Ok so here's SEGA's first gameplay trailer for the DS version of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and it looks good.  The voice-over, however is not.

I know the advert is going to be aimed at kids, but there is just something about the scripting on these kinds of adverts that just really winds me up - same goes for a lot of movies.  Actually puts me off wanting the game.  But I'm a big boy now - so I should remember to ignore all forms of advertising and make up my own mind when I play the final game.

Anyway in other Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing news the demo for the PS3 version of the game is now available.[nextpage]

Well it's definitely available in Europe (according to SoE), but I'm not sure about the US version - so any US guys, please give us an update

I'm sure a lot of you are still eager to hear about SEGA Nerds' trip to Alton Towers at the weekend, where we got to ride on the new Sonic Spinball rollercoaster and play some more Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (including getting hands on a special character).

Well I haven't forgotten, just having trouble trying to sift through the tons of crappy/good photos taken at the event and get my video footage edited and uploaded (apparently Windows Vista has given up on trying to play videos from my camera entirely now).

So in the meantime, here is something Sonic related we were just shown - gameplay footage of the DS version of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing.[nextpage]  Now, you are never going to get the DS looking anywhere close to the big console counterparts, but from

Oh yeah! SEGA has now released a playable demo of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars racing on Xbox Live Marketplace.  The demo allows you to play as Sonic or Banjo (oh you love him really) and on one of tracks, "Lost Palace".

Weirdly though on the SOE Blog they say that you play across "a selection of tracks" - but it looks like you can only play on one - though that's not a weird thing for a demo.  But that doesn't stop it from being a really fun demo; I've already played through it about five times and that's only the single player, I'm still yet to tackle the multiplayer option.

The only downfall is that the demo is a pretty weighty 1.03GB download.  Not the biggest ever, but it'll take a little longer to arrive on your hard drive and if you are impatient, like me, then it's

Think that online petitions don't work? Think that fans bitching about something missing from a game should shut up and accept that life isn't fair? Well thank God that fans of NiGHTS don't think the same way.

Sumo Digital has officially confirmed that NiGHTS will appear in Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. The confirmation comes via the NiGHTS fansite, NiGHTSintoDreams.com, who have been (possibly) the biggest source of petition for NiGHTS to appear in the game.

The only downside is that NiGHTS won't be playable, at least not at launch. Instead he will be acting as the 'Flagman' at the start and end of each race.  Speaking exclusively to NiD.com Steve 'SOL' Lycett (from Sumo Digital) explained just how and why this has happened:

"We've given NiGHTS a very important role. He starts

That's right Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing fans, SEGA has just released another trailer for the game, plus a new website devoted to the game.

From the trailer, the game still looks awesome and confirms that there will be 24 tracks to race on, which should be awesome. Side note: I had some Mario Kart-loving guy trying to tell me that All-Stars Racing only had 8 tracks on it or some rubbish the other day. I hope he is reading this now, sucka.

Also, there's been such a huge amount of excitement over some of the characters included in the game, like Ryo Hazuki and Billy Hatcher (oh you know you love him really), that I completely forgot that B.D. Joe, of Crazy Taxi fame, is in the game.  The yellow taxi came as a lovely surprise... again.

And before I forget, here's

We reported the other day that the Wii version of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing was to come bundled with a Wii steering wheel.  But now SEGA has announced another little feature for Nintendo fans and that is Mii support.

"SEGA is pleased to confirm that Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing will allow you to race as your Mii on the Nintendo Wii version of the game. Take on the likes of Sonic, Dr. Eggman, Ryo and Amigo, as your Mii races towards the checkered flag on tracks inspired by your favorite SEGA worlds! 

"Winning is only part of the fun in Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing!  Each character, including your Mii, can unleash a unique All Star move specific to them, allowing a quick way for competitors to get back into the race!"

So the Wii version has two little 'exlcusives'

Yup, while Xbox 360 owners will be getting extra playable characters (Banjo + Kazooie and Avatars), it seems that Wii fans will be getting a free Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Wii racing wheel.  You know, one of those empty plastic wheels that you need to stick a wiimote in to work.

Well I guess it's pretty cool, it's always nice to have something for free and noone complained about Mario Kart getting a wheel. 

Though I imagine most people would have preferred to see some exclusive characters like with the Xbox 360 version - still there could be a chance that SEGA will announce more Wii exclusives (if any).

Still no official word on any PS3 exclusives though.  And now we just need to sit and wait to hear people say; "Omg this is such a Mario Kart rip-off.  Look

According to SEGAOnline, a Dutch retail store called 'Bart Smit' has reveiled the release date for Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing in Europe as February 26th (2010).

Right now it's going down as a rumour, because we are yet to hear anything back from SEGA.  But currently their official website is still stating the release date as "Early 2010."

If Bart Smit's date is correct, then we should all be having an awesome time playing as Banjo/ Kazooie and our Xbox 360 Avatars in just a couple of months, yeah! Who's with me?

[Source: SEGAOnline]
[Special Thanks: Robert Manrho]

I'm not going to go into too much detail over this new video for Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, except to tell you that it's a Christmas-themed gameplay trailer... and I really like it.

On a side note: I don't know if it's my speakers, or if the video's audio quality isn't quite right - but I can't understand a few of the words.  Though adding my own choice of words to the rhymes, just make it all the more enjoyable.  Lovely.

[Source: SEGA PR]