Are you ready to make some Crazy Money? Well, it’s time, because the HD remake of Crazy Taxi will be available for download worldwide this November! This re-mastered classic will arrive on Xbox Live Arcade on November 24^th, and on the PlayStation Network on November 23^rd (for America) and November 24^th (for Europe and Australia). Players will be able to hurtle off parking garage roofs and barrel through traffic-packed streets for a low fare of 800 Microsoft points, or $9.99.

New features in this remake include high-definition 720p graphics presented in a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, leaderboards and trophy awards, and two game types to experience – Arcade Mode and Original Mode. Classic features making a comeback include sixteen minigames that hone taxi-driving skills, huge San Francisco-style hills for plenty of hang time, and occasional deep-sea exploration opportunities.

Personally, I’ve found Crazy Taxi incredibly addictive. The driving mechanics are, of course, wild & arcade-driven — a driving simulation this isn’t — but taking advantage of the “crazy physics”  as you careen wildly through streets hits all the right notes. Even better, the Crazy Taxi city seems clearly modeled after San Francisco — a seaside town filled with steep hills, unexpectedly twisty streets, and colorful pedestrians. The perfect place to lose a hubcap (or five).

Just a reminder — Sonic Adventure, which released last week for Xbox Live Arcade, and is out right now for PlayStation Network!

Both the full game and the DLC content which upgrades it to the “Director’s Cut” (also known as Sonic Adventure DX) version are available now for PSN. The price is just $9.99 for the full game (and of course, the Dreamcast came out 9/99 — coincidence?).

My previous blog has most of my thoughts on the game, and it’s worth noting that this news is significant not just because this is the best-selling Dreamcast game, but because it represents Dreamcast’s return. The release of Crazy Taxi is still on the horizon and there’s more to look forward to. Stay tuned!

We’ve got multiple exciting announcements for you!

First, as you know Sonic Adventure releases today (as in, right now!) on XBox Live Arcade! We’ve only just passed the 11th Anniversary of the 9/9/1999 release of the Dreamcast, and Sonic Adventure was the first Sonic game to release for the Dreamcast and was the first Sonic game in 3D. All of those milestones are befitting a game that is presented with a grand and epic sense of “adventure”, exploration, and fun, and this is definitely a game to revisit, or to check out if you’ve somehow missed out on it all these years.

Second, if you’re waiting to get the game on PlayStation Network, you don’t need to wait long — it’s releasing next week, on the 21st in North America (22nd in Europe), on PSN!

Actually, it’s confession time, and I never really played Sonic Adventure until just this past year or so, when I snagged a Dreamcast from our incredible game room and brushed up on some of the classics. There’s a certain grandeur and sense of excitement when a definitive flagship title shows up for a new system, and Sonic Adventure definitely helped fill those shoes for the Dreamcast.

The game actually even has a bit of old-school adventure game to in (fitting enough considering the name), in that there’s an open world to explore and not always a ton of direction in how to proceed: you explore areas on your own, find ways to proceed, and gradually uncover how the multiple characters have interlocking stories.

Of course, the adventure stages are just one part of the game, and they invariably give way to action stages built around pure speed. The Sonic stages work most like the classic ones, as you battle your way through a level collecting rings, whereas the Tails stages that follow have their own unique twist, as you race against Sonic to be the first to catch Chaos Emeralds.

My favorite stages are probably the Knuckles ones — he retains his gliding and climbing abilities from the original Sonic & Knuckles game, and the first Knuckles stage in Sonic Adventure smartly takes place in a city environment. It feels, to be honest, like one of the Spider Man games, as you race around an open level looking for Chaos Emeralds. Flinging yourself from building to building and avoiding cars has a great innate appeal to it.

Final piece of news: there is also a DLC pack available for the game — if you wish, you can download it and convert this original Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure into the “Director’s Cut” version, Sonic Adventure DX! Sonic Adventure DX was the enhanced version released on the Nintendo GameCube, and includes 60 additional missions as well as Metal Sonic as a playable character.

