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PSN Store Update: Lego The Hobbit, Strike Suit Zero, Persona 4
This week's PSN update brings PlayStation systems the the smallest of people in their smallest versions, courtesy of the newly released Lego: The Hobbit. It's out at retailers for PS4, PS3, and Vita, but if you'd prefer a download version it's also on the PlayStation Store. That'll set you back $60 on PS4, $50 on PS3 and $30 on Vita, so if you're after the smaller of prices, King Oddball at $7 might pick your fancy. The physics-based puzzler has an Angry Birds flavor, except it has a floating rock head who chucks smaller rocks around with his bizarrely long tongue. Oh and he has a crown on his head. It's been out on Vita for a little while as well as iOS, Android, and a few other platforms, but this is its debut on PS4. PS4 also has the new Director's Cut of Strike Suit Zero for $20, while the PS3 makes do with a Sonic Unleashed download for the same price. If you're after a more palatable vintage, Persona 4 is this week's PS2 Classic re-release, meaning you can get it on PS3 for $10. Finally, Stealth Inc: A Clone in the Dark is the latest PS Plus freebie for subscribers, and Episode 3 of Telltale's The Wolf Among Us is available to PS3 owners, priced at $5. [Image: Atlus]
Sega 'looking to improve Sonic strategy,' reducing supply of older Sonic games
There are stories emanating from the mysterious coalition known simply as "Europe" that Sega -- responsible for some of your dearest childhood memories and, maybe, your first heartbreak -- is busy "delisting" less-than-stellar Sonic the Hedgehog titles from European retailers. Jurgen Post, Sega SVP of EMEA (that's Europe, the Middle East and Africa), told MCV, "Any Sonic game with an average Metacritic has been de-listed," continuing, "We have to do this and increase the value of the brand. This will be very important when more big Sonic releases arrive in the future." While that certainly sounds ominous, we asked Alan Pritchard – newly instated veep of sales and marketing for Sega US and the man who held Mr. Post's spot until just a couple month's ago – to clarify what it means for Europe, for Sonic and (jingoism be damned!) for North America. "I think perhaps Jurgen's comments have somewhat been taken out of context," Pritchard told Joystiq. "It's not quite as drastic as what Disney do for example. They bring out Lion King and all of a sudden there's a cut-off date, and you can't buy Lion King for another six months. It's not quite as drastic as turning the tap off completely. We want consumers and retailers to defocus from the back catalog, the older titles and focus more on the new-release titles."
Sega marks down downloadable games for Sonic's birthday
To celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog's 19th birthday (the American release date of the first Genesis game was June 23, 1991), Sega of America is dropping prices on downloadable games and DLC, most of which is related to Sonic. Offers on each platform have a different start date and a different duration. The PSN sales will be active today through Tuesday, July 6, and include the PSP Sonic Rivals games ($10.99 or $13.99 for 1 or 2, respectively, or $17.99 for both) and discounted DLC for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Sonic Unleashed and Sonic the Hedgehog. iPhone sales run tomorrow through June 30, and include discounts on the iPhone's Genesis games (Streets of Rage and Golden Axe are at the magic 99-cent price at which they start to seem like a good idea) along with Super Monkey Ball ($2.99) and the iPad's Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition ($4.99). Finally, the XBLA sale will begin -- and end -- Thursday, June 24. If you want to buy any of the Genesis Sonic games for $3 each, you'd best have your Microsoft Points ready that day.
