Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II begins rolling out today! This new entry in the Sonic 4 storyline has the iconic blue hedgehog taking on two legendary rivals with the help of one of his oldest friends, Miles “Tails” Prower. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II is available today on the PlayStation Network and Steam for $14.99/€12.99/£9.99/AUD$18.25. It will be available tomorrow on Xbox LIVE Arcade for 1200 points, as well as NVidia Tegra 3 powered devices on Android for $6.99/ AUD$7.49/€5.49/ £4.99. On 17^th May, it will be available for iPhone and iPad on the iTunes App Store for $6.99/ AUD$7.49/€5.49/ £4.99.

“Sonic 4 Episode II is very special because we’ve integrated community feedback into the game.” said Haruki Satomi, Senior Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA of America. “We have some of the most loyal and dedicated fans and I hope they enjoy this next chapter in the Sonic 4 saga.”

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II also offers players who have purchased Sonic the Hedgehog™ 4 Episode I the exclusive chance to experience Episode Metal, a special unlockable story available to anyone who owns both titles on the same platform. Lead one of our hero’s greatest foes, Metal Sonic, across four reworked Acts from Episode I to learn more about how he survived the events at the end of Sonic CD.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sonic 4 Episode II and Episode Metal will also be coming to all other Android Device systems this June, and Windows Mobile Phones by this July. For more information about the game, visit http://www.sonicthehedgehog4.com/.

The True Blue Initiative, Episode II

When Episode I launched, we wanted to pay a special thank-you tribute to everyone who purchased multiple copies of the game. We called it the True Blue Initiative, and it’s back for Episode II!

Anyone who picks up two or more versions of the game will be included in a special video, featuring me and Ken Balough, to be posted on the SEGA America YouTube channel, the SEGA Blog, The SEGA forums, the Sonic Facebook, and the SEGA Twitter. This will be a sort of MVP list that will document all of the fans out there who went above and beyond to help support the game. (Rumor has it that interested parties may also request that Ken present his thank you in Spanish, and he will actually do so. Es loco!)

Those fans who have the determination to grab four versions of the game will also be in the video, but as a special bonus thank you, will also receive a mini-poster featuring artwork from Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II that is signed by the Sonic 4 team at SEGA of America. Pretty awesome!

Here are the details:

• There are 5 platforms eligible for this – XBLA, PSN, PC, iOS, and Android.
• You must submit a screenshot of your purchase receipt of the 2 or 4 versions. You can private message them to me on the SEGA forums or submit them by email to communityteam@sega.com with the subject line “True Blue Initiative”. (JPGs are our preferred image type.)
• Please include the name you’d like us to mention in the video (and a pronunciation guide to your name, if you think that would help us).
• If you are submitting receipts for 4 games, please also send us your full name, mailing address, telephone number (required for shipment), and the name you’d like us to personalize your mini-poster with when we sign it.
• You have until 10:00 AM Pacific Time on Friday, June 15th to submit your receipts.
• For XBLA, you need to show us your purchase history that contains Episode II. Instructions for accessing your purchase history are below. Screenshots or photos of this are acceptable.

  If you want to see a history of items that you’ve purchased, go to Purchase History and sign in with your Windows Live ID (email address and password).

  You can also view your Xbox LIVE purchase history on your console. Here’s how:

  1. On your console, sign in using your Xbox LIVE gamertag.
  2. Go to Settings, and then select Account.
  3. Select Download History.
  4. The items that you’ve downloaded are shown.

The wait is over! Go play some Sonic 4 Episode II, and thanks for being True Blue fans!

We are very happy to announce the release date for Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown! The wait is nearly over – if you live in North America, you can pick up the game on PlayStation Network (PSN) on June 5th and the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) version on June 6th! If you live in Europe, you can pick up XBLA and PSN versions on June 6th! Easy! Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown will cost $14.99/£9.99/AUD$18.25/ €12.99 for PSN and 1,200 Microsoft Points for XBLA.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown brings the latest arcade version of the Virtua Fighter 5 series to consoles worldwide, adding two new characters—Virtua Fighter 3 favorite Taka-Arashi and newcomer Jean Kujo—and dynamic and interactive fighting arenas. Console-only features include a robust and detailed Training Mode, eight player Online Room Match Mode, and a match record feature to replay, save, and upload fights. Developed by AM2, the console version of Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown will bring the storied franchise’s detailed balance, overhauled fighting mechanics, and extreme depth to new audiences and VF veterans alike in the acclaimed series’ best version yet.

At Launch DLC – Character Customization Packs!

Character customization DLC packs will be available immediately upon launch for all 19 fighters, with each character customization pack costing $4.99/£3.59/AUD$6.25/€4.49 for PSN and 400 Microsoft Points for XBLA, and will contain 600-900 customization items. Two additional customization bundle packs, consisting of nine characters’ worth of DLC items and the other with 10 characters’ worth, will also be available at launch for $14.99/£9.99/AUD$18.25/ €12.99 each on PSN and 1,200 Microsoft Points each on XBLA.

One of the Sonic questions we’re asked most often is about purchasing soundtracks — where, when, how. Well for all fans of Sonic music, we’ve got good news for you! The following soundtracks are now available for purchase on iTunes, and the music of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episodes I and II are coming soon!

Sonic Adventure Original Soundtrack – 20th Anniversary Edition

Sonic Adventure 2 Original Soundtrack – 20th Anniversary Edition

Sonic Heroes Original Soundtrack – 20th Anniversary Edition

Sonic CD Original Soundtrack – 20th Anniversary Edition

Super Sonic Songs (The Best of Crush 40)

The Works

Sonic Colors Original Soundtrack – ViViD SOUND × HYBRiD COLORS Vol. 1

Sonic Colors Original Soundtrack –   ViViD SOUND × HYBRiD COLORS Vol. 2

Sonic Colors Original Soundtrack – ViViD SOUND x HYBRiD COLORS Vol. 3

Are you in or around London and want to check out Aliens Colonial Marines? The London MCM Expo has got you covered! Running from May 25th to May 27th, the expo features a huge floor of games, comics, movies, and will include a PLAYABLE Aliens Colonial Marines! That’s right, much like our Penny Arcade East showing, we’ll have a mix of some Gearbox folks and Sega friends in attendance showing off the game and fighting against you in the multiplayer all weekend long!

Where is it and how can I attend?

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the event, but you’ll have to get there and grab a ticket to get in – easy stuff!

Where: Excel London, Royal Victoria Dock, London, E16 1XL – Check the website for more info!
Tickets & Attendance: Tickets are still available, check the website for more info!

Hope to see you there!

The announcement day is here! We are very happy to announce the final winners in our Jet Set Radio Graffiti contest! As you recall, we tasked you, the fans, to come up with some graffiti that would appear in the game. In return, we have put the 18 winning graffiti images into the game and are very happy to show it all off in the video below!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Congratulations to you all! We hope you enjoy seeing them for yourselves when the game releases this summer!

Full Winners List!

Thanks to all who participated!

We were blown away by how many submissions we received in this competition – over 1200! They were a joy to go through and while we had to make a tough call to award only 18 winners, we’re happy to share the entire batchin a massive flickr album.

Earlier this week, we showed you concept art and screenshots from Dragon Canyon, a level in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed inspired by Panzer Dragoon. Today, we’ve got more concept art and screenshots — this time, from Temple Trouble, a track inspired by Super  Monkey Ball.

Super Monkey Ball first appeared in 2001, and has been a fan favorite ever since. The technicolor extravaganza of this level is inspired by the graphical and level design of the Super Monkey Ball titles. The checkerboard tracks wind above the infamous bottomless pits of the Monkey Ball series as the precariously balanced participants race in a battle to the finish line. The multiple colors of the checkers warn of dangerous routes, which add to the tactical nature of this more advanced track. Watch out for the monkey balls trying to stop you in your tracks, also taking inspiration from the characters in the game!

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will speed on to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, and PC Digital Download late in 2012.

