Publisher reveals next-gen Hedgehog and current-gen Sonic Riders for 2006; Chromehounds dated and detailed.

 

It might not have been the fabled "Segaton," (but hey, what is?) but today's flurry of announcements from Sega will elate devotees of the publisher. Late Thursday PDT, the company took the wraps off two heretofore unknown projects and dated one of its top next-generation titles.

 

First up was the announcement that yes indeed, there is a next-generation Sonic game in the works. Billed as a "re-invention" of the classic franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog will make its debut on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime during 2006.

 

Presiding over the game's development will be none other than Yuji Naka, who, along with character designer Naoto Ohshima, created the original Sonic game for the Sega Genesis in 1991. According to Sega, Naka will "create the most intense sensation of speed ever experienced in videogames" with "an innovative combination of art, physics and game design."

 

"We are proud to re-create our famous friend, Sonic, for a new generation of gamers on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360," said Naka. "With Sonic the Hedgehog, we have gone back to our starting point, more than 15-years ago, to reinvent the attitude and speed that made our hero a legend. The 'rebirth of Sonic' will offer an unparalleled sense of speed that is only possible using the processing power afforded by the new systems."

 

Sega also had good news for Xbox, GameCube, or PlayStation 2 owners. The company simultaneously announced Sonic Riders, a new title that "integrates extreme sports, high-speed racing and head-to-head battles," will ship in winter 2006 for all three platforms.

 

However, Sonic Riders' racing won't involve cars, motorcycles, or Wipeout-esque hovercraft. Instead, players will assume the role of one of several characters riding air boards in an international competition which will pit Sonic and his cohorts against the nefarious Dr. Eggman's team, The Band of Thieves: Babylon. The winner of the contest--which will support up to four players--will take home the fabled Chaos Emerald.

 

Last but not least, Sega today dated Chromehounds, its forthcoming mech-combat game for the Xbox 360. In development at Tokyo-based From Software (Otogi, Armored Core), the game will ship for Microsoft's next-gen console in spring 2006, around the same time as the PlayStation 3 launch.

 

Sega did not release any rating or pricing information for Chromehounds. However, it did release a bevy of details on the game, including the fact it will offer both "an absorbing single-player campaign and a fully customizable Xbox Live experience," according to Sega of America vice president of marketing Scott Steinberg. Steinberg also said the game would sport both cooperative and competitive online play and allow players to choose from "thousands of upgrade options, which affect both the look and performance of player mechs."

 

Sega also said that Chromehounds would have "cooperative and competitive campaigns for up to 12 players" simultaneously, and let players exert squad-based control in "tactics commander" mode. The publisher also promised "photorealistic visuals" of desolate, conflict-swept battlefields.

>>Sonic the Hedgehog screens

>>Chrome Hounds screens

>>Sonic Riders (PS2/Xbox/GC)

>>Gamespot Article

HECK YEAH

Quite small for an update, but the SPC fix makes up for it.

ALL: Fix some randomness in the SPC core for now. [pagefault]

ALL: Screen refresh when loading a state/rewind during frame advance disabled for now to remove the (hopefully) last random generation. [grinvader]

WIN: Added 1600x1200 WD and WDS. [Aerdan]

Get it here.

0.99u8

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MAMETesters Bugs Fixed

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demonwld37b5gre [Pierpaolo Prazzoli]

batrider099u1gra [Mamesick]

 

Source Changes

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Added save/restore of tilemap parameters. [Aaron Giles]

 

Improvements to the ST-V driver: [Mariusz Wojcieszek]

* dma:  added another checking for dma parameters

* stv:  changed v-blank timing

* vdp1: implemented two framebuffers and flipping

* vdp1: added manual changing and erasing of framebuffers

* vdp1: added manual trigger for drawing

* vdp1: mapped framebuffer into memory (for 16bpp only)

* vdp1: added shadow and half luminance for RGB sprites

* vdp2: fixed bitmaps scrolling (fixes bad gfx in batmanfr and bakubaku intro)

* vdp2: added preliminary window effect for tilemaps and sprite layer (for batmanfr)

* vdp2: added scaling for 8bpp and 15bpp bitmaps (fixes vmahjong and myfairld backgrounds)

 

Fixed sprite-sprite priorities in toaplan1 games. [Pierpaolo Prazzoli]

 

Fixed background color in Jolly Jogger. [Pierpaolo Prazzoli]

 

Made input port conditionals work more generically. This necessitated a bit of a minor reorg in the input port code. Please verify that controls work as before. This change has also required a modification to how analog ports are recorded, so existing INPs may not work. [Aaron Giles]

 

Minor tweak to fix Time Crisis crash. [Phil Stroffolino]

 

Fixed spurious vectors in Top Gunner. [Mathis Rosenhauer]

 

Added new functions memory_configure_bank() and memory_set_bank() which abstract bankswitching better. This allows current memory banking states to automatically be saved for drivers that use this feature. m62.c games have been updated to use this new feature as an example. [Aaron Giles]

 

New games added or promoted from NOT_WORKING status

------------------------------------------------------------------

World Trophy Soccer (Arcadia) [Mariusz Wojcieszek]

Funky Head Boxers [Mariusz Wojcieszek]

Pebble Beach - The Great Shot [Mariusz Wojcieszek]

Air Rescue [Anonymous]

Cuore Uno (Italia) [Roberto Fresca]

Elephant Family (Italia) [Roberto Fresca]

Royal Card (Austria) [Roberto Fresca]

 

New clones added

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1000 Miglia: Great 1000 Miles Rally (94/06/13) [Corrado Tomaselli]

Frogger (Falcon bootleg) [Pierpaolo Prazzoli]

 

New games marked as GAME_NOT_WORKING

--------------------------------------------------

Cookie and Bibi 3 [David Haywood]

Soccer Superstar ver EAA [Corrado Tomaselli]

As always, get the source diff at www.mamedev.com

BTW, thanks to PMC2 for the news

MAME32 released!

»» Official Site

»» Download it Now! [1Emulation Server]

MAME32FX released!

»» Official Site

»» Download it Now! [1Emulation Server]

MAMEplus! released!

»» Official Site

»» Download it Now! [1Emulation Server]

Patch - 07/09/2005

- the file has been updated, there was a crash if you don't use a mouse.

 

AtomicFE Patch 0.14-1 Beta : 05/09/2005

- Correct the TrackBall / spinner bug.

- Allow to run a game (specified or random) at Startup

- Allow rom name with space in the fulllist.txt file for other emulators than mame.

 

AtomicFE version 0.14 Beta : 29/08/2005

-  AVI as background in layouts

-  AVI as "loading screen"

-  Can keep aspect/ration for Snap, marquee, flyer..etc..

-  Multiple ROM extensions management on a same configuration

-  Can choose alignment of text in list (Right, Center, Left)

-  etc...

Screenshots can be seen here and here.

»» Official Site

»» Download the 0.14 beta and the patch here

Credits: youki