Sega All-Stars Racing 2 Spoilers?

Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing: Transformed is currently sitting in stores, waiting for the release date.  Except some stores have already started selling pre-release copies which means there's people among us playing the game.  Um, SPOILER ALERT!!!

I stole this from Ebaum's World but it's okay, Ebaum's World steals everything too.  Two wrongs do make a right.

First of all, a lot of people are running their asses on the Internet right now.  So I'm going to give you a tentative feel to what I know.  This is mostly from browsing around the official Sega All-Stars Racing forum.  Here goes (once again, SPOILERS):

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* Every character that was in Sega Superstars Tennis EXCEPT Alex Kidd is in.  EDIT: No, that's false, Alex Kidd IS IN.  That means MeeMee (Super Monkey Ball), Gum (Jet Set Radio), and Pudding (Space Channel 5).  All girls.

* There is a Burning Rangers track.

* There is a House of the Dead track.

* There is a Billy Hatcher track.

* There is a "Race of Ages" track that is similar to Mario Kart's Rainbow Road and features references to many Sega IPs.  No idea if there's any references to Daytona or Virtua Racing.  I doubt it but we'll see.

* The following characters are probably not playable: Chu Chus, Zobio & Zobiko, Jacky Bryant, Opa Opa, Bonanza Bros, Vectorman, Toejam & Earl, Big the Cat, Billy Hatcher, Bayonetta, Banjo-Kazooie.

* Sunshine Tour, Future Shibuya, Death Egg, and Roulette Road are the only tracks from the first Sega All-Stars Racing to be in Transformed.

* EDIT: There's two Jet Set Radio tracks, the one from the first game and a brand new one.

* There is a third 3rd-party character besides Danica and Wreck-It Ralph that hasn't been found.  And it is, according to some file names on the disc...Team Fortress 2 Spy/Heavy/Pyro?  I can't make this s*** up if I tried. I think this is total crap but at this point, I don't discount anything.  EDIT: There's also "references" to a Football Manager character, Total War character, and Alex Kidd just like the TF2 characters.  It makes no sense, I know.  EDIT: The TF2 "character" is most likely a PC exclusive character, makes sense if this is released on Steam...

* Then there's some "ultimate fanservice Sega character" that hasn't been mentioned.  It takes a very long time to unlock.  According to some guy's BS, it's....Taro Sega from Segagaga?  He's from some 2001 Japan-only Dreamcast game that looks like Phantasy Star but with lots of Sega character cameos.  Now like I said, this is probably crap so I'm not holding my breath on this.  I think Segata Sanshiro would make a better pick anyway but what do I know.  Taro Sega makes a slight amount of sense anyway from a fanservice point.  FORGET THIS, IT'S WRONG, this guy's full of it.

* EDIT: BRAND NEW, THE EXCLUSIVE CHARACTER is possibly the "Segabot," a robot constructed of various Sega things such as the Dreamcast VMU, the Afterburner Jet, and the Hornet from Daytona USA.  OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It totally makes sense, Hornet = land, Afterburner = plane, VMU, no Dreamcast controller = boat (well it's shaped like one).  I'll believe it once I see it.

* Segata Sanshiro exists somewhere in the game's code but most likely as a cameo.

* EDIT: Looks like Billy Hatcher was the 30th character but he got cut from the game.

* Now about our beloved Ryo Hazuki.  I don't think he's a playable character after all.  He's a hologram that appears in the Race of Ages track.  Same with a couple of other guys like Bonanza Bros. and Opa Opa.

Look, I'm not going to say anymore since I think everyone's full of crap.  I'm going to get the game in the mail in a week and then we'll play it and have lots of fun.  But about Ryo, I think it sucks that they dropped him.  He had a good showing in the first Sega All-Stars Racing but that's it.  Riding Ito's motorcycle and the forklift.

