CVG have posted up part 1 of an interview they’ve had recently with SEGA’s head of the western territory Mike Hayes. The interview discusses SEGA’s game plans for 2010 covering all IP’s including Sonic the Hedgehog where questions about Sonic 4 arise. Mike Hayes reveals the following game plan he holds for Sonic in 3 franchises, Sonic, Mario & Sonic and the All-Stars. Mike Hayes informs that Sonic 4 is being made for the ‘legacy’ fans which should make people who fall under that category happy to hear as long as the final product is what they hoped for. The question about episodes as seen in many interviews pops up again to which Hayes responds with a number of reasons such as low costs which means it is a better option to test how this kind of game is received.

You can check out the Sonic related section of the interview below:

Talking of classic Sega IP, we’ve seen the new Sonic game…
Doesn’t it look great?

For a 2D fan – yes, it does. What was the thinking behind its creation? Bizarrely, it’s a next-gen, old-school title…
The thing with Sonic you need to understand is that there are different parts of the Sonic family. This is how we’re building the whole strategy. In one corner you’ve got Mario & Sonic franchise, in the next you’ve got Sonic The Hedgehog. Then you’ve got the All-Stars – that’s pretty much everybody. Then you’ve got something we haven’t seen for a while, which is like Sonic Heroes, multiplay-type game.

Those are the four areas we want to develop. Interestingly, each of those is going to have different audiences. With the Sonic The Hedgehog brand, we have a lot of people who are legacy fans in a way. And that’s where the new game came from: Wouldn’t you like to play in the style of your old Genesis or Megadrive but in the beauty of re-enhanced high definition? It doesn’t mean we won’t tap into the All-Star games, or we won’t take Sonic in other directions in future.

Why make it episodic rather than a standalone New Super Mario Bros-style release?
Kind of a mixture of reasons. A lot of it is the whole digital entertainment part. We like everybody else are trying to learn how best to deliver entertainment in the future to consumers. This was a relatively low cost part of Sonic. We wanted to see how it was received via that delivery.

For something like Sonic 4, the consumer will often be quite core. They play a lot of multiplayer, a lot of downloads off XBLA and PSN. We’re feeling our way if we’re perfectly honest, but it seems to make sense.

We’ll keep an eye out for part 2 of the interview and let you know if anything Sonic is discussed.

Full interview at CVG

Well played, hoaxers, well played! Good going on not using a boss from the Rush games either: Egg Dragon was a pretty good choice for something like this. I, for one, am glad that Microsoft’s lax security measures over at PartnerNet (the source of most of the Sonic 4 leaks) hasn’t spoiled the final boss for the rest of us: we can only hope the final boss battle will remain unspoiled until the game’s finished and out. A special request to all those with access to PartnerNet: please, don’t spoil?

And no, we are not putting the screens back up.

Oh, and special thanks goes to SSMB member Dusk for bringing this to my attention! Appreciate it, man . I would also like to take this opportunity to push the website SEGA Bits, were I first found the hoax.. They are a great new site for SEGA fans everywhere, without the Kartel’s silly ads. I highly recommend a visit!

Earlier today Lee Brotherton – better known as Bentley Jones – posted a statement on his blog regarding the use of his work on recent Sega/Wavemaster music album releases. In an uncharacteristically formal language, he singled out last year’s True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2, notable for his previously unheard vocals in the track Open Your Heart (K-Klub Remix).

The full message from his blog is below.

It disappoints me to announce that the latest SEGA / Wave-Master releases relating to the Sonic series have proceeded without my consent, approval or notification. Specifically regarding the “True Colors” album, I wish to stress that I have not paid any direct contribution to its production at any point and is therefore not an accurate representation of my work. Furthermore; the music, vocals, production, engineering and my likeness(es) that appear on these albums do so without my permission, proper crediting and, in some instances, by breaching the copyrights of my work.

The royalties that I would normally be entitled to for any music that I have written have been denied, and so the only people who have been profiting from the exploitation of me and my music are SEGA.

The delay in issuing this statement has been due to legal investigations, and because of ongoing inquiries it may not be possible to comment on this area of my work through any medium: my sincerest apologies to the fans. Under protest, I will not list nor promote these albums as I do not consider them to be official additions to my discography.

