SEGA Japan’s official Sonic Mania site has launched this week, complete with slick animations and rammed with information on characters, stages and other game content. Continue reading Official Japanese Sonic Mania Website Launches
SEGA Japan Planning Special Surprise For Sonic’s Birthday?
Brazillian Sonic fansites Power Sonic and Sonic Zone are reporting that SEGA Japan has revealed news to press that the company will be bringing lots of Sonic content on our favourite blue hedgehog’s big 20th Birthday. SEGA is said to be adding lots of items to its official Sonic Channel website, some news to its official Sonic Generations website and unveiling a surprise. Could this surprise have something to do with the Sonic Generations demo that was recently approved at the Australian Classification Board’s website or the possible Nintendo 3DS version of the game in the works? I guess we’ll find out June 23rd.
Sources: Power Sonic and Sonic Zone
Sonic Colours and Sonic 4 Playable At E3
The Official Japanese Sonic Channel Blog has today confirmed in a new entry Sonic Colours will be present and playable at this years E3, an earlier entry posted 21st May confirms Sonic 4 will also be present and playable too. No other info is given as to what builds to expect or any new trailers or other assets so we’ll have to just wait and see. Be sure to check back with us during the show as we’ll be relaying all info and media that hits the net back to you here.
Thanks to HunterTSF at the SSMB for the heads up!
Sonic Music Artist Roundtable On True Colours Album
I think one of my all time top ten fantasies (after the one where I’m trapped in an elevator with Tia Carerre) would be to sit around a table with some of the musical geniuses who have worked on Sonic music past and present. Well, to commemorate the launch of the second best of Sonic the Hedgehog album “True Colours”, The big names in the Sonic music Universe, namely Tomoya Ohtani, Hataya Hisashi, Jun Senoue and Kenichi Tokoi gathered to reflect on some of their masterpieces from the past….
Continue reading Sonic Music Artist Roundtable On True Colours Album
Sonic Bowling Hits Japanese Mobile Phones
Proving that the Sonic Cafe titles are still a hit five years on, SEGA’s official Sonic Channel blog has announced a new mobile phone game for Japanese handsets – Sonic Bowling! The game is available on mobile phones on the SoftBank network, but Docomo and au network versions are coming soon.
Developed by ★ Puyo! SEGA, the game is essentially bowling with Sonic characters. The models, Hunter from the SSMB noted, look similar to the ones used in the Nintendo DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy are confirmed as playable characters, each with their own playing style.
As well as regular ten-pin play, you can upload your scores against the country-wide ranking system, or take part in ten missions handed to you by Dr. Eggman (because obviously he’d be able to take over the world if you sucked at bowling, or something).
If you have a touch-capable phone, there are optional control methods that take advantage of that, and if you don’t fancy spending 315 Yen on the program just yet, take solace in knowing that SEGA are offering a free trial version so you can get into the swing of the kingpin. For everyone outside Japan though, don’t take solace in the fact that, like other Sonic Cafe games, this is not likely to reach Western networks.
Sonic Channel Blog (thanks to Hunter from SSMB)
Japanese Sonic Channel Now Even More Shiny
Just in time for Christmas Sega of Japan has seen fit to spruce up the Sonic Channel website. While no significantly new content has been added some English has crept onto the site for everyone not fluent in Japanese and everything is looking quite a lot better than it did before.
New content you can check out now include some festive fan art and if you haven’t seen it already Silver The Hedgehog has gotten the Sonic Channel Wallpaper treatment for the month of December. A new Sonic pose has been posted as line art for your colouring pleasure and Sega have also included some great little Sonic scribbles in the form of a letter set and book cover for you to print off.
If you’ve not checked the site for a while of if you’ve never heard of it now’s your chance. I’ll give you a tip though; all the fun stuff is in the ‘Enjoy’ section of the site. Happy hunting!
Credit: Yong of the SSMB (for posting about it first)
Win A Christmas Cards from Sonic Team? Japan Only Please!
I think at one time or another we’ve all complained that our friends across the Atlantic or Pacific really do get a much better deal than ourselves when it comes to getting Sonic stuff. Well, this season the Japanese have really beaten everyone on the scale of awesomeness…
Continue reading Win A Christmas Cards from Sonic Team? Japan Only Please!
Sonic Channel Colouring Page Art Update
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.
Channel Watch: Get Romantic With Chip Wallpaper
Sonic Channel, for the uninitiated, is Japan’s official Sonic the Hedgehog website. It’s about ten thousand times better than the American counterpart, Sonic Central, and is currently 100% better than the European Sonic City, which doesn’t exist yet (expect that to change when it re-launches though). It’s updated on a regular basis and provides plenty of decent fanservice for Asian fans of the blue blur. Every so often, we’d like to track the updates we find on Sonic Channel, so you don’t miss out on some good stuff.
Every month we’re treated to a new desktop wallpaper and calendar PDF, which features the talented artwork of Yuji Uekawa (who should really do more artwork for promotional purposes like game boxes – too many CG pieces flying around) – and every so often a little bio written by SEGA Europe’s Community Team as well. Recently the character art has been in a sketch style, which is a cool way of seeing how Sonic and Tails are usually drawn.
February’s calendar character is none other than Chip from Sonic World Adventure / Unleashed. I guess it makes sense – Valentine’s Day is the time of love, and Chip just happens to ‘looooooooove’ chocolate. We’re glad the little random sprat is getting some facetime. Even though it’s pink, it’s on my desktop. Because hey, I’m comfortable with my sexuality. Are you? Click here to grab the wallpaper and here for the calendar PDF.
