This is neat sounding thing...
The trick bonanza will only set you back $19.99, which isn't bad at all.
"The scooter phenomenon continues to thrive throughout the U.S.," said Martin Spiess, senior vice president of marketing at Crave Entertainment, "'Razor Freestyle Scooter' provides cool environments and characters so fans can scoot day or night, year round."
Interesting, to say the least. Let's see how it does...
Source: FGN Online
You've heard all the news stories, folks, now hear the official announcement so many have awaited:
It's been rumored all over the place, announced in several retailer bulletin boards, and been typed across several platforms. But SEGA has yet to confirm the Dreamcast price drop to $79.95? well, until now. So here is the full SEGA press announcement about the Dreamcast price drop taking effect August 12th:
On Sunday, August 12, 2001, Sega of America will reduce the manufacturer's suggested retail price of the Sega Dreamcast video game console to $79.95, down from $99.95. The change will be effective Sunday, August 12, 2001 at retail stores nationwide. The price reduction is a milestone in Sega?s announced strategy to transition from hardware manufacturer to leading platform-agnostic third party publisher. The move will help ensure that Sega Dreamcast is on store shelves this holiday season, as well as help deliver on Sega?s stated goal to sell through all remaining Dreamcast inventory by the end of the holiday season 2001. In addition to reducing the price of Dreamcast hardware, Sega will also drop the prices of the Dreamcast controller to $14.95, the visual memory unit (VMU) to $9.95 and the Sonic Hardware Bundle to $99.95 (consisting of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Shuffle, and a blue Sonic VMU).
?By taking these steps, we are confident that we will meet our sell-through goal, and we are excited to be able to offer consumers an excellent choice in consoles this holiday season. Besides its affordable price point and incredible library of content, Dreamcast continues to be the only console offering out-of-the-box online gameplay right now.? -- Peter Moore, President & COO, Sega of America.
Sega will continue to support Dreamcast with innovative Sega content. In fact, Sega is shipping more than 20 titles this year to Dreamcast, including the first online-playable baseball simulation, "Sega Sports World Series Baseball 2K2;" the first online console games to use in-game voice chat, "Alien Front Online" and "Propeller Arena;" as well as sequels to top-selling Sega games like "Sega Sports NFL 2K2," "Sega Sports NBA 2K2" and "Shenmue II."
Further, on August 13, Sega will bring back the popular Sega Sports bundle at the attractive price point of $99.95. This year?s Sega Sports bundle will include Dreamcast hardware, a Dreamcast controller and the top-selling Sega Sports NFL 2K1, NBA 2K1 and WSB 2K1. Sega?s focus is on developing innovative content for gaming and non-gaming platforms, and on networked entertainment. Sega continues to be an architecture provider and licensor of the Dreamcast chip-set technology for set-top-box products from Pace Micro Technology, Europe's largest digital set-top box manufacturer. In addition, Sega is exploring different publishing channels to deliver Sega games to handheld devices, such as the previously announced partnerships with Palm handheld computers and Motorola cellular phones. Finally, Sega is focusing on its network strengths to bring online gaming to a variety of devices. Sega?s goal is to become the leading publisher of interactive entertainment worldwide.
For those that don't know what the Sega Sports bundle is, here's a press release of the full details of the sports bundle:
?We are making the Dreamcast more affordable than ever so consumers can experience the thrill of playing Sega Sports games on or offline this summer,? said John Golden, director of product marketing, Sega of America. ?Sega Sports has a reputation for incredible content, so by combining games from the awesome Sega Sports 2K1 line-up with the Dreamcast makes the Sega Sports Bundle 2K1 a terrific value for every sports video game fan.? ?Sega Sports NFL 2K1,? ?Sega Sports NBA 2K1? and ?Sega Sports World Series Baseball 2K1? are three genre-breaking sports titles that feature over 1,300 motion-captured character animations, high-resolution detail and facial expressions, artificial intelligence that mirrors real life behavior, and accurate game and season statistics. From ?bump and run? coverage in ?NFL 2K1,? a working spin move and crossover in ?NBA 2K1? and true-to-life camera angles in ?World Series Baseball 2K1,? these games bring all the intricate action of the big leagues to gamers everywhere. *Is cursing the fact they don't sell Dreamcasts where he lives* Source: DCIGN
This will excite many SA2 fans, especially those who missed out on the Birthday Pack. Read on...
Missed your chance at scoring the limited edition birthday pack? Don't fret, because Japan will be receiving two CDs of luscious Sonic Adventure 2 music. The first is a vocal collection, and hits Japan on August 28th. The second is the original soundtrack, and will hit Japan on September 5th. Both should be excellent pieces, and you can check out your local import shop or National Console Support to request the CDs.
If you're a SA2 fan, I bet you're starting to mutter 'Why does Japan get all the cool stuff?!'. You're not alone, my friends...
Source: SwirlVision
From DCIGN:
Wavemaster, the studio responsible for the diverse soundtrack in Sonic Adventure 2, has opened a special site for the little blue guy. The SA2MUSiC Web Site has the newest information for everything that relates to Sonic Adventure 2's sound and music. Everything from interviews to release information to general wacky comments by the creators. Too bad everything is in Japanese...
