sonic-chronicles
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DS Daily: Has it changed your view?
With Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood finally releasing and all of us having ample time to play it, we'd like to know: has it changed your opinion of the blue, spiky hedgehog? It's quite the good game, which is weird for us considering Sonic hasn't been in one of those for quite some time. Maybe it's changing our view of Sega's mascot a little. How about you? If you haven't given the game a try yet, may we ask why?%Gallery-16398%
DS releases for the week of September 29th
While it's nothing like last week's amazing array of releases, there's a lot for DS owners to be excited about when it comes to the new releases. Not only is the long-awaited Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood finally set to debut in the U.S., but there are some other jewels out this week, as well. Here in the States, we've got Princess Debut and Unsolved Crimes, and Europe finally sees the release of Prey the Stars. We're jealous. Margot's Word Brain Pipe Mania Pop Cutie: Street Fashion Simulation Princess Debut Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood Unsolved Crimes
It's just like playing the beginning of Sonic Chronicles!
... probably because it's a video of the beginning of Sonic Chronicles! This video is, however, in French, and most of you are probably not playing in French. Luckily, the videographer skips through options and dialogue so quickly that you barely have a moment to make out the bonne idées.BioWare's take on the long-running franchise is due out next week in North America.%Gallery-16398%
Sonic Chronicles: The Lining Up at the Nintendo World Store Brotherhood
The latest edition of Gamespot's On the Spot show reveals an incentive for Sega fans to get over to New York City's Nintendo World Store: a shot at an early (or, to be appropriate to the source material, really fast) copy of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, signed by members of the game's development team. The NWS will have copies of the game available on September 28 (though the rep says August 29), two days before Chronicles' official release date! Sega will also offer an exclusive downloadable Chao.Skip to about 45:00 to hear this directly from Sega's Associate Brand Manager, Ken Ballough -- while seeing video of the game in action! Unless you want to watch the whole thing and see stuff about other systems or whatever.Warning: video (and game) contains Rouge the Bat.[Via RPGamer]
New Sonic Chronicles video focuses on combat
If you've been waiting on Bioware's Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, then you've been waiting on a definitive look at the game's combat system. Heck, we have! Well, boys and girls, the wait is over. Feast your eyeballs on the trailer above and tell us what you think in the comments!%Gallery-16398%[Via press release]
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood offers up overproduced trailer
This has to be one of the most incredibly overproduced game trailers in existence. It's like SEGA and BioWare hired the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack producer and forced him to write a full-blown soundtrack for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Sonic has never had so much fanfare, especially on such a small system.Zack nailed this in his hands-on impression, and the gameplay backs it up, but it looks like you could have dropped any ol' characters into this real-time RPG. When we hear the name Sonic, we tend to think hyper-speed running and gold rings flying all over the place. Call us old fashioned.Still, this trailer is sure to wake you if you're in that end-of-the-week coma.
Mass Effect, other BioWare franchises possible on DS
Sonic Chronicles may lead to more familiar franchises for BioWare's handheld division, according to statements made by Chronicles lead Miles Holmes. Holmes says that the company is considering DS versions of its major franchises, including Dragon Age, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect. "Basically anything that reinforces the franchises," said Holmes.His choice? "I tell you which one I would want. I want the Mass Effect one." He goes on to say that "a DS version would be an awesome way to keep interest alive and keep it going in addition to the next [Mass Effect game]." Is this a confirmation of a Mass Effect DS sequel? Absolutely not, but it shows that BioWare is at least thinking about their own games on DS.%Gallery-16398%[Via GamesIndustry.biz]
BioWare considering Mass Effect DS
... and Jade Empire DS and Dragon Age DS and pretty much any BioWare property is on the table, according to the company. Lead designer of upcoming DS title Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood Miles Homes told Eurogamer.de that the company would consider small screen versions of their IPs, "basically anything that reinforces the franchises." As much as we'd like to get totally pumped by the revelation, we're going to withhold pumpitude until we see how Sonic turns out. But hey, don't let us rain on your parade: Which BioWare franchise do you hope goes DS first?
New Sonic Chronicles trailer goes by fast
Sega has set loose a new trailer for BioWare's portable Sonic the Hedgehog RPG ... and the video was apparently created with the aid of Blast Processing. We think we can see Sonic running, characters battling, puzzles being solved, and – oh no – is that Sonic with guns? It isn't? Whew. The actual overworld traversing reminds us a lot of Sonic 3D Blast – just in terms of the isometric perspective, mind you. Something tells us that this game will end up a lot better than Sega's "2.5D" offering for Genesis and Saturn did. Maybe it's the fact that, as this trailer so boldly (and largely) touts, the game is from the creators of Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic?
Musical musing about Sonic Chronicles
The latest trailer for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood does a good job of showing off some in-game footage (well, it does suffer from screen-in-a-screen syndrome) and introducing the game's storyline. The blurb in the beginning about BioWare's past achievements may help get the interest of PC/Xbox gamers who happen to see the trailer as well.But for some reason, what sticks out to us the most is the music. Specifically, it's a march. Marches, by definition, are designed to dictate a rate of movement. The march is a fairly average speed, and Sonic is really fast, and -- okay, we don't know where we're going with this.
