Catchup on Sega of America's Fourth Annual Sonic Central Stream on YouTube and Twitch!

Burbank, Calif. – Sept. 24, 2024 – Today, SEGA of America hosted the fourth annual Sonic Central, a virtual fan-centric event, streamed on the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube and Twitch channels. Fans were provided details for upcoming titles including SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS™, Sonic Rumble™, Sonic Dream Team™, as well as insight into upcoming partnerships and more.

Below is a recap of all the Sonic gaming news discussed during today’s livestream:

Official Channel for Sonic the Hedgehog! Welcome to the Sonic Official livestream! Join us as we chat about the latest in Sonic news, gud reedz and neato thingz, learn new Spanish words, and play some games!

• SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS – The Sonic Team introduced a ton of new details ahead of the launch for the highly anticipated SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS this fall. A new story trailer was unveiled that featured a new look at the story of Shadow’s standalone campaign. Fans also got an action-packed teaser for the upcoming prologue animations, as well as more details about the physical pre-order incentive, Gerald Robotnik’s Journal, via a fun early 2000’s-inspired commercial. Lastly, fans can also pre-order the Limited Run Games Collector’s Edition until October 6, 2024 and get an exclusive Sonic and Shadow Dreamcast statue, along with a variety of other collector’s items.
• Sonic Rumble – Get ready for the all-new mobile Sonic party game, Sonic Rumble, coming this winter to both mobile and PC! Play with up to 32 friends and face new challenges, race through the various stages, and collect rings to win and unlock a huge selection of cosmetic collectibles.
• Sonic Dash™, Sonic Dash+, and Sonic Forces™ – New characters are joining the excitement! A new Challenger, Valhalla Surge, can throw multiple axes and shock all opponents who get in the way of her protective boost. Players can unlock her today! Coming later this year, fans can expect more new characters including the mysterious Oni Mephiles, the fearless Warrior Shadow, and the delightful Dulce Amy.
• Sonic Dream Team – Since the launch of Sonic Dream Team in 2023, there have been many new updates added for fans to explore. New boss missions, new collectibles, an entire new Zone, and a special end game stage designed to challenge players’ skills! Stay tuned for additional updates, fresh content, and a new playable character later this year!
• Sonic Racing™ – Racers, on your marks! Sonic Racing has a ton of new updates! Time Trial mode where players can test their need for speed and unlock the brand-new Rockstar Rouge and DJ Vector character styles. More updates are on the way, including Popstar Amy! ​
• Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble™ – Calling all Super Monkey Ball fans! Get ready to go bananas with the new Shadow the Hedgehog costume available now as part of the SEGA Costume Pack, available for purchase on Nintendo eShop. ​ As an added bonus, to celebrate SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS, players can also customize their monkeys with Sonic and Shadow-themed monkey balls, available as free downloads on Nintendo eShop!
• Two Point Museum™ – Two Point Museum will have a Sonic and Shadow themed pre-order incentive for a limited time only available before launch on March 4, 2025! From unique gift shop items to outfits, interactive displays and decorations, players can design their museum areas to be completely Sonic the Hedgehog themed. Gotta go fast!
• Sonic Speed Simulator™ on Roblox – Face off against a new version of Neo Metal Sonic who's back for revenge, but this time he's super charged. Hop in the #1 branded Roblox game of all time (in partnership with Gamefam) to play as Super Sonic and dish out major damage to earn new rewards.

Following the game news, the Sonic Team introduced Chao Tales, a new animated web-series. Chao Tales will be eight-episodes of whimsical shorts featuring the adorable fan-favorite chao. Stay tuned for more updates!

Fans also received a first look into the newly announced collaboration between Sonic the Hedgehog, DC and Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products (WBDGCP), following a brief teaser showcasing Shadow as Batman, Sonic as The Flash and Amy Rose as Wonder Woman. Kicking off in 2025, the DC x Sonic collaboration launches with an all-new, five-issue comic series published by DC Comics. Merchandise developed by SEGA and WBDGCP, spanning numerous categories including apparel, toys, and more, will follow in late 2025.