Don’t forget to enter your art into our contest! We need graffiti-style art to go into the Jet Set Radio level of the game. Get all the details and read the official rules, and then get started! The deadline for the contest is May 22nd for the US & Canada, and May 31st for the UK.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On the Block

1. Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing RC Car & Track Set – Get this awesome 8 foot track along with Sonic and Knuckles remote control racing cars.

2. Controller Hoodie – We’re running out, so get them while you can! This one is a size Large.

3. Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver (11th Doctor) – For all your time traveling needs.

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!) We only accept one direct message per person per prize!

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.

Other Assorted Information:

• Free Stuff Friday duties alternate between the London and San Francisco offices and are done during business hours (usually mid-morning) in our respective time zones.
• No, you can’t know what number message you were – so please don’t ask! We will tell you that the information is classified!
• If you have questions during the giveaway, please contact us with an @reply. As you can imagine, we get a whole lot of direct messages during the contests and there  is a very good chance we will miss your question if it is sent as a DM.

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. However, third-party applications may not allow you to.

There are a few ways to send us a Direct Message on Twitter. The easiest way is:

1. Log in to your Twitter account.
2. Click on the person icon and select Direct messages from the drop down menu.
3. You’ll see a pop up showing your Direct message history. Click the New message button, highlighted below.
4. In the address box, type the name or username (SEGA) of the person you wish to send a message to.
5. Enter your message and click Send message.

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. If you still have questions on sending direct messages, please visit Twitter’s Help Section.

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 or not. Please make sure your message says “test” somewhere.

New Starting Experience for New Knights

The Crash Site, Rescue Camp and Rescue Camp Missions have been revamped!

New players will now meet their pal Rhendon and join him as they save the Rescue Camp from the monsters that lurk in the dark and the evil gremlin schemer, Razwog.

This new experience is a taste of what’s to come in the Spiral Knights story. Stay tuned!

Additional Notes

A number of changes have been made including increased damage output for all bombs, increased damage area for some bombs, and increased damage on a number of swords.

For full information and a list of all modified items, and a list of bug fixes, please check the official patch notes here!

Finally, a few quick notes on other changes – some neat adjustments by our artists to help create a more immersive look & feel for the game:

• Many levels now have beautiful new lighting, effects, backgrounds, etc.
• Tier 1 levels now convey the proximity to Cradle’s surface while deeper levels lose sunlight and become darker.
• Crown and heat payouts have received further balancing, most notably in the Royal Jelly Palace.
• Battle Arena-style mission levels have received an overhaul and now feature new rooms and a slick new presentation.

Last weekend, fighting fans in Australian got some hands on time with our upcoming Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown at the Shadowloo Showdown Fighting Tournament. Having Virtua Fighter on hand for fans was awesome and the feedback all around was fantastic. We’re really happy we got a chance to have the game available for play and wanted to thank everyone who came out to check it out!

Watch the Tournament!

The finals for Shadowloo Showdown are available through a TwitchTV stream, skip ahead to the 1:39:00 mark to go straight to the Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown action.

The Winners!

Congratulations to Fuudo for winning the Shadowloo Tournament!

Second place goes to Ryan Hart, congratulations!

Special thanks to VFDC for all the support at the event and generally being awesome for VF fans everywhere.

The summer Sonic events, Summer of Sonic and Sonic Boom 2012, are just 2 months away! There’s lots of great stuff planned for all the Sonic fans who will be hanging out with us in Brighton, UK and San Diego, USA. Last year, you got to play Sonic Generations for the first time and this year is no different – attendees will be the first fans to get some hands-on time with Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, which we just announced last week.

We’re also very excited to announce that Steve Lycett from SUMO Digital (known as S0L in many Sonic forums, including our own SEGA forums), Executive Producer on Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, will be appearing at both Summer of Sonic and Sonic Boom 2012! Many Sonic fans have interacted with him online for a while, and this will be your chance to see him in person.

Crush 40 will be playing live at both events, and special guests Jean Paul and Alex Makhlouf from Cash Cash will also playing live at Sonic Boom. Get ready to rock out to your favorite Sonic song with your fellow fans!

We’ve got lots more surprises in store for this year’s Sonic events… and we’re not ready to let them all out of the bag just yet. Stay tuned for more announcements in the coming months!

Sonic Boom 2012 will be held on Friday, July 13^th, 2012 from 5:00 PM until 10:00 PM at the House of Blues in San Diego, CA (during San Diego Comic Con). Tickets are $20 each ($15 for the ticket and $5 for the TicketMaster fee) and include 2 drink tickets (for those 21 or older) and free food. You do not need a Comic Con badge to get into Sonic Boom. You must have a ticket to get in. Tickets are going quickly, so get yours today! You can purchase your tickets at http://bit.ly/IM9OoT

Summer of Sonic 2012 will take place in the Hove Centre, at Hove Town Hall, Brighton on Saturday, July 7^th 2012.  Tickets are available from the Summer of Sonic website: www.summerofsonic.com/

We’re excited to announce the winners of our House of the Dead 4 grenade hunt contest!

Congrats to the following winners:

James P. in Washington – Grand Prize

John H. in Oregon – First Prize

Gilbert M. in Florida – First Prize

Edward C. in California – First Prize

Charles C. in Florida – First Prize

All winners have been notified and have received their prizes. Congrats!

For those of you wondering… there are 16 grenades in this photo.

Back in February, we asked you to submit your questions for Jun Senoue, Alex Makhlouf, Tomoya Ohtani, and Kenichi Tokoi – some of the masterminds behind the Sonic Generations soundtrack. It’s taken a bit of time, but we’re back with answers to some of the best and most frequently asked questions. Enjoy!

Alex, when you first learned you were going to be working on Sonic Generations, what was it like knowing you’d get to work with some of the most famous songs in Sonic’s history?

Alex: To be honest, I thought it was too good to be true. I’ve been a MASSIVE Sonic fan for as long I can remember, so being a part of the 20^th anniversary game was a pretty big deal. Not only did I have the privilege of making music for the game, but I got to work on some of my most favorite Sonic songs – songs that I grew up loving. I am a big fan of Adventure series, so songs like “Escape from the City” and “Speed Highway” hold a special place in my childhood memories. I remember when I received the original tracks for “Escape from the City” I was listening to Ted Poley’s lone vocal asking myself “Would you ever have predicted you would be doing this!?” It was surreal and amazing!

Out of all the remixed songs in Sonic Generations, which one is your personal favorite, and why?

Jun: I think my favorite is Sky Sanctuary. Sonic 3/Sonic and Knuckles was the first title I was involved in the creation for, and it is nostalgic for me. I also like the remix of White Space, a menu screen where you can select the level where you go. I like the remix which picked up the characteristics of each level.

Kenichi: I like all the remixes because they are all cool, but I especially like the classic City Escape and Act 2 of Tropical Resort. City Escape was remixed in electro sound which made it totally different, but the house music tempo was nice. Lead sound guitar sticks out following the line, but suddenly turns to backing by arpeggio, in a great balanced remix. Tropical Resort has a great brisk, enthusiastic feel, and it makes me feel like I’m zipping through the stage. It was originally a mixture of live instruments and electro sounds, but as the tempo got faster, the strong synthesizer sound added more edge to the track and made it even cooler. I wanted this to be in the original Sonic Colors!

Tomoya: If I choose one, it will be Rooftop Run for the Modern stage. Using drum, bass, piano, and guitar as a band sound, as well as adding 12 string section to it made it an expressive track for the action stage.

Alex: I personally love Tomoya Ohtani’s classic remixes of Crisis City and Rooftop Run. He added a lot of catchy melodies that aren’t even in the original tunes. I actually like them more than original ones! Also, Jun did an amazing job with all of the modern remixes. They all capture that “Modern Sonic Sound”. I love how he completely re-worked Chemical Plant Zone by totally shifting the tempo and feel. It makes the track really stand out from the original, which I thought was awesome.

Which song were you looking forward to remixing the most, and why?

