So, we agree then. In speaking to Newsweek's N'Gai Croal about the Olympic pairing of Sonic and Mario, Sega of America president, Simon Jeffery, echoes a widespread sentiment that it's time to give Sonic a bit of a reboot. "We are actually undergoing a fairly considerable refresh of Sonic as an intellectual property, as a character," says Jeffery. "Sonic on the Wii is probably the first product that's come to market that reflects that. We're not going to be bringing another game out on the other platforms for quite some time, because we feel that it is time to reinvent Sonic, to make Sonic contemporary again."

If Sonic and the Secret Rings was the first step in revitalizing a franchise gone astray, it certainly wasn't a very good one. In fact, it turned out to be more like a drunken waddle out of bed before careening down a flight of stairs. Still, it's reassuring to see that Sega is, at the very least, attempting to reestablish their fallen mascot as a character that could convince you to buy his game. Unless, of course, that's still happening...

"At the same time, even the recent 360 and Playstation 3 games have sold extremely well," continues Jeffery. "Sonic is still an extremely endearing character; there's still a lot of love for Sonic out there in consumerland." If gamers are trying to send Sega a message, it's getting garbled in consumerland's confusing postal network. If we truly want a Sonic reboot, we'll have to stay away from the hedgehog until he gets his 3D act together. Perhaps a little help from Mario and Miyamoto will set him back on track by the time the 2008 Olympics arrive.

Sonic the Hedgehog has a a few pieces of new content available on Xbox Live Marketplace. If you enjoyed the boss battles found in the game with, you might be interested in this. You can download, for 150 MS points each, "Boss Attack"s for each of the game's lead hedgehogs. Apparently, if you've completed Sonic, Shadow, or Silver's respective episode, you can use this content for what seems to be a game mode akin to Heavy Weapon's Boss Blitz, but for individual characters. Do you play the game, and would you pick this up if you do?

The Sega Sammy group has experienced a 23 percent drop in profits within the first nine months of the financial year, reports Gamesindustry.biz. Net income (stay with us here) went down from $526 million (¥63.49 billion) to $409 million (¥49.38 billion), with sales dropping by 4 percent to $3.35 billion (¥404.29 billion). The current financial state of the company isn't nearly as interesting as the reason given for a drop in profits -- pachinko machines proving less than popular.

Pachinko machines are, of course, a notable aspect of Japanese gaming that Sammy brought along when it romantically joined hands with Sega. Though the company's net profit forecast remains unchanged for the full year, it's easy to observe the parallels between Sammy dragging profits down and Sammy dragging Sega down as a developer. The Ono-like arrival of the Pachinko maker is considered by many to be the turning point for what was once a brilliant and innovative developer. Then again, what good are brilliance and innovation when you can't pay the bills?

We saved this post for after midnight, because the linked-to content features some racy rap in response to a cease-and-desist letter Sega Europe allegedly sent to YTMND on January 11, 2007. (Click subsequent links herein at your own risk.) Sega's lawyers maintain that consumers "may be confused into believing that [Sonic-related YTMNDs are] in someway [sic] linked to or associated with [Sega]."

Ok, pop quiz time. Reader, tell us, are you confused between this site and this site? How about between this site and this site? Or this one and this one? Didn't think so.

Therefore, a little anger on the part of the YTMND community seems warranted. Sega just threw water an on oil fire. This response, in particular, seems particularly creative. Check it out, but brace yourself for some salty language.

We've left a voicemail with Sega Europe's legal department, we'll let you know if we hear back from them.

[Image credit: Flickr user Zacharo2000.]

We haven't touched the Xbox 360 game Sonic the Hedgehog, but we're kind of glad we didn't. Following Revolution posted a video of the game's load times during some mini mission where you help out one of your human friends. And look what we have, a loading screen literally every five seconds. Seriously, if this loading screen appeared that much in the game Sonic would be ejected and flung against the wall out of disgust. This has to be horrible coding especially when a game like Gears doesn't bring up a load screen once during the game. Do you know of any other 360 game that we should avoid due to extremely long load times? Video after the break.

[Via Digg]

A despicable creature gnawing at your insides, slowly growing in size and voracity until it shoves its hideous head right through your rib cage and causes splintery bone to pierce your flesh.

So, a lot like playing the new Sonic the Hedgehog, then. Indeed, a more appropriate company than Sega could not be found for a recent deal struck by Fox Licensing with regards to their lucrative Alien film franchise. The new agreement, as detailed by The Hollywood Reporter, allows Sega to develop multiple games for new generation consoles and PCs. With a first-person shooter and a role-playing game already under development, an elaborate and somewhat sinister music-and-rhythm title can't be far behind.

Mike Gallo, senior producer of the Alien series at Sega, promises that the developers will go out of their way to "tie the games into the films in unique ways." He also says they'll look at source materials and the films for inspiration, which is nice. The first title is due in 2008 -- that's when Sega will be "taking licensing to the next level," it says here.

[Via Pro-G | Image credit: "That's saying a mouthful" -- VG Cats]

See also: Firefly returns as MMORPG

Following news of Oblivion's delay for PlayStation 3 comes word that three more titles could miss Sony's next-gen launch:

• Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega has delayed Sonic's release to an unspecified date later this holiday. A representative stated that more time was needed to implement downloadable content.
• NBA Live '07 - EA has cancelled the PS3 version, allegedly to focus on NBA Street: Homecourt (due early next year). Others believe EA yanked the project due to the ill-reception of already-released versions.
• F.E.A.R. - Major retailers have changed the game's release date to February 6, 2007. Official confirmation is pending.
  

