Kikizo writes:

"In the not-too-distant past, some pretty convincing claims were made by an alleged former member of Sonic Team staff that the once-adored Sega studio is losing its will to live."

"Sonic Team veteran Tetsu Katano says it's not true that staff inside the studio are becoming disillusioned, and that fresh talent keeps things bright."
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VideoGamer.com writes: "Have you ever wondered why Sonic the Hedgehog can't swim? No, neither had we - but that didn't stop us from stumbling across the answer during a brief-yet-bizarre interview with Yuji Naka."
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It's the money, stupid. And enough gamers buy crappy Sonic games for Sega not to care, according to an anonymous Sega employee. Boss Rush was an anonymous blog, currently deleted, run by someone who actually turned out to be Sonic Europe employee Ben Andac (who is no longer with the company).
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In North America and Europe Sonic Unleashed is exploding on every viable console on the market with a PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 2 version that Japan isn't getting. Sega of Japan plans to release Sonic: World Adventure (renamed to better fit Sonic's journey around the Earth and downplay the Werehog thing?) only on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. The PlayStation 2 port will be completed before Sonic: World Adventure launches in Japan so this begs the question why is Sega passing on it? It's not like Sega Japan is abandoning the PlayStation 2 entirely. Thunderforce VI comes out on Thursday in Japan and unless Sega has anything secretly planned it will be the final PlayStation 2 game published by Sega in the region.
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Every now and then, Nintendo manages to surprise its fans with some real quality releases for the WiiWare or Virtual Console. This week, platformer fans will be very excited to hear that one of the most appreciated games of the early 90s, Sonic the Hedgehog, will make its comeback to Nitnendo's console.
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"It is time to reinvent Sonic," Sega told NewsWeek's N'Gai Croal during an interview last week. We've spent the time since then pondering exactly what that could mean - especially taking into consideration Sega's intent to "make Sonic contemporary again." So, with little or no fanfare, here he is. Feast your eyes on the reinvented Sonic, the Sonic for a new generation of photo-realistic consoles and graphics-hungry gamers. After all, realism is so in right now. You can barely move for ... » Read More

Speaking about the recently unveiled Nintendo-Sega collaboration, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, Jeffery said that we won't see another Sonic title on a next-gen platform for quite a while.

"We are actually undergoing a fairly considerable refresh of Sonic as an intellectual property, as a character," he told Newsweek.
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Eight out of the top ten spots are occupied by Xbox 360 game requests. Crackdown is tops for the Xbox 360, Sonic for Nintendo Wii, and Virtua Fighter 5 tops the PS3 list. Anticipation for God of War II for the PS2 bubbles all the way to the 8th position on the cross-platform list.

Read on for the complete list:
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You'll soon be able to shake your way through a Sonic adventure on Wii, as SEGA has confirmed a 2nd March release date for the game.

Sonic and the Secret Rings will make full use of the wacky Wii controller, by making you gesticulate yourself into a frenzy if the hedgehog is going to win the day. You see, an evil genie has wrought mayhem in the storybook world of Arabian Nights, all because he wants those luscious Secret Rings, and it's down to you to stop him.
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Here is the list of the latest review scores from Famitsu.

The complete list:

Motorstorm (PS3, Sony): 8 / 8 / 8 / 6 - (30/40)
Sonic The Hedgehog (PS3, Sega): 8 / 7 / 7 / 7 - (29/40)
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Xbox 360, Capcom): 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 - (36/40)
Sonic The Hedgehog (Xbox 360, Sega): 8 / 7 / 7 / 8 - (30/40)
Seiken Densetsu 4 (PS2, Square Enix): 7 / 8 / 8 / 7 - (30/40)
Madden NFL 07 (PS2, EA): 7 / 8 / 7 / 5 - (27/40)
Monster 4X4: World Circuit (Wii, Ubisoft): 7 / 6 / 7 / 8 - (28/40)
A Ressha de Ikou HX (Xbox 360, Artdink): 7 / 6 / 7 / 7 - (27/40)
Metal Gear Portable Ops (PSP, Konami): 9 / 10 / 9 / 9 - (37/40)
Tales of The World: Radiant Mythology (PSP, Bandai Namco): 8 / 7 / 8 / 7 - (30/40)
Nounai Aesthe: IQ Suppli DS (NDS, Spike): 7 / 7 / 6 / 6 - (26/40)
Heisei Kyouiku Iinkai DS (NDS, Bandai Namco): 6 / 9 / 7 / 6 - (28/40)
Need for Speed Carbon (PS2, EA): 8 / 8 / 7 / 7 - (30/40)
Need for Speed Carbon (PS3/Xbox 360, EA): 9 / 9 / 8 / 8 - (34/40)
Need for Speed Carbon (Wii, EA): 8 / 7 / 6 / 7 - (28/40)
Need for Speed Carbon (PSP, EA): 8 / 8 / 7 / 8 - (31/40)
School Love! (PS2, Views): 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 - (24/40)
Intelligent License 2 (PSP, Now Production): 7 / 9 / 7 / 8 - (31/40)
NBA Live 07 (PSP, EA): 7 / 8 / 7 / 7 - (29/40)
Hamster to Kurasou (NDS, Interchannel): 6 / 6 / 5 / 5 - (22/40)
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On the positive side VGB says that: Virtual Console games run at 50Hz, just as they used to for PAL gamers back on their original systems in the 80's and 90's. Playing them as they always were in Europe and Australia can be a fun and nostalgic experience.

On the negative side Prog discovered: Sega's Mega Drive classic Sonic The Hedgehog shows the Virtual Console games on the Wii run noticeably slower than the NTSC version and features sizeable borders at the top and bottom of the screen. Even switching the console to 60Hz doesn't change this.
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The PS3 could launch with 24 titles and Wii with 30 titles according to new documents detailing the two companies' plans.

PlayStation 3
Resistance: Fall of Man - Sony
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom - Sony
Genji: Days of the Blade - Sony
Gran Turismo HD - Sony
NBA 07 - Sony
Call of Duty 3 - Activision (600,000)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance - Activision (300,000)
Tony Hawk's Project 8 - Activision (300,000)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Bethesda Softworks
Fight Night 3 - Electronic Arts (400,000)
Madden NFL 07 - Electronic Arts (700,000)
NBA Live 07 - Electronic Arts (500,000)
Need for Speed Carbon - Electronic Arts (800,000)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 - Electronic Arts (400,000)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Target In Sight - Namco Bandai
Ninja Gaiden Sigma - Namco Bandai
Ridge Racer 7 - Namco Bandai
Full Auto 2: Battlelines - Sega
Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega
NBA 2K7 - Take-Two Interactive (400,000)
NHL 2K7 - Take-Two Interactive (200,000)
Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII - Ubisoft
Rainbow Six: Vegas - Ubisoft
F.E.A.R. - Vivendi

NINTENDO Wii
Wii Sports (bundled with hardware) - Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Nintendo
Excite Truck - Nintendo
Call of Duty 3 - Activision (200,000)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Activision (200,000)
Rapala Tournament Fishing ¿ Activision (50,000)
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam - Activision (300,000)
World Series of Poker - Activision (50,000)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 - Atari (200,000)
Trauma Center: Second Opinion - Atlus
Madden NFL 07 - Electronic Arts (500,000)
Need for Speed: Carbon - Electronic Arts (500,000)
Elebits - Konami
The Ant Bully - Midway m (100,000)
The Grim Adventure...
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According to JeuxFrance, Atari has confirmed that players will be paying a higher price for PS3/Wii games in Europe. Atari, who is the distributor for Sega in some parts of Europe has released the prices for a few games for PS3 & Wii. On PS3, Sonic The Hedgehog is going to cost 67,99 euros, while World Snooker Championship 2007 will be 73,99 euros. On the Wii, Sonic Wild Fire and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz will both be available for 59,99 euros.
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