Some more Sonic Unleashed for ya 06-16-2008 @ 09:20 PM
More Sonic Unleashed gameplay footage from SEGA here showing you some more of Sonic Unleashed, this time it's the Europe styled level and it's shows off Sonics new moves, such as wall, jump, skid round the corner thingy (I dunno it has a name check for it), and quick step. Really this game is shaping up very nicely from what I can see from the trailer here and I am really looking forward to this title. So copy and paste this link or get yoursleves down to IGN.com and search for the vid yourself to see it, it's worth a watch:
oh and 1 last note for the speculations. Sonic Unleashed is the games final name and will not be Sonic world adventure, that will lift most people concerns and if you actually liked the name Sonic world advanture I am sorry to tell you the news.
After a weekend of downtime the forums are now up and running, I must say everything went smoothly ya know? Now the first thing you may have noticed is the new skin "TSF Ice Cap" which features a bunch of Sonic icons, its also our brightest skin available.
The Sonic Factory forums will be unavailable this weekend when we go through some downtime. We hope to have this place free of SQL errors, cleaned up, resynchronized, reorganized and generally better updated on everything else.
Sega Game Day 08: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood Hands-On 05-17-2008 @ 10:04 PM
Taken from Kotaku.
My first chance to play around with Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood left me more than a little impressed.
While we didn't get a walk through of the game's storyline, we were given a chance to mess around with a chunk of the game.
The DS title shows the action of the game on the bottom, touch screen, while the top screen is taken up by a large colorful map of the section of the world you are currently exploring.
The game has you playing a team of Sonic characters, selected among 11 playable in the game.
Typically while playing only one of your team is shown on the screen and controllable, but you can switch between them by tapping on their icons. Each character has different abilities, which can be used by tapping icons that pop up at times while wandering the map.
For instance, only Big the Cat was able to make his way through a dense fog of clouds in portions of the map I was on, while a wing icon showed me that I could use Tails' flying ability.
The fighting segments of the game did a nice job of capturing the essence of typical role-playing and adding enough to make it exciting. While you still select who you are attacking and how you are attacking them in a turn-based setting, once the attacks start some require the gamer to rhythmically tap the screen or drag the stylus in particular places, ala Elite Beat Agents, to succeed.
Fleeing an encounter is also very hands on, as you have to keep an eye on your entire team and tap different members to get them to jump over obstacles as you run from the bad guys in a sort of mini-game.
Despite being on the compact DS, the game seemed to pack most of the features one would expect to find in a role-playing game including lots of wandering, dialog trees, puzzles, leveling up and even an equipable pet of sorts.
Over the years I've found myself losing interest in role-playing games, but this slight blending of genres, a move that gets more involved in the process and makes the title feel slightly more like an action game, has me thinking that this would be a great game to take with me on a trip.
Sega Game Day 08: Sonic Unleashed preview 05-17-2008 @ 10:00 PM
The preview we were allowed to see was running on the Xbox 360. The Sega rep said Sonic Team, led by Yoshihisa Hasimoto, will be developing both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. He said that the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions will be done by another team because they didn’t want to downgrade the same levels on the weaker platforms. He also made it very clear that Yoshihisa Hasimoto had nothing to do with Sonic’s recent outings. He was involved in both Sonic Adventure games, so it’s not like Sega isn’t aware that everyone hates most of the new Sonic games.
After they introduced the team behind the game, they talked about the â€Hedgehog Engineâ€. Apparently Sonic Team has been working on it since 2005. The Sega reps said the engine is going to be used on more than just Sonic games, but it is made to run Sonic games. They said it’s supposed to display textures at a faster rate and let the game switch between 2-D and 3-D perspectives in the blink of an eye.
They later decided to fill us in on the level design. They said that the game is supposed to have multiple paths. The level they showed us first (the Greece level first seen in the numerous previous leaks) had fifteen different alternative routes, hopefully adding a level of replayability. The second level we saw was called â€The Europe Level’ and it had stone buildings that looked a lot different than the ones in the Greece level.
