Get some Sega on your desktop

Sega have been going wallpaper-crazy this week, releasing both OutRun and Sonic images for your desktop.

To celebrate the release of OutRun Online Arcade this week, Sega Europe released some lovely Ferrari-themed wallpaper - one exclusive to the blog and another exclusive to Sega Nerds. I much prefer the latter as it has an F40 on it, the car in Turbo Out Run.

Over on the Japanese Sonic site, the latest monthly wallpaper has just been released. Every month the Sonic Channel gives us a new Sonic-themed wallpaper with a calendar on it, the month of May featuring Knuckles. You can even get the calendar alone to print off!

Interestingly, the Sonic wallpapers feature concept artwork from Sonic Unleashed and Sonic and the Black Knight, which means that one of them has Chip on it. Yuck.

OutRun Online Arcade released

The eagerly anticipated remake of OutRun 2006, OutRun Online Arcade, was released this week on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. The title became available yesterday on XBLA in Europe and North America, with the PSN version being released a few hours ago in Europe.

There are two competitions being run in celebration of the game's launch. The first is a chance to win a trip to the Ferrari Museum in Italy, which can be won by setting the fastest time on the Time Attack setting. The second competition is a chance to win a retro Out Run t-shirt. To do this, find "Challenge Sega" whilst online and beat them in a race.

At the moment the competitions are only available on XBLA, but should come to the PSN in the near future. To participate you must register first.

The game costs £7.99/€9.99 for the PS3 version, and 800 Points for the Xbox 360 version.

[Source: Sega Nerds]

OutRun Online Arcade to be released next week

Finally, after months of wait, it has been announced that OutRun Online Arcade will be released in all regions next week. The title, first announced late last year, was expected to be released in January (thanks to a blurry poster photo). Four months of rocking in a corner since then have certainly payed off.

For Xbox 360 users, the game will be released on the Arcade next Wednesday. For PS3 users (sorry Americans, no release for you), the game will be released on the Network next Thursday. By Thursday, I mean so late on Thursday that it's practically Friday. Europeans will know what I mean.

The game will cost £7.99/€9.99 on the PS3, and 800 Points on the Xbox 360.

Here are the dates and prices in quick, easy-to-read form:

• Xbox 360/XBLA (NTSC and PAL): Wednesday, April 15th 800 Points
  
• PS3/PSN (PAL only): Thursday, April 16th £7.99/€9.99

If you can't wait until then, play the PS2 or PSP versions. Or continue rocking in that corner.

[Source: Sega Europe and Kotaku]

US Gold's Out Run cover returns as a t-shirt

Those of us living in Europe probably had our first experience of Out Run thanks to US Gold, who ported many Sega licenses to home micros during the 1980s and 1990s. Clearly I did - I used the same font from the Out Run logo on this blog!

Generally, UK-made ports had unique cover art from the rest of the world, as was the case with Out Run. Americans may be familiar with this, the console cover art:


Whereas in Europe we got this, the computer version's cover art:

Ooh, shiny!

Anyway, what has this got to do with anything? Well, Sega Europe are offering the artwork on a t-shirt in a competition! The only problem is, they haven't told us how we can actually win it. All that has been said by Sega is "accept the challenge"...

So, you can start trying to win the t-shirt now! First-posting on Sega's blog didn't work, so maybe you have to send them a nice email outlining why you should win it. Or maybe the first person to drive to Sega Europe HQ in a Ferrari Testarossa wins it? We'll just have to wait and see.

OutRun Online Arcade is released on April 15th on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

[Source: Sega Europe]

PSN version of OutRun Online Arcade to be European exclusive

Yesterday, Sega released more information about OutRun Online Arcade. It turns out that in Europe, the game will be available on both the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade, making it a PSN exclusive. In North America, the game will only be available on XBLA.

Also, the game will not be released in January as previously thought, instead being released in Spring. All fifteen tracks will be taken from OutRun 2SP, and will feature music from the original game. Yay!

Here is the full press release:

OUTRUN™ ONLINE ARCADE - YOUR JOURNEY AWAITS

SEGA's classic arcade racer returns! Experience multiplayer OutRun via Xbox LIVE® Arcade and Playstation Store all in stunning Hi-Definition for the first time.

Experience the mayhem and action as you race and rediscover 15 challenging courses, testing your time, speed and handling ability as you bring your next gen skills online with this coin-op classic. Feel the kick as you put your foot to the floor in one of 10 high-performance Ferrari cars racing your way across the U.S. From the steep streets of San Francisco to the beautiful beaches of California, it’s mile after mile of unrelenting acceleration, thrills and action.

Which route will you choose on your drive for the highest possible score? OutRun Online Arcade - it's a beautiful journey.

Features

• Competition
OutRun delivers online multiplayer for up to 6 players for the first time on Live Arcade and PSN.

• 15 Courses & 10 fully licensed Ferraris
15 glorious courses, 10 licensed Ferrari cars for the ultimate OutRun ride.

• Arcade Missions and Time Attack Modes
Fast paced arcade action thrills and OutRun, Heart Attack and Time Attack modes.

• Classic OutRun Tracks
Catch the cool sounds of OutRun as these smashing tracks feature alongside stunning new visuals.

• XBox LIVE® Features
Experience OutRun with Xbox Live features including, achievements, voice and leaderboards!

• PSN Features
Enhance the experience with PSN features including, trophies, voice chat and leaderboards!

[Source: Sega and Sega Nerds]

OutRun Online Arcade may be released in January

This poster is presented to you in Blur-O-Vision™.

That "early 2009" release date for OutRun Online Arcade could be as early as January, according to a poster found at last week's Asia Game Show. That means that within five weeks we could be playing it!

The photograph of the poster is quite blurry, but Siliconera are insisting that it says January. This is entirely possible, and upon closer inspection we can see that it says "2009/01".

With such a close release I'm sure many OutRun fans have done a Magical Sound Shower in their pants, and will be Splash Wave-ing goodbye to their free time! Or maybe this news could just be a Passing Breeze, and turn out to be an error. I'll shut up now.