I hope that my fans will understand and sympathise with this situation and I hope it will be resolved very soon.

// Bentley x

Bentley Jones rose to Sonic stardom some years ago when he was invited by Jun Senoue to create some remixes for Shadow the Hedgehog’s soundtrack. He has since worked on one of the theme songs to Sonic 06, Dreams of an Absolution, along with various remixes. From this – and his past work creating club mixes of pop songs for Remix Factory – Bentley Jones has created a solo career that resulted in a hit dance cover album in Japan. His popularity in the fanbase has made him a regular at the Summer of Sonic convention.

This could be a case of legal misunderstanding between the two parties, and Bentley Jones remained tight-lipped about any potential litigation process. But, this is some pickle, and we at least hope it’s resolved soon with minimal fuss.

The first piece of downloadable content for the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing at least has hit the Xbox Live Marketplace. Priced at 400 Microsoft Points you get what is essentially a key to unlock all content in the game, so those hoping for characters, tracks or music will have to wait a little bit longer.

The content is described as below -

Race past the competition and speed your way to victory with a whole host of Sonic & SEGA All-Star characters and exhilarating tracks. Unlock all 24 tracks and 22 characters from the start with this exclusive download. Winning has never been so sweet!

In a post at the SSMB Steve Lycett Executive Producer at Sumo Digital has confirmed there is better DLC coming -

Yeah, that’s the boring DLC, it gets better

Laser gates? LOL – yet another one to add to the gaffe list. The Final Fortress tracks used to have laser gates that popped out of the tracks to block you. We took them out as they really slowed the race down – and could pop up right when you least wanted them.

Of course there was a cameo on the Final Fortress tracks too….

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This first piece of DLC hasn’t hit the PS3’s PlayStation Store yet but we’ll keep an eye out for it.

UK Xbox Live Marketplace

U.S. Xbox Live Marketplace

SEGA of America community staffer RubyEclipse has posted a new topic at the SEGA forums informing the Sonic community that SEGA are ready to reveal new information about Sonic the Hedgehog 4 but they want to get the fans involved again. SEGA are holding a poll with two topics to choose from, either the homing attack or music and sound effects.

RubyEclipse’s post is below -

Hey everyone,

In the near future, we’re going to get a chance to talk to you guys more about Sonic 4, including some in-depth discussion about the finer parts of the game.

So, we’d like to let you guys decide which parts you’re most curious about and would like to hear more info on. There may be even more polls like this in the future, but this time around we’re letting you choose between more details on how the Homing Attack works in the game, or, alternatively, the Music / SFX in the game.

Cast your votes between now and this Friday – there’s not an “all of the above!” option just yet, but we’d like to see what interests you the most.

Thanks all!

If you are interested in taking part you will need to sign up for a SEGA Pass if you don’t have one already.

Source: RubyEclipse’s topic posted at the SEGA Forums

Thanks to Dusk the Biohazard Keeper at the SSMB for the heads up.

Jut a quick heads up, Chart Track have today unveiled last weeks UK video game sales chart for the week ending 13th March. Final Fantasy XIII has taken the top spot of the all-formats chart but how have Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and Sonic Classic Collection fared?

All-Formats Top 40:
ASR down from 5th to 7th place
Sonic Classic Collection 35th

Individual Formats Top 40:
ASR -
Wi version down from 12th to 15th
DS version down from 17th to 21st
Xbox 360 version down 19th to 36th
PS3 version down from 27th to 40th.

Sonic Classic Collection 32nd

PS3 Top 30:
ASR down from 6th to 10th place

PC Top 20:
ASR hasn’t placed in full price or budget charts

Xbox 360 Top 40:
ASR down from 6th to 8th

DS Top 40:
ASR down from 1st to 2nd
Sonic Classic Collection 6th

Wii Top 40:
ASR stays at 2nd place

It appears all versions of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing minus the DS version have dropped a little in the charts though remaining in the top 10 is still a positive to say the game has some heavy competition in games like Final Fantasy XIII, Heavy Rain and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Will Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing be able to stay put in the top 10? We’ll let you know next week.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sonic Classic Collection bringing Sonic’s legendary Mega Drive titles to a portable platform has just been released today in Europe for Nintendo DS and to mark the occasion SEGA Europe have issued a press release and a launch trailer showcasing the game in action.

