EGM's latest issue has come out! And guess whose on the cover again...... :)
This time its Sonic with the cast of Phantasy Star reflected from his eyes. Included in this issue is an article celebrating 10 Years Of Sonic The Hedgehog and an SA2 Blowout at the end! The issue is selling for $4.99 and you can click the cover for a larger view. :)
Care to get your hands on Sonic Adventure 2 before everyone else? If so you can import the Japanese verion from Express.com!
Description: The hedgehog is back, running at the speed of sound heading toward a TV screen near you!! Super crisp graphics, the mysterious black hedgehog, Sonic grinding on his board down a handrail...you've probably seen or heard a lot of stuff about this game. As he reaches his tenth anniversary, gamers are goint to receive a big surprise when this game is released. More adventure, more action, more speed!! Experience a storyline that Sonic fans never have witnessed ever before. It will truly amaze you.
Coolness! ^__^
You can preorder the Japanese version of the game for 58.99 or view the order from the Source Link below.
Source: Preorder Order SA2! (import)
The Color Cover for Archie Sonic's Sonic The Hedgehog #96 has been released. Spoilers included below....
In the meantime I can now comment on the cover since it doesnt look all gibberishy now. ^__^ Either Doc R.'s Shadow Swatbots have learned how to cloak themselves OR theres a new brand of clear Swatbots (the color cover releases are never fully accurate - so I'm guessing) but either way Sonic and Mina reflected off the surface of the bot is pretty cool. Click the cover for a larger view. ^__^
This is CERTAINLY NOT Sonic news, but I know a lot of you are still wondering about this - so I figured I'd post it and inform you guys.
Even though Bleem! has made it clear that there has been no set date for their upcoming PlayStation emulator on the Dreamcast, DCemulation.com decided to fire off an email to the company anyway, wondering what the holdup is with Bleemcast! Here below is the reply they received:
The good news is, there are something like 6 million Dreamcast consoles out there that will be able to play bleemcast! with no problems. The bad news is, (for the time being at least) bleemcast! will only run on those machines, until we can figure something out for the new units.
However, we anticipated this change when we first heard about the system being cracked and our projections have been based on the installed base of MIL-CD compatible Dreamcasts, so it doesn't affect our product plans in the slightest. And now that the new machines have hit the streets, we're looking to see if there's a way to make bleemcast! work without putting the platform at risk by exposing another backdoor for the pirates to exploit. In the meantime, we'll do what we can to help potential customers determine whether bleemcast! will work with their DC.
Frankly, we can't blame Sega for killing support for the MIL-CD format, given the explosion in piracy in recent months. It's a pity that the information was put out there so irresponsibly and so much piracy has sprung up so quickly - Sega made a great console at a great price, and offers some of the most creative and innovative content out there. What's sad is that many of the same people who steal Dreamcast games will also be the first to bash Sega if they drop out of the market because they can't make any money.
Of course, it's good to know the reason why we haven't seen this emulator grace our Dreamcasts yet given the fact that we were expecting it back in October. With the recent announcement that Sega will be reducing the console price to $100, smart shoppers may benefit from buying the Dreamcast and Bleemcast, getting the best of both Sega and Sony. Hopefully the Feburary or March release date will stick this time.
Source: Sega X
Think Sonic Advance was it huh? Think again...
It seems the Game Boy Advance will be getting a LOT of the classic Sega Genesis games as well - and hopefully there may be a few classic Sonic's thrown in there as well!
After Sega's big announcement, IGN got in touch with Charles Bellfield, vice president of marketing communications for Sega of America to talk about the company's future plans with the Game Boy Advance. While he couldn't go into specifics about what the company has in the works for the system, he was genuinely excited for the future with the handheld. The big question was asked – will Sega dig into its classic Genesis library and revive some of the best titles of the 16-bit days? "It's a natural thing to do," he told us. "Just look at the backlog of titles Sega has…there is plenty to work with." 
Unfortunately, other of the hit games published by Sega may have to be left in the past, as many of them utilized licenses that weren't directly owned by Sega itself. Six big titles from the Genesis era: Mickey Mouse: Castle of Illusion, Aladdin, and Donald Duck's Quackshot were Disney titles, Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy are Treasure property, and Toejam and Earl is owned by…well, Toejam and Earl Productions. While Sega could work its legal magic with the respective companies, it may be easier just to work with what Sega has. Nothing is known if the games listed above will end up being ported. Time will tell. 
"But we wouldn't just rehash our old software just to sell," Bellfield told us. "If we didn't add to the original as an incentive to buy it, we wouldn't do it." In other words, for those who remember it, you might not see >b>Altered Beast on the Game Boy Advance unless it was updated or enhanced in some way – such as new levels, new graphics, or new gameplay elements. Or, at the very least, included in a compilation pack similar to what Sega recently released on the Dreamcast as the Smash Pack. Something that would make the game less of a "shovelware" -- something to give the title an incentive for folks to buy itIf the company doesn't increase the value of the game with new elements, then folks might not buy it. It's the "been there, done that" syndrome.