SEGA® also revealed a variety of partners they will be collaborating with this year, to create a wide range of all-new, Sonic-themed products and experiences, including:

• LEGO – Get ready for Sonic and friends in LEGO form! Joining the collection come new sets including the Shadow the Hedgehog Escape Set, Knuckles’ Guardian Mech, Tails’ Adventure Boat, Knuckles and the Master Emerald Shrine, and Super Sonic vs. Egg Drillster.
• Topgolf – Sonic and friends are coming to Topgolf in a first-of-its-kind game! Use Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose as on-screen golf balls to aim for targets both on the green and on the screen. Once you hit your golf ball, watch it speed through the air as each character on the screen, collecting rings and points, hopefully earning you that S-rank. Speed through a location near you this fall!
• JAKKS Pacific – The new six-inch customizable Shadow the Hedgehog figure by JAKKS Pacific is sure to be a hit with collectors and Sonic fans of all ages! Mix and match the swappable pieces to build a variety of Shadow presentations.
• PDP – Leading game peripherals brand, PDP, is back with a new Nintendo Switch Shadow the Hedgehog REALMz wireless controller. Launching this October, the controller features a collectible Shadow the Hedgehog figurine, multi-layered design, and a built-in rechargeable battery.
• First 4 Figures – This holiday season, in collaboration with First 4 Figures, Shadow fans everywhere can look forward to the incredible new Shadow Evolved statue! The statue faithfully portrays Shadow wielding his Doom Powers, emphasizing his black wings with red tips.
• HJC Helmets – This October, fans can look forward to the newest RPHA 12 motorcycle helmet from HJC Helmets featuring everyone’s favorite brooding hedgehog, Shadow!
• Louis de Guzman – Coming in late 2024, Sonic the Hedgehog and visual artist Louis De Guzman merge worlds to create a collaboration that reaches new heights and speeds. Stay tuned for more updates later this year!
• Bushiroad Creative – Joining the PalVerse Palé figure product lineup is Shadow the Hedgehog! Keep an eye out and add Shadow to your collection in April 2025.

 

To stay current on Sonic the Hedgehog news, follow Sonic on Twitter and Instagram, like him on Facebook, and subscribe to the Twitch channel and the YouTube channel.

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. Established in 1986, SEGA of America publishes innovative interactive entertainment experiences for console, PC, mobile and emerging platforms. In 2020, SEGA ranked #1 among Metacritic's Annual Game Publisher Rankings. Its globally beloved franchises include Sonic the Hedgehog, Like a Dragon™, Virtua Fighter™, Super Monkey Ball™, and Phantasy Star Online™, along with Atlus' Persona™ and Shin Megami Tensei™ series. Since its debut more than three decades ago, Sonic has become a pop culture icon featured in dozens of games, TV series, and movies. SEGA of America has offices in Irvine and Burbank, California. Visit www.sega.com.

ⒸSEGA. All rights reserved. SEGA is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. SEGA, the SEGA logo, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS, SONIC RUMBLE, SONIC DASH, SONIC FORCES, SONIC DREAM TEAM, SONIC RACING, SUPER MONKEY BALL BANANA RUMBLE and SONIC SPEED SIMULATOR are registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA CORPORATION. TWO POINT and TWO POINT MUSEUM are registered trademarks or trademarks of Two Point Studios Limited or its affiliates. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners.

Article by: Susan N.

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Gilly's Games - Lego Harry Potter

First - thank you to those who have friended my FB page and Twitter accounts. I will definitely need some time to grow into those as companions to my blog. I don't want to turn them just into references or referrals to the blog, or they would serve no real purpose. I'm certainly open to suggestions on those two fronts.

It was another busy, but great weekend with my dad having been up from Florida. Now that he is returning home later this week however, I do plan to update with some new posts - and for those who saw my recently played games on Coffee With Games.