Alex: I was looking forward to remixing “City Escape”. My friends and I grew up loving SA2 as well as that particular song. It was one of the most iconic songs from that game. My friends all thought I was lying when I told them I was working on that song; it was almost too ironic. I remember calling up one of my friends and playing him the individual vocal tracks to prove it was true.

If you could work on one more Classic and/or Modern arrangement for any stage from previous games, which one would it be and why?

Jun: I think I’ll choose Emerald Hill Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It was my best track when I was a Sonic game player.

Kenichi: I’ll choose Egg Carrier in Sonic Adventure. This is a memorable track for me, as it was my first time remixing a track that was not my own. It was a great stage, and would be so fun if this stage was redesigned in the classic style. So I dream about remixing this track for classic and modern, maybe changing the tempo totally.

Tomoya: I’ll choose Sky Babylon Stage’s track in Sonic Rush Adventure. This was made for Nintendo DS, so it was made with a restriction on the number of simultaneous tones and sound quality, so there is leeway for updating. The track is dance track using oriental melody, and I like it personally.

Alex: How can I choose just one!? Some of my favorite Sonic Tunes are from Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 though. I guess it would have to be between Oil Ocean, Spring Yard, or Mystic Cave. Those songs are some of the most unique tracks from both those games. They showcase that darker side to Sonic music, which I love. As for modern sonic, I think the song “It Doesn’t Matter” would’ve been very interesting to remix. It’s definitely my favorite song from the Dreamcast era.

Alex, as a fan who grew up with Sonic games on the Genesis, how did it feel to represent your own generation of Sonic fans in remixing songs for the game?

Alex: I guess it’s sort of cheesy to say, but it almost felt like an honor. I’ve loved Sonic through thick and thin, and will continue to do so. I experienced all three generations of Sonic first hand. The game was made for huge Sonic fans like myself, so this put a lot of pressure on me while making the music. I couldn’t just remix the songs and call it a day. I needed to make each track as special and nostalgic as the game itself. That being said, I hope I made my fellow Sonic fans proud! Sonic Generations marks a milestone for franchise, and I hope that one day people look back on it the same way we look back on the Genesis titles.

When writing in-game music, do you get a look at the games first or do you imagine how the game will turn out?

Jun: It depends on the schedule. I want to match the tempo of the game play and the track itself, so I like making tracks as I play the game or watching a movie of the game. But it’s also common for me to make the tracks by looking at the image illustrations, listening to comments from the game designer, and imagining how it would be like.

Alex: Being a Sonic fan myself, this was the coolest part about working on this game. I got to see very early footage of the game, before it was even announced — it wasn’t even officially named yet! I watched the footage to get a vibe of how the level would play out. That way I could make sure my remix didn’t stray too far from feel of the gameplay. I didn’t receive footage for all of the levels I remixed though. For the others, I had to reference the original game for a rough idea of the gameplay.

What was the reasoning behind the lack of a main “theme song” for Sonic Generations?

Jun: Sonic Generations was a special title celebrating the 20^th anniversary of Sonic, and we wanted to have all the included levels Sonic titles get the spotlight. So the tracks focused on how the nostalgic tracks can be remixed and be heard in new ways.

When I first heard the Classic Planet Wisp track, I was really surprised at how different it was to the Original/Modern Planet Wisp. I really like the track, and the more I listen to it, the more it reminds of the Bad Future stages from Sonic CD. I’m just wondering: was that the intention? Or was it a coincidence?

Kenichi: I didn’t intend to be so. The track was in a minor key, and the instruments used were similar, so it might remind you of the bad future in Sonic CD.  But I do agree that it has lots in common with Stardust Speedway.  The stage structures were meant to be novel and nostalgic for Modern and Classic respectively, and the fact that you have the same impression for our music as well just makes me very happy.

Was the beginning of the final boss song intended to sound like the beginning of Live and Learn?

Jun: If you’re referring to that sound effect played at the beginning of the cutscene where Sonic turns into Super Sonic, you’re right.  This sound effect was originally played at the beginning of “Live and Learn” (the main theme of “Sonic Adventure 2, the 10^th anniversary game) and it represented the final boss battle breaking out.  I was more than ready to bring this sound effect into this 20^th anniversary title as well.

When designing a theme for a particular character, how do you prepare the song? Do you do some role-playing as the character to get the feel for how that character would want the song?

Jun: In “Sonic Adventure 2,” we had multiple playable characters, so I composed the game music, including all of the level music, by applying 6 melodies for the 6 characters.  Because many characters took turns in the 2 stories, I wanted to represent those differences through not only the game style, but through music, too.

For pieces like character theme music, I obviously try to highlight their characteristics and strength more, comparing to other types of music.

When you did Classic Planet Wisp, was that song inspired by Scrap Brain Zone? That’s the overall feel I got from it, the natural paradise being turned into a mechanical wasteland.

Kenichi: Like I said about “Sonic CD” earlier, I didn’t compose the piece with some certain music in mind. Given that the game includes Classic style, what I thought about right away when I was working on the music arrangement was what would it be like if the levels were to be designed in a nostalgic way.  For “Sonic Colors,” Planet Wisp was composed while imagining a planet rich in nature being destroyed by a crazy construction machine, and I wanted to get across this image once more in the Classic stage, only this time, a bit more vividly.  So I suppose the pieces do share some elements with each other, and that may be the reason for such impression.

What’s one of your favorite memories from working on the various remixes and tracks in Generations?

Alex: It was around February 2011 when Jun came to our studio to see how the remixes were coming. At the time, I only had 4 of them around 75 percent completed. Since I’m a fan of Crush 40, Jun has always been someone I looked up to. I was quite nervous and I hoped that he liked the direction I had taken the songs. It was an awesome feeling to see how much he liked the remixes I did. He liked them so much, that I ended up doing more after that point.

Can you share any secrets about the tracks or composition that fans might not know? Are there any Easter Eggs you can hint at, or tell us about?

Alex: When I was remixing the songs, I wanted to make them as nostalgic as possible. I also wanted to add things that only the truest Sonic fans would recognize. In my Classic Remix of “Escape From the City” there are quite a few Easter eggs. Around  0:08, I used the original Sega Genesis snare drum for that little drum fill that leads into the verse. When I was arranging the 2^nd verse, I was trying to make a cool piano part to accompany the vocal. As I was jamming along, I remembered playing a melody incredibly similar to the Sonic 3 multiplayer song “Endless Mine”. Then I immediately realized that the verse of City Escape shared the exact chord progression as Endless Mine. Even stranger, I realized that the vocal melody was the almost identical rhythm as the synth melody. That led me to the idea to use Melodyne to manipulate the vocal so that it sang the exact same melody as Endless Mine. Although this gave a lot of Autotune sounding artifacts, I think it ended up fitting the part quite nicely. It reminds me of something Daft Punk would’ve done. Also, at the end of my remix, the synth melody is the original guitar melody from the instrumental version of the song. This melody is only heard in the demo version of SA2. Anyone like myself who bought Phantasy Star Online just to get that SA2 demo can relate to that one!

What would you say the stereotypical “SONIC SOUND” is? Is it thundering bass with crashing guitars? Or more Hip-Hoppy?

Jun: Sonic himself is a free-spirited guy, so I try not to limit myself when making music. Instead, I try to make the desired tempo first, and then attach a catchy and memorable phrase to that using edged sounds.

Kenichi:  To me, “Sonic sound” has to be cool. Of course, we need to have a unified concept in each title, but to make it cool and groovy we will use a guitar sound and sometimes use soulful rhythm, too. I feel that being unconventional is some of Sonic’s appeal, so I think it’s important to have the sounds and tracks to be free and unconventional too.

Tomoya: I think that there is no one style that says “this is how Sonic sound should be”. In any genre or composition of instruments, we can express the Sonic-like sound. I think that “Sonic sound” is free and varied.