A snippet of Sonic Chronicles gameplay
Our prayers after a vacant E3 have been answered. After complaining like little kids that we have no video for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, a hefty sack of media has dropped by, showing off gameplay in several different areas of the upcoming RPG. The above portion is titled Green Hill, and it seems like the kind of happy chappy level present early on in most Sonic games.Hit the break for four more videos, showcasing new levels and a few extra characters. Comments thus far? The environments look excellent, with the subtle painted style complementing the 3D character models very nicely. The lack of action in these clips is a little disappointing, but we know there will be plenty of that, what with it being a turn-based RPG and all. Quietly confident in this one.%Gallery-16398%
E308: A little more from the Dark Brotherhood
The E3 media blitz continues with Bioware's Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. You know what goes well with new screenshots? Trailers. Sadly, we've only got this old one, which means someone's asleep at the switch. We've seen nearly 150 screens for this one -- where are all the videos? Should we just put them together and make a flipbook?%Gallery-16398%[Via press release]
BioWare eyeing iPhone development
Speaking to MTV Multiplayer, the developer of such epics as Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic confirmed that it is looking into games of a much smaller (physical) scale. Specifically, BioWare co-CEO Greg Zeschuk states that he finds Apple's iPhone "intriguing" as a games platform. Mind you, he's not saying development is underway, but he is a fan."Something that's as big a cultural and technical success as the iPhone is something you've really got to take a close look at," explains Zeschuk, adding that, "We've got a lot of folks looking at it." Zechuk's statements come just a few days after the project lead on BioWare's Nintendo DS RPG, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, revealed that the company is also investigating Wii and PSP dvelopment. Now BioWare just needs to look into developing for those LCD games you see at mall kiosks and it'll have all bases covered.
Fresh Sonic Chronicles screens keep us hopeful
There's a lot riding on Bioware's upcoming DS title, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. There's a lot of buzz about the title and many think if there is any development studio that can take the Sonic franchise and produce something better than hot, steaming garbage, it's Bioware. Also, there's a certain promise that we're totally expecting Bioware to fail to deliver on. Like we said, a lot is riding on this title.Until the game releases, however, we'll just have to settle for being optimistic and staring at some new screens. We want the game to succeed and think it can. As for the screens, hit up our gallery below and check them out. %Gallery-16398%[Via Go Nintendo]
Sonic is leashed
As usual, our razor-sharp instincts were correct -- Sonic Unleashed will not be coming to the DS, as confirmed by Sega. This was probably the fault of Jimmy, the work-experience kid at the Sega offices. When Jimmy was notified of two completely different Sonic games and asked to write a release list, it all became a bit much for him and he made an honest mistake.Don't blame poor Jimmy, we're none of us perfect. Instead, sit back and embrace the fact that Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is still on its way, and Sonic Unleashed was, and always will be, a full-fledged console game for the Wii.%Gallery-16398%[Via Videogaming24/7]
DS Daily: A tale of two Sonics
Following yesterday's big list of release dates for Europe, everyone is wondering what the deal is with Sonic. Is he starring in two upcoming games on the DS, or is Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood enough for him? What is the deal, exactly?Well, we don't know, right now. We're of the mind that the thing is nothing but a typo. But, should it be true, would you want Sonic Unleashed on the handheld? The game seems to be going back to its roots, but we've been fooled before. Also, with Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood releasing soon, we're not sure we have enough in us to get excited for two games starring the spiny little fellow.What say you all?%Gallery-16398%
Clunky Sonic Chronicles site opens
The official U.S. site for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood just opened its doors to the viewing public. Even as official websites go, it's particularly Flash-heavy and rather annoying to use at first, but the idea behind it is pretty neat. As in the game, you use your "stylus" to help Sonic navigate the lush environments. We just hope movement feels a little more fluent in Sonic Chronicles itself, because it comes across as fairly clumsy and graceless on the site. If there were two words we'd use to describe Sonic, those words would not be "clumsy" and "graceless," but "fast" and, erm, "blue" (look, it's Tuesday evening, what more do you want?).It's got all the official site stuff, which basically means screens and game information (locations, character profiles, etc.), and before you ask: yes, you can use the loop, yes, you can collect the gold rings (and collecting them all gives you a prize), and no, you can't hold Big's face beneath the water until his eyes bulge and his body goes limp.%Gallery-16398%[Via Go Nintendo]
Long list of DS titles headed for Europe
Europeans, rejoice! Today brings news regarding release dates for DS titles up until the beginning of next year. The list is populated with plenty of high-profile titles, yet is woefully absent of a certain Professor Layton. There's also a concrete confirmation that Trials & Tribulations is headed your way, even though we kind of knew that already.Even more odd is the inclusion of Sonic Unleashed in the list past the break. Is the game coming to the DS? Maybe, but it seems more likely that this is nothing more than a typo.
BioWare considering Wii, PSP development
Mass Effect creator BioWare likes console development. In fact, it would like to do more of it – on more platforms – so implies Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood project lead Mark Darrah in an interview with Gamasutra. "We're looking into Wii and PSP as a company," Darrah revealed, although "nothing's been decided." BioWare is also intent on broadening its portfolio, Darrah says. While its forte is definitely in the RPG genre, we have seen solid effort from BioWare in the action category with MDK2 for Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. Company co-founder Greg Zeschuck has previously told Joystiq that he's keen to take another stab at the genre ... it's just a matter of clearing its already very full plate first and catching the right idea.
Sonic Chronicles issues first trailer
Sega has released the first trailer for its turn-based RPG, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Developed by Bioware, the Nintendo DS game shows promise. The publisher obviously spared no expense in the voice-over department as the "movie voice guy" talks all dramatic-like through the trailer. Sonic Chronicles is expected to be one part of the Sega mascot's reboot this fall.%Gallery-20608%
