You ArchangelUK? Busy? Surely not!

Yes, I’m very busy working on about 12 different fronts at the moment what with Iron Man, Hulk and Samba lurking on the horizon to name but three.

At this time I thought I’d take a moment out from my usual disgruntled octopus impressions behind my desk to have a chat about some things that are going on at SEGAAUK HQ atm. Firstly I’m endeavouring to add to our little museum of merchandise, I’ve been taking photos of things and you can see them on our Flickr page. Please note most of the things currently on display are actually mine. Heh heh.

As you know, I’m the Sonic fan in charge of all manner of things Sonic at SOE Online, but one thing that has always eluded me was the finishing of earlier Sonic games, something I’ve never made any secret of. But last week (albeit on my 360) I finally completed Sonic 1 - a personal bane of my existence. Wooooooo!

Something I’m particularly working on at the moment is a grand plan, so grand it should really get an extra e slapped on the end and become grande. Come to think of it I’m actually working on several grande plans at the moment, the first is a certain rather large Sonic based get-together you may (or may not) be aware of at this stage…

The second however relates to what will essentially be Sonic City 3.0, yeahh, since A Race To Name interest broke Sonic City and took out a rather large sway of sega-europe.com in the resulting explosion, SC has been offline. Whoops, perhaps A Race To Name wasn’t that good an idea of mine after all! ^_^*

What I’m doing at the moment though is sorting out the site tree, putting together what will be the proposed layout of the new Sonic City and what it will contain. Naturally, I’m taking the opportunity to put in everything you’ve asked for and all the things I want to add in as well to make Sonic City truly great. It was great before I know, but I want this to literally be SUPER Sonic City.

So yes I’ve listed down things like mentioning the comics and cartoons, lost characters/games, etc though whether this will happen will depend upon the powers that be. *Thunder/Lightning~!*

What do you think? Let us know. More soon…
AAUK

Check out this, it’s a Facebook group for Sonic Chronicles which is being run I believe by our friends at BioWare; the photo albums have some high quality pictures of the story art featured in the Nintendo Power exclusive story - declare you are a fan now and sign up!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sonic-Chronicles/43044535552?ref=s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSw4lCjJBe8

Well the contest is over and I’m pleased to say that through hard work and a dilligence MetalSonic75  trounced everyone with a Mii/Shadow combo to win both DS and Wii tables as a result he’ll be getting his hands on autographed goodies from a certain Naka-san and Ogawa-san.

Congrats!

Yes, it’s here! You can check out an exclusive screenshot on the Sonic Unleashed website at - http://web.sega-europe.com/sonicunleashed/en/ and as the press release says: “SEGA’s newest Sonic title is set to combine amazing next gen capabilities with classic Sonic 2D gameplay!” Check out the below for more details too! - ArchangelUK

LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO (April 3, 2008) – SEGA® of America and SEGA of Europe Ltd., today announced that everyone’s favourite hedgehog will be breaking new ground yet maintaining his roots, in the upcoming title, Sonic Unleashed™. Developed by renowned studio Sonic Team, the latest installment in the multi-million selling franchise, will take players on an unforgettable high-speed journey around the globe in a way never before experienced in the world of Sonic. The game is set for release later this year and will be available for the Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo and PLAYSTATION®2.

Sonic Unleashed is built on a powerful new “Hedgehog Engine”, which introduces seamless 3D to classic 2D camera transitions, whilst delivering a rich and expansive world with multiple paths to choose from. Under development for three years, the Hedgehog Engine produces a visually rich next generation look and feel with elements of classic Sonic gameplay mechanics. The Hedgehog engine will help re-define the gameplay experience for Sonic fans and newcomers to the franchise alike.

“By combining rich and vibrant scenery with dynamic viewpoints Sonic Unleashed will provide an immersive 3D experience whilst keeping alive the 2D gameplay elements and fantastic worlds that Sonic fans know and love” commented Gary Knight, European Marketing Director for SEGA Europe. “In addition to this classic Sonic gaming experience, when darkness sets in Sonic Unleashed players will be able to experience a completely new way to play as Sonic… making this his most exciting adventure yet!”

Having been broken apart by the evil Dr Eggman, it’s down to Sonic to put the pieces of the world back together again by retrieving the power of the chaos emeralds. In doing so, Sonic will find himself in a race against time and faced with an unusual situation that will challenge him in ways never before seen. By completing a wide variety of action-packed stages, spanning the seven broken continents of the world, gamers will need to unleash Sonic’s amazing abilities to save the world, and himself!

The opportunity to engage in Sonic in different ways during the day and night time levels brings a completely original way of playing to the Sonic franchise, in addition to running at high speeds in classic Sonic style, combat fighting will become possible. Super quick Sonic’s speed skills will be highlighted by four new modes, whilst the all new combat, movement and functional abilities will offer depth and variety to the game. As the sun sets in Sonic Unleashed, a different type of adventure will awaken in Sonic’s newest quest….

Sonic Unleashed is scheduled for release worldwide in late 2008. For screenshots and art, please visit the SEGA press site at www.sega-press.com.

About SEGA® Europe Ltd:
SEGA® Europe Ltd. is the European Distribution arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. SEGA Europe’s web site is located at www.sega-europe.com

About SEGA of America, Inc.:
SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The SEGA of America Web Site is located at www.SEGA.com.

Apologies for this delays on all this guys; in recompense I’m extending the deadline and giving you until FRIDAY 4TH APRIL now to submit your times with proof (video prefereably) to blogs@sega-europe.com. At the moment MetalSonic75 is MILES ahead of everyone on both versions and looks like scooping both prizes - only YOU can do something about it! Updated tables below including vid of the new DS sprint leader time:

WII SPRINT TABLE

[1] Metalsonic75 (Mii) - 9.267
[2] —ArchangelUK’s Time —(Shadow) - 9.400
[3] LadyHedgehog18 (Shadow) - 9.542

DS SPRINT TABLE

[1] MetalSonic75 (Shadow) - 9.098
[2] Sonic Stadium: Sonic_Freak (Shadow) - 9.342
[3] Charles Barton (Sonic) - 9.399
[4] Sonic Yoda (Shadow) - 9.417
[5] Sonic Cage Dome: Mike Taylor (Sonic) - 9.438
[6] — ArchangelUK’s Time — (Sonic) - 9.448
[7] Shadow Urtheart (Sonic) - 9.455
[8] T-Bird (Sonic) - 9.628
[9] Sonic Stadium: Dreadknux (Sonic) - 9.654
[10] Sonic Spriters Network: Roareye Black (Sonic) - 9.789
[11] Sonic Spriters Network: Violet (Sonic) - 9.861
[12] Diogo (Sonic) - 9.886
[13] Fastfeet Media: Foreversonic (Shadow) - 9.891
[14] Emerald Coast: Vger (Shadow) - 10.010
[15] SEGA Sonic Radio: Roarey Raccoon (Sonic) - 10.10

No more entries! We were deluged with them… sort of.  But the winner is Urtheart as he was the first to send me a pic where I could actually read my name without squinting.  Ironically, the winners for the clearest shot were UK:Resistance who probably didn’t even realise the contest was going on.

http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/pics5/sega-superstars-tennis-grab-apocalypse-89.jpg

I’d send them a goodie bag too but, y’know, we don’t have their address…