The site has released information about, multi-dimensional, the original sound track for SA2 and detailed track list, comments, and explanations for the SA2 vocal collection. The OST will be released Sept 5th and the vocal collection will be released earlier on Aug 28, these dates are both for Japan of course.
Why does so much of the good stuff have to be in bloody Japanese?
Source: DCIGN
And lookie how Sonic Team responds, with a vengence...
Reported in Japanese publication Nipon Shinbun, SonicTeam has reported a massive hacking of their servers. This is considered criminal action according to Japanese penal code.
According to reports, the police have tracked down the hackers, who are outside of Japan and International Interpol has been notified.
Big mistake, Mr. Hacker.
Source: FGN Online
From Swirlvision
Here are the release months in which Sega will unleash their latest arcades in Japan. Most are being developed by Sega, while a couple are just using Sega's hardware.
9/??/01 - Project Ikuraga by Treasure (NAOMI GD)
9/??/01 - Alien Front by Sega (NAOMI GD)
9/??/01 - Inu no Osampo (Dog Walk) by Sega (NAOMI GD)
9/??/01 - Mobile Suits Gundam DX by Capcom (NAOMI GD) (new characters, and balanced gameplay)
Late October - Virtual On Force by Sega (Hikaru)
Source: SwirlVision
Sonic 104 Spoilers have been released, and one of the fan artists that has been reported on The Sonic Foundation News Page has been revealed. Read on...
"Freedom Fighters of the Galaxy, Part Two." The tribute to the Guardians of the Galaxy continues. Sonic's troubles in the alternate future version of Mobius go from bad to worse, as the harbinger of doom arrives - and his name is Silver Snively. That can only mean on thing: his master, the incarnation of doom itself, can't be far behind - none other than Robolactus. Can Sonic and the future Freedom Fighters stop this menace before he has a chance to erase them from the history books. "The Return of the Downunda Freedom Fighters, Part Two." A continuation of the confrontation begun last issue, as the Downunda Freedom Fighters square off against Bunyip in a classic-style Sonic tale. 32 pages, $1.99, ships on Nov. 16.
Written by Mike Gallagher, art by Dawn Best, Ken Penders, Dave Manak and Harvo.
About the only thing I didn't foresee was the timing of the solicitations for upcoming issues, so it took me by surprise when I learned the game was given away on a website that promotes the comics industry, and thus announced on the SONIC HQ website. After that, it was only a matter of time before the buzz hit the mailing lists. Since I'm on a couple of these mailing lists, and since word is spreading, I may as well break the news here. My new assistant is none other than Dawn Best AKA Chordsy. Since I've recruited her, she has turned in pencilled work based on my layouts for the KNUCKLES stories you'll be seeing in SONIC #101, #102 and #106, as well as the SONIC story in issue #104. At the moment, I'm preparing the Knuckles script for SONIC #107, which she will do as well as any other Knuckles stories from that point onward. While she is learning from my layouts, it is my intention at some point to eventually cut back to strictly inking as far as art chores for Sonic and Knuckles go and allow her to solo on the pencils. While others submitted samples of very high quality, it was Dawn's work that Bob and I kept coming back to, and I predict within a short time she'll be leading the vanguard of the next generation of artists on the series. So let's give her a round of applause. (You deserve it, Dawn.) I also look forward to comments on her work for the letters pages.
Well, I'm certain this will be big news for fan artist fans and comic fans alike. The second artist is slated to make his/her debut #108.
Source: Comics Continuum
Well, I went to the floating Island just to check on the site to find this:
After some immense thinking, I have finally decided to discontinue "The Floating Island." I honestly do not have much time for the site anymore, as new paths begin to open for me. Future plans for TFI consisted of moving to a new server, MP3 downloads, and other interesting features. It is a waste of money paying for a host, when I will update rarely. Other considerations were added as well.
We do not have a very large 'staff.' Only Mike (Knux56K) and I evenly work on the site, which is at a very slow pace. Previous recruits refused to put in an honest effort. Lack of publicity fails to make TFI a known community. Not to mention there are other well-done Sonic sites around. We could not measure their duration in work, time, and interaction.
So I leave it to them to enlighten your "Sonic the Hedgehog" needs. I know this may disappoint some of you, but it's the best option for me. The site will be lingering around... allowing you to download what you don't have, until I completely close it. No immediate decision has come to mind on the Angel Island Jamz radio...so I'll just keep it running for a while. And no, I do not want another webmaster maintaining the site. Saying all that, I wanted to thank everyone who supported www.thefloatingisland.com!
All of the members of the mailing list, linkers, advertisers. Anyone who contributed to this site. I enjoyed working on the site for about 3 years. If you have any questions or comments, my E-mail address remains below. We hope you had a great time here, and wish the best for you. Thank you.
Josh A.K.A. "Knuckles Echidna"
So there you have it! After 3 years, the site has shut down!
Sonic team must be so happy right about now...
According to Dengeki Online, Phantasy Star Online, Yuji Naka's wondrous online RPG for the Dreamcast has garnered another award. At the Sixth Annual Animation Kobe, Phantasy Star Online received the Best Network Media award, adding to it several awards received from various coventions including TGS and GDC.
I bet Sonic Team's awards shelf is just bursting right now.
Source: IGNDC