The graphics were nice, with good shadowing and detail on everything. Some things could have used some work, but everything looked a lot better than Sonic’s last Xbox 360 game. The Greece level looked very nice and I actually enjoyed it. One of the visual aspects that is shaping up really nicely is the background detail. Usually mountains and buildings in the far distance are obviously flat 2-D images, but in Sonic Unleashed all those distant objects looked like explorable, playable areas.
The camera is always a big issue in Sonic games and it seems that Sonic Team decided to fix this problem by making tight areas in 2-D. They said you can’t control the camera in 2-D, which makes sense to me. They said when the game switches to 3-D, you can control the camera with the right joystick. The camera didn’t seem to be much of an issue in the game, and looked like it worked fine. This to me was refreshing to see, especially in a Sonic game.
Something that was added to the gameplay this time around is â€Sonic Driftâ€. No, you don’t hop in a car and drive around (which is what I was expecting). Apparently, there are parts of stages with turns that you can perform the Sonic Drift on, turning Sonic sharply and quickly to keep his momentum and speed. Sounds great in theory, but the guy demonstrating the game to us failed horribly at performing the move. (The poor guy was under pressure to perform. I’m sure we all know how that feels.) I assume that drifting Sonic helps lower level completion times, and will hopefully be a fun aspect of the game. I know I enjoyed drifting in Outrun 2.
Unleashed also seemed to have a lot of QTEs (if you’re not a Shenmue fan that stands for Quick Time Events), though I doubt they call them that in this game. For example, there was a part when Sonic launched off a huge platform and a few buttons popped up on screen in mid-air. When the player hits them he goes into an alternate route, but if he misses the buttons he goes down a different route. QTE isn’t the only way to switch routes, though. There was a part when Sonic was going down a hall and the path split into two, but the left path was sort of sneaked in on the left.
A (somewhat) new feature is the â€Sonic Meterâ€, which works like the rush meter in Sonic Rush. Instead of being like Tony Hawk and pulling off tricks to build it up, it fills up when Sonic nabs rings, which sounds way better than doing tricks. I thought the speed was perfect regularly without the â€Sonic Meter’.
Something else that they showed us was the new way to make Sonic do a quick step. If you played Sonic Adventure 2, you know it’s hard to switch rail to rail. It’s risky business! Now you can switch by simply pressing the right and left bumpers. This is also used when running up to enemies. Let’s say the enemy is far ahead and he shoots a fast bullet at you; you can hit one of the bumpers and quick step to dodge, then hit the other bumper to get back to where you were. Seems like a great new addition to Sonic’s arsenal.
At the end of the whole demonstration they let us ask questions. Somebody immediately beat me to my first question: If Sonic is the only playable character. The PR person said no. There will be minor gameplay moments with other characters, but it’s primarily a Sonic game. I asked if Eggman is the main villain and apparently he is one of the villains, but there will be more. No mention on what other characters or villains will be in the game, though I’m hoping for Metal Sonic.
The game will feature an overworld. It will not be like the one in Sonic Adventure, where you have to perform tasks to move on to the next level. The overworld is now completely optional, so you can just jump straight back into the action stages if you want.
Another complaint voiced at the event was that Sonic looked like he was just running through the enemies. This was a huge point of complaint for people with Sonic Rush, who said that the whole â€jumping on enemies’ aspect was thrown away. I agree, the game did seem that way. They said that the AI on enemies wasn’t complete yet, and that Sonic still has his homing attack. They also said that Sonic’s levels aren’t the same levels at nighttime. They said the levels are different during night and day, but can’t show or talk about them until E3. That was a bummer.
They said that the target framerate is 30. I thought they should have aimed for 60, but to each their own. The last answered question was why they chose to have Sonic in the “real world†instead of Sonic’s fictional world. They said they wanted to have players travel the world in different locations, just like in the Sonic Adventure games.
Conclusion: This game seems like a hybrid mix of Sonic Rush and Sonic Adventure. This could be a good thing, but it isn’t necessarily covering new ground in the Sonic universe. The game seemed way too fast when in Sonic boost mode, and there were big framerate drops. I hope they fix these issues and they said they would, but they also said the same thing for Sonic 06.
