- 6.5/10 (PALGN)
- 7.5/10 (NZGamer)
- 7/10 (GameSpot)
- 6/10 (Eurogamer)
- 3/5 (Digital Spy)
- 8/10 (Famitsu magazine)
SEGA reports:
‘We’re delighted to announce a brand new standalone expansion for Total War: Shogun 2. Fall of the Samurai is a huge piece of new content and it’s coming March 2012. The scale of this expansion is significantly larger than anything we’ve produced so far for Shogun 2.’
A good week for SEGA’s recent Sonic titles.
This week’s entries in the Full price Top 40:
[#13](+6) Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
[#22](-1) Football Manager 2012
[#24](+6) Sonic Generations
This week’s entries in the Budget price Top 40:
[#19](+1) Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
[#37](-10) Sonic Classic Collection
TSSZ News reports:
‘It seemed a little odd: After stating that the upcoming Xbox Live/Playstation Network/PC/Smartphone release of Sonic CD would not have the North American soundtrack due to “licensing issues”, a number of tracks from that very same soundtrack made appearances in Sonic Generations.
SEGA’s Ken Balough went on record, stating that they knew fans of the game wanted a soundtrack toggle and that they were working to get it in the game, but the implication seemed to be that it would not come until after Sonic CD had already hit the marketplace, possibly as some form of downloadable content.’
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’till next week!
Computer and VideoGames posted eight new screenshots of the PlayStation Vita version of Virtua Tennis. CVG quoted:
‘SEGA says the core experience of Virtua Tennis on Vita is nearly identical to VT4 on PS3, allowing you to create a character, start a career, and participate in tournaments while enhancing your skills through all kinds of bizarre tennis-related skill tests.’
MCV quizzed UKIE board member and SEGA UK MD John Clark on the importance of including digital sales into the weekly charts. A few quotes:
‘Although there is an inevitable move towards digital, I firmly believe that retail will always play a vital role in the promotion and delivery of video game products to the consumer.’
‘With Football Manager 2012, we measure year-on-year sales against 2011. But Total War has over 12 different pieces of content that are only available digitally.This adds a different layer that challenges like-for-like measurements.’
Read the full interview HERE.
SEGA reports:
‘The classic SEGA Dreamcast title ChuChu Rocket!, is now available for you to own on Android mobiles — click here to download!
Once again players have to guide the adorable ChuChus to a waiting rocket ship while avoiding bottomless pits and an army of evil cats. Test your skills over 500 unique single-player puzzles or match wits against up to three computer opponents.
ChuChu Rocket! is priced at $0.99/£0.69/€0.79/AUD$0.99. To download ChuChu Rocket! for Android today, zoom straight to the Android Marketplace.’
*Own either an iPod, iPhone or iPad? Do you want to grab yourself a cheap copy of Sonic Spinball, Sonic the Hedgehog 1/2 or 4: Episode 1? If you answered ‘yes’ to both questions we’d urge you to take a look at SEGA’s global ‘early bird’ sale.
*SEGA opened up a special Sonic merchandise webshop. You’ll be able to buy action figures, t-shirts, posters and loads of other hedgehog-related items.
*Famitsu magazine reviewed Sonic Generations. The PlayStation/XBOX 360 versions scored 8/9/9/9, while the 3DS version scored 8/8/8/8.
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games enters the chart. Sonic Generations and Football Manager 2012 both suffer from another slow sales week. Man the marketing boats, SEGA!
This week’s entries in the Full price Top 40:
[#19](NEW) Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
[#21](-8) Football Manager 2012
[#30](-11) Sonic Generations
This week’s entries in the Budget price Top 40:
[#20](+2) Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
[#27](+12) Sonic Classic Collection
[#35](-5) SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection
*Are SEGA planning a return for Jet Set Radio (or ‘Jet Grind Radio’ for you Americans readers)? JustPushStart seems to think so..
*TSSZ News posted six new screenshots from the ‘Water Palace’ zone of the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Generations.