I think the main reason why Ryo didn't make the cut is because in the realm of this game, I just don't see how the bike or forklift could transform into a boat or plane.  It makes sense for guys like Joe Musashi, Vyse, and Gilius cause they come from fantasy worlds (or zones) with all these elaborate tools, gadgets, weapons, magic and stuff.  But Ryo is not a cartoon character, he's some average joe on a bike so it was crazy enough he was in the first game but the second was too much apparently.  Or it could be because no one gives a damn about Shenmue anymore so screw it, Ryo is gone?

As for all the girl characters, Danica included, I think it's ridiculous that some series like Super Monkey Ball would get two characters (who was stoked to see MeeMee in the game anyway?) but they needed more female characters so there you go.  As for all the people complaining about Danica taking a spot, I say this.  I think she's a totally unique character with a unique vehicle.  Yeah she's "realistic" like Ryo but between race cars, Go Daddy, and Hot Wheels, I think she has character traits appropriate for this game.  She also fills the quota of female characters.  Bayonetta would make a great female character except for the whole "being in a M-rated game" thing so that's unfortunate.  If you think someone like Ryo or Segata Sanshiro is more deserving than Danica, fine, I don't doubt it.  But see the forest from the trees...Sumo probably knows something we don't.

Speaking of which, this situation is awfully reminiscent of when the Super Smash Bros. Brawl roster was leaked.  I was there for that crap.  I hated the game but I wanted to know what 30-something characters were in the game, sort of like Willy Wonka and the Golden Tickets--you were stricken with curiosity.  And I saw first-hand the guys who wept over the absences of potential characters like Mewtwo, Issac, Ridley, Megaman, Geno, etc. so it sucks.  But it's impossible for these AAA games to cater to every single person so I'll leave it at that.  Adding one character to a game is hard enough.  Adding twenty-five is takes AGES.  So sorry they couldn't add 26, 27, or 28 instead of 25.

There'll probably be many complaints about this game, let's get by them, see what we can take away from the game such as the GAMEPLAY which looks solid!  Pray for DLC which I'll buy it if Sega offers any but they have really shied away from DLC lately so it's gonna be tough.  Just don't get on this "we need 100 more Sonic characters and tracks" bandwagon or I'm going to snap.

Video Game Girls

UPDATED twice , fixed the pictures, changed some words, added something else

Ooo, yes, it's a beautiful thing.  Straight guys like girls in their video games.  But let me explain this from my point of view.

Probably the best thing to come out of Namco (if you can believe it) is Seong Mina from Soul Calibur.  Yeah, I think she's good looking.  Gotta use these cosplay pics since they're damn good:

Reference.

Of course, I need to reiterate some things.  I don't want to look like some pimply-faced horndog at home who plays these games just for the girls alone.  As a matter of fact, I hardly ever think of Seong Mina--she only appears every once in a while.  She's just there--a beautiful painting or a sculpture in a museum.  My opinion of her hasn't changed.  Like I really hate how everyone turns it into some sort of sexual object.  Just leave well enough alone--appreciate a beautiful woman for being beautiful, geez.  And by "appreciate," I don't mean "self-gratification."

Compared to many other video game girls, she doesn't have "exaggerated" features that you see with all these anime girls.  Really, there's not many decent girls in games anymore--they look artificial.  Give them big breats, jiggle physics, turn them into whores, etc.  It's one thing to be sexy but they overdo it so often that I immediately lose all interest.

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Anyway, I did play Soul Calibur 1, 2, and 3 for a brief tenure several years ago.  I was okay at it, but it wasn't meant for me.  I also got tired of how "violent" it was so I just quit.  I had to move on to bigger and better things, like saving Daytona USA and Sega.  I also don't like how Soul Calibur 4 turned out and by then I just don't really care anymore.  They got REALLY carried away with the character customization--being able to play as characters down to their underwear...like really, Namco?  You're that desperate?

Seriously--I know this is gonna sound weird, but I think men get a little hung up on women TOO much and it just interferes with their lives.  Kind of like the episode of Seinfeld where George abstains from sex and he becomes a genius as a result.  My two brothers both had girlfriends who basically agitated them non-stop to the point it becomes a daily issue.  Basically, I'll get a date when I feel like it.  People are just insane nowadays.  EDIT: Of course this doesn't a nod toward asexuality, I mean.

