Another weak week, sales wise..
Wii, full price
[#4](-) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
[#10](-1) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Nintendo DS, full price
[#4](+1) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter games
PC, full price
[#2](-) Football Manager 2010
[#10](-4) Empire: Total War
PSP, full price
[#6](-) Football Manager 2010
PlayStation 3, budget
[#4](-) SEGA Megadrive Ultimate Collection
XBOX 360, budget
[#8](+2) SEGA Megadrive Ultimate Collection

*Folling this week’s playable multiplayer demo, there’s been some problems for PS3 and PC owners to join a game. Rebellion is looking into the issue at the moment. The XBOX 360 demo was unaffected.
*Eurogamer posted a multiplayer ’hands on’. Read it HERE.
*Need some multiplayer tips & tricks? SEGA USA posted a handy guide for each of the characters (Alien/Predator/Marine) and some tips on blocking and countering attacks. Read it HERE.
==
‘’till next week!
*SEGA USA posted a trailer for the upcoming Iron Man 2 (the game, naturally). It also features War Machine.
*PSP Go owners (from the USA) will now be able to buy another classic PSP from the PlayStation store: After Burner: Black Falcon.
*No Short news roundup or Big barrel of news would be complete without another Aliens vs Predator trailer, so check out this Marines one.
*SEGA Sammy posted some sale figures (up untill December 31, 2009):
-Bayonetta (XBOX 360/PS3) sold 1.100.000 copies (JPN/USA/PAL)
-Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter games (Wii/DS) sold 5.670.000 copies (JPN/USA/PAL)
-Football Manager 2010 (PC/PSP) sold 740.000 copies (USA/PAL)
-Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP) sold 540.000 copies (JPN)
*More good news: SEGA Sammy made a net profit of €138 million / $189 million in the period April-December 2009. (thanks: Gamefront)

*The Official website has opened at SonictheHedgehog4.com. It’s a little empty now, but there are various ‘countdown timers’ for more content.
*The game’s official name now is Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1, so it seems the game will be expanded upon in the future.
*Gamespot posted a new teaser trailer (!) and a Q & A SEGA USA’s
associate brand manager Ken Balough.
*It seems the game will be released on the Wii (under the Wii-ware label) after all, but more interestingly, the official website mentions another ‘???’ platform
*It seems now more than ever it’s the time to twist SEGA’s arm (or in this case, Sumo Digital’s one) concerning content in their games. Read THIS story about Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing’s new ‘flag-man’ and you’ll know why.
*Talking about Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (please, consider some shorter titles in the future SEGA, typing up titles like that and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games gets reaaaally tiring); our friends at SegaOnline posted two pictures of the vehicles (!) of Jacky/Akira and (yes!) the Bonanza Bros. If this means a new Bonanza Bros game is a possibility; bring it on!
*Famitsu magazine rated MadWorld (Japanese Wii owners will -finally- be able to get their hands on a localized version, kinda strange considering where it was made) and rated it 8/7/8/8. (Thanks: Gamefront).
*SEGA USA posted two new pieces of Green Hill-esque artwork from Project Needlemouse. They will also unveil the game’s ’new name’ soon (be sure to act surprised!).
Still going strong with pure quantity (and a high level of quality)? You betcha!
*SEGA Europe posted a video of the survivor/survival mode of Aliens vs Predator. Just what the doctor ordered -mode wise.
*A division of SEGA USA recently registered the domain sonicthehedgehog4.com. We don’t think any more proof is needed; the new game will -indeed- be called Sonic the Hedgehog 4.
*European PS3 owners will now be able to download -yes!- an Aliens vs Predator demo from PSN. More info later this week.
*American Wii owners will be able to download another Master System game from the Virtual Console: Alex Kidd in Shinobi World. (certainly one of the best Alex Kidd games around, apart from Miracle World). But will it have the classic ‘Mari-oh’ spoof boss? We need to be told..
*Jeuxvideo posted some new images of both Yakuza 3 and Aliens vs Predator.
*It seems there’s no stopping SEGA from releasing a new Sonic game every time you’re not looking; together with SoftBank they released Sonic Golf DX for your mobile (if you live in Japan that is).There are nine holes and three modes including stroke play, challenge and extra ones.
*IGN posted a Napoleon: Total War preview. The game is due on the 23rd of this month in the USA and on the 26th in Europe.
*SEGA Europe did a commercial/trailer for the Wii version of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. It’s cheesy as hell, but the ‘coming February 2010′ bit surprised us; the game was previously planned for March.
*Finally, guys (and girls) it’s NOT a new SEGA console, it’s just (yet another) cheap piece of plastic containing the same old 20 ‘licensed to death’ Megadrive games. Move along please.
Have SEGA’s game sales picked up? Sadly not.
All-format, budget price
[#10](-2) SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection
Wii, full price
[#4](-) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
[#9](-1) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Nintendo DS, full price
[#5](-) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter games
PC, full price
[#2](-1) Football Manager 2010
[#6](-1) Empire: Total War
PSP, full price
[#6](+1) Football Manager 2010
PlayStation 3, full price
[#9](-) Bayonetta
PlayStation 3, budget
[#4](-2) SEGA Megadrive Ultimate Collection
XBOX 360, budget
[#10](-) SEGA Megadrive Ultimate Collection
*SEGA USA posted some info on their lastest iPhone game: Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. It’s available from iTunes store for a friendly $4.99
*Following the EAG show where SEGA Amusements displayed their new coin-ups, Arcadeheroes posted some pictures. There’s pictures of Let’s go Island, Harley Davidson: King of the Road, Hummer, SEGA Racing Classic, Tetris GIANT and some of the ICE games.
*Dengeki posted some screenshots of cage-fighting bits of Yakuza 4. They probably thought the game didn’t had enough fighting scenes already..
==
’till next week!

