We gave plugs to some of Sonic Boom’s debut music earlier, and one of the more requested songs so far has easily been the Classic Remix of “Escape from the City” that will be used in Sonic Generations without any of the audience voices.
We hear you loud and clear. While the recent dissection of the demo yielded its own musical results, Escape from the City was missing from the included files.
But Sonic Retro has its ways…
We’ve been taking a look at the Japanese PSN demo since it dropped early this morning and been tearing it to bits. We’ve found quite a bit inside (c’mon, Sonic Team, it’s not exactly a secret that we do this) and have goods to share. A warning that there are massive spoilers under this cut. Don’t read if you care about preserving such things.
So you’re busy playing Sonic Generations. You’ve only got twenty days before your demo runs out and you have to go back in time to today to play it all over again. But if you don’t put down that controller, you’re going to miss the other hidden hedgehog secrets that have been sneaking out. Gamestop, the game superstore that’s in nearly every mall in America, has put up yet another of their pre-order incentives, this time for Generations. And what is it? Why, Casino Night Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Though an earlier interview in Nintendo Power made it seem like the level was to be a 3DS exclusive, Gamestop has let the cat out of the bag, those willing to secure their order through the gaming emporium getting the level. Does this mean they get to play it early through some demo trickery? Does it mean the level is free DLC for players who buy the game through them? More then likely the latter, but if so that opens up a whole other can of worms, meaning that Xbox Live account you used to play through the Green Hill today could get you more then you were expecting. Who doesn’t love more Sonic? Well, more good Sonic, that is. Why, the possibilities are practically…not endless, but twenty years worth
Either way, the level looks to be quite enticing in the looks department. You even get “Miles” in big glowing letters, how can you not love that?
[Source: Gamestop.com]
With Sonic Generations’ demo now out for the massive scrutiny and pleasure of Sonic fans on most of the globe (sorry, Japanese PSN users), we thought we’d steal a page from Sonic Boom and start our own Time Attack challenge for the demo stage.
Now, at Sonic Boom, the best time on record was about 54 seconds. Scorching! However, site moderator Chimpo just could not let that stand and, after many attempts and botched maneuvers, scored the commendable time above of 0:51.86.
Now it’s time for you to smoke through Green Hill Zone in the demo. Can you beat Chimpo’s time? If you do, please post a photo and, please, no hack-assisted times. Let’s try and keep this fun for everyone. Don’t think we’ve not seen those Sonic 4 leaderboards!
To those of you who patiently waited and didn’t get a chance to sample the demo at Sonic Boom for whatever reason, your waiting is over. Starting tomorrow, both Xbox Live and PSN will be receiving the demo to Sonic’s upcoming adventure.
Unlike the Sonic Boom build patrons got to sample, this version will only feature Classic Sonic’s version of Green Hill Zone Act 1, omitting Modern Sonic entirely.
One small catch: the demo will only be available for 20 days. After that, the demo will be removed from the services and downloaded copies will expire. Whether this is an anti-hacking measure or a way to build up hype by releasing a second demo with modern Sonic remains to be seen.
Fox Xbox Live users, the same rule as other demos applies in that Gold level users will be getting the demo first with Silver level peons waiting until next week. Don’t think burning demos to a disc works, as members on our forum are saying that no longer works.
Demo aside, Sega will also release a 20th Anniversary Bundle consisting of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1, Sonic Adventure (and its DX add-on), and the Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 dynamic theme on PSN for $19.99/£13.99/€17.99. A similar deal is expected for Xbox Live users. The offer also expires on July 12.
[Sources: Sonic 20th Anniversary Twitter, PlayStation Blog]
So America got Sonic Boom during E3, and the U.K. is getting Summer of Sonic this weekend. But what about Japan, the country where the original Sonic the Hedgehog was conceptualized and produced? Well, this past weekend the Sega Joypolis arcade in Tokyo, Japan held their “Sonic the Hedgehog 20th Birthday Party Anniversary Exhibition.” While the Sonic display connected to it opened on the 11th of June, last Saturday was the big celebration, going full out for the 100 invited guests along with whoever else could fit through the door at the last minute. These diehard Japanese fans were not disappointed, able to see Naka, Ohshima and Iizuka live on stage. Sure, there wasn’t a 40 minute Crush 40 extravaganza, but Senoue was more then willing to show his smiling mug, and the Director of Sonic Generations was also on hand. After all, wasn’t the announcement of Sonic’s latest game that got this whole 20th celebration rolling?
If you caught the tweet two hours ago, you’re no doubt already aware that Sonic Generations was spotted up on Steam in a beta state.
But before you go running off to try and somehow hijack it and do whatever it is you plan to do with it, learn that it cannot be downloaded. However, you can safely see its presence in the Steam index without any worry of breaking laws or losing your Steam account permanently.
Make sure your Steam client is up to date and download the Steam Registry Tool Kit here. You’ll need .NET Framework 2.0, so this is for Windows Users only.
Open the program, and open the file “ClientRegistry.blob” located in C:\Program Files\Steam (or C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam for you Windows Vista and 7 users.) Double click on ContentDescriptionRecord, which is a registry entry on the right panel. If you don’t see ContentDescriptionRecord, make sure the folder “TopKey” is highlighted on the left sidebar.
Finally, go to the Subscriptions tab, to the dropdown right below the tabs, and go to I.D. 8449.
Not the most exciting bit of news other than the impromptu confirmation for the PC version of the game. We’ll keep you posted if anything more develops or from official word from Sega. Special thanks to forum member Hinchy for the above process.
Sonic Retro has largely clung on to this whole crazy Web2.0 movement, what with our own Facebook page after much demand, a Twitter feed, and even our own little Steam group. And yet, it feels like there’s something missing…
So, being arbiters of shameless self-promotion, I’m happy to introduce to everyone the Official Genuine Imitation Sonic Retro flickr™!
Right now, there isn’t too much going on there aside from some of the photos we took while over at Sonic Boom this year, but please check them out! Maybe even friend us, you aspiring photographers out there? I’ve seen some of the work you all do in Creative Works.
This week’s trip to Los Angeles was the first time I’ve been to the area for at least a decade, so I had quite a bit on my dream itinerary. Go to Sonic Boom? Of course. See Chimpo wear an obscene amount of hats? Duh. Play Samba de Amigo, Initial D and Lupin III: The Shooting while wandering around in the early morning? Admittedly not something I planned on, but still fun. However, there were still things I never got around to: going to a Trader Joe’s, seeing Krunk Fu Battle Battle, visiting MOCA. However…
I did go to E3, so I guess that pretty much evens things out. While I was there, I stopped by Sega’s booth to check out their entire Sonic lineup: Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Sonic Generations and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing for the iPad. Details on each are under the cut.
Clearly the biggest draw of the event was the ability to play a demo of Sonic Generations at Sonic Boom. At least 20 stations were set up across the venue for fans to take a crack at the tale of two hedgehogs.
Here we have yours truly going through both the classic and modern versions of Green Hill Zone. Being my first time running through the game at all (no fibs here), they’re not the most stylish, but they should address whatever concerns people have with the physics, or raise more. Who knows!
Sega announced that the demo was making its way to PS3 and 360 soon, meaning those who didn’t attend will get their hands on them soon enough.
Like what you see or want someone dead? Comments and trash talk about how much I suck are down below for your pleasure. And yes, the DJ was terrible. Feel free to mute the audio.