Xbox 360 Platinum Hits lineup adds Halo Wars, Orange Box and others
Xbox.com has listed several new games as Platinum Hits, including Fable II (aka Game of the Year Edition), Halo Wars, Left 4 Dead, The Orange Box, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Ninja Gaiden II, Kung-Fu Panda, Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, Sonic The Hedgehog, and Sonic Unleashed. A Microsoft PR agent couldn't confirm the full list of new Platinum Hits (are we missing any above?), but said that if a game is listed as such on Xbox.com, it's a Platinum Hits title. The changes seem to have taken effect on major retailer sites, as GameStop and Amazon now reflect the discounted Platinum prices (if not always the the Platinum Hits branding), which range from $20–30. With Orange Box requiring only one Jackson ($20), it's now literally a crime to not own it. Conversely, if you're dead-set on committing a crime, buy someone Sonic The Hedgehog or Sonic Unleashed at $20 each. [Thanks, Stephen]
PSA: Army of Two, Midnight Club, Sonic Unleashed now on demand
Major Nelson has shared with the internet the following facts: Army of Two, Midnight Club: LA and Sonic Unleashed are now available on Xbox Live Games on Demand. Army of Two and Midnight Club are available everywhere except Japan and North Korea, while the madness that is Sonic Unleashed is available worldwide. In North America, Army of Two is $19.99 and Midnight Club is $29.99. Sonic Unleashed will cost you $29.99 and the immediate forfeit of your immortal soul. Prices in other regions will vary (except for the soul part; we're pretty sure that's constant).
GTA IV, Dead Space coming to Xbox 360 Games on Demand this month
The Xbox 360's Games on Demand service is getting quite the booster shot this month, as Microsoft has announced six new titles coming to the service in October. The festivities kicked off earlier this week with the release of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Call of Duty 3. Here's what the rest of this month has in store: October 13 Grand Theft Auto IV October 20 Midnight Club: Los Angeles Army of Two Sonic Unleashed October 27 Dead Space DiRT There's no word on price for any of these titles right now, so we've checked with Microsoft and will be sure to update you when we hear back.
Overdue: Sega to fix Sonic the Hedgehog 'over time'
Would you consider it a small victory if Sega of America's marketing VP, Sean Ratcliffe, was cognizant of the company mascot's ongoing and unceasingly spectacular nosedive? "The quality is something that will be fixed over time," he told Industry Gamers, addressing Sonic the Hedgehog's well-publicized fall from blast-processed grace. Though Ratcliffe insisted that last year's Sonic Unleashed proved to be a hit with "the kids," it's the "die-hard Sega fans" that were "fairly critical." Which is putting it quite "nicely," we think. Sega is investigating numerous options for Sonic's future -- including digital distribution through iPhone, XBLA "and so on" -- though Ratcliffe warns that "it's always a challenge to raise that quality bar."Really? When it's all the way down there?
Sega's promotional Smart car displays not-so-smart marketing
What kind of car would you associate with Sonic the Hedgehog? Does Sonic have any defining characteristics that some cars share? Ah, that's right! He's small! Smaller than a normal car.... at least, that's how Sega of France's thinking seems to have gone. A Sega fan spotted this Sonic Unleashed-branded Smart and sent a picture into Sega's Sonic blog. We suppose it's appropriate given the game it's advertising: it makes as much sense to pitch a game about running fast with a pokey, bulbous little car as it does to make half of that game about a stretchy-armed werehog. At least the car's mostly blue.
Gameloft and Sega Europe strike licensing agreement for mobile content
Gameloft, one of the world's leading mobile game producers, has struck an agreement with Sega Europe to produce mobile content based on Sega properties. The first game that will come from this new partnership will be a mobile version of Sonic Unleashed, which will feature "high-speed 2D side-scrolling action." Sadly, it will also feature The Werehog.There's no word on what other titles Gameloft will produce for the mobile space, but European cellphone enthusiasts (if there are such things) can find Sonic Unleashed on their mobile phones sometime in June.
More Sonic Unleashed DLC is impossible to write about
Bad news, guys. We were going to pass along that more Sonic Unleashed DLC is in the works (we just read about it on Sega's Twitter feed). But, within the confines of the English language, there's no way we can be more apathetic than the last time we had to tell you about Sonic Unleashed. Last time, we couldn't even finish the headline. We just can't top that.We've been reduced to using the slightly-profane music you'll find after the jump to express ourselves. That's where we're at now.
