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sonic and all stars racing transformed

Game News

Sonic 2 Mobile Update, Transformed iOS Unveiled

Sonic 2 2013 CPZ

Sega announced today their Winter 2013 lineup features Sonic 2‘s mobile update and Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed for iOS. The two titles are joined by Rhythm Thief and the Paris Caper (which is fantastic and worth checking out if its 3DS counterpart indicates anything) and a new MOBA card game called Demon Tribe.

Sonic 2’s update brings the same enhancements that Sonic 1 received in the form of wide screen display, a smooth 60FPS gameplay, and a host of other enhancements such as high quality Mega Drive sounds, leaderboards and achievements. I’m sure most of you are wondering about the game’s two-player mode. While Sega’s said little about the title, title developer and connoisseur of vegemite Christian “Taxman” Whitehead offered a little tease.

“I’m pretty limited in what I can mention about Sonic 2 right now, but when the Press Release says that the game runs widescreen at 60fps, that applies to all aspects of the game… wink wink, nudge nudge,” Whitehead said.

The Transformed port for iOS will feature a refined World Tour mode to accentuate gaming on the go and also provides four-player local and online multiplayer.

Both titles are currently scheduled for release sometime next month. Grab some hot chocolate, a blanket, and your mobile device (these should undoubtedly make their way over to Android users too.) Sega is aiming to provide a comfy winter for mobile gamers. Let’s just hope Sonic 2 can make it in time for its Nov. 24th anniversary.

Game News

All-Stars Racing Transformed Moves 1.36 Million Copies

asrtpc

Sega Sammy released their financial reports for the company today, and it turns out the company did rather well. Of note, the company posted a net profit of ¥33.5 billion, or about $331 million, which is an annual growth of 53.3 percent. However, Sega Sammy’s operating profit decreased year-on-year by 67.3 percent, down to ¥19.1 billion ($189 million). Majority of this was through the sales of “investment securities” and transfers of employees’ pension benefits.

That’s all well and good if you’re financially oriented and looking to invest in Sega, but you’re here for game sales number to shamelessly slap people on message boards with! While physical retail game sales were down, causing the company to consider refocusing efforts more toward smartphone and digital titles, Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed zoomed across the finish line with 1.36 million units sold globally. No platform-by-platform break down was provided, but that’s still a rather strong number for the shape-shifting kart racer.

On top of that, Sega broke down plans for the 2014 fiscal year, saying that they plan to ship 11 games on PC, 7 on Wii U, 7 on PS3, 6 on 3DS, 5 on Vita, 4 on Xbox 360, and 2 on PSP.

While no doubt at least one of those will be a Sonic title of some sort on nearly every platform, what surprises us more is the PSP still getting some love. Keep on trucking, little guy!

For a more thorough breakdown, hit up our sister site SEGAbits. She’s just as pretty as we are, promise.

Reviews, Sega Retro

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed: The Retro Review

The developers at Sumo Digital have tuned up their old car, shoved a jalapeno up the tailpipe, changed the belts, look, whatever generic trope you want to indicate for the existence of Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed. You know, that Sonic and Sega racing game? They made another one of those.

Without a doubt, it’s a better game than the predecessor. It’s more of everything: more vehicles, more characters, better physics, more track variety, and so on. It also does what it can to give character/item based racers the competitive edge that the genre has difficulty in reaching. On the other hand, the game has mishaps and hiccups that occur more often than it should which can cause the game to be a frustrating experience, especially in some of the game’s more heated situations.

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Game News, Sega Retro

PAX ’12: Friday’s Tidbits and News

Greetings from the show floor. Or rather, from the couch in the house of a great friend as I wearily type out this information as I get up. Been out and about at the Penny Arcade Expo, and I’m ready to bang out some tidbits from the show floor while sipping from my pipe mug courtesy of $35 and fangamer.net. What follows is some general news as well as game impressions from some of the games on the show floor as well as a small sampling of pictures I took. Lets also not forget…

Retro Community Meet-Up Reminder

Hey now, Seattle is NOT that cold. Plus the community meet up is later today at noon. Don’t forget the details and come check in with other community members and staff. That goes for you too, ShadeVortex.

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