I wish the game was more of a hybrid of Sonic 2 and Sonic Adventure than Sonic Rush. I think it’s way too fast in this game and should be toned down a bit. However, I think if Sonic Team can get the game to run without dropping the framerate and lock down a respectable speed, this could be one of Sonic’s best games since Sonic Adventure 2.
Chao gardens are back.. confirmed in newest Game Informer Issue? 04-13-2008 @ 04:46 PM
Rumor spreading around the nets about chao gardens returning in Sonic Chronicles.
Here is the "supposed" quote from the article.. so take it with a grain o' salt.
"Return of the Chao Players will be able to collect various Chao eggs, grow them in a chao garden, and use them to boost stats like fire damage and luck. Bioware hints that the chao will be tied into multiplayer, possibly for trading purpose."
Delay for Would be TSF Writers... 04-13-2008 @ 04:43 PM
I know I said yesterday would be the day we would get those forms for the people who wanted to write news articles for TSF but stuff happened and now its gonna be delayed for a while, remain patient and you will get your chance.
TSF looking for writers and editors! 04-06-2008 @ 06:30 PM
Hey Truesonic here with another TSF update. As all you readers know, there are very few sonic news updates that happen on this site. Why? Because most of the time I'm too busy to update. As of now there are only two writers for this site Sheepish and myself. We will soon be looking for 3 other writers and editors so if you think you have great writing skills and have constant Sonic news to report we will be hoping to hear from you.
On April 12th we will have a form for you to fill out that will let us know your qualifications and why you wish to write for us.. if your good enough you will become a writer for TSF. So start practicing those writing skills people.
More Sonic Unleashed footage has been revealed and the game is set for late 2008 for all consoles (Wii, 360, PS3 and PS2). Well I think the game is shaping up nicly with the speed of Sonic Rush and Sonic and the Secret rings, the camara views of Sonic Rival and the Boost power from Sonic Rush, the best of the fast games. Anyway this extended trailer shows the water town level in action, 3D grinding, and maybe some tricks you can pull off like in Sonic Rush though I'm not quite sure. Altogether this game is shaping up nicely though this werehog is eluding us at the moment.
(yeah non English site but you can still see the vid, copy and paste the link of course)
To carry on further with this, the game uses what Sonic Team call the "hedgehog engine" which has been 3 years in the making, it combines seamless 3D to 2D camara transactions whilst delivering expansive worlds with multiple paths, with some stylish graphics to come with.
Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Chronicles screenshots here. 03-24-2008 @ 09:41 PM
Today we have opened up another gallery, this gallery however is not for fan artwork but will be filled with new screenshots from the upcoming Sonic Chronicles game and Sonic Unleashed.
If you want to view the gallery feel free to do so, but if you want special privileges like commenting, favoriting etc. You will have to register an account at the gallery. You can find it here.
Screens from the game may have been inadvertently posted and released on Sega’s FTP site. From the looks of the games screenshots it is going to be a 2.5 side scroller with some Secret Rings styled on rail gameplay.
Sonic Unleashed Trademarked By Sega. 03-12-2008 @ 09:40 PM
It seems Sega has gone and trademarked or a new Sonic title called Sonic Unleashed. Of course, there’s not really a lot of information at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s website about the game, but it was definitely filed by Sega.
A new Sonic game? 2D? 3D? Not rushed like Sonic 06? Lets wait and see!
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games™ Hits 5 Million in Global Sales 03-05-2008 @ 03:01 PM
Founding Fathers of Video Games, SEGA and Nintendo, Find Winning Formula with First-Ever Pairing of Famous Mascots
TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SEGA® Corporation today announced that its history-making video game title, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games™, has sold five million copies worldwide in just over three months. Developed by SEGA for the Wii™ video game system and the Nintendo DS™ system, with creative input and executive milestone approvals by Nintendo's developers, the title brought together for the first time the two most beloved icons in the entertainment industry. In the spirit of the Olympic Games, the legendary mascots also brought friends from their storied franchises along, including Luigi™, Knuckles™, Yoshi® and Tails™, to compete in a variety of Olympic events.
