Sonic Adventure Message Board

Japanese cable company KDDI is set to roll out an Android app-based cloud service that will stream games from Sega, Konami, and other publishers to J:Com and JCN subscribers, Engadget reports.

The Ubitus-developed GameNow service, which is compatible with an upcoming lineup of Toshiba Smart TVs in the United States, will offer a number of paid and subscription-based games when it launches in Japan this year. Announced titles include Sega's Sonic Adventure, Milestone's World Rally Championship 3, and Konami's World Soccer Winning Eleven 2014 (Pro Evolution Soccer 2014).

Other featured games include Square Enix's puzzler Yosumin, Nigoro's indie adventure game La-Mulana, and Falcom's Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC (released stateside for the PSP in 2011 as The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky).

Sony's similar PlayStation Now streaming service recently entered a closed beta ahead of a planned launch this summer.

[Image: KDDI/Ubitus]

#showus Probably every animal species you can think of is playable or can be found in some form in video games, but today we decided to find those games where you can play as a cat. Any cat. Domestic cats or any one of the wild cats: tigers, lions, cheetahs, all included. More »

#sega Sega is once again putting music to vinyl, following up on the bright blue Sega Genesis Collection soundtrack on LP with one for the Dreamcast fans out there. And by "there," I regretfully mean "Australia." More »

After a poor, not-even-in-the-top-10 opening week for the XBLA version of Sonic Adventure, some worried that Sega might lose its interest in bringing more Dreamcast classics to the platform. However, it seems that contrary to the nature of its blue, pointy protagonist, Sonic Adventure is just a slow starter -- it placed fourth in this week's top Arcade sales. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero held down its spot at the top of the list, while DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue managed to debut in second.

Halo: Reach managed to wrestle the top spot on the Xbox Live Activity chart from Modern Warfare 2 -- where it will likely remain for a good long time. At least, until Call of Duty: Black Ops makes a run for the throne. Ooooh, this is going to be so exciting! Check out the full Xbox Live weekly rankings after the jump.

Platforming at the speed of misery.

Things may have slowed down a tad since last week's Omega Update, but this week's batch of new content on the European PlayStation Store certainly holds its own. We've got Sonic Adventure, Deathspank 2: Electric Boogaloo and Blade Kitten, the "Liars and Cheats" pack for Red Dead Redemption, and a full Bob Marley album for Rock Band. There's a little something for just about everyone -- especially for PlayStation Plus subscribers, who get early access to the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow demo. Luckyyyyyyy.

Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list:
(Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)

Sega's "Return of the Dreamcast" starts in September with the re-release of Sonic Adventure on Xbox Live Arcade. Microsoft has put a Sept. 15 release date on the Dreamcast to PC to XBLA port. A PlayStation Network version is also planned. More »

The first (but certainly not last) Dreamcast title to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade is, appropriately enough, the fastest. Major Nelson's latest schedule for the platform has revealed a September 15 release date for Sonic Adventure, which will be available for 800 Microsoft Points ($10). No word yet on the release plans for Sega's other previously announced Dreamcast revival, Crazy Taxi.

We've contacted Sega to find out if the game will arrive on PSN on a similar timetable. We also sent them an email with the subject line "Give us Seaman," followed by a body of text which simply read, "SEEEEEAAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAN."

The Xbox Live Arcade versions of both Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure were playable at Sega's booth, and both still look great, even ten-plus years after their release. However, each game has one issue that keeps the XBLA (and PSN) version from absolute perfection.

In Crazy Taxi's case, it's the lack of licensed music and locations, meaning that destinations like Pizza Hut have been replaced by generic stores, and the Offspring and Bad Religion soundtrack has been swapped out for sorta/kinda soundalikes. Actually, given how many times we've heard the Crazy Taxi soundtrack in our lives (too many!), that might be a plus.

For Sonic Adventure, the limitation of the XBLA version is immediately apparent even to those who haven't played it before: it displays only in 4:3, with vertical bars (featuring a blue patterned background) on the sides of a widescreen display. A Sega rep told Joystiq that the code for Sonic Adventure couldn't be altered to support widescreen as easily as Crazy Taxi's.

The little blue hedgehog still has style.

He's still got it.

Classic titles coming to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network