Alex: The beauty of Sonic music is its diversity. It all depends on the game, and the level. When I picture modern Sonic running at full speed through loops, I hear nothing but fast Crush 40 jams like “Live and Learn” and “Open Your Heart”. Songs like that fit the Modern Sonic attitude so well, and enhance the high-speed gameplay. But when I picture something like Classic Sonic platforming through an underwater level, I hear swung hip hop/electro beats with a nasty synth bass line. I think the reason why Sonic music has always been so special is because it’s constantly evolving along side of Sonic. This keeps the franchise from getting stale.

How did you go about incorporating your own individual style into the tracks and were there any notable challenges in doing this?

Jun: It depends on the track. For example, Green Hill and Sky Sanctuary were both a tracks that weren’t high tempo, so I used the same melody and changed the band part to show speed. I think adding this band sound was my taste. Also, Chemical Plant was one of the tracks I made to express my taste. I included the melody line and remixed it boldly.

Kenichi: Not deviating from the original track, but appealing to a different image, is a very hard thing to do. Especially for Planet Wisp, as there had already been so many remixes. Because of this, adding a new remix seemed to be difficult to do. So, I changed my way of thinking and thought to make it simple with fewer sounds. When you remix a track, we usually add sounds, but this time we tried to keep it simple. I think it ended up having a nice groove because of that.

Tomoya: Instead of adding my taste, I put my energy into expanding the concept of the original track. And as I remixed and finished the track, I think the strings became the big hook.

Alex: It all kind of just happened naturally. A lot of these tracks were made at the same time I was working on our 2^nd album “Love or Lust”, so there are some familiar sounds in each. I guess this gave some of the remixes that “Cash Cash sound”. That’s where my brain was musically at the time and it just sort of felt right. Remixes like “Radical Highway”, “Big Arms”, and “Water Palace” were made way after our album was released. You can tell that I was in a completely different mindset for those. Although they sound nothing like the Cash Cash record, they still retain elements of the signature sound.

Tell us about your approach to Crisis City, one of our favorite tracks from the game. We were surprised by the combination of drum n bass with violins, so how did that combination come about?

Tomoya: There are times when I seek a music style that is completely original by mixing various music elements.  When working on Crisis City, I was looking for a style which included both a dramatic melody that projects a feeling of a masterpiece, and a speedy, aggressive rhythm. I came up with the idea to mix the strings session and drum and bass beats.

What influences do you feel you brought to the Sonic Generations soundtrack that might not otherwise have been there?

Alex: With my work on Generations, I tried to diversify each song as much as I could, while still keeping that classic “Sonic” feel. Super Sonic Racing and City Escape have a retro 80’s/90’s dance vibe. They are really poppy and cheerful. I also got to showcase my signature Vocoder/Talk Box Vocal effect In “SSR”. Some people think it’s simply auto tune, but it’s actually nothing like that. I actually play a synthesizer that sends the sound signal through a tube that I put my mouth. I then shape the words and vowels to make it sound like it’s talking. If you look up some videos on how it works, it’s pretty cool and actually a lot harder than it looks. On the other hand my remixes of “Radical Highway” and “Big Arms” have an aggressive electronic sound with hints of rock. My remixes of “Speed Highway” and “Stardust Speedway (US Present and Future)” use influences from electro-house, and other modern electronic music. As a music producer, I make all genres of music, but I specialize in a mostly electronic and dance. This makes the songs diverse yet pretty cohesive as a whole at the same time.

What is the process of creating a soundtrack like this one like?

Alex: Each remix had a very different creative process. For certain tracks, Jun sent me some beta gameplay videos to get a rough idea of how the level would play out. This was before the game was even announced. While my “super fan” side was having a meltdown, my music side was analyzing the footage closely. This way I could make sure that the music fits the feel and energy of the level. For some of the other remixes, I wasn’t given any reference material besides the original song. With these I had to reference the original gameplay.

Do you record the songs with a band in a studio, or is the most of it made on a computer?

Jun: It depends on the concept of the track and who did the remix, but in my case, I usually record the real live sound and use them in the tracks. I first make the demo by myself and decide both the framework and tempo of the track. Based on this, I record the rhythm parts (drum & bass, guitars) and add them to the demo. Even for the keyboard parts, the final take of these are often the ones that are actually played.

Alex: These days there’s a fine line between a studio and computer. I guess our studio sits somewhere on that line. We don’t have an epic multi-room recording castle. (Although I wish we did!) Even though our main weapon is the computer, we still record a lot of live instruments in the small space we have. A computer can’t fake things like guitars, acoustics, and percussion, so we record those live. With synth stuff, we use a combination of hardware synths and software synths, depending on the sound of the project. Since all of the remixes were dance/electronic oriented, the drums were all programmed electronic samples to get that punchy compressed sound.

If there was one track you worked on that you feel most proud of, which would it be, and why?

Alex: I think all of the remixes turned out really cool, but if I had to pick my favorite it would be “Big Arms”. I knew the original song was a fan favorite, so I had to make it as epic as possible. Most of the remixes I made were very dance oriented, but this one was very different. I love it because I got to blend the elements of 80’s synth, heavy rock guitars, big electronic drums, and strings. This resulted in a super fast, high-energy remix that could get any listener instantly head banging, or dancing on first listen. This one was also cool because I got to add an extra breakdown section that was never in the original song. It makes the end of the track really heavy and epic. When Jun heard the song for the first time, I had recorded the original guitars. Jun loved the track, and wanted to record his own guitars with his own style and feel. When I blended his guitars with some of mine, the track truly came to life. That whole middle section before the breakdown didn’t exist until I received Jun’s guitar tracks. I think Sonic fans as well as musicians will really appreciate this version of the song.

Which track was the most fun to remix? Were some of the songs difficult to remix because either you loved them so much, or you were worried fans would dislike the new mixes?

Jun: Choosing just one is difficult. Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary, and City Escape were especially fun. I knew that all tracks were known and liked by the fans, so I was careful when selecting what I changed and what I kept as-is. Because the music in the modern City Escape level was so popular, I tried to keep it similar to the original track, but added a new intro, changed the tempo, added new guitar solo, and a section with new lyrics in order to make it new.

Tomoya: I enjoyed working on all tracks thinking about which remix fans would like. The original tracks were popular songs,  so I wanted to remix them by expanding the original concept. This made the remixes easier to work on.

Alex: For me, it’s hard to pick just one because they were all fun in their own way. In my Classic remix of City Escape I got to add a ton of easter eggs, which was definitely fun. But doing heavier remixes like Big Arms and Radical Highway was awesome, because I would catch myself rocking out constantly as I worked.

Want More?

Visit our friends at Original Sound Version to see Jun Senoue’s answers to two more questions!

We announced Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed just one week ago, and gave you guys your first look at the new & returning characters as well as two of the levels – Dragon Canyon from Panzer Dragoon, and Temple Trouble from Super Monkey Ball. Today, we’re showing you some concept art from the Dragon Canyon level.

Panzer Dragoon was released in 1995 for the SEGA Saturn. The Dragon Canyon Empire level takes its cues from the bleak, fallen lands which provided the setting for the legendary SEGA Saturn game and its sequels. Once a great and prosperous empire, it’s civilization was destroyed millennia ago; the last remaining people live in fear of biological weapons which they created in the past. The one last hope was a blue dragon, discovered in an ancient temple, and is the centerpiece of this level. The winding canyons are heavily inspired by the on-rails nature of the original titles, however the land, sea, and air options and ever-changing environment present these ravines in a very different way.

You can see how this concept art is echoed throughout the level.

We’ll take a closer look at Temple Trouble later this week.

Right before our announcement of Virtua Fighter 5 for console, the team at AM2 built and shipped two authentic Virtua Fighter Japanese arcade machines. Of course, the goal has been to get as many fans of Virtua Fighter a chance to come in and check out these machines, get some play time, and even compete a bit for prizes. Partnering with a local shop, SouthTown Arcade, we’ve been holding some semi-regular tournaments to bring out the fighting community and have some fun in the SF Bay Area.

Prizes!

Our most recent tournament featured some pretty sweet rewards – arcade cards signed by the AM2 team and a SEGA controller hoodie to the top winner – not too shabby. The rewards have been different, we like to mix it up, so keep your eye on the blogs to see what’s coming up next.