"With adored icons and fun game play, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games has shot to the top of the sales charts and is clearly resonating with the growing audience of casual gamers that want an engaging and accessible gaming experience," said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America.
Published by SEGA across Europe and North America, and by Nintendo in Japan, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games made its worldwide debut on November 6, 2007, when the Wii version hit store shelves in the United States. According to the NPD Group, which tracks sales data in the United States, the game was one of the top-ten best-sellers in the United States - across all platforms - in the critical holiday sales month of December.
When Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games launched in Europe just days later, it was an immediate hit, rising rapidly to the top of sales charts. Mario & Sonic became the best-ever performing Wii game over the seven-day period that ended on December 11, 2007. In January, Mario & Sonic was the best-selling video game in England across all formats.
"The market for entertaining games that everyone can enjoy is growing faster than any other segment in the industry, thanks in part to the explosive popularity of Wii and Nintendo DS," continued Jeffery. "A key element of our growth strategy at SEGA is to develop and publish games that appeal to this expanding market."
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is licensed through a worldwide partnership with International Sports Multimedia (ISM), the exclusive Interactive Entertainment Software licensee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
True Blue: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Album hits TSF 02-25-2008 @ 02:47 PM
Today we have a special treat for all of you sonic fans. TSF now has the True Blue Album available for you to listen and enjoy. Check out the Download Section and look for the brand new album index.
True Blue: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog is a compilation album of various songs from the Sonic the Hedgehog gaming franchise. It was released by Wave Master Entertainment on January 23, 2008 in Japan only.
This album contains songs ranging from Sonic CD to the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game. It also includes four exclusive bonus tracks which are remixes and covers.
1. "Live & Learn" Crush 40 2. "It Doesn't Matter (SA2 Version)" Tony Harnell 3. "Escape from the City" Ted Poley & Tony Harnell 4. "His World" - Ali Tabatabaee & Matty Lewis from Zebrahead 5. "Super Sonic Racing" TJ Davis 6. "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" Keiko Utoku 7. "Sonic Boom" Pastiche 8. "Sonic Speed Riders" Runblebee 9. "Race to Win" Ted Poley 10. "Sonic X Theme" Russell Velazquez, Joseph Garrity, Norman Grossfeld 11. "Right There, Ride On" Hideki Naganuma 12. "Sonic Heroes" Crush 40 13. "What I'm Made Of..." Crush 40 14. "Seven Rings in Hand" Steve Conte 15. "His World (Zebrahead Version)" Zebrahead 16. "It Doesn't Matter (SA1 Version)" Tony Harnell 17. "Open Your Heart" Crush 40 18. "A New Venture (Surfin' S.R.A. Remix)" Tahirih Walker 19. "Angel Island Zone (SSBB Remix)" Jun Senoue 20. "Seven Rings in Hand (Crush 40 Version)" Crush 40 21. "Open Your Heart (Crush 40 vs. Bentley Jones Remix)" Crush 40 featuring Bentley Jones
However we only included tracks 9, 10, 18, 19, 20, and 21. The rest of the songs are already available via the music download section.
YOU choose the name for the race for Sonic Chronicles! 02-22-2008 @ 06:49 PM
Sega has just announced that they shall be holding a contest which will allow you to name one of the new enemy races in the upcoming Sonic Chronicles game, for the DS!
Between March 3rd and March 14th fans will be able to visit the Sonic City website (http://www.sonic-city.com/) to cast their vote in naming the new race. After the votes have been counted the winner will be announced on March 15th and then appear in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood when the game launches in Autumn 2008
Sonic Chronicles 2008 release confirmed 02-22-2008 @ 06:46 PM
SEGA has confirmed that Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood will be released sometime in the Fall of 2008 for the Nintendo DS.
Chronicles, which is developed by BioWare, hopes to successfully introduce characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe into the realm of turn-based RPG gameplay.
While very little information has been released on the game so far, you can visit the game’s website and obsessively refresh your browser until something worthwhile appears.
Sonic Figures coming summer 2008 02-08-2008 @ 02:47 PM
First 4 Figures announced Tuesday that it reached an agreement with Jetix Consumer Products for the rights to make vinyl figures and statues of the classic versions of Sonic the Hedgehog characters.
