News

The Samba De Amigo v.2000 Upgrade has been shown at the JAMMA Show, Including new modes and songs, and surprisingly, THIS NEW MONKEY GIRL! (which I'd bet alot of money for, that shes in because of the Love Love Mode, You Go Amigo!)

Here?s what?s new with ver. 2000: a bunch of new songs have been added into the mix (along with the original game?s selection of Samba melodies), and there are two new modes available from the select menu. The first new gameplay mode is ?Normal Mode? (the default system for the sequel), which introduces the practice of waving both maracas between two of the six positions. You?ll also need to make wide, circular sweeping motions with both maracas. Whenever you?re required to do this, the ?pose? icon pops up, and voices start chanting. This does an exceptional job of making the player look even sillier, and it gets my seal of approval.

The other addition is the Dreamcast version?s notorious ?Love-Love Mode,? which calculates the romantic compatibility between two players. This is specifically designed for young couples who frequent game centers (which are hot Tokyo dating spots ? really!), and is appallingly cute. To increase the game?s red-hot sexual tension, a new character has been dropped in ? a lovely girl monkey who plays the tambourine. Rrrowr.

And that?s about it. Ver. 2000 isn?t particularly earth-shattering, but the new songs and the maraca-waving challenges are fun enough to warrant getting addicted all over again ? and I had a blast playing it at the show. Let?s hope that this paves the road for future, fruitier endeavors from Sonic Team.

There are movies and pictures, go check the source!

Source: DC.IGN.COM

The JAMMA Show has begun in Japan! And Sonic Team have brought out a new game! Shakka To Tamborine! The Sequal (Technically) To Samba De Amigo! However, instead of Maracas, we've got Tamborines instead, and a buncha of new characters!

Using a similar arcade cabinet, the gameplay is oddly reminiscent of Samba de Amigo, requiring you to shake a single tambourine in one of six positions. Colored dots show you where to shake, and where to smack the bright, yellow button located on both sides of the musical peripheral to make a clapping sound. Since the arcade game?s sensors are capable of tracking the maraca in 3D space, you?ll also be required to make circular, sweeping motions with the maraca while shaking it (similar to painting graffiti in Jet Set Radio). Is it fun? Yes. Oh, hell, yes. If you don?t move your butt to this game, there?s something seriously wrong with you.

The music threw us for a loop at first ? instead of the funky Latin beats of Samba, Shakka?s tunes are all J-Pop songs from Nipponese super groups like Morning Musume and Ayumi Hamazaki. Ranging from traditional Japanese melodies to fast-paced techno, the song selection is great? if you?re Japanese. If Sega?s considering an American release, 99% of these songs are gonna get the axe (though I hope they leave in the Gatchaman theme).

Shakka appears to use the same engine as Samba, sporting 60fps, cartoony visuals with stoopid-crazy amounts of background animation. And oo-wee, is it fruity! Seriously, this is one of the brightest, shiniest, happiest games we?ve seen since Super Magnetic Niu-Niu. Think the dancing monkeys in Samba de Amigo were weird-ass creations? They ain?t nothin? compared to the white tuxedo-clad freaks who smile insanely as they shake their tambourines in a fit of ecstasy. These guys scare me.

There are movies Avaliable at the source, check them NOW!

Source: DC.IGN.COM

Recently, Famitsu Magazine in Japan has brought out first screenshots of The New Daytona USA Title on the dreamcast, which will include tracks from DUSA1, Championship Edition, and DUSA2. And to no surprise, Sonic has once again showed himself up in the mountain in all his glory!

?

Source: Gamers.com

... will be Wednesday, 8:00PM EST, October 4, 2000. I'll be online for at least an hour, staying longer if it's anything like it was last time.

To avoid confusion and give everyone a chance to get their questions answered, I may ask everyone to refrain from chatting with others during the session. I only say this because many people were having trouble keeping up with the flow of the conversation as a result of the extra chatter.

Please keep in mind that anything connected with this website is a work in progress, and while Bob and I do work hard to try to improve things overall, we're not quite there yet. We ask for your patience and consideration to others. Thanks.

There you have it. I'll be there - what about you?

