Mario & Sonic wins best Wii game at Leipzig
Posted by George. Filed under Nintendo Wii. Tagged with Exhibition/ Show.
It seems that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is going to be a casual hit. Apparently a lot of people at GC loved it, since it won the “Best of GC” award. Meaning it was the best game at GC on the Wii, beating out Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Fit.
Did you hear that? It’s 4 million Nintendo fans crying because Nintendo didn’t win one award. So now, Sega fans, go and brag about how Sega is superior. I know that’s what I’m going to do after this post.
“Finally consumers will be able to see who’s faster and who can jump higher - Mario or Sonic? A great casual gaming experience for all kinds of gamers.”
That’s what the judges said, according to Sega of Europe. Sounds like they are more excited about Mario & Sonic on the cover than the actual gameitself. But in their defense, it got a really positive preview from the folks at IGN.
Keep checking the GC awards page for more information, as it’s released.
[Thanks Shadiwulf]
IGN gets combat experience with Ghost Squad
Posted by Graham. Filed under Arcade, G, News, Nintendo Wii. Tagged with Exhibition/ Show, Ghost Squad.
Them there lucky fellows over at IGN have managed to get their hands on the upcoming lightgun shooter, Ghost Squad, for the Wii.
While this is only a preview of the game, IGN seemed very happy with the game’s progress, and from the sound of it it will be a great Wii game.
Light gun games are a perfect fit for Wii. Although using the Wii-mote as a deadly weapon to take down a stream of enemies, may not be the most innovative of uses for Nintendo’s waggle-tastic creation, it’s certainly one of the most fun. Something we can whole-heartedly attest to after some extended play time with Ghost Squad. In fact, the SEGA PR showing us the title practically had to wrestle the remote from our clammy terrorist-shooting hand after we’d managed to blast our way through two of the opening levels.
For those that don’t really know much about the game, here’s a (very) brief synopsis:
But first we’ll start with a little background on Ghost Squad to get your trigger fingers twitching and your anticipation juices flowing. The Wii version is pretty much identical to the arcade game that’s been swallowing coins for years but with a few Wii-specific additions here and there. You play as a member of an elite squad of commandos called the Ghost Squad, who are tasked with bringing down potentially dangerous terrorists with a range of lethal weaponry.
IGN also gives a good rundown of the gameplay in their full article, which is a very interesting read. But the one thing that should really grab people’s attention, especially if you are considering buying the game, would be the last paragraph.
So, that pretty much wrapped it up for our hands-on and we must admit that this was actually one of the games that we enjoyed the most during Games Convention. It’s perfect quick-fix arcade action that works brilliantly for the Wii Remote. Yes, it may not be Metroid Prime 3 or Super Mario Galaxy, but Ghost Squad certainly seems to be shaping up as one of Wii’s must-have titles.
I, for one, am very happy (and excited) to hear that the game plays just like the arcade version. I have spent many hours (and pounds) playing the game already, and I could certainly see myself spending more time playing the game in the future. Naturally, I cannot wait to get my hands on my own copy.
[Source: IGN]
[Special Thanks: Blek]
Sega not to attend E For All convention
Posted by George. Filed under North America. Tagged with Exhibition/ Show.
FiringSquad has been asking publishers to attend the new “E for All” expo in Los Angeles from October 18-21. Their goal is to bring gamers and publishers together, essentially providing an alternative now that the old E3 is gone. I thought this was a great idea, but there’s one small problem. Sega declined the invitation.
Sega isn’t the only publisher to say no. Capcom, Sony, Sony Online Entertainment, and NCSoft have declined as well. This is pretty lame, since Capcom and Sega are my favorite publishers.
So who is showing up? Well, the biggest name they have right now is Nintendo; good news if you want to see exercise equipment. The other companies that decided to attend are EA, THQ, Konami, and Namco. Microsoft apparently has not made up their mind as to whether they will be attending or not. So, to me the only good company attending is Konami.
I think this would have been a great opportunity for Sega to show off the new Golden Axe game, since it isn’t invite-only like E3, meaning I can go. Too bad.
