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In lieu of recent events concerning Sega's ANYTHING BUT ad campaign - it seems Sega is going back to the good old humor of thier old ads.

People had recently complained that Sega's ads just werent cutting it. Sonic Adventure and Resident Evil got decent coverage ad wise, but it had seemed that on Television and other ads of print medium, Sega had been giving its games the short shrift - specifically with the recently realeased Space Channel 5 and upcoming Seaman.

After Space Channel 5, only two 'In the Box' ads remain, World Series Baseball 2K1 and Seaman; the new commercials, beginning with NFL 2K1's this fall, will retain the trademark Sega humor, but will focus on the gameplay and quality of Sega's wonderful lineup. Sega acknowledges that two to three seconds of in-game action just isn't enough, and plans to sort out a mix of around 50% gameplay, 50% new ad concept per thirty-second spot. Naturally, the company's hesitant to reveal its new concept so early, but it's said to be flexible enough to keep the comedy for some games but approach others straightforward. Case in point--Sega already plans to sell Shenmue more like a movie than an actual game, sporting perhaps a trailer-esque mix of voiceovers, in-game action and cut-scenes.

Thanks to Sonic HQ staff member Shayne Thames (aka Manic - Fanfics/Cartoons) we now have a copy of the music played in the Sonic Adventure 2 online trailer! The music is available in both RA and MP3 form so that you can listen to it.

Thanks Shayne!

Real Audio Theme
MP3 Audio Theme

Sonic Super Special #14 spoilers are light in this post - so beware if you haven't gotten it.

For those that don't already know, as we posted last week, Sonic Super Special #14 was released Wednesday and has already met with some numerable discussion on its day of release. With this book Ken Penders has seemingly wiped away all of Knuckles continuity in one big stroke! I wont spoil it any further than that, but so far a lot of people have been VERY happy with this one (minus the short Zone Wars story), as this story has reset Knuckles to his roots presented when he was first introduced. Now Ken Penders wants your feedback on how it went and what you thought. As he posted on his message board:

I thought for sure with all the clamoring for Knuckles to get his own book again that I'd hear more commentary -- pro or con -- regarding SONIC SUPER SPECIAL #14. I put it everything but the kitchen sink just to let everyone know no matter what the format, I'm still able to make the stories a continuation of what has gone on before.

So head over to KP's message bard and tell him what you thought of the decison to "wipe the slate clean" so to put it. Was it achieved well, or done badly? The link to the message board is below.

Source: Ken Penders' Message Board

The word seems to be going around that Sega and Sonic Team are planning for a worldwide simultaneous release of Sonic Adventure 2 on December 10, 2000.

And in other news - recently Gaming Age and other websites posted a story that said Sonic Shuffle would have no internet capabilities whatsoever. Well thanks to Sega X, this story has been rightfull debunked and this is what they had to say....

The rumor behind Sonic Shuffle's online support has just gotten even stranger. Earlier today our Sega PR contact e-mailed apologizing for yesterday's information. She then told us that, "There are no internet capabilites in the game [Sonic Shuffle]. Sorry about the confusion." To be doubly sure, we contacted Sega a second time for re-confirmation, and ultimately, what we discovered was not uplifting. As it now seems, Sonic Shuffle will not be bundled with on-line capabilities, corroborating the company's official link for the game, which originated this controversy.

Originally, Sonic Shuffle was announced to come with networking support as one of SegaNet's primer titles this Fall.

And what does www.sega.com have to say about it - they still have full net support up. :OP So we'll see what happens when it happens

Electronic Gaming Monthly must REALLY like Sonic The Hedgehog.

He's been on thier covers more times than any other character, he's gotten more coverage by them than any other videogame magazine, and this month he and his arch-nemesis Doctor Eggman make an appearance in EGM's monthly comic strip - "The Adventures of Hsu and Chan!"....Well...a reasonable facsimile of Sonic anyway - you see, this guy is really Arnie the Ground Squirrel - and that blue stuff is mousse! ^_____^

Take a gander at the strip by clicking the panel on the left, and when you're done head on over to "Evil Monkey Productions" and give Hsu and Chan Tanaka's creator Norman Von Scott a hollar! Tell him what you thought of it.