As we did last year, we’ve got some photos of the costumes people are wearing in the office today.

While there is no big group theme like there was last year, there are a few common threads. We have a couple clowns (a bit of teasing toward someone else in the office who is afraid of clowns), and Julian and I have a theme going as well –  he’s dressed as Waldo, and I’m dressed as Carmen Sandiego. (We’re planning to disappear later on today so people will wonder where we are!)

Kellie from the community team as Carmen Sandiego

Kate from the community team as Fionna from Adventure Time

We also have superheroes in our midst…
Frank from our localization team as Clark Kent / Superman

Jonathan from our standards team as Superboy

And some other fun costumes…

Jerusha from our legal department as a cowgirl

Cindy from our licensing team as a skunk

Miyuki from our IT group as a vampire (and the costume contest winner!)

Here come the scary clowns…

Dan from the marketing team

Judy from the marketing team (yes, she’s pregnant)

And it wouldn’t be halloween at SEGA without some SEGA costumes!

Dennis from the standards team as Shun Akiyama from Yakuza

Aaron from the marketing team as Vyse from Skies of Arcadia

Christine (from the standards team) as Sonic and Kim (from the QA team) as Tails.

Show us your SEGA Costume!

You or someone you know got a SEGA or Sonic related costume? We want photos! You can email them to us or tweet us, and we might feature them on the blog later this week!

A couple weeks ago, we told you about our partnership with KaBOOM! and Youth UpRising to build a playground for the kids of East Oakland, CA. We had more than a hundred volunteers and just about 5 hours to get it all done… and we did it!

The day started with some presents! We all got Sonic hats, t-shirts, and water bottles to help keep the spirit of Sonic going throughout the build day. After some breakfast, we did some warm up stretches. Building a playground is hard work! Sonic came to the warmup session to say hello and cheer everyone on.

This is what the build site looked like when we got started. There were holes already dug for the playground equipment to go in. But that was it — everything else we’d be doing that day. Oh, and did I mention that almost no power tools were allowed? A drill was used to put together the picnic area, but other than that, everything was done by hand.

We were each assigned to teams, and each team was given a task to complete. I was on team Sonic (yeah!) and we were in charge of moving the mulch. How much mulch? Two whole truckloads. In case you are wondering what two truckloads of mulch looks like, this is it.

This is team mulch, getting ready to bring the first wheelbarrows full on to the build site.

While we were busy moving mulch, another team (which Julian and Kate were on) was busy mixing and pouring cement. All in all, there were over 10,000 pounds of cement mixed and poured (by hand!) for the playground.

Still other teams were in charge of putting together the playground elements.

Within just a few hours, the first parts of the playground were up.

Next to the build, there was also a Sonic mural being painted by some of SEGA’s art team as well as some of the kids from the art classes at Youth UpRising.

By the end of the day, the playground was completed. We just needed to even the mulch out, and it would be time for the ribbon cutting ceremony!

The mural was just getting the finishing touches as well.

Just a few hours later, and it was time for the ribbon cutting ceremony.

It was a ton of hard work, but we’re so excited about what we were able to accomplish in such a short period of time. We hope the kids of East Oakland enjoy their playground for many years to come!

For more photos of our build day, check out our Flickr.

For the next 24 hours, Streets of Rage 2 will be free in the App Store as part of AllAppStar‘s Champion Week! Click here to download from the App Store for iPhone and iPod.

Special tip of the hat to AllAppStar for including Streets of Rage 2 and Super Monkey Ball 2 in Champion Week! To stay up to date on the latest daily deals in the App Store, download the AppAllStar App.

Today, we’re revealing an exciting new partnership with Arkedo Studio, best known for Nervous Brickdown and Big Bang Mini for Nintendo DS, as well as the Indie “Arkedo Series” on Xbox LIVE Indie Games and PlayStation Network. Arkedo is currently working on “Project Hell Yeah!” which has been in development at the Paris-based studio for nine months.

“See, SEGA? We spent the last five years telling you repeatedly that someday, somehow, you would publish one of our games,” said Camille Guermonprez, Studio Chef at Arkedo Studio. “This day has come. Hell Yeah! Now let’s go back to work and finish the damn thing.”

“We are absolutely delighted to have signed Arkedo,” said Mike Hayes, CEO for SEGA of Europe and SEGA of America. “Arkedo have proved to be at the forefront of innovative design and “Project Hell Yeah!” is sure to continue this trend.”

Starting today, the Arkedo blog will be updated regularly with interesting information about the game’s development, amusing stories from the studio and their soon-to-be famous “Arkedo Recipes for better food.”

To celebrate the release of Football Manager 2012, this weeks Free Stuff Friday will be a Football Manager themed giveaway! These prizes will sit nicely next to your copy of the game at home.

Whats on Offer?

1. Football Manager – Suit – T-Shirt

2. Football Manager – Red Kit – T-Shirt

3. Football Manager – Hacky sack x2

4. Football Manager – Mouse mat/Finger Football

How it Works

1. You must be following us on Twitter to be eligible. (If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can create one by going to http://www.twitter.com and click the green “get started — join!” button in the center of the page.)

2. At random times on Friday, we will announce the prize we are giving away, a word or phrase, and what number of response you need to be to win. Send us a direct message (DM) via Twitter and be that number to win the prize. (@ replies do not count as entries!)