Anyway, my son Chris wrote up a Pokemon DS review a couple of months ago that generated quite a few comments, and he's been excitedly working on a couple more reviews for the near future (he's been playing Dungeons, Mass Effect 2 and some other games I haven't reviewed yet). My youngest overheard this the other day and wanted to write her own game review. Probably her all-time favorite game is Little Big Planet for the PS3, but runner-up is likely Lego Harry Potter on the Xbox 360. She doesn't beat very many games, but she's beaten this one at least once. This was her first time trying to use Word for anything like this, so here goes:

Hello I’m Gillian and today we are going to talk about Lego Harry Potter years 1 to 4. Now it’s very easy in years 1 and 2 but as you go on it gets harder and harder and may become impossible. Not for me though it was pretty easy, and this may be shocking but I was 8 when I beat it but right now I’m 9. It's really funny, cool, scary and misunderstood at parts in the game and it wasn’t always like the movies in parts. But enough of the chit chat and let's get on with the game. So if you want to play the game on a different difficulty you need to beat the game first. It need to know you can beat the game on normal mode and then go into settings and change the mode.

The parts I liked were when Ron got smacked in the face with his broom because you were supposed to say up for your broom to come in your hand. Ron here wasn’t paying attention so much. Then he said it to much making the broom come up alright… then whap! He was smacked in the face by his broom and I’m guessing it hurt. So if you chose to play it hop you l-o-v-e it.


My thoughts:

Basically I've seen Gilly play this game quite a bit now, and even parts she's seen before, she laughs at. The usual Lego humor shows up in this game as well, but there were definitely some darker parts of the game that she considered 'scary' as well - which does fit with the constantly maturing theme of the books/movies in the series.

I have not actually played this game yet, so there's a lot of things I wouldn't want to comment on - but the graphics were good (for what they are - they're not going to win any technical awards but the Lego aesthetics retain their charm), the sound and music fit, and there seemed to be more you could do in general with this game than some of the earlier Lego ones. With plenty to collect, explore and unlock, my daughter has played this game heavily even though she beat it several months ago, so I think that speaks to the game's replay value for her.

I've always found the Lego games cute (I've had Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman, Harry Potter and Rock Band - and I have a friend who will be giving us Pirates soon) - but they don't hold a lot of value for me. I tend to bore of them somewhat quickly - but my daughter? The game was a very good value where she is concerned. This is easily the Lego game she has played the most - her favorite in the series.

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Haven't had a lot to report lately...

... but I should have some new reviews coming up soon. The reason my time away from posting has been good however - I have a slew of new games I've gotten my mitts on recently (Record of Agarest war - a turn based strategy game, the new Transformers: War for Cybertron, NCAA Football 2011 and Lego Harry Potter). I'm also headed to Gamestop a bit later to burn through a giftcard I got - and they have a pretty good deal going right now - buy 2 used games/accessories and get a 3rd one of equal or lesser value free. That deal ends today however. They've got another as well where if you trade in any 3 games from Wii, PSP, PS3, 360 or DS - as long as the trade-in value exceeds $1, you'll get a bonus $10. So armed with a trio of beaten games and a giftcard, I'll probably pick up a few older games today as well.

Last up, IGN is running a promotion with Microsoft to give away 20 free copies of some of the new Xbox 360 live arcade games here. Might be worth a peek - I entered, and they are doing a new one every week for the next few weeks. Check it out - and I'll be tossing up some new review shortly.

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Updated to add: not bad - I snagged Super Mario Party 8, Red Steel 2 and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn from Gamestop and I was out .78 cents after trade-ins and my gift card and weekly deals. I've been looking for Fire Emblem for awhile (I'm a sucker for strategy games) - but the disc does look a -bit- rough. Going to have to test it and make sure it works. It's the only copy I've seen used at any of the Gamestops around here though over the last year of looking. Hopefully this means some new reviews soon though. Anyone played any of those 3 games or the other 4 I've recently acquired?

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Red Steel 2
Mario Party 8
Record of Agarest Wars
Transformers: War for Cybertron
Lego Harry Potter
NCAA Football 2011

Curious what your thoughts on them are, if so.

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