Green Hill Zone Act 2 and series of Brand New Bosses Added to Upcoming 2D Side-Scrolling Sonic Adventure

Burbank, California — March 10, 2017 — Today, SEGA released footage of a new Act, as well as revealing a brand new boss, that will be featured in the upcoming classic 2D platformer Sonic Mania. Green Hill Zone Act 2 presents an all-new area exclusive to Sonic Mania, expanding upon the tropical setting of Act 1, now with new mechanics, obstacles, and secrets to uncover. You like fire, right? Now you can use it to burn log bridges and collect rings and power-ups! Green Hill Zone Act 2’s boss is also notably different from the original, but we won’t be spoiling that yet.

Also revealed today is the first in a series of new bosses, called the “Hard-Boiled Heavies”. These unique foes are part of Eggman’s new arsenal, each equipped with special skills designed to make a blue hedgehog’s life much harder.

The first of these, “Heavy Gunner”, will appear at the end of the Hollywood-inspired Studiopolis Act 1, and is a large, decorated robot who can take to the sky with his helicopter. Heavy Gunner is armed with a powerful rocket launcher that he uses to discourage “speeding”. (Sources from Studiopolis confirm this method is, generally, highly effective.)

Sonic Mania is the ultimate celebration of past and future, blending Genesis-era Sonic platforming with New Zones, Powerful Bosses, and 3 Playable Characters, all presented at a gorgeous 60 FPS. In the span of 25 years, Sonic has collected countless rings across various Zones, and Sonic Mania revisits what it was that first made Sonic great, all while building upon that foundation and giving old and new fans alike an experience that will leave them smiling.

Sonic Mania is developed by SEGA of America in collaboration with Christian Whitehead, PagodaWest Games, and Headcannon. It will be digitally available for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in Spring 2017.

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 Europe Ltd.
SEGA Europe Ltd. is the European Distribution arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Games Co., Ltd., and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. SEGA Europe’s website is located at www.sega.com .

About SEGA of America
SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Games Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home.  The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.  SEGA of America’s website is located at www.sega.com .

Submitted by: E. Thomas

In-Depth Details on the Series Coming to PAX East in Boston; Sneak Peek Crowd Play Premiere Event at SXSW

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Mar. 9, 2017  - Award-winning developer and publisher of digital entertainment, Telltale Games, along with Marvel Entertainment, today shared the world-first screenshots and cast details for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, set to premiere digitally this Spring on consoles, PC, and mobile devices. 
 
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series is a brand new story of the universe's unlikeliest heroes: Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot. In the wake of an epic battle, the Guardians discover an artifact of unspeakable power. Each of them has a reason to desire this relic, as does a ruthless enemy who is the last of her kind, and who will stop at nothing to tear it from their hands.

From Earth to the Milano to Knowhere and beyond, and set to the beat of awesome music, you wear the rocket-powered boots of Star-Lord in an original Guardians adventure, where your decisions and actions drive the story you experience.

This week at PAX East in Boston, MA on March 10th at 6pm in the Albatross Theater, join the team from Telltale Games as well as Marvel Games Creative Director, Bill Rosemann, to hear more about the series as they discuss the creative process behind this stellar new adventure. The panel will also be streamed live on Twitch. For more information on the panel and PAX East, please visit http://east.paxsite.com/schedule/panel/telltale-games-interactive-storytelling-in-2017
 
One week later on March 17th at SXSW in Austin, TX, be the first audience in the world to Crowd Play an early version of the first episode at a one-of-a-kind premiere event at the Paramount Theater, with doors opening at 6:30pm. Audience members will be able to control the story from their seats using their mobile devices to help decide what happens on the big screen! The event will be open to all badge holders of SXSW or SXSW Gaming on a first-come, first-seated basis. For more information on SXSW Gaming and how to obtain badges, please visit https://www.sxsw.com/exhibitions/gaming-expo/
 
The series will feature a star-studded cast of voice talent, including Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights, The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series) as Star-Lord, Emily O'Brien (The Young and the Restless, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor) as Gamora, Nolan North (the Uncharted series, Pretty Little Liars) as Rocket, Brandon Paul Eells (Watch Dogs) as Drax, and Adam Harrington (The Wolf Among Us, League of Legends) as Groot. 