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And this is one more story for the road.  I don't have any "proof" this happened, but I know it's true.  So I was on GameFAQs around '06-'07 looking at one of these big boards--the GameFAQs Contest Board I think.  So they had a bracket contest to vote on who the most attractive video game girl is.

I'm not making this up.  One of the finalists was Seong Mina.  I was like "Wow, I'm surprised."  The other finalist was.....get ready for it.....Samus Aran.  In the end, Samus got 70% of the vote.  And for what?  Being in Metroid/Smash Bros and her Zero Suit Samus outfit?  She relies on that super suit of hers to get the job done unlike Seong Mina.  The result didn't surprise or bother me, but I guess that's what goes on GameFAQs--vote for the girl from the Nintendo/Square game and so forth.  Heads up their rear ends.

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UPDATE: This I just learned about.  Speaking of Samus, I hear she was supposed to be in the new Dead or Alive game for the Nintendo 3DS.  That's because Team Ninja, the people who made DoA for the 3DS also made Metroid: Other M.  Okay, so you had some Master Chief "girl" in DoA4, you drove me crazy with that, might as well get as many locked-and-loaded space females in here.  But then they take Samus out as a playable character despite the fact that she'll still make a cameo appearance.  BWAHAHA, go stick with Smash Bros.  Speaking of which, Dead or Alive is a mess too.  Which leads me to my next point:

EVERYBODY STICK TO VIRTUA FIGHTER, DON'T PLAY ANYTHING ELSE.  CAUSE SEGA-AM2 MADE IT AND THERE'S NO DENYING IT'S THE BEST.

OOWWWW, YOU POKED MY EAR!!!

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With that being said, Seong Mina is just a passing memory to me.  Go do something productive with your lives, cya later.

Sega Racer Related At Last (Fighters Megamix)

I made my rounds through YouTube again and here's what I came up with.  You know about Fighters Megamix for the Sega Saturn, the game with all the weird Sega characters in it?  Well, you know the Hornet car was a playable character, right?  Well I always knew this but I never got decent footage until now.  Speed up to 5:21 if you wanna see the Hornet in action:



Okay, I'm just going to ask this now.  Disregarding the fact that this is Daytona USA, WHAT OTHER ACTUAL FIGHTING GAME HAS A CAR AS A PLAYABLE CHARACTER??  No, Transformers doesn't count (if you can play as vehicular forms).  I mean, WHO ELSE has the fortitude to attempt something like this?  A CAR CHARACTER IN A FIGHTING GAME???  The fact that it's the Daytona USA car is a bonus.  It's also funny that the tires are the arms and that when he runs out of health, parts of the frame fall off.  Too bad the Hornet is sucking pretty bad here--I hear he is not good tier-wise...

Also, don't you notice something up with this game?  Take a look...a bunch of characters from games by a specific developer together in a fighting game...doesn't that sound familiar?  If you're still clueless, let me give you a hint:

That's right.  Fighters Megamix came out in '96/'97 while Super Smash Bros came out in '99.  Yet it is SSB who is the victor and who gets the spoilers.  Well UP YOURS Nintendo.

EDIT: Capcom too with all of the crossovers, Marvel vs. Capcom, etc. not bad.

SSB--what a thorn in my side.  In all honesty, I'd rather take Mario Party.  Ok, it's not a bad game, but there's just something obnoxious about it.  And before you say I sucked at it, I used to play the N64 version regularly.  I went to a competition at a game store in the mall and came in 3rd out of 64 people, but now, I just don't want to talk about the game ever again.  Especially the brouhaha over the character announcements over the Wii version and how Nintendo teased us--like a farmer dangles a carrot over the horse...

You know what, let's talk about something else.  I don't hate the game, but I'd rather not play it.

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There aren't many new Daytona USA 2 videos, but here's one that flew over my head and I just noticed it.  This guy sets up the Model3 board and hooks it to his computer monitor and voila--he's playing D2 on a Dreamcast steering wheel.  I don't know how it works, but all I know is it works.  By Sega miracles from God I guess.