Though wouldn’t it be awesome if Sega Nerds started an expo in my mom’s basement and only Nintendo and EA decided to show up?
[source: FiringSquad via Kotaku]
Sega’s Leipzig booth revealed
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris, Europe. Tagged with Exhibition/ Show, Golden Compass.
I’m sitting here high atop the mountains of Korea hunkered down with soldiers, Marines and seamen … yes, lots and lots of seamen. Even though the man military has me down right now, it won’t stop me from bringing my brothers the news they care about.
Sega Nerds super tipster, Ali, has posted some interesting images on our forums of Sega’s Leipzig booth courtesy of jeux-france.com (Am I the only one who always reads it Jew France?).
The images aren’t shocking by any means as we already knew Sega would be throwing as much Mario and Sonic and The Golden Compass at us that we could handle.
Fellow Sega Nerd and Sega On editor Dennis will be attending Leipzig, so keep checking back here or in the thread on our forums for the latest and most sexiest Leipzig news out there.
You stay classy.
 
Rumored Sega TGS 2007 lineup too good to be true
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris, Japan. Tagged with Exhibition/ Show, Rumor Mill, TGS.
One thing I love about game expos is the ridiculous rumors that go flying around about what will be revealed and games shown. Of course, many rumors are completely false, but it helps build excitement for the upcoming show.
A user at the Korean game site Ruliweb.com has posted what appears to be Sega’s TGS 2007 lineup. The first portion of the list is filled with games that Sega’s already announced, so there are no surprises there, but oh boy, perusing through the latter portion will really get a Sega Nerd’s blood flowing.
[Thanks for the tip, Angelo]
Cryptic Allusion releases new Donk screens
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris, News, North America. Tagged with Donk, Dreamcast, Exhibition/ Show, Homebrew.
Who cares if Sega has stopped production of GD-ROMS or won’t fix our Dreamcasts or Saturns anymore? You think that’s enough to stop the Dreamcast scene? Hell no!
Just take a look at the guys at Cryptic Allusion who are developing a new Dreamcast game as we speak. Some of you may remember back in April when we interviewed Dan Potter and Roddy Toomimat of Crypic Allusion, the same guys behind Feet of Fury and are currently developing a Dreamcast port of Donk. Back then, the game was still pretty early and didn’t look very different from the original Amiga version.
Fast forward several months and the Dreamcast Donk has shown some noticeable improvements. Gone is Donk’s steel Samurai armor. It’s replaced with a white gi and bandanna. What’s up with the red belt, though?
However, a crisper and sharper Donk sprite isn’t the only upgrade the game has received. Backgrounds are much more detailed, and the graphics now have a flash-based feel to them.
While work on the game continues, Dan and Roddy will attend the Northwest Classic Gaming Expo 2007 in Portland Sept. 29 and 30. There, the duo plans to have Donk available for purchase as well as other “rarities that you won’t find anywhere else.”
If anyone’s going, score us a copy!
Yu Suzuki’s game music performed in Hyper Game Music Event 2007
Posted by George. Filed under Japan. Tagged with Exhibition/ Show.
Yu Suzuki is Sega. The man has been with Sega since 1983 and hasn’t left them. Its just fitting that they would play music from his popular arcade games. This last Saturday, Sega Studio took the stage at this years Hyper Game Music event in Tokyo’s East Coast. Sega studio performed music from After Burner, Out Run and Daytona USA. I wonder if the kids will remember this tracks? I guess music is ageless.
As the title suggest this wasn’t only a Sega event but cross-company event. Other companies that joined the bill where Nintendo’s Tanaka Hirokazu , Bandai-Namco’s Okubo presented some remixes of Ridge Racer tracks, and Konami’s Yamaoka Akira and Norihiko Hibino along with special guest pop singer Koyanagi Yuki who provided vocals did songs from Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid 3.
The main headliners for the night Uematsu Nobuo who came on stage with The Black Mages, his own metal band. They did music from Final Fantasy 3,5,7 and 8. Seems that they completely missed my favorite Final Fantasy games.
