Aaron Webber: Say My Name, Say My Name

To thank those who bought multiple versions of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1, Ken Balough (Digital Brand Manager, Sonic 4) and Aaron Webber (Community Manager, Sonic 4) issued a little thank you video. As a nice surprise, they revealed that the public thanking would not be limited to those who bought three or more versions of the game. Instead, they would thank every single person who put their name into True Blue initiative. At 1:35 you’ll see and hear Aaron Webber saying my name as he looks deeply into the camera. No doubt hoping that I heard his thanks. Well Aaron, your thanks has been heard. And in return I say: thank you too!

I know Aaron and Ken got some (okay, a LOT) of flack from the community for asking fans to buy more than one copy, but c’mon guys, do you really blame them for telling people to buy a product produced by a company that they work for? How dare they! On top of that, the whole thing was optional and was effortless to get in on. It only took a forum post. Considering I had already planned to get the iPhone and 360 versions, putting my name in was no trouble at all.

Indie game Pier Solar offers up a white SEGA Nomad

Pier Solar, and indie RPG developed for the Genesis and Mega Drive, is offering up a unique prize in their photo contest: a custom white SEGA Nomad! Owners of the game are encouraged to photograph their copy of the game, as well as any of the included goodies (stickers, poster, etc) in the craziest situation and location that they can think of. My ideal crazy location: Miyamoto playing the game (while crying) sitting atop the Great Pyramid of Giza.

You can order the game, necessary to enter the contest, as well as view the contest details at the official Pier Solar website.

Another Sonic Title Joins the iOS Family

Sadly, it ain't Sonic CD, Sonic 3 or Sonic and Knuckles. Rather, SEGA has released Sonic Spinball for iOS devices. If I sound unenthusiastic about it, I apologize. It's just that I would much rather see the aforementioned Sonic games be released first and that I recently got into the handheld emulation scene via the Caanoo and see no point in spending $2.99 on a game when I can play a superior version for free.

Despite this, I should point out two cool aspects to Sonic Spinball for the iPhone: The app icon is pretty sweet, featuring artwork from the Japanese Mega Drive box, and that the game offers up two soundtracks: the US version and the slightly different Japanese version. Pretty cool! Also, SEGA has released Altered Beast for $2.99. If you have fond memories of Toxic Caves and and rising from graves, check these out.

Waahoo! The Caanoo!

 

Back in 2009, South Korean company Game Park Holdings released the awesome GP2X Wiz handheld video game console. The Wiz was awesome for a number of reasons, but the cheif reason was that it was an open-source device, meaning anybody could develop just about anything for it. While the system does have a number of original developed games, such as the great Wind & Water Puzzle Battles (also available on the SEGA Dreamcast), there is also a massive scene of console emulators that make the device a home entertainemnet system on-the-go. Imagine having everything from the earliest home computers through to the SEGA CD and 32X on one handheld, and then imagine just about every handheld through to the GBA as well. Awesome.



In August of this year, Game Park Holdings returned with an upgrade to the Wiz, the Caanoo. The Caanoo offered a larger, better touch screen, an improved control pad, increased RAM and Wi-fi support. Even better, the Caanoo was priced the same as the Wiz. So after months of waiting, Christmas has finally arrived (almost) and I caved and bought myself a Caanoo! While I don't have it yet, I look forward to adding it to the Nomad Junkyard family of handhelds (which also includes the Game Gear, iPod Touch, GBA and obviously the Nomad). Maybe I'll even review it?

SEGA drops prices on all iOS games permanently

From the SEGA of America blogs comes a cool piece of news: SEGA has decided to have the prices of their iOS games drop permanently! This is great for those who missed out on the past few sales and were waiting for the next one to come around. Now it's like there's a sale all the time! Check out all the deals:

• ChuChu Rocket: Now: $2.99 (was: $4.99)
• ChuChu Rocket HD: Now: $4.99 (was: $6.99)
• Ecco the Dolphin: Now: $0.99 (was: $2.99)
• Football Manager 2010: Now: $4.99 (was: $7.99)
• Golden Axe: Now: $0.99 (was: $2.99)
• Gunstar Heroes: Now: $2.99 (was: $4.99)
• Phantasy Star II: Now: $2.99 (was: $4.99)
• Shining Force: Now: $0.99 (was: $2.99)
• Super Monkey Ball 2: Now: $2.99 (was: $5.99)
• Super Monkey Ball 2 Sakura Edition: Now: $4.99 (was: $7.99)
• Sonic The Hedgehog 1: Now: $4.99 (was: $5.99)
• Sonic The Hedgehog 2: Now: $4.99 (was: $5.99)
• Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1: Now: $6.99 (was: $9.99)
• Streets of Rage: Now: $0.99 (was: $2.99)

I personally have to recommend ChuChu Rocket, Shining Force and Sonic 4. Three great games for $11!

Chu Chu Rocket gets 100 more puzzles!

Not even a month has passed since Chu Chu Rocket released for iOS devices, and already SEGA has updated the game! Besides the usual bug fixes that come with an App update, Chu Chu Rocket will also be receiving 100 more puzzles created by Europe, Japan, and USA fans for the original Dreamcast release. Most interesting is how SEGA refers to this as "the first update" and stated "we definitely have more planned for the game", meaning more updates are to come and perhaps we can expect more puzzles in the future as well as the inclusion of a puzzle edit mode. Check out the full blog post at the link below, and buy the game if you haven't yet!

[Source: SEGA of America blog]

Recent Happenings in the Nomad World

What a wild past couple of weeks it has been! Of course there has been some major game and hardware releases, but more importantly I proposed to my girlfriend and we are now engaged! (Insert Nokia N-Gage'd joke here)

In the gaming world, I've been up to my neck in Kinect games. A few months back I preordered the Johnny 5-like device, and just three days ago it arrived at our door. So far I've played six of the launch titles, some were demos, and overall I've been quite impressed. Check out my impressions here! I'm looking forward to trying a few more titles, including the cute overload that is Kinectimals.

In the portable world, I've been playing a lot of Chu Chu Rocket and Sonic 4 on my iPod Touch and recently discovered the digital crack that is Virtua Tennis for the GBA. I never would have thought I'd be making giant sandwiches in a tennis game. Once I get some free time, I hope to give more of the Game Boy Advance titles some attention here at the 'Yard. Sonic's Handheld Adventures Part 1 needs a Part 2!

Oh, and my SEGA Nomad is still doing well. Thanks for asking!