He posted many other gameplay videos which you can see in this big list of D2 videos I've meticulously compiled:  http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=83B3021DBEF1F415

And you know what, here's a video of a guy playing Scud Race in a deluxe cabinet.  Not that unique, but still I saw it so you should too.



You know what, I'm looking at this guy and all the other videos and I die a little on the inside.
Why everything has to be deprived from me so long...is it that much to ask for a decent Model3 (Scud Race/Daytona 2) kind of racer, just a home port, anything?!?!
 Not like I'm asking for millions of dollars or a gold statue in my honor, just ONE game!!!
Geez, I'm losing it, I really am...I'm on a roller-coaster ride at this point--it's "Daytona USA or Bust" for me.  Let us pray for the future.

Other Japanese Game Publishers

Okay, I'm looking at some of the GameFAQs polls of the day and they went through some Japanese companies, listed some game series for each, and asked which is your favorite.  Because we know Sega is out there as a big player until they took it in the chin after the DC and were basically neutered, it's kind of interesting to see what their rivals are up to...  Makes me feel bad for Sega, they are basically the laughing stock of Japan as far as I'm concerned.

DISCLAIMER: When I mention this game or that game and get mad, it doesn't mean that the games specifically suck or are bad or that I hate them and wish they didn't exist--they're all good in some way.  I'm just giving you my personal thoughts on the game, not necessarily commenting on the quality of the game unless I so feel like it.

Also, GameFAQs has a bias towards RPG/Adventure games which explains stuff like Zelda >>> Mario, etc.

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Capcom: Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Megaman, THAT'S IT.  The definitive trifecta of horror, fighting, and platform-shooter games.  Surprisingly, RE and Megaman got over 25% each and SF got 13%.  But Capcom has other games like Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Dead Rising, Breath of Fire, Phoenix Wright, holy crap, they make Sega look bad, really bad.  They don't have a definitive racing game--they had that Auto Modellista game which as far as I'm concerned is a joke so really.  Overall they are probably #2 behind Nintendo.  This whole 2-D Fighter genre is just too much for games like Tekken or even Virtua Fighter to compete with, sorry.

Konami: They have Metal Gear Solid and that should be all as far as I'm concerned.  Number one choice at 38%.  Oh they have Castlevania too which is 22%.  They also have Contra, DDR, and Silent Hill.  Oh yeah, it was also Konami that made the Enthusia PS2 racing game which was nearly up to par with Gran Turismo but hardly as popular.  I think Sega could take these hooligans but knowing Sega, they will putter across the finish line with four blown tires.  Next.

Namco-Bandai: Tales of Fill In The Blank is number one, 27%.  Okay, I just don't give a damn about stupid RPGs, just let it pass.  They made Pac-Man, another juggernaut, but since people have their heads up their asses, they don't care about it anymore--10%.  You also got Ridge Racer, the series that was most identical to Daytona USA and Sega, but they've kind of fizzled out despite getting numerous versions for recent consoles.  Sega is still #1 baby when it comes to racers.  Tekken and Soul Calibur are still legendary but once again, they aren't making headline news.  The most recent SC games are just getting obnoxious as far as I'm concerned.  Katamari Damacy, okay yeah, roll up stuff.  They also have Time Crisis which is one of the few arcade games left that I actually am interested in.  They also have Klonoa and Digimon for the kiddies.  No one cares anymore, right.  If there's a company that's most similar to Sega in terms of games and at falling asleep at the wheel, it's Namco so I sympathize with them a little.  Just a little.

Square-Enix: Final Fantasy (51%), Kingdom Hearts (18%), Chrono Trigger (15%).  Just walk away cause nothing else matters.  The less said about Square, the better, although that Einhander game was kind of cool.