Source: Ken Penders' Message Board

If you still don't own a copy of Sonic Adventure, you can get one for 20 bucks from Mplayer.com as a special offer to its members. I'm not sure if you have to be a member or not, but it's there and only $20 (US dollars) from the List Price of $57.99! Here's the URL:
http://store.mplayer.com/...
Source: Mplayer Store Newsletter

That's what the biggest rumor to come down the pike in ages is saying. This comes from SegaWeb...

Holy just so wacky it might be true, Batman! A rumor has surfaced indicating Sega is teaming up with none other than Nintendo to create a new cross-platform game. Featuring characters like Sonic, Mario, Link, Virtua Fighter Kids, and more in an RPG-style outing, the game will see release on both the Dreamcast and GameCube. The game (tentatively titled "Sega and Nintendo: The Cosmo Cube") is supposed to be officially announced in November. Ah, so that's when Hell is going to freeze over. Thanks to The Magic Box for the scoop.

Remember folks, and take THIS to heart; THIS IS IS JUST A RUMOR! It may or may not be true, but it's certainly very intriguing, is it not.....

Credit: SegaWeb News Bytes

With a little hunting around with help from Sonique, I've found the address so all you SatAM fans can also email Teletoon Canada. (the Canadian equivelant of the Cartoon Network) These guys air Sonic Underground and many other "niche" shows, so there is a possibility of them airing SatAM. Without furthur ado, here's the address:

BCE Place
181 Bay Street
P. O. Box 787
Toronto, Ontario
M5J 2T3

Increadible news for SatAM fans. We heard DiC was bought, well it was DiC who bought their independence. YOU MUST WRITE LETTERS TO CARTOON NETWORK NOW! Cartoon Network would be the best because they adopt series and above all they listen to their fans. They listened to the Sailor Moon petition so the SatAM petition could work. Okay, here's what to do. Here's what WB said:

Write to CartoonNetwork AND Dic. For CartoonNetwork you need to give them reasons as to why this series is so good and show them how many people are behind it. For Dic you need to convince them the benfits of airing it again, new episode possibilities (think of interest in Sonic Adventure 2, study demographics) and why Cartoon network would be a good place

DO NOT ASK FOR NEW EPISODES YET!! That will come in time and I'll keep everyone posted. Here's the addy to cartoon Network:

Cartoon Network
1050 Techwood Drive
Atlanta, GA 30318

And for DiC:

DiC Entertainment
303 North Glenoaks Blvd,
Burbank CA 91502 (USA)

Phone #: (818) 955-5400
Fax #: (818) 955-5696
Executives:
Andy Hayward: President & Cheif Executive officer
Patricia Ryan: President of international sales
Joy Tahjian: President of worldwide merchandising
Robby London: Senior Vice President of creative affairs

Two new games have been added to Sega's All Stars program. Capcom has announced that both Power Stone and Marvel vs. Capcom will now be repackaged and sold for a measly $19.95. Woo-hoo! Now you have absolutely no excuse for never having played these games. Check out our review archive for the scoop on both of them and then get off your butt and go buy 'em already! Sheesh!

Good news for Dreamcast fans.

Credit: SegaWeb News Bytes

For those of you who know, I recently sent out the SatAM Petition to quite a lot of compainies. Here's the bad news from ABC:

Thank you for your submission to American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. However, worthwhile, we cannot assume any obligation for ideas contained in your unsolicited submission. In an effort to avoid misunderstandings over the orginazaion or story ideas, it is our policy not to accept or review any ideas, suggestions or creative matericals not solicited by us.

As a nation orginization, we recieve a great number of program suggestions, many of which have similar plots, story lines, formats, and/or ideas to those created internally and/or already incorportated in other programs .(not a misprint, that's how it was written)

Accordingly, enclosed please find your unexamined submission. We thank you for your interest and wish you all the best in your pursuits.

Sincerely

Some ABC Jerk....
Anyway, if they'd payed attention, they'd see I was more so asking for them to rerun the series, rather than make a new one. Then, eventually, maybe a new series or season. Anyway, this is gonna be harder than I thought, but hell if I give up. I will not give up and just hope others are writing letters and having more luck. If Ben Hurst is right, the new president of ABC doesn't give a damn about ABC, so I suggest writing elsewhere.