Photos!

At our most recent event, Nic Alan was able to take some photos and shared them for all to view. Thanks Nic!

The Winners!

Renzo (pictured above) was the big tournament winner and second place goes to LA Akira- big congratulations to both from all of us at SEGA and SouthTown Arcade!

We really encourage everyone to come by and take a look at the game and if you can’t make it, never fear – TwitchTV is on hand for live streaming for all that want to participate!

Calling all artists! We’re looking for 10 amazing pieces of art to be placed in the Jet Set Radio Future level of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. We’d love them to be Jet Set Radio-themed, but any SEGA-related theme will be considered. All the requirements and prohibitions are below, so make sure to read the official rules carefully before you get to creating!

A lot of people have asked this question, so here’s the answer — YES, if you entered our previous Jet Set Radio art contest, you can enter this one and re-submit the same work if you’d like. But please be sure that the artwork you submit conforms to the requirements of this contest, including format and size.

You must be 18 or older, and a resident of the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom to enter. See the official rules below for eligibility requirements. Please be sure you are reading the rules for the country you live in, as they may differ.

United States and Canada Rules

Sega of America, Inc.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed™

Jet Set Radio™ Graffiti Art Contest

Official Rules

There is no purchase necessary to enter or to win.

By entering you agree you are assigning full and complete ownership and usage rights to your Graffiti Art Submission to the Sponsor for use in any of its products

in exchange for no compensation of any kind.

1) Promotion Description: Sega of America, Inc. (“Sponsor”) is offering “Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed™ Jet Set Radio™ Graffiti  Art Contest” (“Promotion”) and will determine winners based on judging all eligible entries against the criteria established in these Official Promotion Rules. The Promotion begins at 9:00:00 AM US Pacific Time (“PT”) on April 30, 2012 and the deadline for submission of entries is 10:00:00 AM PT May 22, 2012 (“Submission Entry Period”).

2) Eligibility: Promotion is open to all legal residents of the fifty (50) United States, the District of Columbia (excluding Puerto Rico) and Canada (excluding Quebec), who are eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of entry (“Entrants”). Employees, officers and directors of the Sponsor, its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, advertising, promotional, fulfillment and marketing agencies, (collectively “Promotion Entities”), their immediate families (parent, child, sibling & spouse) and persons living in the same households of such individuals (whether related or not), are not eligible to participate in the Promotion. Void in Puerto Rico, all other US territories, Quebec and where prohibited by law, rule or regulation. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.

3) Creating your Graffiti Art Submission: The Sponsor is interested in determining up to five (5)  pieces of original digital graffiti artwork that can be used in its upcoming release of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed™. Create an original piece of graffiti art which meets the following requirements (your “Graffiti Art Submission”):

• Totally original, created by you and suitable for all age groups.
• Ideally based on Jet Set Radio’s world, however any SEGA-related theme will be considered.
• No larger than 1024 pixels x 1024 pixels in size and prepared in a landscape format.
• Submitted for entry in an uncompressed png, .bmp, or .tga file format.

Your Graffiti Art Submission should NOT:

(a)  feature any Sega or third-party characters

(b)  be previously published or appear anywhere else

(c)  contain any third party copyright protected material or trademarked characters, images,  symbols or logos

(d)  infringe upon the intellectual property rights of a third party

(e)  contain any resemblance to a recognizable person, character or personality

(f)    use any obscene or indecent images or words including but not limited to nudity, pornography, profanity, drug references or gratuitous violence

(g)  contain any religious imagery

(h)  reflect any political images or stances

(i)    include any defamatory statements (including, but not limited to, words or symbols that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or socioeconomic group)

(j)    include threats to any person, place, business, group or nation

(k)  invade privacy or other rights of any person, firm or entity

(l)    violate any law or regulation

4) How to Enter your Graffiti Art Submission: Send an e-mail to communityteam@sega.com with “Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed” in the subject line. Attach your Graffiti Art Submission as a file to the e-mail; in the body of the e-mail include the following informational points (your “Entry”):

• Your first and last name,
• Your age,
• Your date of birth,
• Your town,
• Your state/province,
• Your e-mail address,
• Your telephone number including area code, and
• The name or reference for your Graffiti Art Submission.

There is no limit to the number of different times you can enter, however, each Graffiti Art Submission must be new and completely different from any previous Graffiti Art Submission you have submitted and each must be submitted as a separate e-mail Entry. There is a limit of one (1) winning Graffiti Art Submission per person.

By entering, you agree that you are giving Sponsor the right to post your Graffiti Art Submission on its website and/or public websites where it maintains accounts. Additionally, by entering the Promotion, you agree you are assigning and hereby assign full and complete ownership of all intellectual property rights in and to your Graffiti Art Submission and all usage rights therein to the Sponsor for use in and in relation to any of its products (including, without limitation, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed™) and the advertising, marketing, promotion and exploitation thereof in exchange for no compensation of any kind.

5) Judging and Winner Determination:  Entries will be judged by a panel of graphic designers and marketers from Sponsor and SUMO Digital (“Judging Panel”) and will be judged and weighted equally on the following points: (a) creative, fresh, engaging and innovative design; (b) compatibility with theme and style of the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed™ game; and (c) degree of design intricacy and/or design “finish.” The Judging Panel will determine up to ten (10) winning Graffiti Art Submissions. The decisions of the Judging Panel in all matters relating to this Promotion are final. Judging will be completed on or about May 24, 2012. At Sponsor’s sole discretion, if an inadequate number of entries or entries of inadequate quality are received, Sponsor reserves the right NOT to determine any entries as winners or to determine any number of winners fewer than five (5).

6) Confirmation Process – Individuals submitting the winning Graffiti Art Submissions will be contacted within one (1) business day of the conclusion of judging by the e-mail address and/or phone number associated with their Entry (“Winning Notification”) and provided with an Affidavit of Eligibility and a Liability/Publicity Release, (collectively “Affidavit”), (unless prohibited by law). The Affidavit must be returned within five (5) days of Sponsor’s provision of this document. Potential winners will also be required to send a copy of their passport, driver’s license, birth certificate, or other appropriate documentation (acceptable to Sponsor) as proof of age and residency. Non-compliance with any of these requirements may result in disqualification. Return of Winning Notification or Affidavit as undeliverable will result in disqualification. In completing the Affidavit, you are giving your permission for Sponsor to use winner’s name and likeness for advertising and promotional purposes as Sponsor so determines without notice or further compensation, except where prohibited by law. There is no monetary or tangible prize award of any kind associated with being named a winner, nor will your name be featured in any way in the credits associated with the game.

7) General:  If, during any period of the Promotion, for reasons beyond the Sponsor’s control (including, but not limited to, tampering or computer virus infection), the Promotion is not capable of running as originally planned, the Sponsor, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to cancel or modify the Promotion, without liability and to the extent feasible, will determine winners among entries received prior to cancellation or modification. Sponsor is not responsible for Internet, computer hardware and software, phone, and other technical errors, malfunctions, and delays. Entries that are incomplete, inaccurate, irregular, or otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules, are void. All Entrants agree to comply fully with each provision in these Official Rules. Any person attempting to defraud or in any way tamper with this Promotion and any person who does not comply with these Official Rules, will be ineligible and may be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Without in any way limiting, expanding or amending the Terms of Service at http://www.sega.com/legal/terms.php which Terms of Service policy shall remain in full force and effect, if Sponsor is duly notified that any element of an Entrant’s Graffiti Art Submission infringes upon the rights of another person and/or receives a legally valid request to remove the affected Graffiti Art Submission because of such infringement, such Graffiti Art Submission may be removed and disqualified from the Promotion, as Sponsor may determine in its sole discretion. Further, no Entrant will be eligible to be named a winner unless Sponsor determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that such Entrant’s Graffiti Art Submission has been or can be sufficiently cleared for legal purposes and such Entrant has complied with the terms of these Official Rules.