There’s a lot to explore and discover in the game — I haven’t even touched on the Chao (not to be confused with the boss enemy Chaos from the game, or the Chaos Emeralds), the pet “minigame” which has attained a special cult following among some SEGA fans. To this day we still receive drawings in the mail of Chao designed by fans, and it’s awesome seeing this portion of the game getting a new release & new exposure.

Stay tuned for more — with the PlayStation Network release on the 21st and more Crazy Taxi news coming soon, and still more to come, there’s lot’s to look forward to with digital Dreamcast titles.

Following the half-off sale of After Burner Climax for Xbox Live, we’re now happy to say that you can get the same great deal on PlayStation Network! If for any reason you’ve been holding off this PSN purchase, now is the time: the game drops from $9.99 to $4.99 from now until August 3rd.

I’ve already said pretty much everything about this beast from the arcade, but I’m always happy to sing After Burner’s praises. After Burner Climax is a reminder of why Sega has been in the arcade business for decades upon decades, and it’s a wall-to-wall action game which defies you to master its many modes, secrets, and levels.

There’s not much more to say on this one — this is one of my favorite games & series, and for only $4.99 it’s worth taking to the skies to find out yourself!

Attention, SEGA Fans!

It’s summertime, it’s Sonic’s Birthday, and we’re celebrating all week long with sales on select SEGA games on three different platforms: PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and the iPhone!

The sales below all have special dates, so be sure to check these for reference:

PlayStation Network: Tuesday June 22^nd to Tuesday July 6^th
iTunes AppStore: Wed June 23^rd to Wed June 30^th
Xbox LIVE Marketplace: Thursday June 24^th, one day only!

A ton of Sonic titles are going on sale, as well as some SEGA classics for the iPhone.

Check out the schedule for the sale below — these price drops are applicable in North America, Europe, and Japan!

Tuesday, June 22nd – PlayStation Network and PlayStation Portable over PSN

Its Sony Tuesday, with tons of Sonic and Sonic DLC available over PlayStation Network.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing: Metal Sonic Death Egg       $7.99 $5.49
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing: Ryo with Forklift Character       $4.99 $3.49
Sonic Unleashed Apatos & Shamar Adventure Pack       $2.99 $1.99
Sonic Unleashed Chun-nan Adventure Pack       $2.99 $1.99
Sonic Unleashed Empire City & Adabat Adventure Pack       $2.99 $1.99
Sonic Unleashed Holoska Adventure Pack       $2.99 $1.99
Sonic Unleashed Mazuri Adventure Pack       $2.99 $1.99
Sonic Unleashed Spagonia Adventure Pack       $2.99 $1.99
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: Very Hard Shadow Missions       $2.49 $1.49
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: Very Hard Silver Missions       $2.49 $1.49
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: Very Hard Sonic Missions       $2.49 $1.49
Sonic Unleashed Add On Bundle       $17.94 $8.99
Sonic Racing Add On Bundle       $12.98 $6.49
Sonic Rivals 2 (PlayStation Portable over PSN)       $19.99 $13.99
Sonic Rivals (PlayStation Portable over PSN)       $15.99 $10.99
Sonic Rivals 1 & 2 Bundle (PlayStation Portable over PSN)       $35.98 $17.99

Wednesday, June 23rd – iPhone
Celebrate Sonic’s birthday on the go with these iPhone games on sale this Wednesday:

Super Monkey Ball       $4.99 $2.99
Sonic the Hedgehog       $5.99 $3.99
Super Monkey Ball 2        $5.99 $3.99
Sonic the Hedgehog 2       $5.99 $3.99
Streets of Rage       $2.99 $0.99
Golden Axe       $2.99 $0.99
Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Ed.    $7.99 $4.99

Thursday, June 24th – Xbox Live Arcade

And then on Thursday we have great Sonic titles going on sale, over Xbox Live Arcade — all featuring the Lock-On Technology of the Genesis originals!