The other main activity on the Japanese website appears to be on the official microsites of Sonic World Adventure and Sonic and the Black Knight, with the latter updating with a pretty cool video featuring Jun ‘Junny Baby’ Senoue and Johnny Gioeli performing ‘Knight of the Wind’ in a SECRET LOCATION. Well, a studio. A studio in a SECRET LOCATION. It’s pretty good stuff, head to the microsite and click the video called ‘Hey All’ to see it.
Finally, even though they’re really old items on the website, we want you to take a look at this video featuring Junny Baby and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (of the SEGA Sound Team live performance band) singing Happy Birthday to Sonic (totally epic), and some awesome ‘Basic Sonic’ stationary that you wish you could buy.
Sonic Channel and Sonic X Space Fighters
There’s been a mixing pot of Sonic news lately, none of which has been deserving of a full-blown article, which is why Sonic News has rounded them up into handy little news reports.
Sonic X Sonic Space fighter figures
Released in April 2006, a new range of Sonic X figures are available, which have been named Sonic Space Fighters. The toy range features Sonic and friends in futuristic space costumes.
Currently available in the range are: Sonic, Shadow, Tails, and Knuckles.
If you’d like to buy these figures please visit: Toy Globe. Continue reading Sonic Channel and Sonic X Space Fighters
Sonic Channel Overhaul
Sonic Channel updates
Sonic Channel has updated in a big way this month. Instead of the usual character related update Sonic Channel has seen a complete overhaul, not longer is the site coded in flash, instead the whole thing is in HTML. This comes as good news to those who have wanted to save artwork and photos from the site, but that’s not all, the layout of the site has been changed too.
The Channel has been crammed with more than you can imagine, one could assume the recent change is in preparation for Sonic’s upcoming 15th anniversary, but either way this is a welcomed surprise. Continue reading Sonic Channel Overhaul
This Month on the Sonic Channel
Every month, as most of us now know, Sonic Channel updates with a new character art, wallpaper and other goodies.
This month, we have a Big the Cat profile, along with his art and wallpaper. There is a Rouge puzzle with last month’s Rouge art added and some fan art. Lots of fun there.
Along with the site update, they have also said that the 2 in 1 packs with Sonic Advance and Sonic Battle, Sonic Pinball Party and Sonic Battle, and Sonic Advance and Chu-Chu Rocket, have been released as of the 26th of January, in Japan. However, don’t fret. There have been a few 2 in 1 packs already released for English customers. Continue reading This Month on the Sonic Channel
Art Image Night 2005 Details Revealed
As I reported in the SSMB forums some months ago, an event know only as ‘Art Image Night 2005’ was to take place in Japan. Because of the location of the event (Japan) very little was known about it, all information on the event was presented in Japanese, but using the crudest of translation resources (Google translation) ‘Sonic News’ aims to bring you, what it considers to be, a vital piece of SEGA gaming news.
The event has now passed, and ‘Sonic News’ has been able to establish that ‘Art Image Night 2005’ was in fact a live concert to celebrate the 15th anniversary of HMV in Japan, which it would seem has a far greater role in the Japanese music scene than it does in any other territory. Continue reading Art Image Night 2005 Details Revealed
Sonic Channel update
A very brief update here, and a rather nostalgic one at that.
Sonic channel has updated their site with some rather exciting content. For anybody wishing to sample the delights of ‘Sonic Mobile’, the port of the ‘megadrive’ classic ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ (which is coming to all Samsung VS3 smart phones in Europe), well you can. There’s a mini flash game that allows you to play the first level. I’m unable to tell if the play goes beyond just the first stage, of course this is due to the overall crappyness of keyboard control.
Control issue aside the game looks to be a good port, without looking at the game under a microscope, I’d say it’s hard to spot any differences. The music is great, and it’s amazing to think what today’s mobiles are capable of, because there’s no difference to the timeless pieces of music that featured in the original ‘Green Hill Zone’. However, when hit rings do dissipate after about two flashes, much quicker than the original, and certainly not enough time to grab back those precious lifelines. Continue reading Sonic Channel update
Sonic Channel Updates
‘Sonic Channel’ have had a rather large update, with yet more promotional photos from the ‘m-flo’ event, and loads of downloadable goodies such as wallpaper and art sheets.
M-Flo Content
Sonic Channel has added to its site new images of the promotional event: where ‘Shadow the Hedgehog’ and the Japanese hip-hop soul group m-flo teamed up for a photo shoot. The photo shoot was to promote the soon-to-be-released Shadow remix of their song ‘TRIPOD BABY’ entitled: ‘TRIPOD BABY (SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG MIX)’. Continue reading Sonic Channel Updates
Sonic Channel Updated
All the major upcoming Sonic releases will be displayed to the Japanese public at the next generation World Hobby Fair, SEGA have revealed on their official ‘Sonic Channel’ website.
As with all gaming events in Japan, lucky showgoers will be treated to special hands-on test plays of Sonic Gems Collection, Sonic Rush and Shadow the Hedgehog. Free gifts will be showered upon visitors too, and the appearance is testament to SEGA’s further pushing of the blue blur. Continue reading Sonic Channel Updated
Sonic Team Official Website Updated
As new titles have been suddenly revealed at E3, Sonic Team have updated their website to reflect this too. Being E3, this is an unusually large update, unfortunately for English speaking fans close to all of the content is in Japanese and Flash, so Babel Fish cant help this time!
The first of the updates include the long overdue Japanese website for Shadow the Hedgehog. The website contains new movies and a few new screens, whilst confirms the game will be 1-2 player, no release date was specified.
The movie begins with Shadow loading a weapon before using Chaos Control to fly through a cityscape and Chaos Blast to attack some enemies. Some new landscapes were visible in the movie as well as Sonic rendered in the games alternate style.