Those of you who thought that Sega game designer Yu Suzuki is finally his own man after severing ties with the company is only partially correct in that assumption. According to Sega of America president Simon Jeffery, Suzuki is still very much in their payroll. More details in our full article.

A simple blunder may cause some great, irreparable repercussions no matter the intent, and this one may just cause heartbreak to some fans: Sony accidentally showed Valkyria Chronicles as part of the PSP line-up, leaving the audience wondering if the great-looking game will indeed make it into the Sony handheld's line-up. But it's not meant to be: it was just a simple mistake. More in the full article.

In a recent interview with Gamespot, Sega of America President and COO Simon Jeffery posed an intriguing statement related to the future of Platinum Games. According to him, Platinum Games' upcoming titles will not be one-offs. Find out what Jeffery means after the jump!

 

Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 proves to be a powerful weapon for game developers once more, as SEGA announced a licensing agreement today (May 16, 2007) to use the powerhouse that spawned numerous eye-candy titles such as Gears of War and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas.

President Simon Jeffery from SEGA America expressed his excitement in creating games using the premiere next-gen engine. “Its versatility and power will help SEGA create incredible gaming experiences.”, he says. True enough, we should be able to expect quality titles from the company with tons of well known series under its belt.

Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein apparently agrees, saying “SEGA has a long history of innovation and leadership in our industry and we’re honored that they’ve chosen to use Unreal Engine 3.”

More details about the deal will be announced later this year, but you guys are probably itching for the new titles SEGA will be able to dish out when equipped with Unreal Engine 3 anyway.

Yep, you read the title right. We won't be seeing Sonic for quite some time in the future. When talking about the recent announcement of the Nintendo-Sega collaboration, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Sega president Simon Jeffery told Newsweek that they're planning to give their blue hedgehog a bit of a make-over, meaning no new Sonic titles in the near future.

We are actually undergoing a fairly considerable refresh of Sonic as an intellectual property, as a character. Sonic on the Wii is probably the first product that's come to market that reflects that. We're not going to be bringing another game out on the other platforms for quite some time, because we feel that it is time to reinvent Sonic, to make Sonic contemporary again. At the same time, even the recent 360 and PlayStation 3 games have sold extremely well.

Reinvent Sonic, eh? Wonder how that's going to end up. Well, they already have started going back to "the original Sonic" with Sonic and the Secret Rings. I say that's actually a good start. Of course, before you give someone some make-over, you'd have to revisit your roots first. It's going to be interesting to see how they will "make Sonic contemporary again" though.

We fished the picture above from a Neoseeker forums thread on Sonic art. Well, let's just hope that "Sonic In a Dress" remains as a fan's concept art, and not make it to the final drafts of Sega. (pink looks sooo good on blue though)