We’ve blown it up in size a bit so you can see her, whilst it still shows not actual final features she is outside the circle image with Sonic (incidentally we have a full pic of Sonic as well) and shows her legs, shoes and some more details regarding her hair/mane.

Perhaps this will inspire yet more fanart? I hope so!

Enjoy.

This is the Sonic The Hedgehog 2 video in the same set which shows the team modelling the corkscrew run’s from Emerald Hill Zone, a very young and geeky looking Yuji Naka explaining things awkwardly and on the official video for Sonic 2 they have Sonic try and murder Mario and Luigi.

As you do.

Despite several pieces released the other day, SEGA’s Friday tradition continues with offerings via their Facebook channel and official blog. First up on Facebook is “Sandworm”, a creature with a slight resemblance to classic badnik Caterkiller in my opinion.

Sandworm: Obviously they didn't have a pun for this one...

The similarities don’t stop there however as the second one “Scarabesque” revealed via SEGA’s official blog has distinct roots in Sonic Rush as it looks decidedly reminiscent of third game boss “Egg Scarab” even down to what appears to a spiked ball/bomb it pushes around!

However this is a much more classically styled badnik than the one from Rush and Sonic 4 takes place before Sonic Rush in the series timeline (assuming Sonic Rush’s events happened of course) – could Scarabesque therefore be a direct precursor to Egg Scarab? Something Eggman perfected over time?

Or is it a recycling of a Dimps idea from 2004 hoping no one notices. You decide.

Scarabesque: Cute but deadly... we assume.

Egg Scarab - As immortalised in Sonic Tweet

Well I touched base with him earlier as he wanted something from Shadow to spite SEGA Driven or something. This latest discovery comes from an old school cache of documents I got many years back and have been searching through. Most of the time its crap but occasionally you get an awesome discovery, a bit like being a Detroit Lions fan – but without the awesome discovery.

Much like what SW has termed Proto-Blaze this pic comes from an old internal document created at the very beginning of the Shadow‘s campaign. I guess SEGA were pretty lax back in 2004-5? No major changes really, huh?

Anyway I’ve been able to find some sweet info in this doc [including some stuff on the 2-Player that'd make you go white, or whiter in my case] such as a couple of images which are like semi-CG concept pics. I’ve seen a couple of similar ones before used in prospective designs for game covers but this is different… because it features a scene first shown in  Sonic Adventure 2.

Yup, one of the images used purely as decoration echoes back to the imprisonment of Professor Gerald Robotnik, this isn’t actually shown in Shadow to my knowledge and this isn’t Gerald’s SA2 style or his Shadow in-game model so who actually did this at Sonic Team is a mystery.

Discuss below, or on E-On, don’t be a goober and  just post the damn thing on another forum or something, rather defeats the purpose of us doing s***.

Catch ya later.

***Gyrox***

Not only do we get an extra piece of Sonic 4: Episode 2 concept art, but SEGA have also confirmed the dates for Summer of Sonic 2012 and Sonic Boom 2012.

Summer of Sonic will be held in the London area on Saturday, July 7th. This will be the fifth anniversary of Summer of Sonic – and we’re determined to make it the biggest and best show yet! SoS is an all-day event that celebrates all aspects of the Sonic franchise. ‘Zoned’ areas offer a range of different activities – budding artists can sit down at the fan art tables and compete in competitions, speed runners can challenge each other at the retro gaming pods, and the latest Sonic titles are available for fans to try before they’re even released.

Sonic Boom will be held in San Diego, CA on Friday, July 13th (during San Diego Comic Con) at the House of Blues. We’ll have more information about ticketing in the future, but you will not be required to have a Comic Con badge to attend Sonic Boom. Hotels in the San Diego area fill up quickly for Comic Con, so if you will need a hotel room, we suggest that you book early and/or consult the San Diego Comic Con hotel page.

At the first Sonic Boom last year, fans had a chance to play Sonic Generations, get some great swag, enjoy a great musical performance from Crush40, and more. We don’t want to give too much away about what’s in the works for this year (at least, not right now!), but we’re aiming to make it a great time for Sonic fans of all ages. We hope you’ll come hang out with us, Sonic, and a bunch of Sonic fans!

Sounds like an utter blast for both US and EU fans alike.

There is also a special piece of Sonic 4: Episode 2 concept art to, that was also shared, which you can view below:

Source: SEGA Blog

Thusly, we shall celebrate, as we know how. But doing a showcase of Knuckles fanart. So, enjoy, and remember you can click the pictures to go to the artist’s page and see them in fullsize.

It seems, with the turn of the Chinese New Year, that lots of games celebrate that fact, and Spiral Knights is no exception.

With any in-game energy purchase of a $9.95, you get a random set of Dragon Wings for your Knight character from the following list:

Dragon Wings
1 of a possible 11 randomly chosen at the time of purchase.

11.2% Cool Dragon Wings
11.2% Regal Dragon Wings
11.2% Military Dragon Wings
11.2% Heavy Dragon Wings
11.2% Fancy Dragon Wings
11.2% Dusky Dragon Wings
11.2% Toasty Dragon Wings
6.2% Divine Dragon Wings
6.2% Volcanic Dragon Wings
6.2% Prismatic Dragon Wings
3% Shadow Dragon Wings

The promotion runs until FEBRUARY 13th.

Source: SEGA Blog, Spiral Knights Forum

According to website Tiny Cartridge, these two games have been outed thanks to their being rated on the ESRB – the American age rating organization.

More info can be found over on Tiny Cartridge’s post here.

But that’s not all the things that are on sale via PS Plus oh no, there’s more.

Not only is Sonic Adventure and the DX Upgrade on sale but, you can also get six Classic SEGA Megadrive titles all for………£0, nothing, not even a penny.

The six Megadrive games you can get absolutely free are:

• Sonic The Hedgehog
• Sonic The Hedgehog 2
• Golden Axe
• Streets of Rage 2
• Altered Beast &
• Comix Zone

So if you’ve got yourself a PS3 and you want to get your hands on some cheap SEGA bargains, then be sure to hop on down to the Plus section on your PS3 and get yourself some awesome SEGA titles absolutely 100% free of charge.

Story via the PlayStation EU Blog.

Did we mention they were the our SWA One To Watch In 2012 winner? It seems they’re busy watching everyone else!

Anyway, since no one cares about the awesome things we thought we’d balance it out with something none of you would want in a month of Sundays – which if our theory goes right means it should get cross-community coverage for three weeks. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the signature render from Sonic X of one CHRIS “The Money” THORNDYKE!

It is 10MB in size and humongous 5645 x 12945.
A size you would never ever need – but hey, this is what you get to balance it out.

You’ll find him right at the bottom of the Official Images & Art Miscelaneous section in the Depository, and if you don’t start paying attention more Sonic Community I’ve got even MORE high res Chris Thorndyke images just siting here waiting… and I’m not afraid to use them.