Sonic the Hedgehog 2       $5.00 $3.00
Sonic the Hedgehog 3       $5.00 $3.00
Sonic the Hedgehog       $5.00 $3.00
Sonic & Knuckles       $5.00 $3.00

It’s still thinking: Two of the games released on SEGA’s last home console system, the Dreamcast, are making a triumphant return to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network! Coming later this year, the debut digital release will be Sonic Adventure, followed by the wild-driving zaniness of Crazy Taxi.

If you lived & loved Dreamcast a decade ago, now is your chance to relive some of your favorites — and if you never owned one, you can now dive right in and experience some of the most creative and compelling games to show up on the system.

Sonic Adventure will arrive in the Fall of 2010. This game marked Sonic’s debut on a sixth generation console system, and features multiple playable characters in a 3D world, super-fast Sonic gameplay, and of course, the ever-popular Chao Gardens. Sonic Adventure‘s release on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network will mark the 11th anniversary of the Dreamcast’s release.

Crazy Taxi, meanwhile, provides the kind of wild arcade-powered fun that felt perfectly at home on the Dreamcast: the game’s title is as apt as can be, as the player pilots a taxi cab around a fully-realized city modeled after San Francisco, complete with plenty of steep hills to send your taxi airborn as you cart terrified passengers to their destination (or wherever you feel like taking them).

But maybe a bigger story than these two games coming out is just the fact that Dreamcast is here again. While SEGA has brought back and highlighted some of the amazing games from its Master System and Genesis era, this is the first time in years that the Dreamcast era of SEGA history has been brought to the forefront.

“The Dreamcast is fondly remembered by a large community of dedicated fans as a console that was ahead of its time in terms of graphics, quality and online gaming” commented Haruki Satomi, VP of Digital Business at SEGA of America and SEGA Europe. “There are few things that are more requested from us than making Dreamcast classics available for download in today’s digital market place. We’re very excited to begin offering gamers our beloved Dreamcast titles again on the current console systems.”

Each game is based on the original Dreamcast incarnation, featuring all of the gameplay that older players fell in love with. The games incorporate all-new enhancements and features such as high resolution visuals and surround sound.  There will also be online leader boards, allowing players to compare their skills with friends across the world!  In addition to this, all-new Achievement and Trophy integration will be available for each game released.

Launched on September 9, 1999, the SEGA Dreamcast was ahead of its time — critically acclaimed and still loved by fans, the system featured such innovations as being the first console to have online gaming, and even had the capability to run a web browser.

Both Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi will be playable at this year’s E3 as well, so check them out there or stay tuned for more news — and give a big ‘welcome back’ the Dreamcast!

Now that After Burner Climax is out for both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, hopefully a lot of you have had a chance to experience it. First though, we have an awesome “launch” trailer for the game:

Second, if you haven’t played the game on a console yet, it has a feature called “EX Mode”. Basically this is a set of options that adds both a ton of replayability to the game, as well as lets you customize the difficulty level. You unlock the various EX mode options through gameplay, and they include things such as toggling “autofire” for your main guns and the number of lives and continues you have available. It’s also worth noting that while simply completing the game is not terribly difficult — especially once you’ve unlocked the additional continues options — mastering the game, and achieving a superior ranking, is another proposition entirely.

Get ready! The wait is over, and one of the most indelible arcade experiences of the past decade is now available for download, in glorious HD: After Burner Climax has taken off, releasing today for Xbox Live Arcade and tomorrow, April 22nd, for PlayStation 3 over PlayStation Network.

Additionally, we can now announce that there’s some great extras also available with the game — including premium themes for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Additionally, the Xbox 360 version will have two exclusive gamer icons, and two avatar awards — a slick looking t-shirt with the distinctive After Burner logo, and a solid gold helmet. That last part is italicized for awesomeness — here, check out a picture, along with the other avatar award item:

I’ve already rhapsodized quite a bit about this title, but just to rehash: After Burner Climax was released in 2006 on the high-powered “Lindbergh” arcade hardware. With 20 stages and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants branching missions, this is what an arcade game is meant to be like — I keep saying, as good as the screenshots look, the game looks even better at full throttle. For me, the After Burner series has always balanced the extreme difficulty of quarter-hungry arcade-bred beasts, and the intuitive straight-ahead fun of really good air combat games.

