Reading through the latest
Nintendo
Power I glanced across an article about Sega developing for GBA (GameBoy
Advance) and GCN (GameCube). Finding this rather surprising, I read
through the whole article which was mostly about the GBA games Sega is
developing. The titles announced were ChuChu Rocket GBA ( or ChuChu Rocket
Advance), Puyo Puyo, and Sonic Advance. No GCN titles were announced.
First things first:
MORE Sonic Adventure 2 News or: How to get an
A Ranking In City Escape ^__^!
Been playing the demo and wondering why you keep getting C Rankings over and over? How do you get a Grade Of A, let alone a B? Well I'm here to tell you that Sonic Team has officially gone insane. :) Replay value's gonna be BIG in SA2. Get this: 
To get an A, you need to get 2/3's of all the rings, land at least 4 Awesome Tricks, and NEVER a Trick worth less than 300. You need to HIT every trick (even when running from the truck) and you need to kill everything you see (in the game). FYI 2/3's of all the rings in the level is 290 or so. Also (one last thing) you need to beat the level in under 3:10. There you go. The "impossible run".
Looks like the dificulty levels have been upped a huge notch since Sonic Adventure 1 in the replay department. And in case you've played the demo already, its not as easy as it sounds, especially since you cant see the ramps until you get square on them during the truck sequence! Have fun! ^__^ 
Now for the Phantasy Star Online News which is in a way, connected to Sonic. One of the most identifying details that set characters apart in Phantasy Star Online is the MAGs. For those not in the know, MAGs are those hovering robotic "pets" near the back of each character. By feeding the MAG different utility items you either find or buy in PSO you increase the MAGs abilities and additionally, you also help the MAG evolve into different forms. So, how many forms are there to the MAGs? A quick "E-Lingo"-ing of the PSO Jazz japanese website has revealed the numerous MAGS located in PSO!
Theres the Opa-Opa MAG (from Fantasy Zone) and the NiGHTopian MAG (from NiGHTS of course). And supposedly, there is a Omochao MAG (from Sonic Adventure 2) as well as a Sonic MAG though both aren't shown on the webpage. If you wanna see the full list, check out or source links below.
Source: IGN Dreamcast and PSO Jazz (Japanese)
Here's images of 2 of the new character from SA2 in really neat action figure form by Resaurus!
http://www.figures.com/Features/index.html?show_article=17922&domain=figures.com&dom=fig&domain_id=4
Mike
WB Edit: OMG !!! I _HAD_ to add an addendum to this one! ^__^ Ladies and gents - the "Nails The Bat" rumor is _DEAD ON_. The difference however is that the bat is named "Rogue" and has white and pink suit on. Her design looks kinda dark and neat. Speculation, but PERHAPS she is why Tails hasn't been mentioned in SA2! I mean, think about this for a second. If you have a bat that can fly, then whats the need for a fox that can fly in the game as well. My guess is that Rogue The Bat is going to play an interesting part in the game....
Also, the name of the "Dark Sonic" has finally been revealed as Shadow! Looks like Segasonic just got another female character (hooray!). Plus I think the Dark Sonic's name sounds pretty durn cool, dont you? ^__^
These are the first "clear" pictures of the new SA2 characters that anyone has managed to find. Even the websites dont have this one! Thanks Mike! ^__^ Plus we now know that Resaurus is doing a Series 3 toy line as well. Suddenly the futures looking a whole lot sweeter! ^___^
Shadow The Hedgehog, Rogue The Bat, and G.U.N. .....Is it just me or has Segasonic gotten just a bit darker? :)
