14 DAY TRIAL // It's Sonic's 19th anniversary and SEGA has chosen to celebrate it by announcing a video contest and various special offers for Sonic-related games on the Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network and the iPhone. Obviously, these celebrations are meant to promote the future launch of Sonic the Hedgehog 4.
Sonic fans have two weeks, that is, until the 12th of July, to create and upload videos that show off their love for Sonic on YouTube. The entries will then be judged from the point of view of three aspects: creativity, effort and entertainment. Each of them is worth ten points for a grand total of 30 points. Five bonus points can be awarded if the YouTube video gathers many views.
Two lucky winners will be selected, who will each receive a trip for two in Tokyo, where they'll meet the team that is developing Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and get to play a bit from the first episode of the game. Also, contestants can win two 32GB iPod touch packs and free Sonic paraphernalia will be randomly distributed to 100 of the video submitters.
Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2 will be available on the PSN for 10 Euro until the 6th of July in the United States and until the 7th of July in Europe. Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2, among others, will go for 3 Euro on Apple's App Store. Xbox Live will host this sale for one day only, today, the 24th of June. Sonic fans can buy today only the first three titles in the Sonic the Hedgehog series and Sonic & Knuckles each for 240 Microsoft Points. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will be launched sometime this fall for the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the iPhone and the Nintendo Wii. The title aims to return to the roots of the franchise in terms of quality and gameplay.