*Another two sites reviewed Shinobi (3DS). PALGN awarded it an 8/10, while IGN were a little more critical with their 7.5/10 rating.
*A Japanese Game Gear fan turned his portable into a TV-ready console.
Very impressive, very impressive indeed..
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’till next week!
SEGA reports:
‘SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON – November 17, 2011 – SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe, Ltd. today announced the acquisition of San Francisco-based independent developer Three Rings Design, Inc. Founded in 2001, the talented team at Three Rings has over ten years of experience creating accessible and engaging online worlds, including the incredibly popular puzzle-MMORPG Puzzle Pirates and recent Game Developers Choice Online Award-winner Spiral Knights.
The acquisition of Three Rings is a key part of SEGA’s aggressive expansion into the digital space; the addition of vision, talent, content and technology further secures SEGA’s foothold in the fastest growing sector of the video game industry. Three Rings joins an elite family of SEGA subsidiaries which include Football Manager developer Sports Interactive and Total War creators The Creative Assembly. Three Rings’ fiercely imaginative spirit is a perfect match with SEGA’s longstanding dedication to providing players worldwide with the best possible gaming experiences.’
An overview:
- 8/10 (Official Nintendo magazine UK)
- 7/10 (Nintendo Life)
- 8.2/10 (NZGamer)
- 4/5 (Modojo)
- 4/5 (3 News)
*Living in France or planning to visit Paris soon? Why not visit the ‘Game Story’ exhibition in Paris’ Grand Palais? If you’re unable to visit, you can always have some fun with this promotion image and find all the SEGA
game references. [solution]
*Famitsu magazine reviewed 7th Dragon 2020 (SEGA’s latest PSP game). They awarded it scores of 9/9/9/8. Nice.
*Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is out now across North America, and will be out this Friday in Europe. As usual SEGA posted
a launch trailer.
SEGA reports:
‘Today is Shinobi launch day here in North America and our lucky European folks have had Shinobi for a few days already! We have a new launch trailer detailing some of the 3D focused gameplay, including some of the tougher level sections that you’ll be encountering in the game! Keen eyes may spot some secrets too, but you’ll have to view it for yourself to catch them…’
A bad week for both Sonic Generations and Football Manager 2012.
This week’s entries in the Full price Top 40:
[#13](-7) Football Manager 2012
[#19](-9) Sonic Generations
This week’s entries in the Budget price Top 40:
[#22](+3) Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
[#30](+7) SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection
[#39](RE) Sonic Classic Collection
*French artist ‘Oskunk’ has some serious talent. Check out his custom Dreamcast paintjobs. There’s a Skies of Arcadia one, a Sonic Adventure one and a Jet Set Radio one. Colour us impressed.
*Amazon posted the Nintendo 3DS box front of Mario & Sonic at the London
2012 Olympic Games. The game will hit the shelves in february 2012.
*Official Nintendo Magazine UK reviewed the Shinobi (Nintendo 3DS) and awarded it a rating of 8/10. We’re expecting more review scores soon.
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’till next week!
Gamefront posted SEGA Europe’s release schedule for November 2011 and beyond. It’s in German but you should be able to work it out.
Pocket Gamer reports:
‘Sonic CD will be coming out in December for all mobile platforms, including Android, but SEGA has revealed to Pocket Gamer that there are currently no plans for an Xperia Play-optimised version of the game. However, the developer also added that this doesn’t rule out the possibility that this could change in the future.
“SEGA is always interested in supporting all mobile platforms,” said Ken Balough, brand manager for Sonic CD. “And we agree, Xperia Play offers some pretty unique opportunities for us as publishers… you never know when we’ll announce something new.”
Daytona USA (XBLA)
- 8.5/10 (ZTGameDomain)
Shinobi (Nintendo 3DS)
- 7/10 (Famitsu magazine)
Sonic Generations (Multiformat)
- 8.5/10 (Game Boyz)
- 8.3/10 (gamrReview)
- 8.6/10 (Futuregamez)
- 4/5 (Digital Spy)
- 4/5 (GameSpy, PC version)