More Sonic Unleashed DLC is un ... oh, forget it
We hope you're ready for some more stretchy-armed Werehog combat, because Sega has released yet more DLC for Sonic Unleashed. The Spagonia Adventure Pack, available now on XBLM contains four new levels for daytime Sonic to run around in. Nighttime Sonic gets two new levels to do his thing: Smashing both evil robots and a treasured franchise at the same time.The Xbox 360 version will run you 250.[Via Sega Nerds]
Sonic Unleashed DLC no longer leashed
Sega's Sonic Unleashed has a new DLC pack available: "Chun-nan Adventure Pack." Weighing in at 528mb, it features 4 new daytime levels, as well as 2 new Werehog locales within a "mountainous region best known for its dragon roads and majestic peaks." The levels actually aren't new to the game, as they were included in the Japanese PS3 release, but all the same will set you back 250 on the Xbox 360. The DLC will supposedly be available for PS3 owners sometime later today, if the self-abuse of already owning this game isn't enough for you.Download "Chun-nan Adventure Pack" on Xbox Live Marketplace[Via Sega Nerds]
Sega might not be done with Sonic the Werehog
Sega, whose business is as much about publishing games as it is about punishing Sonic fans without mercy, has revealed in an interview with Videogamer that the future could feature more of Sonic being a Werehog. In discussing the possibility of Sonic's alter-ego emerging from his permanent residence in the clearance bin at your local Wal*Mart, Sega's Ketsui Tatano doesn't think "producing the Werehog was a mistake per se," but he does admit there "were a lot of things we could have done better if we had more time and resources." Then, he delivers this dark omen, saying that should Sega pursue a Sonic Unleashed 2, seeing the Werehog again is "a possibility." Oh yeah? Well, we can tell you where he won't be, should that dark future come to fruition: spinning inside of our console's disc drive.
Rumor: NiGHTS was once a 360/PS3 game
Okay, this is all pretty tenuous, but super interesting: apparently, a Sega of Europe employee kept a blog last year in which he revealed some stuff about NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams that he shouldn't have, well before the game's release. The posts have since been removed, but the Wayback Machine allows us to have a look back!According to the blog post, Journey of Dreams was originally developed as an Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 title, and was hastily shunted to the Wii when the platform's success became obvious -- despite protests from director Takashi Iizuka. The 360 version was at least far enough along to be playable! The quick change in plans meant that NiGHTS' development time was effectively shortened. If you didn't like the game, you have something on which to blame the problems!Also interesting, if this blog post is really as vintage as it looks (we don't discount some kind of Internet trickery): the blogger dropped a pretty big hint about a future Sega game, saying that Sonic Team should be freed from Sonic games, "... before they release another Sonic game with a transforming Evil 'Night' Sonic who looks like a werewolf and can stretch his arms out Dhalsim-style. It will happen, mark my words."%Gallery-4673%[Via tssznews, via NeoGAF]
Zero Punctuation takes on Sonic Unleashed
In this week's Zero Punctuation, imperator of ire and maharajah of moodiness Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw has taken time out to sling a few quick-witted barbs at Sonic Unleashed.True to form, Yahtzee quickly sets about smacking Unleashed down a peg or ten; in fact, this could be one of the angriest pieces we've seen from Croshaw in some time. It didn't totally agree with our own mainly scathing review, either: for one, he seems to prefer the Werehog Wolfhog stages (madness, we say, but horses for courses, and all that), and for two, we actually quite liked the day stages, whereas Yahtzee is revulsed.%Gallery-19031%
CoD: World at War tops UK charts for fifth week
Call of Duty: World at War (CoD:W@W for the more efficient among you) has defended its number one position on the all-format UK game sales charts, extending its reign to a fifth consecutive week despite heavy holiday competition. Mario Kart Wii took the second spot, followed by FIFA '09 and, still quite bizarrely, Need for Speed: Undercover. Oh, but wait until we tell you what's in the fifth spot. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training. Remember that one?Further down the charts, Ubisoft's cel-shaded scurrier, Prince of Persia, climbed to the 20th position while Sonic Unleashed went from 33rd to 12th. We'll let that sink in for a few moments.