Premiering this Spring, the series will also be coming to retail as a special season pass disc, which will include the first episode in the season, and will grant access to the subsequent four episodes as they become available for download via online updates. Specific platform details are yet to be announced.
 
Revealed in December on stage at The Game Awards 2016 in Los Angeles, you can watch the announcement teaser trailer on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Koy_e_ipwng 
 
For more information on Telltale Games, visit the official website, Facebook, and follow Telltale Games on Twitter @TelltaleGames.

Submitted by: E. Thomas

PS4 pre-orders begin today in Europe and next week in North America

March 8, 2017 - Bone-crushing rains. Large, hungry creatures. A defenseless slugcat trying to find its kin. From Adult Swim Games and Videocult, survival platformer Rain World arrives on PC and PlayStation 4 March 28.

Watch the Fate of a Slugcat trailer on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxbQy0U92R4&feature=youtu.be

As a small slugcat separated from your family, you must fend for yourself in a mysterious industrial wasteland the flood has carried you into. Relying on stealth, wit, and well-timed pounces, learn the rules of your new environment to keep fed while staying out of harm’s way. Both prey and predator, the creatures in Rain World’s living ecosystem follow their own survival instincts, learning from each encounter.

Climb through the ruins of an ancient civilization, evade the jaws of vicious predators, and discover new lands teeming with strange creatures and buried mysteries when Rain World releases March 28.

Add Rain World to your wishlist on Steam.

Pre-orders for Rain World on PlayStation 4 begin today, March 8, for Europe and March 14 for North America.

Follow Rain World on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.

Key Features
■     Sneak, climb, and pounce your way through a dynamic, ever-changing ecosystem of predators and prey
■     Explore a vast world of over 1600 rooms, spanning 12 diverse regions filled with ancient secrets and undiscovered dangers
■     Nimble movements and procedurally generated animation gives slugcat a natural fluidity of movement and unique sense of weight
■     Intense, primal predator encounters will challenge your reflexes
■     Limited resources and the constant, impending threat of rain will test your nerve

About Adult Swim Games

Adult Swim Games oversees the production, publishing and marketing of original games created by independent developers from around the world. With more than 200 games across PC, mobile, web, console and VR, Adult Swim Games’ unique offerings have received numerous industry accolades — including four #1 rankings in the App Store and a finalist for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at IGF. Popular titles include Robot Unicorn Attack, Pocket Mortys, Duck Game, and the upcoming Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove.

GAME INFO

Name: Rain World
Developer: Videocult
Publisher: Adult Swim Games
Release Date: March 28, 2017
Price: $19.99
Platforms: PC (Windows), PS4

Submitted by: E. Thomas

Massive expansion to 2015's incredibly challenging but accessible shoot 'em up adds loads of new content, free for anyone who already owns it

Deep Space - Super Galaxy Squadron EX Turbo is available today as a free upgrade or for $9.99 for new pilots on Steam:  http://store.steampowered.com/app/345860/. Built upon the exceptional shoot 'em up from 2015, Super Galaxy Squadron EX Turbo is an expansion/remaster/one-step-from-a-sequel-no-for-reals that takes the original game's frantic action and modern accessibility to vastly greater heights for both veteran ‘shmup’ experts to every day human beings.

The year is 2438, eleven years after the First Ceti War. The United Interstellar Federation and a secluded alien race from Tau Ceti are locked in a tense stalemate, and seventeen of the best pilots in the Federation have been recruited to single handedly win the inevitable second war. This is where you come in, one of the galaxy's best pilots.

Featuring incredibly fast action with loads of new interstellar weaponry and brand new ships, Super Galaxy Squadron EX Turbo brings a unique style to the shoot 'em up genre. New abilities force you to rethink old strategies in combat, and allow for greater personal style in how you choose to save the galaxy. The full list of enhancements, updates and content can be found here: LINK

Bullets, lasers and other incredible ways to wipe out your enemies abound in the ultimate shoot em up. Deep and challenging gameplay for the most experienced shoot ‘em up players while a masterfully designed UI and expertly calculated difficulty curve allow the title to be accessible to new pilots, Super Galaxy Squadron’s latest content is a do-not-miss. Get it today on Steam for PC.  
For more info on the latest games from publisher New Blood Interactive, please make sure to follow @thenewbloods or hit up NewBlood.games on the information superhighway.

Submitted by: E. Thomas