and the good news is; it will be published by SEGA! The game’s director will be Shinji Mikami (of Resident Evil fame!) and at a guess it’s bound for 2011.
PlatinumGames uploaded a highly impressive trailer to their blog, so go check it out asap!
We -sadly- missed yesterday’s deadline, but we’re back on full force now!
*SEGA Europe posted several new trailers: there’s a Aliens vs Predator one, a Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll one and a Vancouver 2010 one.
*They also posted the ‘announcement’ of After Burner Climax including a trailer. Bit late, guys.
*SEGA USA posted new concept art of the highly anticipated Project Needlemouse (or should we say Sonic 4?)
*Want to win some sweet Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing swag? Check out this contest by Bentley Jones and SEGA USA.
*The Bayonetta sales might disappoint so far, Aliens vs Predator claimed the #1 spot on Play.com’s XBOX 360 pre-order chart. It also ‘rides high’ in the PS3 and PC ones (#3 and #2 respectively).
*Valkyria Chronicles 2 (PSP) made its debut in the Japanese all-format chart: it claimed the #2 spot with 94.000 copies sold. The game was also rated by a Japanese PSP magazine (Dengeki PS) and scored 95/90/90/90. (thanks: Gamefront)
*Got a PS3 and a copy of Bayonetta? SEGA Europe now released a patch that enables you to install the game to your HD (4.5GB of space is needed) to improve loading times.
*SEGA Europe posted the system requirements of the PC version of Aliens vs Predator. They seem fair.
*This won’t be a regular thing as this an English orientated news site, but should you be able to read french; check out Jeuxvideo’s Resonance of Fate preview HERE.
*PlatinumGames (creators of MadWorld and Bayonetta, as you probably know) will annouce their next project this week. Question is; will it be a sequel to forementioned games and will SEGA be its publisher? More news later this week. (thanks: Eurogamer)
After a half-complete chart last week, we’re back on regular strength..and Bayonetta’s dropping like a stone..not good.
All-format, full price
[#10](+3) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
All-format, budget price
[#8](+4) SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection
Wii, full price
[#4](-) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
[#8](+4) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Nintendo DS, full price
[#5](-) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter games
PC, full price
[#1](-) Football Manager 2010
[#5](-) Empire: Total War
PSP, full price
[#7](-) Football Manager 2010
PlayStation 3, full price
[#9](-4) Bayonetta
XBOX 360, full price
[#8](-4) Bayonetta
PlayStation 3, budget
[#2](-) SEGA Megadrive Ultimate Collection
XBOX 360, budget
[#10](-3) SEGA Megadrive Ultimate Collection
*It seem the game that was known as ‘Project Needlemouse’ up untill now is likely to called -yes- Sonic 4! Other news surrounding the title suggests the game will be XBLA / PSN only (i.e. not on disc), so a Wii release seems unlikely. More to the Sonic 4 story HERE.
*SEGA Europe posted a minigame trailer of Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll. Certainly looks like fun.
*Some new review ratings for Vancouver 2010 came in:
-3/10 (XBOX 360 version, Eurogamer)
-5.75/10 (XBOX 360 version, Gamervision)
-6.5/10 (XBOX 360 version, MS Xbox World)
-6/10 (XBOX/PS3, TheSixthAxis)
-Rating C- (XBOX 360/PS3, Tech-Gaming)
==
’till next week!
