Today we are very excited to announce a fun contest for BLEACH fans and any one looking to score one sweet guitar. That’s right, we’re giving away a limited edition BLEACH themed Fernandes ZO-3 guitar. The “Death and Strawberry” design on the guitar is a unique collaboration between Fernandes Guitars International and the team at Studio Pierrot, makers of the BLEACH anime. The art on guitar is quite distinctive and a very special tribute to the franchise and the fans!

The contest is open to anyone in the United States & Canada and entering is quite simple. First you’ll need a SEGA Pass account, which if you are a member of our forums or have signed up across PlaySEGA, you’re already one step ahead. Then simply login, submit your information, and you’ll be entered into the running for this unique BLEACH themed guitar.

Don’t delay, head to our contest page to submit your info! Best of luck to all participants!

We’re pleased to announce that Jam, a brand new character, will be making his debut in Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll.

Jam isn’t like any other monkey – he’s your personal athletics trainer! He’ll help you get AiAi and all his friends through the zany puzzles and fun mini games and will keep you laughing all the while with his cheeky antics. If you follow his tips and tricks, you’ll have what it takes to complete each puzzle and mini game with ease.

We’ve got some more images of Jam, including some character art.

To keep up with all the latest Super Monkey Ball news, become our fan on Facebook!

For all you Medieval: Total War fans out there that are looking for more from this classic franchise, Napoleon: Total War was just announced at this year’s GamesCom. While the details are light, as the game’s just been announced, we do have a look at what you can expect to see feature wise in this upcoming strategy game from Creative Assembly:

The genre-defining franchise brings Napoleon to life:
Napoleon: Total War defines a new standard within the genre with exciting characters and a cinematic narrative, mind-blowing battle sequences and an unrivalled mix of turn-based and real-time strategy.

Three new episodic campaigns:
Take command and lead your armies on land and sea over three campaigns: Italy, Egypt and Mastery of Europe. The seamless mix of objective-based missions and sandbox experience makes this the most complete Total War experience to date.

Cutting-edge multiplayer:
Napoleon features fully integrated multiplayer modes and a complete set of online functionalities: Steam achievements, gameplay bonuses, uniform editor and voice communications.

All new Napoleonic battles and units:
Advanced weaponry enables new tactical options and even more exciting real-time battles on an epic scale, while the highly detailed environments and improved battlefield buildings guarantee a realistic recreation of famous historical battles.

For a bit more information and a teaser trailer, head to our website! As always, we love to hear your feedback on new announcements and updates, so tell us what you think!

In addition to a slew of new screenshots for the DS and Wii versions, the website for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games had a major update this morning.

First, and perhaps of most interest, there is a brand new trailer (the one that I posted here yesterday) along with screenshots for Dream Ski Cross, Dream Snowball Fight, and Dream Alpine on the Wii. DS fans, don’t be sad — there are new screens for Fever Hockey, Blazing Bobsleigh, and Figure Skating.

The characters section has also been updated, and reveals some brand new characters. Team Mario is getting Donkey Kong, Bowser, Bowser Jr., and Daisy. Team Sonic is getting Metal Sonic, Shadow, Silver, and Blaze.

Head over to the site and check it all out!

Fresh from the floor at GamesCom we have some new screens to show off from our upcoming game, Bayonetta. As always, the game looks amazing and we’re happy to show off some new environments and enemies that you’ll encounter once you get your hands on the game! Enjoy…

We continue to celebrate GamesCom with some new screenshots of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing! You can download them on Flickr if you’d like to make wallpapers or just keep them for your very own.

There’s more on Flickr, so head over there to see them all!

Hello, Canada!

Next Friday, August 28th, through Sunday, August 30th, is the 2009 Fan Expo, one of Toronto’s biggest gaming, comic, and movie conventions – and this year, SEGA is going to be there too!

All of you who live up north and may not get to visit us at shows like San Diego or New York Comic con – you’re in luck! For the first time ever, SEGA community is coming to you – and, as always, we’re coming with all sorts of awesome goodies!

Play upcoming SEGA Games at the Expo!

At the show, we’ll have three unreleased games for you guys to check out – all of which speak directly to some of our core, oldschool SEGA fans. In attendance we’ll have an English version of Phantasy Star Zero, another full English version of Sands of Destruction, and the blazing-hot Bayonetta – all playable! If you hail the white and red maple flag, be sure swing on by the SEGA Booth, play the games, and then post back here and on our boards with your thoughts!

Even Canada needs free Swag

It wouldn’t be a SEGA community presence if there wasn’t free swag going out! I’ll be packing my duffle bags with as much special loot as I can pull from the office, including inflatable rappies from Phantasy Star Zero, Valkyria Chronicles figurines, and even rare 5″ SEGA figurines specially ordered from Japan!

Cosplay SEGA Style!

A special shout-out to Roxy from SDCC, who created this awesome Naja costume from Sands of Destruction!

Just like San Diego and New York, we’ll be posting times for Meet and Greets at the SEGA booth, where you’ll be able to say hi in person, chat about your favorite SEGA games, and talk / ask about anything else SEGA-related you want. (Yes, even Shenmue.) Anyone who shows up to one of our Meet and Greets in costume as a SEGA Character will be going home with something extra special! Bonus swag will also be given out to anyone who cosplays Valkyria Chronicles, Phantasy Star, Bayonetta, Sands of Destruction, or Sonic the Hedgehog!

Full times on the Meet and Greets will be posted here next week, so keep an eye out!

SEGA, Phantasy Star, and Valkyria Trivia!

We’ll be hosting three unique Trivia contests at the expo – one for general SEGA knowledge, one for the Phantasy Star fans, and one in celebration of our awesome dedicated Valkyria Chronicles community! The winners will all go home with rare swag specially selected for their trivia contest!

Convention Details and location

If you aren’t familiar with the Expo, you can find out all the details here, and likewise, the location here.

We’ll be posting even more news about the Expo, our Meet and Greets, and some of the prizes you can expect to see as we get closer to next week!

Until then, how many readers out there do we have up near Toronto?

International man of mystery Michael Thorton has been spotted, this time out of Cologne Germany as part of our titles being shown at this year’s GamesCom. As with all of our other games, Alpha Protocol has some brand new media for everyone to drool over, and we’ve got something for everyone, really.

Being somewhat of an RPG stat-head, my pick is definitely the screen that shows off some of the perks you can acquire through the game. There’s a ton of info here that’s worth a look, so don’t hesitate to check the full size version.

The rest of our screens can be viewed on our flickr page, so head on in and check them out!

Our celebration of GamesCom 2009 continues with a new trailer and some character art for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.

There’s some great stuff in the trailer, including some previously unannounced characters.

Here are some more of the characters:

You can become a fan on Facebook, or see all the art on our Flickr feed. Keep up with the latest news on Twitter, and visit Olympic Video Games for everything there is to see about Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.

In honor of GamesCom ’09, we’ve got a brand new trailer for Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. Check it out!