The GHZ Forum

It might not have been the fabled "Segaton," (but hey, what is?) but today's flurry of announcements from Sega will elate devotees of the publisher. Late Thursday PDT, the company took the wraps off two heretofore unknown projects and dated one of its top next-generation titles.

First up was the announcement that yes indeed, there is a next-generation Sonic game in the works. Billed as a "re-invention" of the classic franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog will make its debut on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime during 2006.

Presiding over the game's development will be none other than Yuji Naka, who, along with character designer Naoto Ohshima, created the original Sonic game for the Sega Genesis in 1991. According to Sega, Naka will "create the most intense sensation of speed ever experienced in videogames" with "an innovative combination of art, physics and game design."

"We are proud to re-create our famous friend, Sonic, for a new generation of gamers on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360," said Naka. "With Sonic the Hedgehog, we have gone back to our starting point, more than 15-years ago, to reinvent the attitude and speed that made our hero a legend. The 'rebirth of Sonic' will offer an unparalleled sense of speed that is only possible using the processing power afforded by the new systems."

Sega also had good news for Xbox, GameCube, or PlayStation 2 owners. The company simultaneously announced Sonic Riders, a new title that "integrates extreme sports, high-speed racing and head-to-head battles," will ship in winter 2006 for all three platforms.

However, Sonic Riders' racing won't involve cars, motorcycles, or Wipeout-esque hovercraft. Instead, players will assume the role of one of several characters riding air boards in an international competition which will pit Sonic and his cohorts against the nefarious Dr. Eggman's team, The Band of Thieves: Babylon. The winner of the contest--which will support up to four players--will take home the fabled Chaos Emerald.

The 'rebirth of Sonic' will offer an unparalleled sense of speed that is only possible using the processing power afforded by the new systems.

Zeta wrote:I wouldn't worry. With the Team's history of porting a game to every possible market, I wouldn't expect more than a 10th month wait between PS3/XBOX2 versions and Rev versions.

LOUD-TREE wrote:I'm not buying a fuck'n three-shitty or a penisless 3 for this. I want my sonic on Nintendo if not a Sega console.

Segaholic2 wrote:

LOUD-TREE wrote:I'm not buying a fuck'n three-shitty or a penisless 3 for this. I want my sonic on Nintendo if not a Sega console.

Wow, making up derogatory names for the systems you don't like is real clever. :roll:

Could we get a different mirror for these screenshots? The second one doesn't work.

LOUD-TREE wrote:ass

Popcorn wrote:I'm kind of confused by these screens. It looks good, graphically at least, but are these actually taken from the real thing or are they meant to be 'representative'? I realise they were taken from, or are very similar to, the old tech demo, but was that tech demo in any way real, or what? Is this actually anything like the game we'll end up playing? It doesn't even appear to have a name yet.

I've seen a few people on message boards mumble something about finding out more on the 16th of this month. Has anyone else heard anything else like that?

Owen Axel wrote:

Popcorn wrote:I'm kind of confused by these screens. It looks good, graphically at least, but are these actually taken from the real thing or are they meant to be 'representative'? I realise they were taken from, or are very similar to, the old tech demo, but was that tech demo in any way real, or what? Is this actually anything like the game we'll end up playing? It doesn't even appear to have a name yet.

I've seen a few people on message boards mumble something about finding out more on the 16th of this month. Has anyone else heard anything else like that?

Real-time cutscene equals not an FMV, doesn't it?

Crazy Penguin wrote: The original Sonic Adventure provided a top notch relaunch to the Sonic franchise. Then Sega managed to fuck it up by growing complacent and following it up with subpar games (Sonic Shuffle, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance 1-3, Sonic Battle, Sonic Heroes etc).