Example:

We tweet “GIVEAWAY: Sonic T-shirt, size L. Be the 15th person to DM “Sonic Adventure” to win!”

You see this, and want to win it, so you send us a direct message that says “Sonic Adventure”. If you are the 15th person to do so, you are the winner!

Quotation marks do not matter, capitalization does not matter, but spelling does matter!

3. All followers are eligible to win all prizes, unless a restriction is noted. Restrictions are usually due to the prize being region-locked. For example, US games that won’t work on UK gaming systems. There may also be age restrictions due to the rating of the game.

4. We will announce the winner on our Twitter feed once eligibility is confirmed.

How to Send Direct Messages on Twitter

Due to a change in our account status with Twitter, you should be able to send us direct messages without us following you.

There are a few ways to send us a Direct Message on Twitter. The easiest way is to go to our Twitter page and select “message” under the “Actions” heading in the side bar. If you do not see “message”, this means that we are not following you. Please send a message to @sega to let us know, and we will follow you. When you click “message” you will be taken to a window where you can type a message and press send.

You may also select the “direct messages” tab from your Twitter homepage, and select SEGA from the drop-down menu at the top of the page. Again, if you don’t see our name there, it’s probably because we’re not following you. Let us know, and we’ll follow you.

There are also many Twitter clients that you can use instead of using the website. These include TweetDeck, Twitteriffic, Tweetie, and Twhirl. Each of these programs works differently, so you’ll want to figure out how to send a direct message on the program you use. If you want to send us a test message, we’ll let you know if we received it.

SEGA and Avalanche Studios are excited to announce Renegade Ops is now available on PC digital download! Help General Bryant defeat Inferno, the madman set on world domination, by blasting enemies to bits across a range of stunning environments, using a variety of vehicles and explosives. Join the Renegade Ops and fight alone in single player mode, team up offline with two-player split screen or join the dynamic 4-player online co-op experience.

We’ve just announced a whole slew of release dates for several upcoming Nintendo 3DS titles! Whether you like action, sports or puzzle games, we’re sure to have a game that you’ll enjoy.

Shinobi

Shinobi is the long anticipated continuation of the fan favorite series and includes the classic side-scrolling action gameplay players have loved since the original. Coming to stores in North America on November 15th  and November 11th for Europe, Shinobi introduces several exciting new features including a brand new combat system, StreetPass functionality, and a large assortment of achievements and challenges to unlock.

Sonic Generations

SEGA’s much loved mascot Sonic the Hedgehog™ makes his way onto Nintendo 3DS for the very first time as part of the celebrations for his 20^th anniversary. Speeding through many levels designed exclusively for the Nintendo system, Sonic Generations allows fans to play as both Classic and Modern Sonic across a range of iconic and memorable levels – all re-imagined for a completely new experience. Sonic Generations for Nintendo 3DS launches on November 22nd in North America and November 25th across Europe.

Crush3D

CRUSH3D, a redesigned version of the critically acclaimed puzzle platformer game, will hit Nintendo 3DS and stores on January 10th, 2012, for North America and January 13th for Europe.  Help Danny solve brain-teasing puzzles by ‘crushing’ your way from a 2-dimensional to a 3-dimensional world and back again with the touch of a button.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

And finally, the record-breaking duo of Mario and Sonic join forces on the Nintendo 3DS with the launch of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.  The much loved pair head to stores on February 10th, 2012, across Europe and February 14th, 2012, in North America.  Bringing a whole new dimension to the Mario & Sonic universe Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games for the Nintendo 3DS contains over 50 Olympic Games themed events for players to compete in for a coveted gold medal!

Get a look at the second gameplay trailer for Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games!

By now, you know that Sonic Generations has a lot of old-school goodness in it, from the classic characters to the iconic levels of past games. But did you know that you could play the original Sonic the Hedgehog game (aka Sonic 1) from within Generations? You do now!

This port of Sonic 1 will be available in the X360 and PS3 versions of Sonic Generations, but you’ll have to earn it! When you complete each level, you’ll get points. Save up your points and then go to the Skill Shop, where you can purchase the “SEGA Genesis Controller”, which will allow you to access and play Sonic 1. You can also spend your points to get infinite continues for Sonic 1.

Even more reasons to be excited for Sonic Generations, which is out on November 1st in North America and November 4th in Europe!

Captain America: Super Soldier for Nintendo 3DS has shipped and is in stores now!

Become Captain America, the ultimate Super-Soldier, in the darkest days of World War II as you face the Red Skull and his army in this epic action adventure. Wield Captain America’s legendary shield to take out multiple enemies at once, deflect incoming fire back at your enemies, solve puzzles and scale walls. Above all, hurl yourself shield-first into the fray with the superior force of the world’s first Super-Soldier at your fingertips. Engage in free-flowing combat and acrobatic platforming to infiltrate Hydra’s massive and mysterious castle complex and battle the infamous Iron Cross, the forces of Hydra and a host of nefarious enemies serving the Red Skull in an all-new Captain America story and adventure.

Captain America: Super Soldier combines an acrobatic combat system with fluid platforming and a highly tuned suite of shield attacks including melee combos.

Captain America: Super Soldier is also available for the Xbox 360, the PlayStation3, Wii, and Nintendo DS.