A few weeks back we posted a quote of Platinumgames’s director Shigenori Nishikawa in which he said he didn’t rule out a MadWorld sequel. Now Bayonetta’s director Hedeki Kamiya had similar things to say about a sequel to his game;
‘’We obviously have love for the work we have created, so I don’t see anything wrong with Bayonetta 2. Personally, I’d like to approach the world of Bayonetta from a different angle, in the form of a spin-off.”
Full news post HERE.
*SEGA Europe posted a new Aliens vs Predator trailer called ‘Heritage’.
Check it out HERE.
*Last month we attached the month ‘March’ to the Western release of
Yakuza 3; we can now tell you March 3 will be the exact day (for Europe).
*Japanese Wii owners will be able to pick up the ‘Famitsu perfect rating’
428 ~Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de~ for a friendly price of 2800 Yen.
*If you were planning to book a hotel in London and visit the ATEI 2010 for a showcase of the latest SEGA machines, you might want to relocate as it seems SEGA won’t be at this year’s ATEI show but opted to exhibit on the EAG instead.
*Japanese PS3 owners shouldn’t worry about losing out on After Burner Climax; SEGA Japan confirmed that the game will be released over there, complete with ‘Climax Mode’, ‘EX options’ and (in our opinion best of all) an After Burner II soundtrack.
*The Japanese release End of Eternity (Resonance of Fate) got rated by Famitsu; it scored a healthy: 9/8/9/8. (thanks: Gamefront)
*The American boxart for the greatly anticipated Yakuza 3 was unveiled. Frankly, we’ve seen better. (thanks: SegaOnline)
*Are you over 18 years and into SEGA (well, you should be) and gambling? Take a look at two new gambling(!) sites by SEGA.
*SEGA Europe updates us on the multiplayer side of Napoleon: Total War. Exciting news inside!
*Shadow Dancer (Genesis) found its way to the Virtual Console. 800 points and it’s yours..
*We promised some more info on The Sands of Destruction (Nintendo DS), so here’s the news the official website has opened.
*Living in the UK and eager to score a deal on Aliens vs Predator? Take a look at the ‘deal’ overview Eurogamer did.
The full chart still didn’t arrive, so we’ll have to do with an all-format top-40 one for now;
[#5](-2) Bayonetta
[#13](-4) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
[#15](+5) Football Manager 2010
Hopefully we can update this list with the full chart soon.

Since we’re waiting for the UK chart to arrive (it will be posted tomorrow instead), take a look at these new After Burner Climax [XBLA] screenshots!
Also check out this page for some quality wallpapers.

The first review scores of Vancouver 2010 came in, the game is available from stores NOW.
-7.3/10 (PS3/XBOX 360) - IGN
-5.5/10 (PS3/XBOX 360) - Gamespot
-5.5/10 (XBOX 360) - TeamXbox
-3/5 (XBOX 360) - Burn 360
-7.6/10 (PS3) - NowGamer
*It’s ‘back to basics’ for Project Needlemouse; all characters except Sonic were scrapped from SEGA USA’s list. In our opinion this is great news. A piece of production art was also posted.
*Sonic Adventure XBLA/PSN confirmed? Not officially, but its achievements were leaked and even some screenshots can be seen HERE. Pretty much screams ‘confirmed’ to us..
*We knew Ulala was in, we knew Ryo was in, we knew BD Joe was in, but now some clever hacks unveiled the ‘existance’ of ChuChu Rocket!, Bonanza Bros and Opa-Opa in Sonic and SEGA All-stars Racing. I wouldn’t expect actual vehicles but bonus rounds in those styles seem highly likely indeed (thanks: SegaOnline)