Past experience has shown a promotion such as this one may generate similar submissions which closely resemble concepts and ideas developed by the Promotion Entities whether before, during or after the Promotion. Entrants may see a presentation that seemingly incorporates an idea or concept or includes materials similar to that contained in their entry (e.g., Graffiti Art Submission). Any similarity may be purely coincidental and is always unavoidable in light of the volume of ideas that the Promotion Entities routinely consider in the course of their content development. Consequently, the Promotion Entities must, and have adopted policies and procedures to protect themselves from potential liability and claims and as part of these Official Rules requires all Entrants (and, if eligible minors, their parents or legal guardians) to agree that: (a) the Promotion Entities may use any and all ideas, concepts, material and expression, in whole or in part, submitted or contained in a Promotion Entry, or other material you submit, including, without limitation, the Graffiti Art Submissions, and all copyrights and other intellectual property rights therein; and (b) all Entries and Entry materials (including, without limitation, the Graffiti Art Submissions) become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned.

Right to Use Your Work and Information About You: By participating, you: (a) represent and warrant that your Graffiti Art Submission is wholly original, not previously published, and does not incorporate or include anything that is owned by any third party or would require the consent of any third party and your Entry and Graffiti Art Submission do not violate any copyright, trademark, publicity right, privacy right or any other right of any third party; (b) automatically grant to Sponsor a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable license to use, reproduce, create derivative works from, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute and display your Graffiti Art Submission; (c) agree that upon being named a winner, you agree that your Graffiti Art Submission shall legally be considered a “work made for hire,” with all rights therein, including, without limitation, the exclusive copyright, transferred to and being the property of Sponsor; (d) in the event your Graffiti Art Submission is considered not to be a “work made for hire,” you irrevocably assign to Sponsor, all right, title, and interest in and to your Graffiti Art Submission (including, without limitation, the copyright) in any and all media whether now known or hereafter devised, in perpetuity, anywhere in the world, with the right to make any and all uses thereof, including, without limitation, for purposes of advertising or trade; and (e) agree that by entering your Graffiti Art Submission, you grant to Sponsor the right to sell and otherwise distribute your Graffiti Art Submission on any of its websites or in and in relation to any of its products without any compensation. The rights granted under this paragraph shall extend to Sponsor and its indirect and direct parent companies and their respective affiliated companies with respect to all Entries and all other submitted materials related to the Promotion, including those submitted by non-winners and winners.

By submitting a Graffiti Art Submission, you grant to Sponsor, its parent and affiliated companies the right, except where prohibited by law, to use your name, likeness, picture, address (city and state), voice, biographical information, the Graffiti Art Submission in your Entry and written or oral statements, for advertising and promotional purposes in promoting or publicizing Sponsor, its products or services, without compensation unless required by law. You shall have no right of approval, no claim to compensation, and no claim (including, without limitation, claims based on invasion of privacy, defamation, or right of publicity) arising out of any use, blurring, alteration, or use in composite form of your name, picture, likeness, address (city and state), e‑mail address, biographical information, or entry. The rights granted under this paragraph shall extend to Sponsor, its parent, and affiliated companies with respect to all Entrants in the Promotion, including non-winners and winners. Sponsor, however, does not have any obligation to use the winning or non-winning entries for any purpose.

9) Release of Liability and Issues of Law: By participating in the Promotion, all Entrants release Sponsor and its indirect and direct parent companies and their respective affiliates, partners, subsidiaries, officers, directors, agents, employees and all entities associated with the development and execution of this Promotion from any and all liability with respect to and in any way arising from (i) participating in this Promotion, (ii) any injury or damage to an Entrant’s or third person’s computer related to or resulting from the Promotion or Entries, and (iii) damage to a user’s computer system (including, without limitation, any server failure or lost, delayed or corrupted data or other malfunction) due, either directly or indirectly, to an Entrant’s participation in the Promotion or downloading of information in connection with the Promotion. The Sponsor reserves the right to modify or cancel the Promotion in the event that any portion of any website used to administer any aspect of the Promotion becomes technically corrupted.

All Federal, state and local laws and regulations are applicable. THE CALIFORNIA COURTS (STATE AND FEDERAL) SHALL HAVE SOLE JURISDICTION OF ANY CONTROVERSIES REGARDING THE PROMOTION AND THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SHALL GOVERN THE PROMOTION. EACH ENTRANT WAIVES ANY AND ALL OBJECTIONS TO JURISDICTION AND VENUE IN THOSE COURTS AND HEREBY SUBMITS TO THE JURISDICTION OF THOSE COURTS. The Promotion is void where restricted or prohibited by law.

10) Winners List: Winners will be announced at blogs.sega.com on or about May 31, 2012.

11) Sponsor: Sega of America, Inc., 350 Rhode Island Street, STE 400, San Francisco, CA 94103.

12) Promotion Administrator:  Extra Mile Marketing, 16611 N. 91^st Street, STE 106, Scottsdale, AZ 85260-1523.

SEGA is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. SEGA, the SEGA logo, Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed and Jet Set Radio are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

UNITED KINGDOM RULES

SEGA Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed – Jet Set Radio Competition

Official Rules

THERE IS NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROMOTION OR TO WIN ANY PRIZE.

(1) Description of Prize Draws SEGA Europe Limited (the “Sponsor”) is offering a “Prize Giveaway”, (the “Promotion”) and will award prizes based on judging all eligible entries against the criteria established in these Official Rules. The Promotion begins at 17:00 British Summer Time (“BST”) on Monday 30^th April 2012 and concludes at 09:00 BST on Thursday 31^th May 2012 (“Promotion Period”).

(2) Eligibility - The Promotion is open to legal residents of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Promotions are void anywhere it is prohibited by law, rule or regulation.  Any entrants who are not eligible for the Promotion can be disqualified at the Sponsor’s discretion.  Employees, officers and representatives (and members of their immediate families and those living in the same household of each) of the Sponsor, its parent, subsidiaries, affiliated companies, advertising and promotion agencies, and any other company involved in the design, execution or production of this Promotion are not eligible (the “Promotion Entities”).

(3) Creating your Submission: The Sponsor is interested in determining digital graffiti artwork that can be used in its upcoming release of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed™. Specifically the Sponsor needs five (5) pieces of graffiti art inspired by the Sponsor’s game  entitled Jet Set Radio™.

Create an original piece of graffiti art (1024 x 1024 pixel, square orientation) reflective of the Jet Set Radio game style, world and characters or reflective of any of the Sponsor’s games (your “Submission”). Your Submission must be submitted in an uncompressed png, .bmp, or .tga file format.

Your Submission must be totally original and created by you.

Your Submission should NOT:

(a)   feature any Sega characters

(b)  be previously published or appear anywhere else

(c)   contain any 3^rd party copyright protected material or trademarked characters, images,  symbols or logos

(d)  infringe upon the intellectual property rights of a 3^rd party

(e)   contain any resemblance to a recognizable person, character or personality

(f)   use any obscene or indecent images or words including but not limited to nudity, pornography, profanity, drug references or gratuitous violence

(g)   contain any religious imagery

(h)  reflect any political images or stances

(i)    include any defamatory statements (including, but not limited to, words or symbols that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or socioeconomic group)

(j)    include threats to any person, place, business, group or nation

(k)  invade privacy or other rights of any person, firm or entity

(l)    violate any law or regulation

(4) How to Enter: Send an e-mail to communityteam@sega.com with “Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed – Jet Set Radio Competition – UK” in the subject line.  Attach your Submission as a file to the e-mail; in the body of the e-mail include the following informational points (your “Entry”):

• Your first and last name
• Your age
• Your date of birth
• Your town
• Your e-mail address
• Your telephone number including area code
• Name or reference for your Submission

There is no limit to the number of different times you can enter, however, each Submission must be new and completely different from any previous Entry you have submitted and each must be submitted as a separate e-mail Entry. There is a limit of one (1) prize per person. Entries that are incomplete, contain irregular or invalid information, are corrupted, are late, lost, or postage-due are void and will not be accepted. Entries received for a given promotion are eligible only for that promotion and will not be “rolled forward” for inclusion in any subsequent promotion.