Sega: Okay, here we go.  Root for the home team!!  The choice are...:

Panzer Dragoon -- 2.48%

Phantasy Star -- 12.08%

Shenmue -- 6.54%

Shining Force -- 7.14%

Sonic the Hedgehog -- 55.8%

The House of the Dead -- 6%

Total War -- 4.41%

Virtua Fighter -- 2.62%

Yakuza -- 2.92%

What kind of lousy-ass choices are these!?  Virtua Fighter--3%!?!?  Total War, Yakuza, WTF?  Shenmue has like two games and it gets at least 7%, wow how amazing.  I see a lack of Daytona USA but nothing could be more predictable.  That reminds me that Sega has always been one to spread the goodness around to many, many series, but still, looking at the choices we have...oh man, how weak.  Take this poll 10 years ago and you'd see something else.  But really, if it weren't for Sonic, Sega would be dead.  Oh man, this is sad.

Nintendo: Zelda THAT'S IT EVERYONE I JUST SUMMED UP NINTENDO.  Okay, if it takes just one good game to destroy the others, then how about SUPER MARIO, POKEMON, Kirby, Metroid, Star Fox, Animal Crossing, Smash Bros., F-Zero, Donkey Kong, Pikmin, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Wii Sports, I mean, just look at the lineup in Smash Bros Brawl.

............

I mean, look at Smash Bros. Brawl.  Sega and Konami were performing all sorts of favors (what kind, you use your imagination) just to get ONE of their characters in the game.  So there you go, Sonic and Solid Snake, yucking it up with Nintendo's cast of characters...

Did I mention that Nintendo has sold over 74 million Wiis and 132 million DSes worldwide as of June 2010?  Let that sink in for a moment.

.....

Sega has no chance, they really don't.  At least we know that Nintendo just plain sucks at racing games cause every Mario Kart game they've released has been highly flawed with maybe the exception of the original SNES version (tiers, snaking, stupid sprite cardboard cutout characters, you name it).  And the latest F-Zero game?  Sounds great but that was SEGA that had a hand in making that game, did you know that?  Sega is still #1 in racing games, sorry, call me a homer, but that's how I see it.

Oops, forgot about the poll results...Zelda got 100% just leave it at that.

Oh yeah, there's one more game company I forgot to mention...let's get it over with.

Sony: Sony hasn't been one to make games but they have some damn good hardware.  The PS3 makes the Xbox 360 look like a baby's toy.  God of War run away with this at 33%, is there any surprise?  I mean, I know I'm going to seem like an ass, but what's the big deal with that game?  You play as some burly man with two swords, slashing the crap out of monsters and other stuff, you kill Greek gods and have rough sex with the goddesses.  Tons of gore, violence, and sex.  Am I missing something here, or does this game seem like a glaring embarassment of society in general?  You have Ratchet and Clank at 18%, Gran Turismo at 12%, and Twisted Metal at 10%.  Gran Turismo is one of the only good racing games left and frankly, I don't see anything else barring Mario Kart and MAYBE Burnout getting higher ratings.  SOCOM, Little Big Planet, yada yada yada, Sony's more of a hardware company and recently the PS3 is really picking up steam so look out Nintendo and Microsoft.

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There's other companies though that the polls forgot to mention and two come to mind--Tecmo and SNK.  Tecmo made Monster Rancher/Farm which is one of my favorite series of all time but that's six feet under.  They've also made Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Fatal Frame, and Tecmo Super Bowl which at least have some relevance today.  SNK made Metal Slug and a load of fighters such as King of Fighters.  They also made their own console, the Neo Geo, which bit the bullet just like the Dreamcast so at least we gotta give props where they're due.

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Wow, this was really painful to go through.  Sega, what a lame pathetic company to be a fan of.  Nintendo, Capcom, and Square are laughing it up while Sega is out on the street begging for spare change.  I can't take this anymore--Dreamcast was Sega's Alamo, and they've lost it.  I got a headache, I'm gonna go do something else and go away for a while.  geez...

Oh yeah, and one more thing.  If you think I'm a Sega fanboy who's blowing hot air, hey, take a loookat all of the Sega video game franchises here, cause there's a lot:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sega_video_game_franchises

No excuse for Sega to be dirt compared to everyone else.