While Sega Enterprises (the Japanese branch) is responsible for the production of the first three games for the Game Boy Advance, Sega of America will also actively produce titles for the GBA down the road – just as it had for the Dreamcast, Saturn, and Genesis. The company's both a publisher and a developer – and nothing has changed in this transition – several titles produced by Sega deserve a return, and with this recent turn of events for the company, the possibility has turned into a probability.
Source: IGN Pocket
Though the Official Dreamcast Magazine will stop releasing a Dreamcast demo disc, don't fret dear readers... you'll still be able to get a demo disc full of all the future SEGA titles as SEGA has unveiled its replacement, the new Dreamcast, Ltd. The demo disc will be released quarterly from SEGA, similar in style to the PlayStation Underground Discs you see in places like Electronics Boutique and Software Etc.. The first volume will release on March 27th, 2001 nationwide at a suggested price of $4.95.
“The ‘Dreamcast, Ltd.’ program lets us showcase the unparalleled quality of content coming to Dreamcast,” said John Golden, director of product marketing, Sega of America. “By making the discs available at a very low price point at retailers across the country, every Dreamcast owner will have the opportunity to experience the very best of what’s coming up for Dreamcast.”
On the first volume of Dreamcast, Ltd., the disc will feature demos of:
and other hot titles. Addtionally, there's also this great interview with Yuji Naka (the creator of Sonic), where he talks about the development of Sonic Adventure 2 as well as a good look at whats new in the game! Oh what about the demo of Shenmue 2? Oh, it's in there, too! ^__^
Source: IGN Dreamcast
One of the loyal Sonic fans just discovered something interesting. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and the game Flicky (what the Flickies in Sonic 3D Blast are based on) are now available as a PC Port in Japan. He discovered this while browsing Sega PC Japan's website: (it's in Japanese, but you can translate to English with an Japanese to English Web Translator)
Apparently they have 3 software packages available, called "Sega Archives from U.S.A." Volumes 1, 2, & 3. Volume 1 is what we know in the States as the "Sega Smash Pack," and Volume 2 is the "Sega Puzzle Pack." (which includes Doctor Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine) But Volume 3 doesn't seem to have any American equivalent (at least to my knowledge -- anyone?), and that's the one that contains Sonic 2. There does seem something rather odd about this though:
Wasn't it Steve Snake, et al, who put together the Smash Pack & Puzzle Pack (see sega.com's PC section)? I would assume that the same people put together the 3rd collection in the series; but if so, how come it wasn't released in the States first? And, am I right in assuming that these people are Americans?
If you have any idea at all, post on the Station Square Newsboard (link to the right) and look for the post titled "Sonic 2 on PC"! Later!!! ^___^
IGNDC recently did an interview with Yuji Naka, the man behind PSO, and all things Sonic. He commented on add-ons for PSO, SA2 plans, and he hinted that Sonic Adventure 2 may not be the last Sonic Team game on Dreamcast. Read the full interview at IGN.
Source: IGNDC
Sega made history this morning when the company revealed its future publishing plans for 2001 and beyond (see our news story below) – the company is slowly leaving the system business and transmogrifying into one of the biggest third-party publishers for the Game Boy Advance, Gamecube, XBox, and PlayStation 2. The company announced that it has three Game Boy Advance games currently in the works, Chu Chu Rocket, Puyo Puyo and:
Sonic The Hedgehog Advance. The game is reported to be along the lines of the Genesis 2D sidescroller, with brand new levels unique to the Nintendo system. The game is currently scheduled for a worldwide release with the US system this July. Blast Processing not needed -- just look how well the NeoGeo Pocket Color version measured up.
Whats important about this is that it will not only be a Game Boy Advance launch title (**@_____________@**) but it will be the first Segasonic videogame on a system that is NOT fully Sega supported AND the first Sonic game on a major Nintendo system.
Sonic Pocket Adventure, The SNK-published game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, was a decent game and took Sonic through a 2D world filled with rings, bursts of speed and graphic splendor. But the game did have some flaws, most of which will be now non-existent on the Game Boy Advance. For example, one complaint from some: "There's no parallax scrolling." The GBA -- the 32-bit RISC processor will be able to handle parallax and depth with little to no problem. And although the Neo Geo game was very similar to the Genesis versions of the platformer, it's almost certain that the GBA Sonic will be superior to the older games, especially since the little handheld has just as much power as the older Sega system.
We're not completely sure whether the game will really work like the Neo Geo game, or if it will be a completely different style of gameplay. (Rumor has it that the game and levels will be all new and not remakes of older boards designed differently) Either way - It will likely be Sega's flagship product on Nintendo's new handheld, and it will doubtless have incredibly high production values and endless amounts of fun.
So here goes Sonic's next step...The Game Boy Advance...
Source: IGN Pocket