After Burner Climax also features three flyable fighter planes, all officially licensed: Pick from the Northrop Grummand F-14D Super Tomcat, or the Boeing-manufactured F-15E Strike Eagle or F/A-18E Super Hornet. The different fighters do have different balances in-game, and that combined with the branching mission adds a hearty amount of replayability to the title.

After Burner has a feel all its own, and while the best of today’s home computers may be capable of better graphics, there is a fluid grace to how excruciatingly gorgeous this game looks in HD. It’s one of the best looking games I’ve ever played and the thrill of accelerating through a narrow canyon is something that I indelibly think of when I think of “arcade action” games. Home gaming has of course become far more popular over the years, and we’re seeing fewer and fewer real life arcades — After Burner Climax really is a slice of that old arcade experience though, and it fits perfectly on the consoles.

After Burner Climax is available for Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS Points, or via the PlayStation store for $9.99. Additionally, check out these awesome premium themes available for both consoles. The Xbox 360 theme is available now and the PSN theme should be available in early May:

Lastly — my lead-in line for this blog, “Get Ready” was actually a reference to the first After Burner game I played, and the first of the series to appear on a console — After Burner, on the SEGA Master System. One of my favorite games from the era, it’s worth linking to a video of the first stage (complete with the digitized instruction to “get ready!”). Enjoy this nostalgic reminder of After Burner’s origins.

I’m very excited to see this game show up on consoles. Take the the skies and enjoy this unique and awesome arcade experience!

This Valentine’s Day, why not snuggle up with a fine selection of Sega’s delectable downloadable games on the PlayStation Network — take your pick from the bundles below and watch the savings start to grow.

This limited-time promotion begins today (February 11th) and runs through til February 18th. Check out the information below on the great deals we have available, and look for the special Bundles of Love thumbnail graphics below when you’re at the PlayStation Network store!

Driving Me Crazy

Celebrate this Valentine’s Day with an adrenaline fueled duo that’s bound to drive you crazy. Skid through city streets looking for fares in Crazy Taxi: Farewars and while you’re at it, make sure you wreak motorized mayhem in Full Auto 2: Battlelines. So what are you waiting for? Blow out the candles, scratch the romantic evening for two, and get it on with this action packed downloadable bundle and save $12, only on the PSP and PSP Go.

Set My Pulse Racing

Get ready to set your pulse racing with an exquisitely hot downloadable offer for your PSP and PSP Go. Sonic Rivals 1 and 2 get cozy together for a limited time only to bring you one very swanky package which comes to you for a cool $29.99 – a savings of $16! On your mark, get set, spin.

Love Conquers All

What better way to show your love this Valentine’s Day than by commanding a dedicated squad of militia-men to repel an evil enemy invasion from your beloved homeland. As an added perk, lieutenant, you might just have a sexy officer you can get romantically engaged with. Celebrate this ménage a trios of mission packs for Valkyria Chronicles for the low price of $9.99 – a savings of $5! Just remember, that Love conquers all.

Unleash My Desire

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with a beautiful adventure around the world with the world’s fastest hedgehog in his latest adventure – Sonic Unleashed. Right now you can get six extra downloadable add-ons for $11.99 – a savings of $6! So what are you waiting for? Unleash your desires.

Hello, SEGA fans on PlayStation Network! Been sensing that special feeling of love in the air? A certain irresistible urge to break out your two-player co-op games or pass the controller back and forth with your sweetheart on a single-player game? Starting this Thursday, SEGA will have something special for you! Lonely Hearts Club members are of course also welcome, as all are invited to celebrate this Valentine’s Day with bundles of love.

Crazy Taxi, Full Auto 2, Sonic Unleashed DLC, Valkyria Chronicles DLC, and Sonic Rivals 1 and 2 will all positively swoon with discounts. Check back here on Thursday, when this limited-time sale starts, to see the special bundles that will be available!