[Source: Japan News Review]
ATEI Show 2007 - Part 13 - OutRun2 SP SDX
Posted by Graham. Filed under Arcade, G, Review, Video. Tagged with Exhibition/ Show.
 
Ok folks here it is! This is the last game I shall be reviewing from this years ATEI show!! BUT this is not the last post for the show, no sir. I do have one other topic to talk about next time. I know it’s taken me ages to get these posts up, and I am sorry. The main excuse I have now is that I’m crap. Accept it, I have.
So without further ado, I bring you OutRun 2SP.
Now you may have read in my previous articles on the ATEI show, that the Sega stand had the biggest crowd surrounding it out of any other company there (video game or other) another thing they exceeded in was making noise. As soon as you walked through the main doors to the exhibition (and up some steps) you could hear the loud sound of chatter and general noises that crowds make. But you could also hear the sound of a womans voice on a microphone. In case you haven’t guessed- that womans voice was issuing from the Sega area. And without further guessing, the lady was helping to promote the OutRun 2 cabinet. I’d like to think that even a blind man could have found his way to the Sega exhibition by following her dulcett tones.
Once you had actually arrived at the Sega stand though, the OutRun 2 cabinet really didn’t need any introduction. Consisting of 1 fairly large screen, 4 very large screens, 4 rear-ends of different Ferraris, 8 driving seats, 8 steering wheels and a whole lot of plastic and metal.
To try and give you a better grasp of how large the cabinet is, on the opposite side they had the After Burner Climax stand, and backed up against the OutRun 2 cabinet were 4 After Burner cabinets, with extra room. If that doesn’t help at all I can give you the exact measurements- Width: 8,250mm. Depth: 3,200mm. Height: 2,610mm. And if that means nothing to you, well, take my word for it- the cabinet is pretty long. And it’s not like the Sega Rally or Daytona cabinets, where they have several single cabinets linked together for multiplay. This cabinet is just one big thing.
Well now, down to the game.
Football’s coming home! The Sega way
Posted by Graham. Filed under Arcade, G, News. Tagged with Exhibition/ Show, Fan Stuff.
Well … sort of. For anyone who read my ATEI part 4 article, you should be aware that 
Sega have been holding tournaments for there highly successful (although, strangely, pretty much unheard of) Football (Soccer) arcade title - World Club: Champion Football.
So far the tournaments have been, pretty much, kept to the various clubs from around Europe. However now Sega are hotting things up and are holding their very own World Cup tournament! So rather than having the clubs playing, (i.e Manchester United, Liverpool, AC Milan etc…) you will be playing as your nations side! And the best news of all (for us Brits) is that the finals will be held in the home of football, England!
“The very best players from around the world will be competing for the ultimate title of WCCF World Champion. Representatives from Japan, Spain, England, Scotland, Italy and Dubai will travel to take part in the tournament.”
For anyone interested in representing their countries for this event, you should check out the official site, for information regarding dates and locations of the qualifying rounds.
And hopefully we shall have more details and coverage when the tournament finals begin on Saturday, May 9th at ‘The Big Apple’, Woking, Surrey, UK.
Until then, good luck to anyone that enters -from which ever country you originate. But on a more personal note- good luck to any Brits that enter, this could be the only way we can finally win a bloody World Cup!
ATEI Show 2007 - Part 12 - Too Spicy
Posted by Graham. Filed under Arcade, G, Review, Video. Tagged with Exhibition/ Show, Fan Stuff.
 
One of the games that had people buzzing before and after the ATEI show was that of Too Spicy. One of Sega’s newest franchises and a new type of lightgun game drew people towards the game. Much like House of the Dead 4 and Out Run 2, Too Spicy had a constant crowd surrounding it and was always pretty busy.
Sega’s stand at the ATEI show featured many new and unique arcade titles and Too Spicy was one of them. Learning from the (relatively) recent success of the FPS and multiplayer game genres that one might find on a home console, Sega has taken it to the next stage and mixed up the good qualities of each genre and thrown in a Lightgun element.
The premise of Too Spicy is actually quite simple, explaining it is a little harder. Or at least explaining it well, so you can all understand why the game is so good, is harder.