase Sonic CD and you get DLC for Spiral Knights that lets you dress your knight as Metal Sonic. Want more Sonic in your spiral Knights game? You can also purchase a Tails Knight! Also, Sonic 4: Episode 1 finally arrives on your PC as well as the DLC content for Sonic Generations. Talking about my Generations, there’s a demo available for that as well. Happy Sonic PC DLC day!
Source: Sega
Both Sonic Wrecks and TSSZ News recently reported that Yuji Naka may have spilled the beans on an upcoming Sonic movie. On his latest Facebook and Twitter posts, he mentions visiting the Marza Animation Studios (Night of The Werehog, and most Sonic game CGI) and that they are in the process of making a Sonic movie. Whether it’s just more CGI for an upcoming Sonic Game or a full blown movie is yet to be known. Until we get more confirmation, treat this as rumor.
Sources: Sonic Wrecks, TSSZ News
The second issue of Archie’s Super Sonic Special magazine has launched today, and while the issue itself contained nothing but reprints, interviews and a timeline, the next issue looks like it’ll be stepping things up a bit. With issue 3, which is expected to launch this Spring, Archie will be including an all new adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2! Archie is no stranger to video game adaptions, but this super special will mark the first time since Super Sonic Special #13’s Sonic Adventure special that Archie has made a video game adaption the central storyline in a comic!
More interesting is how Archie promotes the issue: “Sonic’s hottest new game is getting the comic book treatment!” Archie typically releases their adaptions around the same time as the game their adapting, meaning that this could indicate a Spring release for the next episode of Sonic 4! This is, of course, all speculation, but Archie releasing an early adaption of Sonic 4 would be unusual. We’ll hopefully learn how accurate this speculation is soon enough.
Source: SEGAbits
Demos are finally arriving on the 3DS’s eShop! Among the upcoming demos will be Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, which will be debuting on both the American and European eShops. The American demo has been confirmed for release on January 26th, a few weeks before the full game is released at retail. A European release date has not currently been set.
Are you guys going to download? I know I will.
Source: GoNintendo
SEGA has issued a press release today regarding the launch of their official Sonic store SonicMerchandise.com, which went live last month. To celebrate the launch, all customers can get 15% off all items until the end of the month by using the JANSALE15 promotional code. Our readers over the pond will be happy to hear that SEGA has announced plans to release a similar store in the USA and other American markets at a later date. We’ll bring you details on the US store as and when they are made available. For now, check out the press release after the jump. Read the rest of this story »
I’d like to give advance warning to all users of The Sonic Stadium and the SSMB Forums that we will be acting in protest of the controversial US bills, SOPA and PIPA on Wednesday 18th January 2012.
Read the rest of this story »
Some new screenshots have surfaced online for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, and as well as showing more of the game’s various events, we get our second screenshot of the game’s Story Mode. The screenshot reveals Rouge the Bat will make an appearance and that the dialogue may just be in text form rather than voice.
You can check out all of the new screenshots after the jump.
We might not have a Mash-Up Monday for you today, but we have something just as awesome – a pair of YouTubing music artists, NoneLikeJoshua (Josh) and Boyinaband (Dave), have gone and fused Sonic the Hedgehog with this crazy Dubstep trend that’s going around.
The result? Pretty incredible. I particularly like the remix of the Sonic & Knuckles title screen – that’s just been dying for some Dubstep. The rap lyrics might not be all that, but to be fair they’re writing lyrics about a cartoon blue hedgehog.
Today also happens to be that phony ‘unholiday’ that they call Blue Monday (which is not only false but annoying as well – cheer up!), so let’s use this video to turn the meaning of Blue Monday into something more Sonic-oriented! Yeah. We’re taking it back. Bitch.
Thanks to Elson ‘Darkspeeds’ Wong who made us aware of the video.
According to US ratings board the ESRB, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 will see a release on Windows PC. A rating for the game has appeared on the ESRB’s website recently which lists the game for the platform. Early last month, Episode 1 appeared on the Steam registry, suggesting SEGA is bringing Sonic the Hedgehog 4 to PC users, and with such strong evidence like this, it seems a PC release for both Episodes is all but officially confirmed.
Source: ESRB
Thanks to TenkoTAiLS in our comments section for the heads up!
The GAME Group of retailers are now listing a pre-order bonus for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Pre-order the game in store (£5 deposit required) or online at either GAME, Gamestation or Gameplay (online only) and you will receive a free stationery kit themed on the game.
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games will be available in Europe February 10th 2012. You can pre-order at the links below.
GAME: £34.99
Gamestation: £34.99
Gameplay: £27.99
By the end of Sonic #231, the good guys were on the losing end. Nothing’s really changed in #232 as things go from bad to worse to slightly better and back to bad again with a little “meh” in between.