By entering, you agree that you are giving Sponsor the right to post your Submission on its website and/or public websites where it maintains accounts. Additionally, by entering the Promotion, you agree you are assigning and hereby assign full and complete ownership of all intellectual property rights in and to your Submission and all usage rights therein to the Sponsor for use in and in relation to any of its products (including, without limitation, Jet Set Radio and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed) and the advertising, marketing, promotion and exploitation thereof in exchange for no compensation of any kind.

(4) Prize - The Promotion will have five (5) winners who will be selected by a panel of judges from eligible entrants who will have their Submission placed within the Sponsor’s game entitled Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed™ as an “unlockable” extra.The odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible entries received for any given Promotion.

(5) Judging Process:
Entries will be judged by a panel of judges which includes member(s) of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed™’s development studio, SUMO Digital Limited (“Judging Panel”) and will be judged and weighted equally on the following points: (a) creative, fresh, engaging and innovative design; (b) compatibility with theme and style of the Jet Set Radio™  and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed™ games; and (c) degree of design intricacy and/or design “finish”. The decisions of the Judging Panel in all matters relating to this Promotion are final. At Sponsor’s sole discretion, if an inadequate number of entries or entries of inadequate quality are received, Sponsor reserves the right NOT to determine any entries as winners or to determine any number of winners fewer than five (5). The Judging process will be conducted during the first week of June 2012. Potential winners will be contacted within two (2) business days of the vote by the e-mail address associated with their Registered User account to confirm prize acceptance. Potential winners will have five (5) business days to respond to the prize notification e-mail with the requested information. Failure to respond within this time frame or without the requested information may result in disqualification, forfeiture of the prize and the selection of an alternate winner. Return of prize notification e-mail as undeliverable will result in disqualification, forfeiture of the prize and the selection of an alternate winner.

Acceptance of a prize constitutes permission for Sponsor to use winner’s name and likeness for advertising and promotional purposes as Sponsor so determines without notice or further compensation, except where prohibited by law. Prize recipient shall not be permitted to (a) replace his/her designated prize with another prize or item, (b) transfer or assign his/her designated prize to another person, or (c) substitute any prize or prize component for cash. ANY AND ALL TAX LIABILITY RESULTING FROM A WINNER’S RECEIPT OF THE PRIZE IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER.

(6) General:

(i) Sponsor reserves the right to discontinue this Promotion at any time and without notice following the conclusion and complete fulfilment of all prizes associated with any given (and then current) Promotion. In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of the person submitting the winning entry, the prize will be awarded to the authorised account holder of the submitted Internet e-mail address regardless of the individual who submitted the entry. The authorised account holder is the natural person who is assigned to the e-mail address by an Internet Service Provider or other organisation that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses or the domain names associated with e-mail addresses. Sponsor reserves the right to void entries, which in its sole determination, are irregular, incomplete, inaccurate, do not comply with these official rules or have been generated with abusive and/or duplicitous intent including but not limited to false or multiple e-mail addresses.

(ii) By entering, you (a) agree to comply with and be bound by the official rules and the decisions of the Sponsor which are final and binding in all respects; (b) agree to release Sponsor and its employees and agents from any and all liability, loss, damage or injury resulting from participation in this Promotion or from the awarding, receipt, possession use and/or misuse of any prize; (c) acknowledge that Sponsor, and its employees and agents have neither made nor are in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representation, or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, relative to any prize including, but not limited to, its quality, mechanical condition or fitness for a particular purpose; (d) consent to use of your name, photograph and/or likeness, written or oral statements, biographical information and voice for advertising and promotional purposes in all media worldwide and in perpetuity without additional compensation, unless prohibited by law; (e) represent and warrant that your Submission is wholly original, not previously published, and does not incorporate or include anything that is owned by any third party or would require the consent of any third party and your Entry does not violate any copyright, trademark, publicity right, privacy right or any other right of any third party; (f) automatically grant to Sponsor a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable license to use, reproduce, create derivative works from, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute and display your Submission; (g) agree that upon selection as a winner of any prize, you agree that your Submission shall legally be considered a “work made for hire,” with all rights therein, including, without limitation, the exclusive copyright, transferred to and being the property of Sponsor; (h) in the event your Submission is considered not to be a “work made for hire,” you irrevocably assign to Sponsor, all right, title, and interest in and to your Submission (including, without limitation, the copyright) in any and all media whether now known or hereafter devised, in perpetuity, anywhere in the world, with the right to make any and all uses thereof, including, without limitation, for purposes of advertising or trade; and (i) agree that by entering your Submission, you grant to Sponsor the right to sell and otherwise distribute your Submission on any of its websites or in any of its products without any compensation. The rights granted under this paragraph shall extend to Sponsor and its indirect and direct parent companies and their respective affiliated companies with respect to all entries and all other submitted materials related to the Promotion, including those submitted by non-winners and winners.

(iii)Without in any way limiting, expanding or amending the Terms of Service at http://www.sega.co.uk/legal/terms.php which Terms of Service policy shall remain in full force and effect, if Sponsor is duly notified that any element of an Entrant’s Submission infringes upon the rights of another person and/or receives a legally valid request to remove the affected Submission because of such infringement, such Submission may be removed and disqualified from the Promotion, as Sponsor may determine in its sole discretion. Further, no Entrant will be eligible to receive a prize unless Sponsor determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that such Entrant’s Submission has been or can be sufficiently cleared for legal purposes and such Entrant has complied with the terms of these Official Rules.

(iv) Past experience has shown a promotion such as this one may generate similar submissions which closely resemble concepts and ideas developed by the Promotion Entities whether before, during or after the Promotion. Entrants may see a presentation that seemingly incorporates an idea or concept or includes materials similar to that contained in their entry (e.g., Submission). Any similarity may be purely coincidental and is always unavoidable in light of the volume of ideas that the Promotion Entities routinely consider in the course of their content development. Consequently, the Promotion Entities must, and have adopted policies and procedures to protect themselves from potential liability and claims and as part of these Official Rules requires all Entrants (and, if eligible minors, their parents or legal guardians) to agree that: (a) the Promotion Entities may use any and all ideas, concepts, material and expression, in whole or in part, submitted or contained in a Promotion entry, or other material you submit, including, without limitation, the Submissions and all copyrights and other intellectual property rights therein; and (b) all entries and entry materials (including, without limitation, the Submissions) become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned.

(v) The use of machines, computers or any automated technique (“Automated Cheats”) to enter the Promotion is prohibited. Sponsor has the right to invalidate any entry if its sole opinion Registered User has engaged the use of Automated Cheats at any time.  All decisions of the Sponsor are final.

(vi) Sponsor is not responsible for any lost, late, delayed, misdirected, garbled, illegible, incorrect or inaccurate information or entries that are misdirected or misrouted as a result of interrupted or unavailable network connections or internet transmissions for any reason, or any failure of the website during the Promotion Period, or for any computer, phone, phone line hardware or software malfunction, failure or error of any kind, whether mechanical, human or electronic. Any attempt by an entrant to interfere with the operations of this Promotion is a violation of criminal and civil laws; Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such entrant to the fullest extent permitted by law. If, for any reason, any Promotion is not capable of running as planned, including, without limitation, infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Promotion, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Promotion and select winners in a random drawing from among all eligible entries received prior to the cancellation. All entries are the property of the Sponsor.