Haters may rejoice, but Sony loyalists need not fret. Losing two ports, a has-been Erinaceinae, and an awful basketball sim just sorta trims the fat, don't you think? Well, maybe not quite...

Known only as "drx," some mysterious mage has resurrected a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 prototype cart and promptly dumped it (for emulation). It's an early build of Sega's sequel that's more akin to the first game than to the final version of Sonic 2. Can you spot the differences?

It's been suggested that this prototype is the same alpha build that was featured in several episodes of Nick Arcade. Another early build, often referred to as Sonic 2 Beta, was stolen from a toy show in New York back in '92. The cart was pirated and sold as a final version in parts of Asia and Brazil, despite only featuring four semi-playable levels.

If Sonic creator, Yuji Naka, knew that this is where SEGA wanted Sonic to go, it's no wonder he left the company. The Sonic demo, if you haven't played it yet, is bad. Really bad. Believe me, I am a Sonic fan. I write for 360 Fanboy it's true, but I am a SEGA fanboy at heart. Thus, it hurts me even more to tell you that the demo is just not very good. It's not unplayable, but parts of it are close. Read on for more.

Another day, another demo in the latest batch of X06 content. Today we get a brand spanking new demo of Sonic the Hedgehog. Is it possible we could see a new demo every day? The possibility is titillating. As for the rest, well, there isn't much. Just this:

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men trailer

It should also be noted that the Alan Wake theme and picture pack are also available now, though they weren't mentioned in yesterday's official list. The picture pack is 80 MS Points and the theme will cost you 150. Curious by their absence are the promised HD trailers of Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon. We can only hope they'll hit sometime today as scheduled. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, we're downloading the Sonic demo and working on the sh*t-ton of X06 info that is starting to hit. Stay tuned.

Another day, another batch of BIH content. See what we did there? BIH. See, it's an acronym for Bringing It Home. Pretty sweet, huh? Anywho, here's the almighty list for today:

Forza 2 Physics & Damage trailer
NBA 2K7 trailer
Sonic The Hedgehog trailer
Shrek 3 trailer
Just Cause trailer
NHL 2K7 trailer
The Darkness trailer
LEGO Star Wars II demo(!)

A potent list indeed, capable of discombobulating even those of the strongest constitutions. The real winner here is of course the demo of the UK's recent chart topper, LEGO Star Wars II. On a more peculiar note, wasn't there a trailer for The Darkness up yesterday? Is this one different? We'll be back shortly with our thoughts on the LSWII demo. We're sure you're waiting with bated breath.

Here's an image that made the rounds on the internet this weekend: a purported box shot of Sonic the Hedgehog for the PlayStation 3 "caught in the wild."

Take a close look at the upper-left corner: Zachary Hinchliffe has found the bottom portion of a GameFront watermark that was showing the Xbox 360 cover of Sonic.

The box might have actually been made by Sony, and is right now sitting on someone's desk at Sony HQ. The box may be indicative of the final packaging, but don't get too excited just yet. Clever fan art or fortunate leak? We're leaning toward the former, but we'll know soon enough.

Continue reading for more pictures of the box (thanks, "Blu ray owns your Soul").

A recent search of the ESRB website turned up some scintillating results. Though not confirmed for launch or any specific timeframe, the names of seven Sega greats are listed on ESRB as coming to the Wii virtual console...and holy hell, can they pick 'em. Check it out:

• Altered Beast
• Columns
• Ecco the Dolphin
• Golden Axe
• Ristar
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Toe Jam & Earl

You might recognize these games as being utter classics, some of the very best the Genesis had to offer. Most have at least a cult following, and they're sure to add a huge boost to the VC's popularity. Oh, how we long to echo-locate once more...

[via Joystiq]

Sega has announced their lineup for next week's Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. Of the 11 playable titles, all PS3 and Wii games will be shown behind closed doors. Also notice that Sega has rather unceremoniously changed the name of their Sonic Wii title, Sonic Wild Fire, to Sonic and the Secret Rings.

Here's the lineup, courtesy of EuroGamer.

• Charlotte's Web (PC, GBA, Nintendo DS)
• Full Auto 2: Battlelines (PS3)
• Medieval II: Total War (PC)
• Phantasy Star Universe (PS2, PC, Xbox 360)
• SEGA Rally (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
• Sonic The Hedgehog (Xbox 360, PS3)
• Sonic and the Secret Rings (Nintendo Wii)
• Sonic Rivals (PSP)
• Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz (Nintendo Wii)
• Virtua Tennis 3 (Xbox 360, PS3)
• Yakuza (PS2)

Leipzig's GC 2006 takes place from August 24 - 27.

There's a video up on YouTube showcasing the past 15 years of what can only be described as purely awesome Sonic-ness. This fast-paced video tribute takes you back through time to relive all the memories we have of that lovable blue-haired chap.

Our favorite moment: The totally kick ass early-90s cheese pop of Sonic CD. "You can fly! You can reach the other side!"

Our not-so-favorite moment: Anything that has to do with Knuckles. Sorry buddy, we just don't trust ya and that smarmy look.

Either way, very well done video and makes for a nice bit of nostalgia.