SONIC CLASSIC COLLECTION OUT NOW!
LONDON (12th March, 2010) – SEGA® Europe Ltd. and SEGA® America, Inc., are pleased to confirm that Sonic Classic Collection™ is now in stores. For the first time ever, the original games from legendary gaming icon Sonic The Hedgehog™ – Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles – will be playable on the Nintendo DS™!

Sonic Classic Collection allows fans both old and new to speed through the much loved zones of the four original Mega Drive adventures, in a bid to collect the chaos emeralds and save the world. Optimised to take full advantage of the Nintendo DS system, Sonic Classic Collection will feature a new save anywhere feature, a first in this original series, meaning that the games can be enjoyed anywhere, anytime!

For more information please visit www.sega.com/sonicclassic. For press assets please visit www.sega-press.com

Thanks to Sonic Wrecks owner and SEGA Europe Community Manager ArchangelUK for the heads up!

Press release at Sonic Wrecks
Launch trailer direct link at SEGA Europe’s YouTube Channel

Have you ever wondered how Jazwares make all of their finely crafted Sonic merchandise? Well wonder no more as SEGA of America’s Kellie has obtained all of the answers along with concept art and photos from Joe Amaro who works in Jazwares Product Development department.

Topics discussed are concepts, prototypes, approval, where the toys are made, fan input and even Joe’s favorite character. You can check out the Q&A and pictures at SEGA of America’s blog but you may want to get yourself some refreshments as it’s a very long interview.

Thanks to D00dlebug for the heads up.

UPDATE 5: RianaLD has posted a new journal entry at her devianART detailing Steve Lycett’s apology on behalf of a level artist and how the mistake happened. Steve reports that Sonia appears in both disc and Steam PC versions under low detail track settings.
Thanks again Silva Rymes for the heads up!
/UPDATE 5 END

UPDATE 4: Executive Producer at Sumo Digital Steve Lycett has just commented on the situation in a post at the SSMB :

Wow, I have a night off – and I miss all this

We take these things seriously at Sumo and will be contacting the original artist directly to offer our sincere apologies to her, this was entirely unintentional.

Not much else I can really add!

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/UPDATE 4 END

UPDATE 3: After some research we’ve discovered the Sonia card only appears in the Steam edition of the PC version with the disc release displaying Amy. RianaLD the owner of the artwork has the PC version and confirmed the artwork is in that version. RianaLA lives in the U.S. where only the Steam version is available so we’re pretty confident its the Steam version with the Sonia artwork while the EU only disc release displaying Amy.
At 0:52 -

Click here to view the embedded video.

At 0:45

Click here to view the embedded video.

bzdrte5 has also helped 100% confirm it is in the Steam version in a post with a screenshot at the SEGA Forums. Thanks bzdrte5!
/UPDATE 3 END

UPDATE 2: RianaLD has posted a follow up statement at her deviantART.
Thanks Silva Rymes for the heads up!
/UPDATE 2 END

UPDATE: Lightning_Duchess now known as RianaLD has made a statement regarding her Sonia art being in Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. You can check it out at her devianART page.
Thanks Silva Rymes for the heads up!
/UPDATE END

SSMB Member Yuluga has just brought to our attention a cameo appearance from Sonic Underground’s Sonia in Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing’s Roulette Road course discovered by members of Sonic Reikai forums. The appearance was spotted in a YouTube gameplay video but we have just checked it out ourselves in the Wii version and snapped the above photo of the cameo and can confirm this is the real deal. The cameo has also been noticed by fans in the PC version but as for the other 3 versions we’ve checked them out and it is nowhere to be found.

The above picture of the card has apparently been extracted from the game and the Sonia artwork on the card look’s very similar to a piece of fan artwork by deviantArt user lightning_duchess which you can check out below.

We’ll query this with Sumo Digital’s Steve Lycett and report any information we can obtain here.

Thanks to Yuluga for the heads up!

You may remember when we informed you about a competition being held at Sonic Wrecks to win some Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing goodies. Site owner and SEGA Europe Community Manager ArchangelUK has now revealed every prize in photo form including the never before seen Big the Cat concept art.

The competition is open for just 2 more days so if you haven’t already taken part then head over to Sonic Wrecks now to get your entry in.