The first wave of figures will be previewed at the upcoming Nuremberg and New York Toy Fairs, with an anticipated release of July 2008. The first wave will feature Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, with each figure standing about 4 to 5 inches tall. You can view preview images of all three figures at First 4 Figures’ web site.
No word yet on a price range for these collectibles, but they look absolutely stunning. Put me down for five of each.
Well where have I been, let's see True is a lot faster at digging up stuff than I am anyway, theres some new information about Sonic Chronicals the dark brotherhood. In fact a nice list of things.
Well firstly, the game is going to have a water coloured look to it and lot of it is hand drawn, this should hopefully give off a nice effect, you'll be able to have 4 party members battling at once out of a total so far known 11, 7 of of these being, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Shadow, Amy, Big and Rouge. Further more each of thse characters will have an ability outside of battle, such as Tails can fly over water, which is something to expect from RPG's. The game will also be completly stylus controlled which is a good use for the DS and will work easily for the turn based system layed out. And the last I'll mention and comment on is that they will try to make Eggman an actual villain again rather than some silly guy who doesn't do anything right, however he's still not the main enemy.
Anyway there is more, check it out here : http://on-pause.blogspot.com/2008/01/ first-screenshots-for-sonic-chronicles.html
Thats right after months of no music updates TSF will be receiving a music page update. The soundtracks we will be offering will be Sonic Adventure, Sonic Riders Zero Gravity and the rest of Sonic Rush Adventure.
Mario and Sonic available for your DS 01-23-2008 @ 07:17 PM
Sega has announced today that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for the DS has shipped to stores across North America. The game features 16 total playable characters, eight from each universe with 16 official challenges.
However, if you already own the Wii version, Sega made sure to include a few new experiences to entice you to purchase the DS version, as well. The game will feature two new challenges not included in the Wii version - the 10m Platform (diving) and Pursuit (cycling), and five new Dream events - Dream Canoe, Dream Boxing, Dream Basketball, Dream Long Jump and Dream Shooting.
Sonic Riders zero gravity site 12-14-2007 @ 08:58 PM
The Sonic Riders zero gravity site has been launched. If you are looking forward to this game then it's something you should check out. It contains a lot information for you fans such as who is gonna be in it, the story, some new courses, the gear and wallpaper (the usual stuff) and you can even recieve updates on the game. The site has a few movie clips and also tells you about the gravity sytems and shows them in action. So if you are excited about this game you'll probably search through this, if your not of a fan it may be worth a look to get a grasp of what this game is and maybe skim through the more in depth stuff.
New Sonic 3-D game in development? 11-10-2007 @ 10:05 PM
1up has just added a new Sega rumor to its list. Though they didn’t seem so happy about it, and I can’t blame them. Hearing about a new 3-D Sonic game doesn’t bring a sense of joy. It’s not because I hate Sonic, though, but because I don’t want Sega to make further mockery out of a franchise I used to love.
Two, the lackluster performance of Sonic the Hedgehog hasn’t deterred Sega; they’re already hard at work at another “real” Sonic game. 2D, please!
I’ll be honest, hearing about a new Sonic 3-D game in development isn’t really a shocker. If I had to choose one rumor at 1up being true, I’d want a new Skies of Arcadia game in a heartbeat.
[FALSE] Ryan Drummond to be voicing Sonic in Brawl? 10-17-2007 @ 09:35 PM
Is it confirmation, or a typo? Those who visited the message boards lately may have noticed a topic questioning the possibility of Sonic being voiced by Ryan Drummond, who originally acted as the voice for Sonic the Hedgehog during such games as Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes. While this was simple speculation, an interesting tidbit has popped up at the IMDB...
That tidbit? Ryan Drummond on the official cast list for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Those who have been following the credits in recent Sonic games lately will have noticed that Jason Griffith normally plays the voice of Sonic, so such news is both unusual, and to some, rewarding.
But that of course draws the question: Is this "official" confirmation? Or is it just a "typo" (one bloody hell of a typo, if you ask me)?