Wii Fanboy Review: Sonic Unleashed
"Sonic + 3D" is a formula that Sega has scratched its head over for the best part of a decade with ... not a great deal of success. If you ask me, it's the speed factor. Controlling the nippy hedgehog in two dimensions is hard enough. Add a third, and it becomes a twitchy, frustrating experience.So here's the yaaay news: Sonic Unleashed handles Sonic's speed better than any other 3D game in the series to date. In fact, in its best moments, it's the modern Sonic game I always dreamed of playing: fast, exhilarating, ridiculously fun. Yet this is a game of two halves -- of day and night, of hedgehog and "werehog" -- and while the final product has patches of brilliance that made me love Sega again, Unleashed is weighed down by bloated platform sections of thudding mediocrity.%Gallery-19031%
Sonic Unleashed demo unleashes to the XBLM
If you make your way to the Xbox Live Marketplace and navigate to the demos section, you'll spot a fresh Sonic Unleashed demo awaiting your download. You know, Sonic Unleashed. It's Sonic gone beastly.The demo download is a rather light 187MB, so we don't expect the experience to be too involved or lengthy, but we're sure it'll give those interested in the werewolf looking Sonic a big enough sample of what it has to offer. Now go, go download Sonic in all his Unleashed glory and attain (what the demo description tells us) "speeds that you've never seen before!" Whoa ...
Call of Duty: World at War tops UK charts
Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War has climbed to the top of the UK all-format game sales charts, blasting its way through countless soldiers, explosive set pieces and Need For Speed: Undercover, which was in second place for some reason. Resistance 2 grabbed the tenth spot in its debut, while Sonic Unleashed, as Eurogamer points out, only managed 23rd ... on the Xbox 360-specific chart. Though FIFA 09's third all-format position makes complete sense and matches our envisioned UK stereotypes perfectly, it's somewhat harder to justify the #39 spot held by Mirror's Edge, not to mention Left 4 Dead's #34. Tomb Raider: Underworld, however, managed to go from a 9 to a 7 in a week. Not the first time that's happened.
Metareview -- Sonic Unleashed (360 vs. Wii)
Oh, Sonic. You little blue symbol of better days for Sega platformers. This whole Unleashed thing is your latest chance to prove, well, everyone wrong and get back on top of Mascot Mountain. To get there by not starring in another suck-fest of a console Sonic the Hedgehog game (see: Sonic the Hedgehog, 2006, among countless others). The scores are in and they're ... not horrible. Not amazing, either. Sort of what the reviews of the game are saying. It's out on PS2, Wii, and 360 now, with the PS3 version coming next month. We've assembled a twofer of a metareview, with reviewer thoughts on both the 360 and Wii versions of the game. Have you played it? Share your thoughts in comments. Xbox 360 GamePro (60/100): "I love Sonic because his speedy style of platforming is fun, and Sega should have just developed a game around that and left everything else out." Game Informer (60/100): "As much as I disliked lumbering through levels as Sonic's hulky Werehog, I disliked hunting through the hub worlds looking for coins even more. Sega, if you really want to fix Sonic, the first thing you should do is stop trying to fix him." 1UP (C): "Ultimately, this simply isn't the fresh start Sonic fans were so desperately hoping for ... but at least it's not as execrable as the last two efforts." Wii IGN (72/100): "Sonic Unleashed is half great game and half tedious gimmick." GameDaily (70/100): "A sequel with more speed and less gimmicks would make us happy, but for now, Unleashed is a step above the awful games that came before it. Good to have you back, Sonic." Game Informer (65/100): "The Wii version has less annoying traits than the others and still retains all the usual mediocrity. The motion-control elements in the Werehog levels add an extra dimension to the action, and the hub worlds are entirely text-based and aren't nearly as annoying. If you can stand the diminished graphics, the Wii version actually edges out the PS3 and 360 entries."
