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Some good news and possibly some bad news for Sonic fans this week. Sega have revealed that while Sonic 4 Episode 2 will discard the new physics that were so disliked by fans in Episode 1, reverting to those used in the Mega Drive/Genesis era Sonic games, it is also the last one in the series planned at this time. In an interview with Eurogamer, Sonic Team boss Takashi Iizuka explained:

“With Episode 1 we built the physics from the ground up. This time, rather than adding to it, we went back to the original Mega Drive Sonic games and we looked at the physics from them. We tried to make sure we replicated the things people were keen about for Episode 2. That’s the way we addressed it. I wanted to make sure people could play the game and it not feel unnatural. It should feel right. Rather than thinking of it as us trying to say, ‘okay, this is the way it should be,’ we looked at feedback where people were saying, ‘this feels unnatural.’ Those were the things we decided to eliminate, so it should feel natural when they play the game.”

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The internet is awash with reports of Xbox 360 achievements being zeroed as well as records of Xbox activity being erased. Concerned gamers have bombarded the official Microsoft support Twitter account since …
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It seems like an eternity but we’re looking this year for the release of Fez, from Polytron Corporation and creator Phil Fish. Joystiq had an interesting interview with him during SXSW talking about the development and what’s next for Polytron Corporation. Originally, Phil wanted the game the come out during Q1 of this year but that sadly didn’t happen since they just got back from certification and didn’t pass it.

“We’re trying to put pressure on them to release it as soon as possible because the zeitgeist is really good right now, with the movie starting to get a lot of play and the award. And, also, it’s been five years. I don’t want to wait another two months after that.”

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Every day goes by that we add another racing game to XBLA and this time, it’s Jeremy McGrath’s with Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad. 2XL Games are behind the helm and there’ll be plenty of different types of trucks to race in from Rally to Pro Buggie to Pro Lite. There’ll also be online multiplayer for up to eight players and an entire Career Mode about Jeremy’s rise to win the Pro2 championship. Here’s a quote from Jeremy McGrath himself on the game and check out the screenshots after the jump.

“It’s great to see something that started as an idea turn into a killer video game thanks to the guys at 2XL Games! I am sure my fans from both moto and offroad are going to love it.”

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Update: Autumn Games says that this is isn’t the correct release date and aren’t sure how official the date is. We’ll keep you up to date on its release.

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Deal of the Week is back! Ok, so it didn’t actually go anywhere but XBLA games have been curiously missing from the past few, so you’ll be pleased to …
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Zen Studios’ Mel Kirk, vice president of marketing and public relations, has confirmed that another four-pack of tables is coming as DLC for the developer’s Marvel Pinball. The Avengers, World War Hulk, the Infinity Gauntlet and Fear Itself will make up the quartet of digital pinball tables included in the content pack that will be titled Avengers Chronicles. Kirk’s statements substantiated what appeared to be a Game Informer article betraying the pack’s existence that hit the internet over the weekend.

The manner through which these particular motifs were chosen for this fourth downloadable grouping (a couple of four-packs and a two-pack were previously released) is detailed in the Game Informer piece. “The customers liked the tables based on characters, but they wanted to see some variety,” Neil Sorens, creative director at Zen, explained to Game Informer. “The storylines are a way of providing that.”

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All new Xbox Live Arcade releases will have the option to carry up to 400 Gamerscore points and 30 Achievements, Major Nelson has revealed. This new scoring system …
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James Silva of Ska Studios recently did a postmortem talk about his recent sequel, The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile and some interesting tidbits came out of it. He talks about …
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We totally missed January, but the Monthly Recap is back for February! Yaaay. There’s an immense amount of news this month because for some reason February is XBLA month. There’s roughly a million game announcements and DLC as well. I suggest hitting CTRL + F and searching for the copious news about your favorite game. Or games. Or just read all the news, because that’s a good idea.

Beyond the “things that happened”, there’s also several Friday Top Fives and Most Wanted’s this month as we continue to beef up our feature repertoire. Our chief feature, A Year In Review (2011) is definitely worth checking out for some insight into the fluctuations in XBLA cost versus review scores. Lastly, amongst the five podcasts is our Music Special which showcases some of the best XBLA soundtrack tunes since its inception.

Without further ado, welcome to February all over again! Read More