(6) Release: By participating in the Promotion, all Entrants release and hold the Sponsor and its indirect and direct parent companies and their respective affiliates, partners, subsidiaries, officers, directors, agents, employees, representatives, shareholders and all entities associated with the development and execution of this Promotion harmless from and against any and all losses, damages, claims, liabilities and actions of any kind with respect to and in any way arising from (i) participating in this Promotion; (ii) acceptance, possession, use of misuse of  or defect in the prizes; (iii) any injury or damage to an Entrant’s or third person’s property related to or resulting from the Promotion, the Entries and/or its prizes; (iv) damage to a user’s computer system (including, without limitation, any server failure or lost, delayed or corrupted data or other malfunction) due, either directly or indirectly, to an Entrant’s participation in the Promotion or downloading of information in connection with the Promotion; and  (v) publicity or privacy rights and/or defamation. NOTHING IN THESE TERMS SHALL EXCLUDE OR LIMIT THE SPONSOR’S LIABILITY FOR PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH CAUSED BY ITS NEGLIGENCE.

The Sponsor reserves the right to modify or cancel the Promotion in the event that any portion of any website used to administer any aspect of the Promotion becomes technically corrupted.

 (7) Data Collection – Sponsor collects personal information from you when you enter the Promotion.  By entering the Promotion, you agree to all of the terms and conditions of Sponsor’s Privacy Policy.  For information about how personal information may be used, see Sponsor’s Privacy Policy, which is available at http://www.sega.co.uk/legal/privacy.php.

(8) Law and Jurisdiction: These terms are governed by English law and any claim or matter arising out of these terms shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England.

(9) Winners List: An accumulative list of winners from the most recent month is available via email request to communityteam@sega.com.

Sponsor: SEGA Europe Limited, 27 Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex
TW8 9BW, UNITED KINGDOM.
(c) SEGA. SEGA and the SEGA logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Corporation. All rights reserved

Hell Yeah! is coming to PC, powered by Steamworks! That means you’ll get many awesome features, like cloud save support, achievement support, and friends list support.

For the PC version, the controls have been completely re-worked to support a keyboard and mouse. It also supports a control pad. And the best thing is that you can easily switch from one to the other in the course of your game without any interruption. It will instantly change the look of the buttons on the screen, as well! Like magic!

Want more? How about support for high resolution? Super headphones-friendly sound? Check and check.

You don’t trust us? Shame on you! Why don’t you try the demo and keep your save game to continue playing in the full version where you left it? That’s on us. Boom!

See the gameplay trailer on YouTube now!

If you’re planning to be in Los Angeles, CA during E3 (June 5th – 7th), get your gaming hands ready! Qualcomm needs your help to set a Guinness World Record for “Longest Video Games Marathon Playing on a Tablet” using their Snapdragon processors. The Snapdragon Gaming World Record Challenge effort is in collaboration with AT&T, who has provided the Samsung Galaxy Tab™ 8.9 Tab for the gamers to play. Challengers will play Virtua Tennis Challenge, among other games.

If you’re at least 18 years old and a resident of California, you qualify to be a part of the Snapdragon Gaming World Record Challenge. Registration is open now, and will close at 5pm PT on Thursday, May 10th. Qualcomm will choose 120 participants at random and they will be notified on Friday, May 11 via email. There will be a qualification party on Tuesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. in Los Angeles. At the qualification party, participants will compete for top 50 places in a game to be specified at the event. The competition game will be announced that evening before game play begins. The top 50 gamers with the highest score will win an automatic seat to compete at E3 for $50,000 worth of cash prizes, tablets and more. Make sure to log onto our Facebook page and follow our Twitter feed for event photos and updates as the Challenge officially begins with the qualification party and continues through the Guinness World Record attempt onsite at E3. Can’t make the party? Keep up with all the action live on Stapdragon’s twitter and through the hashtag #SnapdragonWRC!

Starting at 2pm Pacific on Tuesday, June 5th, the Snapdragon Gaming World Record Challenge will officially begin. Gamers will be competing during the entire 26-hour challenge playing Virtua Tennis Challenge, among other games. The top 5 gamers competing in the challenge will win a cash prize as well as a Samsung Galaxy 8.9 Tab. The grand prize winner will get $25,000!

If you’re in LA for E3, but not one of the 50 competitors, you can get in on the action by stopping at the Snapdragon Gaming World Record Challenge booth in the Gilbert Lindsey Plaza in front of the LA Convention Center to compete in spot challenges and win prizes including cash gift cards, Qualcomm t-shirts, free game codes, and more. You can also be entered to win prizes by checking into the Snapdragon Gaming Challenge booth on Foursquare. Not in LA? Keep up with all the action live on Stapdragon’s twitter and through the hashtag #SnapdragonWRC!

See the official rules and sign up for this event on Qualcomm’s website.

Out now for Virtual Console, the revolutionary arcade racer Super Hang-On — and coming out this May 10th, two entries from the classic Wonder Boy franchise: Wonder Boy in Monster Land, and, for the first time ever outside of Japan, Monster World IV!

All three games are available for 900 Nintendo Points.

Super Hang-On

Based on the hit arcade racer originally released in 1987, Super Hang-On will put your street bike skills to the test. Tour through 48 challenging tracks set across four continents and explore the rush of true arcade gameplay as you blaze through checkpoints in a race to beat the clock and your competitors.

Wonder Boy in Monster Land

The once beautiful kingdom has been thrown into chaos by a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon and his monstrous henchmen whose aim is to create their own Monster Land. Unable to defend themselves from the onslaught, the people cry out for a hero to save them! As Wonder Boy, set out on an incredible journey across different environments and dungeons, collect powerful weapons and spells, and rid the land of evil!

Monster World IV

For the first time outside of Japan, experience the final chapter in the classic Monster World series! As Asha, a young adventurer, set forth into Monster World and defeat evil alongside your amorphous pet Pepe and magical Genie in order to save the troubled Elemental Spirits!

Gaming history buffs, take note — along with the original Phantasy Star, this is one of the first games to feature a female protagonist.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On the Block

1. Sonic Plush and Blanket – A two-in-one deal! Get a cute Classic Sonic plush holding a comfy Sonic blanket (not to be confused with a “comfy throw – the blanket with sleeves”.)

2. Sonic Hats – Get a sweet “Kick Some Robuttnik” hat along with a Sonic beanie, complete with ears. Make sure you wear it correctly.

3. Sonic  Backpack – Carry your laptop, books, or whatever you need in style with this Sonic backpack.

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!) We only accept one direct message per person per prize!

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.

Other Assorted Information:

• Free Stuff Friday duties alternate between the London and San Francisco offices and are done during business hours (usually mid-morning) in our respective time zones.
• No, you can’t know what number message you were – so please don’t ask! We will tell you that the information is classified!
• If you have questions during the giveaway, please contact us with an @reply. As you can imagine, we get a whole lot of direct messages during the contests and there  is a very good chance we will miss your question if it is sent as a DM.

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. However, third-party applications may not allow you to.

There are a few ways to send us a Direct Message on Twitter. The easiest way is:

1. Log in to your Twitter account.
2. Click on the person icon and select Direct messages from the drop down menu.
3. You’ll see a pop up showing your Direct message history. Click the New message button, highlighted below.
4. In the address box, type the name or username (SEGA) of the person you wish to send a message to.
5. Enter your message and click Send message.

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. If you still have questions on sending direct messages, please visit Twitter’s Help Section.

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 or not. Please make sure your message says “test” somewhere.

Like piloting gigantic robots and smashing the living daylights out of other gigantic robots?

Who doesn’t? Well, if for some reason you’ve been holding off on the XBLA version of SEGA’s 1998 (Arcade) / 1999 (Dreamcast) mecha fighting game, you win! You win half-off, that is: Cyber Troopers Virtual On Oratorio Tangram is 600 MSP on Xbox Live Arcade from now until May 9th.

Featuring leaderboard replays, one-on-one network play, party lobbies, and gigantic battling robots, the mouthful of a game is also one-of-a-kind, and a classic example of SEGA’s arcade technology bringing to artificial life Japan’s love of stylized, gigantic robot warriors.

Strap in and give this game a shot, for half-off!

For more on this game — including some notes about the art styling for the game’s featured ‘bots — check our original write-up here.

 
XBLA Store Links:

Cyber Troopers: Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram (North America)
Cyber Troopers: Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram (Europe)